Thomas Trock

Mountain Cathedrals: The Outdoors From a Different Perspective

Trees & Plants

Calypso Orchid

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. – Genesis 1:31 NKJV He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]–yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end. – Ecclesiastes 3:11 AMP Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow …

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Snow Flowers II

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. … “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let …

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Mountain Treasures IV – Maple Trees and Hidden Treasure

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7 “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. – 2 Chronicles 16:9 Not too long ago a couple of good friends came over to our home and helped cut a large …

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Acorns and Oak Trees

A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. – Ecclesiastes 3:2 NLT Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. … “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. – John 12:24, 27 NIV Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and …

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Snow Flowers I

God’s voice is glorious in the thunder. We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power. “He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down. … We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty; but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us. No wonder people everywhere fear him. All who are wise show him reverence.” – Job 37:5-6, 23-24 NLT Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. – James 4:10 NKJV “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things …

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Thanksgiving VII

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. … Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. – Psalm 139:17-18, 23-24 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. – Proverbs 15:13 NASB20 Recently I was chatting …

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Snow Pattern in the Trees

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. – John 3:16-17 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that …

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Fall Colors IV

Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And …

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Mountain Treasures III – Hidden Treasures and Cottonwood Trees

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3 NIV Cottonwood trees are one of the fastest growing trees in North America. They can add an amazing six to seven feet of height in a year. Even though man classifies the cottonwood as a hardwood, their rapid growth characteristic makes for soft wood relative to many other trees. And this softer wood can cause the cottonwood to be susceptible to damage or breaking during severe wind-storms. Cottonwood trees like water, so you can often find them near streams …

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Pink Elephant Flower

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:11-12 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam …

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Blackberries

The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. Psalm 145:15-18 I’ve been blessed to live in many parts of this world, but I have never seen so many blackberries growing in such abundance as where I live now. I have a friend who is currently serving in South …

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Daylily

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. Psalm 90:12 NLT Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9:27-28 NIV A few years back we planted a variety of flowers to add some color to our backyard. I didn’t know much about the things at the time, so I just bought …

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Trillium II Springtime in the Mountains VIII

…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. … because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:18-19, 24-25 Like the orange salmon which spawn near my home …

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Fall Colors III

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:7 My vocabulary is a bit more limited than usual these days. Most every time I go around a corner, the word “WOW” just seems to spring forth without even thinking. I’d mentioned in an earlier post that the various colors in the leaves are actually present all summer. I didn’t see them because they were hidden by the green chlorophyll in the leaf. For a more detailed ­– but short …

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Deer Fern Bed

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as …

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Hidden Things Revealed

Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs …

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Autumn in the Mountains – Fall Colors II

Daniel answered and said: Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. Daniel 2:20-22 Cool weather and shorter day-length are once again having an effect on the mountains where I love to live. As I took this picture, sounds of the stream sliding over dark rocks filled …

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Fern Pattern

but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD   Numbers 14:21 When I take the time to look around on my hikes, I almost always see something I haven’t seen before. Patterns of the most intricate kind abound in the woods and mountains as the above picture of ferns illustrates. Ferns are non-flowering plants. Instead of flowers, ferns produce spores – lots of them. It is estimated that one fern can produce spores numbering into the billions during its lifetime. The spores are usually formed on the underside of the fronds, or …

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The Recyclers II

All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. Ecclesiastes 3:20 Each spring a bit of a unique sight occurs for a short time around the forests and meadows where I live, especially if there are some old leaves from last fall still visible on the ground. Earthworms come out at night and pull old leaves and debris into and around their burrows. Sometimes there can be several piles of leaves one or two inches high across the forest floor. As the soil warms up after a long winter, the worms are starting to …

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A New Thing

Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 Have you ever noticed – when there is snow on the ground in the spring – that there is often a circle of open area around plants where there is no snow? I had my suspicions when I observed this recently, but I admit I had to do a bit of research to make sure. From what I’ve seen, and the best I could find out, the …

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Fall Colors I

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:3 While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 Seeing color is an interesting concept. There is an entire science dedicated to studying color; how it is perceived by the human eye, where it originates in an object, the …

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Huckleberries

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth. These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season. Psalm 104:14, 27 A nice perk of the mountains where I live is the occasional discovery of various foods to munch on whilst hiking about. Late summer and early fall yield a lot of different kinds of berries, many of which are safe – and quite tasty – to eat. Once when I was with our old yellow lab, Moon, …

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The Recyclers

Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 Many of the rivers not too far from my home are a bit low in nutrients relative to other places in the mountains. The granite rocks which surround these streams don’t provide a lot of essential minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, or magnesium. The result is that the lower level of the food chain, i.e. the small plants and insects, which feed on the plants, aren’t quite …

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Elk Bugle

He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens at His discretion. Jeremiah 10:12 Early autumn is an interesting time in the mountains where I live. Things happen that are unique to this time of year and make for some interesting hikes. Besides the leaves beginning to change color, many animals are preparing for winter in one way or another. And it’s also breeding season for much of the big game that live nearby. Females of many species will carry their developing young over the winter so …

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