Happy Valentines Day y'all on this February 14, 2025. Today is dedicated to love, especially with an emphasis on romantic love. It was the summer of 1962 when my wife had actually visited in my home before I ever met her. I was 15 at the time. She and some other girls came over to visit with my sister, JoAnn. They were all participating in a gospel singing school at a nearby Church and I came into the house and passed by them all sitting at the kitchen table. I didn't notice any of them and kept walking. Later on that same afternoon one of the local guys asked if I wanted to go out to Oak Grove Church to the singing school. I had just returned from working for my uncle in Florida and singing school was not anywhere on my agenda. They persisted. They told me I didn't have to do any singing and there were a lot of good looking girls attending. Good looking girls. Now that was a revelation that got my attention. We did go to the singing school and there were good looking girls there, especially one I noticed. When the program ended a bunch of the girls headed out. There were four or five of them crammed into a school-bus-yellow and white Chevy pickup. It was driven by Beverly. We still know her today. In the country we don't have a lot of entertainment and I think they went to the drive in for cokes. We followed. When they left we left and followed them. I was riding in a pickup driven by Charles Miller. We finally ran them down and they stopped near the artesian well. We got out. They stayed in the truck. I meandered up to the passenger side door and guess who was pressed up against the door. None other than that same cute girl I had noticed at the singing school. I got closer. Suddenly, we were face to face. Bam! I do not know what song went to playing but it had a lot of bells in it and I was struck and smitten all at the same time. Okay, that's my story and at this late date I have no choice but to stick with it because first and foremost it's the truth and secondly I still live with the other half of that visit to the truck door, some 62 and 1/2 years later. Our lives together has not been a tip toe through the tulips and we've had our ups, downs, joy and our share of sorrow. However, I couldn't be more thankful for the wife of my youth and how, only by the grace of God, we are still doing life together. Over the years I've had young married fellows ask me what they should do to improve their marriage and to make their wives respect and love them more. The only thing I could tell them is this. First, you can only do what God wants you to do and to be. That involves hearing and responding to this inspired admonition, Ephesians 5:25, "And you husbands, show the same kind of love to your wives as Christ showed to the Church when he died for her..." Invariably, they would say, but what about her? Yep, there's the verse that tells her to submit as unto the Lord, but, the husband can't be the wife, he can only do his part and when he does it will offer the best condition for her to respond in kind. Okay, that's enough of what I have learned and believe me when I say I'm still working on it, with God's help.
Notice how I am sticking to my commitment to make this shorter. I believe she was thinking words. I was thinking paragraphs. I would be remiss not to share what true love as demonstrated in the Bible is all about. It's briefly explained in this one response from Jesus Himself, "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) It was love that was both undeserved and sacrificial as proven by Jesus on The Cross. Whatever your needs are today, whatever your situation, the issues and challenges, bring them all to Jesus. Allow Him to show you what true love is all about. And with that I bid you a farewell for now. See you next time, Lord willing, and the Creeks, (perhaps the Creek Indian Nation) don't rise. May God add His blessings. Amen.
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