Orchids - People in Disguise

I love orchids. I would have to say they are one of my favorite flowers. The other favorite would be Gerber daisies. Most women prefer roses...and don't get me wrong, I like roses...I just like orchids the best. There are so many kinds of them and they remind me of my childhood. My mom used to raise them and so did Susan's mom. I loved walking into our backyards as a kid and seeing them all dancing in the South Florida breeze...and yes, they do dance because the bloom is on a stalk. The orchid in my picture is one from a friends backyard. It is called a cattelya orchid. What do you know about orchids? Well as a kid I actually went to the library and researched my favorites. Dendrobium, Cattelya and Phalenopsis are my big three of favorites. What I found out about them was that "orchids belong to the most diverse family of plants known to man. There are over 880 genera, 28,000 species and well over 300,000 registered cultivars currently documented. These numbers only begin to tell the true story behind the evolutionary success of modern day orchids. Orchids are the most rapidly changing group of plants on earth and more new species have been discovered over the last few thousand years than any other plant group known. Orchids are also one of the most adaptable plant groups on earth. Some Australian orchids grow entirely underground, and many tropical jungle orchids grow in the upper branches of trees. Tundra, rainforest, mountain, grassy plain, desert and swamp environments contain numerous orchid species. Orchids produce seed pods with literally hundreds of thousands of seed that are released and scattered by the wind. Orchid seeds must establish a symbiotic relationship with a special fungus to survive its first year of life. The fungi gathers water and minerals for itself and the seedling, and the seedling shares its sugars from photosynthesis with the fungus. Only one or two orchid seeds will ever germinate and survive on that perfect crevice or depression that is both moist and has the fungus present. Even then, its chances to survive in the wild long enough to bloom are slim." So with that knowledge I came to respect the orchids that my mom and Susan's mom grew in the backyard. I discovered they are a lot like people....some of us survive where we bloom, others of us whiter away and die. Some of us die due to disease and starvation, yet...when we do bloom...we are breathtaking....no matter where we are, no matter what species, no matter what color, no matter what. Orchids are one of God's most beautiful creations...but mankind is his most perfectly beautiful....because we were made in his image. Genesis1:27 (New International Version) tells us:" So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And sometimes when down I am down on myself and think I am not worthy, I love to pull out my orchid pictures and I smile, I smile because when I look at them I know I AM BEAUTIFUL just like this orchid. God made me that way. Have a Terrific Thursday!