“The Beauty Of The Lord”

After a number of tries we finally made it back to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. It’s one of our favorite places… acres and acres of beauty. “Longwood Gardens is a botanical garden that consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows  It is one of the premier horticultural display gardens in the United States.” Judy is really in her element, pondering the details of each flower ….. the names, the colors, when they bloom, etc.

I do have my favorites, like the cactus family, not very colorful but they survive in desperate climates with little water.  I also enjoy giving a quick glance and wave to many of the other “old codgers” who are shuffling along, looking for a place to sit down… longing for the stop at the beer garden. We nod at each other , quietly communicating “I feel your pain”.  No seriously, I love Longwood Gardens…. the history, the architecture, the engineering and the flowers. Pierre du Pont, who opened the gardens to the public in 1921, was an amazing man; he took it thru many stages of development, which continues today.

It seems the more you know about something, the more you can appreciate it. Judy was able to enjoy our visit much more deeply than me because she has spent her life with flowers. It’s also true in the things of God; the more we learn and experience  God’s goodness and mercy, the more we appreciate how great he is…. “how great is our God”.

We recently began to go thru “The Bible In A Year” with Fr. Mike Schmitz. Even though we’ve been actively reading and praying through the scripture for many years, we are learning new things every day. As we learn new things, we appreciate the scriptures even more and we especially appreciate the author of the scriptures. Fundamentally we continue to learn how much God loves us and how patient he is with us. He’s committed to bringing us to a place of great joy and peace. 

So, as we continue thru this great Easter season, let us appreciate the goodness of God in the blooming of his beautiful spring flowers. Yet as beautiful as those tulips were at Longwood Gardens, much more beautiful was seeing the delight on my wife’s face as she embraced the beauty of God in his creation.  Let’s continue to delight in one another and especially in the love of Christ who gave himself for us on the cross and is now resurrected and seated at the right hand of his Father in heaven. Wow, the beauty of the Lord !