Travel & Vacaation: Disney Epcot’s Butterflies on the Go Flower Garden (Orlando, FL)
Beautiful flowers at Epcot
The kids had a blast going into Disney Epcot’s Butterflies on the Go Flower Garden during their International Flower and Garden Festival. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and butterflies were fluttering all around us. You could even see butterflies emerging from their chrysalis! It was pretty neat seeing these winged creatures buzzing all around and a house containing rows of chrysalis. Not to mention educational for the kids too!
Resting on a leaf
Rows of chrysalis in various stages
You could actually see some coming out and stretching their wings for the first time which was really neat
2 butterflies hanging out in the flowers.
Loved the flowers as much as the butterflies. Epcot’s gardens were amazing!
A Little Purple Flower
Those who know me have heard this story many times. The other day as I was reflecting on my life and the many blessings in it my thoughts drifted back to this moment several years ago that so deeply stirred my heart. I want to share this story with you to provide encouragement for those tough days.
When I was in college I had an experience that left a lasting imprint on my heart and life. Sometimes God uses the “tiniest” blessings to uplift and encourage us. It had been a rough week at college with a lot of projects, tests, work, and activities. I was a little more stressed than normal and homesick. I had just checked my mailbox and once again it was empty. As I quietly walked back to my dorm room I noticed a group of preschool children from the daycare nearby coming my direction walking in a single file line with their teachers. The kids were talking, laughing and full of life. Right as I was walking past them one little boy yelled “STOP!” The whole line of kids, teachers, and myself stopped as he bent over at the edge of the sidewalk, looked at the ground, then started jumping up and down while yelling excitedly “LOOK I FOUND A PURPLE FLOWER!” What he had found was the tiniest little purple flower attached to a weed on the edge of the sidewalk.
Everyday that week I had walked by those purple flowers but yet I was so focused on my own life, problems, and thoughts that I had failed to stop and notice the little purple flowers in my life. Those purple flowers represent a multitude of blessings God sends my way to remind me (even in the tough times) that He loves me. Often he uses the beauty of His creation to capture my attention but it could be many other blessings in my life that I didn’t stop to appreciate. I never walked down that sidewalk again without looking for a purple flower and this moment has been etched in my mind as a reminder for me to continue looking for those purple flowers.
There have been seasons in my life since that time when I had to look closely at the weeds (metaphorically speaking) to find a beautiful purple flower in the midst of the trial. It was a simple illustration of God’s love shining through that little boy to remind me how truly blessed I am. This moment made a priceless impact on my life and even though life isn’t always easy I know God cares enough to send even a tiny purple flower across my path.
I want to encourage you if you are going through a rough season. It’s okay to have tough days, God still loves you, cares about you, and is reaching out to show you blessings (no matter how big or tiny) everyday. Although, you may have to look harder for those little purple flowers on the side of the walkway in the middle of the weeds you can rejoice in those little miracles of encouragement. Take a moment today to reflect on the purple flowers in your life.
Photo by donjd2
Allergic Reaction to What?
A couple weeks ago I ran out of the dish soap I was using so grabbed the next bottle on the shelf that I had gotten with coupons. I was busy making supper for a new Mom so didn’t really pay attention too much as I was baking and cleaning the kitchen. When I got all the goodies packed up to deliver and was on my way I noticed that my hands were burning. With the cold weather lately my first thought was that they were probably chapped and needed lotion. I put some lotion on, visited the Mom, dropped off the meal and was on my way back home when I realized that my hands were getting worse.I started thinking about all the stuff I had done in the last few hours and realized it had to be the new dish soap. As soon as I got home I put benedryl cream on my hands and started reading the ingredients on the bottle trying to figure out what it was that made me react so badly. The amazing part is the bottle (even though it was a well known brand) didn’t list the ingredients just said “botanical” but it had a picture of a white flower and the soap was blue. A couple years ago I had a reaction to a flower shampoo that was blue as well so maybe it was the same type of flower or something about the blue color either way I would have to go through testing to figure out what it was that did it so for now my brother’s family has extra soap and I will avoid flower soaps that have a blue color.
Even though it has been a couple weeks my hands, although better, are a still a little rougher despite all the extra cream that I have put on them. It is amazing how one 10 minute dish washing session can effect even your hands if the soap doesn’t agree with you. I am grateful to have relatively few allergies compared to many people. Thankfully, the allergies I do have are manageable like avoiding blue soaps. Do you have allergies? How does it effect you?
