GOD & TEXAS: Love Gives

Love is not only something you feel, it is something you do! This was a favorite phrase of the late Texas-based pastor and author David Wilkerson. There are many love stories in historic Texas where love was expressed by doing. Real love gives.

Several accounts tell of a romantic relationship between Colonel William B. Travis and Rebecca Cumings. Because Travis was still legally married to a woman in Alabama, marriage plans were stalled. But before he left to assume command of the Alamo, Travis gave Rebecca a brooch, and she gave him a cats-eye ring. Love gives.

Even a rugged man like General Sam Houston understood the principles of love. During his courtship of Margaret Lea in 1839, he presented her with a cameo that was made in Italy. Throughout their marriage, they often exchanged love letters when Houston was traveling. The cameo and some of the letters are now displayed at the Texas State Library and Archives. Love gives.

Former President of the Republic of Texas Mirabeau Lamar was known for his poetry and creative writing. During the courtship of his second wife Henrietta, he dedicated to her the poem “In Deathless Beauty.” In 1857, as another gift to Henrietta, he published a collection of his poems titled Verse Memorials. Love gives.

And then there was Thadium (Thomas) B. Cree who gave his wife a tree. Around 1888, Thomas and his wife Melissa, settled on the High Plains of Carson County Texas, just north of Palo Duro Canyon. Melissa was the niece of Jesse Chisholm, the legendary developer of the Chisholm Trail, and was well-acquainted with rugged Texas living.

However, the staked plains terrain of West Texas was a whole new world. In 1849, Army topographer Lt. J. H. Simpson described the Llano Estacado as “an uninterrupted expanse of dead level prairie, with not a tree anywhere upon it to vary the scene.” And Melissa loved trees!

Because there was no lumber, Thomas built a dugout house. But seeing that Melissa longed to see at least one tree, Thomas traveled over 35 miles until he found someone who would sell him a bois d’arc sapling. He planted it in front of their dugout as a gift of love. Love gives.

Even though Thomas carefully watered it, the tree had stunted growth. But it did survive until 1970 when a careless county worker accidently sprayed it with a toxic herbicide. The county replaced the tree and erected a historical marker noting that this was the location of the first tree in the Panhandle.

The tree that Thomas planted because he loved his wife, not only encouraged her, but became an important landmark for traveling settlers trying to negotiate the staked plains. In both the natural and spiritual realm, true love gives.

As Jesus said in John 3:16 NKJV, “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.”

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