Our first hike at Theodore Roosevelt NP was the Pertified Forest Trail. Petrified wood is actually a fossil with minerals (especially silica) replacing the organic material. Most of the color in petrified wood comes from trace metals (iron, chromium). The process occurs underground, when wood becomes buried in water-saturated sediment or volcanic ash, reducing the availability of oxygen. Petrified wood is later exposed after erosion of surrounding sediment. The petrification process is very slow – petrified woods is typically millions of years old. (Source: Wikipedia)

While I don’t think of myself as pertified, it is easy to look back and see the long process of change that has occuried in my life. Change that is a result of the “environment” God has placed me in.