“I tasted honeysuckle!” Abby Kate practically shouted to me as she clamored away from the crowd of students waiting to be picked up from the afternoon car line.
She haphazardly shed her backpack as she climbed into the car, chatting so excitedly I could hardly understand what happened in P.E. class. She told me she and some friends were walking the woods behind her middle school when a classmate named Kate spotted honeysuckle and taught her how to try it.
“I pinched off the end and pulled out the piece with honey on it and put it in my mouth,” she described. “It tasted sweet. I liked it!”
I was stumped for a moment. This child of mine, who turns up her nose at tasting any new food I put on the table tasted without hesitation a flower she found in the woods.
“Have you ever tried it?” she asked.
I smiled as I told her that I had, in fact, tasted honeysuckle. The memories are fuzzy – it’s been more than 35 years – but I remember enough.
Honeysuckle vines grew at the top of a hill behind my childhood home. Some mornings before school I would pick one of the fragrant flowers and taste its sweet honey. My mom says the honeysuckle still blooms, though she’s put up a privacy fence and we can’t get to them.
My daughters spend a lot of time at my mom’s house (my daddy passed away in 2008) and I love to share memories with them of what my home and neighborhood were like when I was growing up.
A few weeks after Abby Kate tasted honeysuckle we visited my husband’s home in Mississippi. Abby Kate discovered some honeysuckle vines behind my mother-in-law’s house. She stepped through the brush to show the yellow-and-white blossoms to her little sister Lily. Lily had to pick a few flowers to find one with enough honey to taste. She liked it, too.
Nature can pull us into deeper fellowship with God, and our sampling of honeysuckle made me think about the significance of honey throughout the Bible. Honey represents abundance in the Promised Land (Exodus 3:8) and provision in the wilderness (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6). Honey is so precious and pure that David uses it to express the beauty and worth of God’s own words (Psalm 19:10; Psalm 119:103). If our intention is to find God’s goodness in summer fun, honey seems a good place to start.
Summer is an invitation to connect with our kids in ways that aren’t complicated: exploring the outdoors, experiencing its beauty and enjoying the sweetness it gives to us. Our sample was honeysuckle but there are all kinds of fresh flavors to taste this season. Let your children pick one to try! Find fun in tasting something fresh and sharing simple pleasures.
Whatever summer food you choose to satiate your stomach, remember nothing can satisfy like Jesus. He created this wonderful world and the goodness it gives. As we fill our bodies with nature’s incredible eats, let us not forget He is nourishment for our soul.
“How sweet Your word is to my taste – sweeter than honey in my mouth.” (Psalm 119:103)
