“You gotta try this combo!” Andy popped out from behind the sample counter, holding up two handfuls of shiny jellybeans. He gave one handful to Eva and the other to their cousin Sofia.

For the past week, the Wanders had been visiting Sofia and her family in San Francisco, exploring everything from the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz Island. To top off their final day in California, the Wanders brought Sofia along with them to tour a nearby jellybean factory. Now they were in the gift shop, picking out their own jellybeans.

Before the tour, Eva had researched fun flavor combinations to try, like “cherry, lime, and cola” and “banana and birthday cake.” At the bottom of her list, she wrote OFF-LIMIT JELLYBEAN FLAVORS in bold letters and listed cut grass, dog food, earthworms, toothpaste, and smelly socks.

“These better not be gross, Andy,” Eva said, eyeing Andy’s jellybeans skeptically.

“I didn’t use any of your—” he curled his fingers for air quotes “—‘off-limit flavors.’”

Sofia chewed the jellybean combo and cringed. “Hey! You lied, Andy!”

Andy looked puzzled. “No, I didn’t!”

Sofia took a gulp from her water bottle. "Then why does this taste like—like—a fireplace?”

“Andy, we said no crazy combos,” Eva insisted. “I didn’t even see ‘fireplace’ as an option.”

“That’s because there isn’t one!”

Eva stared at her brother with a raised eyebrow. She sniffed the candy in her hand, then put the beans in her mouth and chewed cautiously. Her face lit up with surprise. “Hey, this isn’t bad! I don’t taste a fireplace.”

“Maybe Sofia got a bad bean.” Andy sniffed the jellybeans in his hand.

Mom walked up behind them. “Did everyone fill their bags? Your dad’s ready to check out.”

“Some of the beans may have been made wrong because Sofia thinks they taste like a fireplace.” Andy scowled as he followed Mom to the checkout. “And I didn’t give her any off-limit combos! Just dark chocolate, toasted marshmallow, and cappuccino.”

The kids handed their bags of beans to Dad.

“You know, Sofia,” Mom said thoughtfully, “growing up, your mom was the world’s pickiest eater. She actually took a test and found out she’s a supertaster.”

Sofia looked surprised. “She never told me that!”

“Supertasters have more tastebuds than the average person,” Mom said. “So some foods, like broccoli, coffee, and dark chocolate, taste too bitter, while other foods taste too sweet or artificial.”

“Wow!” Andy said. “I wonder if she would think my combo tastes like a fireplace!”

“Maybe.” Mom chuckled. “Since the supertaster gene can be passed down, it’s possible you might be a supertaster, too, Sofia.”

Dad handed back their bags and popped one of his own cinnamon jellybeans in his mouth. “Let’s go sit in the park across the street.”

Mom and the girls walked out first. As Dad and Andy stepped into the sunshine, they squinted, then both doubled over and sneezed: “ACHOO!”

Eva nudged Sofia. “Watch this.” She held up a finger. “One. . .”

“ACHOO!” Dad and Andy both sneezed again.

Eva held up two fingers, paused, and added a third.

Dad looked up at the sky, sniffed, then let out one final, “ACHOO!”

Andy smiled. “Hey, I only sneezed twice this ti—ACHOO!” He sneezed so hard his glasses slipped down his nose.

Sofia was puzzled. “Do you guys have allergies?”

“Nope. ACHOO Syndrome,” Andy said, pushing his glasses back up.

Dad wiped his eyes. “When Andy and I step into bright sunlight, we sneeze.”

Sofia looked confused. “But how did Eva know you would both sneeze three times?”

“Like being a supertaster, ACHOO Syndrome is also genetic,” Mom explained as they settled at a picnic table. “A parent can even pass down their specific sneeze pattern to their child. Some people sneeze once, some twice—but Dad passed down exactly three sneezes to Andy.”

“But Eva didn’t sneeze at all,” Sofia said.

“That’s because Eva didn’t inherit the ACHOO gene.” Mom pulled paper cups and a pen from her backpack. “Let’s pretend these four cups represent the Wander family.” She wrote each person’s name on a cup. “Each of our bodies holds a different combination of tiny ingredients, called genes.” She placed a handful of white and red jellybeans in the cups labeled Dad and Mom. “These jellybeans will represent our genes.”

Dad picked up two red and white beans from his cup. “Let’s pretend we have two colors that affect sun-sneezing.” He placed a red bean and a white bean on the table. “The red beans will represent ACHOO Syndrome, and the white jellybeans will be no-sneeze jellybeans.”

“Since I don’t sneeze in the sunlight, I pass a no-sneeze gene to Eva and a no-sneeze gene to Andy.” Mom selected two white jellybeans from her cup and put one in each kid’s cup.

“I could have passed along either a red ACHOO gene or a white no-sneeze gene to each of my kids. So, I passed a red ACHOO gene to Andy,” Dad placed the red bean in Andy’s cup, "and a white no-sneeze gene to Eva.” He dropped a white bean in Eva’s cup.

“So, that’s why I don’t sneeze in the sun?” Eva asked.

“And is that how the supertaster gene works, too?” Sofia asked.

“Well, real genetics is much more complicated," Dad said. "But jellybeans are a fun way to picture how God designed genetics to work.”

“I always knew I was full of beans,” Andy said. Sofia grinned. “Who knew jellybeans—or jellygenes—could be so interesting!”

Andy rubbed his hands together. “Let’s make this even more interesting! I have a few of my own combos for you to try—‘root beer and mud,’ ‘sausage and soap’. . .”

“Eww!” Eva and Sofia squealed.

“No, thank you,” Eva said. “I don’t think you have to be a supertaster for those combos to taste bad.”

What’s the Point?

Genes affect more than sneezes and tastebuds. You also inherit traits such as the way your earlobes attach to your head, whether your second toe is longer than your big toe, how flexible you are, whether you can carry a tune, and how your skin reacts to mosquito bites. We are all humans made in the image of God, but no two people are alike. God built an incredible amount of variety into Adam and Eve’s genes. Then, Adam and Eve passed on special combinations of genes to their kids, who passed on special combinations to their kids, and so on. Each one of us is a unique combo—fearfully and wonderfully made!