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Famous gardens to enjoy

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There are definitely some beautiful gardens to walk around in on this earth. I’ve had the honor to walk through several and as their photos show up in my Facebook memories, I just want to sigh, and say, Let’s go back! 

Bok Gardens in Central Florida features the music of a pipe organ housed in a tower that overlooks the gardens. And not far from there is The former Cyprus Gardens which is now part of Legoland-Florida is beautiful to walk through in Winter Haven. My mother in law visited Cyprus Gardens as a young girl, and if you used to watch people do water skiing tricks on TV, you were probably watching Cyprus Gardens. It opened in 1936 with 16 acres of 8,000 varieties of flowers from more than 90 different countries. A Banyon Tree was planted in 1939 is still the centerpiece of the gardens. They continue to have daily water ski shows, which now feature swashbuckling LEGO pirates, and thrill audiences with their antics on the water.

Right here in Arkansas is Crystal Bridges which has some beautiful gardens to walk through. Also in Eureka Springs, The Blue Spring Heritage Center is very unique and that spring is one of a kind. 

I would never be allowed back across the Texas/Arkansas border if I didn’t mention the rose gardens of Tyler, Texas where I grew up. Let’s just say, I didn’t appreciate their beauty back then. I certainly wasn’t a rose queen, but did march each year with the band in the Rose Parade and the floats made of roses were beautiful —  as well as the queens!

In Costa Rica there is a place called La Paz Waterfall Gardens that is actually on the side of a volcano. It’s a rescue area for native animals such as beautiful macaws, very slow sloths, jaguars, pumas, monkeys, hummingbirds, snakes, frogs and a lot more. As you walk through the pathways in between animal staging areas the lush tropical greenery and colorful flowers are some of the most beautiful in the world. Guests can walk into a butterfly area and allow them to land on your shoulder or hands. The flowers there for the butterflies are beyond description for their bright colors and beauty, too.

Then as you get to the bottom of the volcano hillside, you look up and there are several giant waterfalls which drop thousands of feet to a clear creek area. You can hardly hear yourself think because of the roar of the water.

Dave Adamson has a Bible Study on YouVersion entitled, Seven ‘more” Hebrew words every believer should know. Today he mentioned a word meaning garden. 

“The Hebrew word for garden is “pardes, a word rabbis also use to define the study of Scripture. For them, pardes is a garden, but it’s also an acronym of the four levels of understanding the meaning of every story in the Bible. P’shat (the simple meaning), Remez (the implied meaning), Drash, the deeper meaning and Sod “the hidden meaning. Together the first letters create the word pardes, so the rabbis say that studying the Bible is like being in God’s garden or paradise.

So as we study the Bible, we are walking in God’s garden. And just like in the Genesis story, He is calling out for you.”

When I remember these tranquil settings, I get a peaceful feeling in my spirit. I should think of these places more often. If we enjoy the beautiful places man has built, it is unfathomable the beauty of the first garden God created —  The Garden of Eden. Wouldn’t that be fun to walk through?

Several Bible scholars mention reading the Bible is like walking through a beautiful, peaceful garden. If you're new to reading God’s Word find Psalms 139 and soak up the verses of how unique and special you are. God wants to walk through the garden of life with you.

When the world news, or just the chaos of your family life has you discouraged and tangled in knots, ask God to share His peace with you. Just as he “searched” for Adam and Eve he is wanting time with you, too. God knows exactly where you are, and doesn’t really have to “search” —  but He’s not going to intrude. You have to ask Him into your heart.

With modern technology, you can stroll through pictures of these gardens I’ve mentioned today. Do so, remembering God wants some “garden time” with you.



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