On beyond Basil

Miriam, Jonah and I are spending a week at Grandpa's Farm in central Kansas.

Grandpa's Farm is 3.7 acres of woods, lawn, and gardens. The kids are outside exploring and leaning, (shh, don't tell them!)

Jonah fell in love with Basil last summer, he'd bring it in from the back yard to put in his tuna sandwiches. This week he's moving beyond basil to mint, radishes and rhubarb. Central Kansas is warm enough for some spring crops to be ready to pick. Most gardens are in need of a weeding, and mint sometimes becomes a weed. As I was reducing the patch to a manageable size Jo came by to smell the air. that led to a whole discussion about mint, since his mints are round and mostly sugar! He's taken to chewing on a leaf now and then, and adding them to his lemonade. We picked radishes and lots of rhubarb. Radishes were not well loved, but rhubarb is becoming a real favorite. (stewed with sugar or in a pie!) We've found big caterpillars, live snails and lots of worms. There is even a litter of kittens in the window well.

This is a week of seeing what we've read about, of finding out where things come from, and what happens to the peelings. On beyond basil is a whole other world.

Have you moved on beyond basil in your devotional life? Can you take a step ouside the traditional sunday school stories and find Ruth, Deborah and Rhoda? Visiting the farm is a step outside our normal suburban life, and the kids (and I) find all sorts of new things to discover and see and experience.

See what you can find in the fine print between the stories you know so well.

Oh, and see if you can find a good rhubarb patch too!