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Beauties Among the Beauty
May 3, 2012
by CIRIA PEREZ

On Saturday, April 21, our Solid Rock Women's Ministries organized an outing to The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Many of the women who went on the trip felt like they were going back in time...remembering when they visited this beautiful place as little girls. How wonderful it was to see them smile as they shared stories of running through the gardens with their brothers and sisters.
Women at the NY Botanical Garden
This beautiful 250-acre oasis in the middle of the Bronx, a National Historic Landmark, has been a favorite retreat for New Yorkers and tourists since the 1890s. The garden is home to a collection of more than 1,000,000 plants, including 30,000 magnificent trees, thousands of them over a century old. Some of the women were visiting the gardens for the very first time. We were in awe of God's stunning creations as we walked through the Haupt Conservatory, a Victorian-style glasshouse opened in 1902, for the nation's largest exhibition of orchids. It took us more than an hour to complete the tour. As we walked admiring the different varieties of beautiful orchids and other plants, I could hear some of the women say "Wow! Thank you Lord! My God! What an awesome creator God we serve."

We sat down in small groups for lunch at the Garden Cafe. This gave us an opportunity to get to know each other as we shared what we had experienced at the conservatory. Another highlight of the trip was the ride on the tram. The tram is used to get from one exhibit to another. However, we all were able to fit in one of the trams and no matter how much we were encouraged to take a look at the exhibits, there was no way that we were getting off. We just wanted to enjoy the ride while listening to interesting facts about various tree collections, rock-scapes, research buildings, and many flower gardens. We went through some parts where the smell of lavender and gardenias was just heavenly.

Our last activity was the walk through the Azalea Garden. We could not believe how vibrant the flowers were. The Azaleas bloomed two weeks ahead of schedule because of the warm weather! We could not stop taking pictures of the flowers and of each other as we enjoyed our time together. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful, warm, sunny day. We were able to admire all the precious flowers in the gardens. We left the Botanical Gardens filled with joy knowing that we are just as beautiful and precious in God's eyes. See our Photo Gallery>>