As a Colorado native, the Rocky Mountains are something that I took for granted for roughly twenty years of my life.
Don’t get me wrong– the mountains are beautiful. I mean, they’re the way I grew up understanding which direction was West, and they’re why everyone and their moms were invading our state, but that was about all I knew about them.
As someone who doesn’t enjoy freezing my tush off, I never got into skiing or snowboarding, and while I absolutely adored camping as a child, it was something that typically only happened once a summer due to the huge and divided nature of my family.
And thus, the gorgeous mountains that I stared at everyday and I never became intimately acquainted.
Ironically, it wasn’t until I made friends with “Denver transplants” from all over the country that I began really exploring the Rockies about two years ago.
My beloved friends– the ones who had “invaded my state” for the sake of hiking, skiing, or general outdoor shenaniganry– and I began exploring nooks and crannies in the mountains on holidays and weekends. And shocking enough, the more time I spent in the mountains, the more I have absolutely fallen in love with them. (Maybe all of those tourists I grew up making fun of were actually onto something… Oops, sorry y’all!)
There is something incredibly sacred about the unpolluted silence at the top of a mountain or the ability to drink glacier water straight out of a rushing stream.
This summer as I have been learning to slow down and experience the beautiful world around me, the mountains have become the place where I feel most in tune with God and where I hear Him most clearly in my heart.
No wonder He always told the leaders in the Bible to meet with Him on a mountain top!
Think about it:
Moses met with God regularly on top of Mount Sinai all throughout the book of Exodus.
Elijah had an absolutely wild encounter with God where He met him in 1 Kings 19:
“So he said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
(Uh, say what!?)
Jesus himself gave his famous “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7, well, from the top of a mountain. (Which p.s. if you’re looking for a good read, whether you’re a Christian or not, I HIGHLY recommend reading these few short chapters. What a beautiful message for mankind!)
Peter record hearing the voice of God audibly say, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased,” when he was on the top of the holy mountain with Jesus and John in 2 Peter 1:16-18.
There are over 50 references to mountains throughout the Bible and all of them somehow relate to the majesty and power of God and His beautiful Gospel.
All of this to say, God LOVES mountains. And so do I.
Eventually, once I finish processing all of the magical things that God taught me during my time in the Alaskan mountains, I will write about it right on this here blog. But until that time comes, I simply wanted to leave you all with some of the beautiful photos that I was able to capture during my time in Port Alsworth.
Oh, and I wanted to encourage you to GO OUTSIDE. Get into the mountains!
(Or if you’re not lucky enough to drive 30 minutes and be immersed in the mountains– ahem, I’m lookin’ at you, Texas– then just go somewhere and experience the goodness of God through his creation.)
Put down your phone!
Stop reading your Facebook or this silly blog and go hear what God is trying to tell you!
I promise you will hear it more clearly at the top of a mountain where there isn’t wi-fi, cell reception, or a hundred thousand people buzzing around you in taxis or cars.
Lake Clark Beach in the evening (Click to enlarge — my blog hates panoramic photos…)
The Alaska Range meeting the Aleutian Range
The gorgeous Alaskan mountains contrasted by Josh’s very shadowed head
The view of Lake Clark from my puddle jumper
But seriously, I could look at this lake all day and never get sick of it
The Alaskan Range from the middle of Lake Clark at dusk
Pike fishing on the Newhalen River
The Lower Tanalian Falls at the base of Mount Tanalian
For the rest of my photos, check out my Facebook.
But seriously, go outside and experience God’s creation first! It is RAD!
Louise in the Light 