I agree that God has His own ways of sending messages of comfort around the heartbreaking events of life. One happened to me about 10 years ago.
I was hiking alone in the New Mexico desert at an ancient Indian ruins at Chaco Canyon, which itself is a rather eerie place. Coming down off a mesa, I could see a coyote standing in the dirt road below, looking up at me. I figured such a skittish animal would be long gone by the time I made it down to the road about 10 minutes later. But there he was: standoffish but nonetheless still there in the road, about 20 feet away, looking at me.
I figured he was looking for a handout, so I tossed him a bit of granola bar. But instead of snarfing it up, he backed off a little. After about a minute or more of this eye contact, he kind of sheepishly backed away, then turned and quickly walked off, looking back once or twice.
It was very wierd. And the Zuni family I had dinner with that night sat in stunned silence when I related the tale. I later learned why they seemed so uncommunicative. Coyotes, in their cosmology, are often the habitation of spirits, and the messengers of omens. Usually bad.
One week later, I got my mom's tearful call that my 70-year-old father, a righteous man of God, had died in his sleep, having never been ill.
One other oddity that day at Chaco: After seeing the coyote, I was driving north out of the park when a brief but violent rain sqwall swept through. And as I was plowing along the muddy dirt road, I was stunned to see not one, but two of the brightest rainbows I've ever encountered. Right in front of me.
God DOES care.
The battles rage aplenty close at hand and far abroad. Few comrades there seem to be far too often. Your encouragement is MOST welcome. BLESSINGS to you and yours.
The coyote story is quite plausible to me as is the rainbow one--as messages from Father to your heart. Those canons are awesome, right? It will be good to get back and see some. I also will enjoy seeing Oak Creek Canyon again in Arizona. Hope to see Arcosanti as well. . . though my Dad hates that place for biggoted "damn hippies" reasons.
Some assert that there are ancient Chinese characters in some remote cliff dwellings in rarely viewed ruins. . . and that Navajo has 90% of the vocabulary of a native Chinese type language on Hainan island, if I have my locations correct. I haven't checked that out but read it in a seemingly authoritative source. I know Navajo is Athabaskan.