God speaks in messages hidden in plain sight

Artists and writers will make their mark in order to make their presence known—a recorded journal entry, a poem, a painting, a novel, all to show they passed by, they were there, they took notice.

I, too, took notice of the message trees between Pagosa Springs and Chimney Rock, Colorado. I painted a series of aspens in 2009. I carved hearts, initials, and dates in the tree trunks. I hid words of peace, love, and hope, and sent messages through the trees.

I surprised art owners with hidden messages. Two aspen paintings, 22X28 in oil hang in my daughter and her husband’s home with their initials in a heart and the date 1986. The year they married. An arrow with the initials ALB—the story of their meeting in the aspen trees. A New York Military Policeman met a New Mexico girl in Albuquerque. He said he took a left turn in Albuquerque.

God will speak in messages hidden in plain sight. Only the eyes of the heart can see. His words are written on our hearts, embedded in us in spirit with power and truth. We become the messenger and message like the aspen trees planted along a path over a century ago.

Aspens grew along the cattle trail between Colorado and New Mexico where the cattlemen drove their livestock north. They carved their initials in the trees to direct others and tell them they had passed by. The dates on the trees were as early as 1900.

La Plata Electric Association publishes the Colorado Country Life Magazine. In one of their magazines their front-cover photo and story were about the message trees.

The thought intrigued me. I asked people who might know about the trees. In 2013, I wrote to a Wild West History Blog and questioned if they knew the stories or anything about them. I received comments from several people. They had not heard of them, but heard other ways people left their messages in key places.

More about the Message Trees: https://wildwesthistory.blogspot.com/2013/05/question-about-message-trees.html 

A soon-to-be-released novel ~ 2023~ Taming Wild Hearts ~
This is a story about a country family in 2017, who lives in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Their history is like a family of aspen trees that were planted in the Rocky Mountains in 1900 and tell their story today. This five-generation-cattlemen family owns 5,000 acres, runs their cattle, raises their children, and respects the land.

The Crawford family has seen trouble and trials, but still stands tall, straight, and reaches upward to hear from heaven.

Elizabeth Rae Crawford is the last living matriarch of the Crawford family. In this monthly newsletter, Elizabeth, one of the main characters, tells her story.

I’m Elizabeth Rae Crawford. My husband, Joe calls me Libby. I wasn’t always old. In Betty Slade’s novel, Taming Wild Hearts, Book One, in the Disappointment Valley Series, I’m 80 years old. I still feel 36. I can ride a horse, go on cattle drives and take care of my ailing husband. I sit at the head of the table with my grown boys around me. My words still carry weight.

Betty Slade captured me in watercolors in the prime of my life. At 36 years old in 1977, with five children, and a good husband, I had no need or want. By the choices of others, not by my control, my life took another path. Forty years later, Book One, tells my story through two main characters, Luke Barrett and Bree Steele.

Subscribe to this newsletter and live the saga of drama, romance, and mystery with the Crawford Family.

Mid-month, a prompt is sent out to tell a story in six words. Thank you to all who contributed a six-word story this month.
 

Someday I will play ball too.
Helene Smith

My brother is my baseball hero.
Helene Smith

Are you going to play today?
Larry Weseloh

Let me play. I'll show them!
Darshan Gabriel Shanti

I am done for the day!!!!
Danni Andrew

“You said, girls couldn’t play ball.”
Carolyn Wease

“Scratching butt, pals watching ballgame: Nirvana!”
Charlotte Roe

Three friends catching a baseball game.
Jessica Tanner

Are we gonna win the game?
Mary Santos

I came. No airplanes. I'm bored
Rachel Critchley

Look! My Dad’s faster than yours
Betty Slade

Searching for answers in the darkness
Fran Lewis

Locking eyes with the distance image
Fran Lewis

What is the small child wondering?
Fran Lewis

Hearing, seeing, asking, what's out there
Fran Lewis

Coldness surrounds the tall boy. Why?
Fran Lewis

Watch for our February 15th communication for next month's Six-Word Story prompt and be included in the March newsletter.

Thank you to all who receive this newsletter.

For Valentine's Day, I want to give you a gift for your faithfulness to this Newsletter. The King’s Choice is a study book of the Song of Solomon, the greatest love story ever told.

The King's Choice is relative to anyone in this day who seeks a deeper and maturing relationship with God, the Living God.

Solomon's Song of Songs speaks of God's love between Himself and His People, Christ and His Bride (The Church) and the relationship between a man and a woman.

The book cover is a picture of the Shulamite bride in an oil painting. It is one of seventeen images I painted of the story of the Song of Solomon for a TV program where I taught a Bible Study.

Click to receive your copy of The King's Choice.