Cree's Tree

Welcome to unseen today. Living Unseen requires getting our resources from reliable sources, even in hard times. Read on to see a lesson from an unusual place.

Cree’s Tree

He will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Is 61:3

The Texas Panhandle is a desolate place in many ways. The first settlers said that there was no way that trees could grow there.  Houses were usually dugouts or sod houses called soddies. The stereotype that Texans are bullheaded has its roots in fact. In 1888, a settler named Thomas Cree and his wife came to West Texas after working on the railroad. Since there were no trees for wood, they built a dugout. His wife wanted a tree, so he drove 35 miles in a wagon to get a sapling. He decided that for her sake he would get a tree to survive, by George. He watered it from a lake he dug from a buffalo wallow and it lived for many years, through blizzards and droughts. Although it has since died, in 1963 the governor dedicated a historical marker there, celebrating the first tree in the Panhandle. What was the secret of Cree’s Tree, as it is known? In a word, roots. What the early settlers did not know is that deep under the prairie grasses and dust ran an underground river. It is known as the Ogallala Aquifer, which I still find fun to say out loud.

The Bible has a lot to say about trees. In Psalms 1, we read this about the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord;

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Psalms 1:3.

Isaiah says that we are the trees of righteousness planted by the Lord for the display of His splendor. (61:3) The parable of the sower compares different types of soil that seeds grow in the seed that fell in the shallow soil grew up quickly but because it did not have deep roots, it died quickly too. The seed that fell on the good soil took root, grew strong and multiplied thirty, sixty, or even a hundredfold.

I have mentioned before that I grew up in a family “well-versed” in the word of God. (Pun intended.) From my earliest days I was taught stories and memory verses. They took root and my faith has held trough the wind storms and drought in my life. This is what I hope for you. Water your seeds of faith with prayer, study and fellowship. Take heart when God prunes off dead leaves in your life. Take joy in being a tree of righteousness created to display God’s splendor.