One of my earliest surprises was discovering that pickles came from cucumbers. I watched Grandma slicing them one summer, and I didn’t believe her—not until I saw it for myself. To me, pickles came from jars. That’s just how the world worked.

When you’re little, you don’t think much about where things come from. You simply accept the finished product. It never occurs to you that there was a story before what you can see. It’s obvious now, but as a child it felt like discovering a secret.

Looking back, I think that’s one of the gifts of growing up on a farm. You didn’t just see the finished product—you watched the whole process. Seeds became gardens. Milk came from cows. Cucumbers became pickles. Every season quietly reminded you that there was more happening than you could see at first glance.

I wonder if that’s part of what Jesus meant when He spoke about becoming like little children. Not being childish, but never losing our sense of wonder. The more we walk with God, the more we discover that His world is full of things deeper than they first appear.