You want to remember, just romance is not enough. You may often imagine yourself in love, but always remember you have to live with that person from day to day, in sickness and in health.”
–Louis L’Amour (The Cherokee Trail)
“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.”
“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.”
–Song of Solomon 7:10 (NKJV)
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“And her hand was soft and trembly
That night underneath the tree,
When I couldn’t help but tell her
She was ‘all the world to me.'”
–Charles “Badger” Clark
It wasn’t underneath a tree, but on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, ’round about midnight in the pouring rain that I pulled off to the side. It was such a romantic setting, not like you see now with guys kneeling and begging, nor the fancy dinners and doings. I told her (right out of Charlie Pride’s songbook) that “There’ll be no mansion waiting on the hill with crystal chandeliers… Everything I have is standing here in front of you to see. All I have to offer you is me.” (Arthur Owens) It was the right time and the right place, so I proposed. We had been dating since mid-February, and I wasn’t about to let her cut me loose. So I entered the school year with a smile on my face.
However, the spring before I popped the question I had to “wine and dine” her. Ha, ha, on my income. Usually we would have a “date” in the library and if I could save a couple of dimes we would go to the snack bar for a coke or ice cream bar. If only one dime, then we’d share a coke. There was one fella, he was kind of bothering her, in fact, he was right down stalking her. He would pop up almost anytime. Finally, I decided it was time for he and I to have a little discussion. I told him in no uncertain terms to SCRAM! I wasn’t about to let him get in the way of my wondrous romancing.
That summer I went home to work so I could come back to school the next year. Annie stayed for summer school so she could graduate with her class as she started school a semester late. A lonely summer for sure, but I wrote close to every day. We planned to meet at Gary and Kathy’s wedding in August, and it was I was taking her home from there when I asked her to marry me. Boy howdy, did I make the right choice!
———————————
“And her hand was soft and trembly
That night underneath the tree,
When I couldn’t help but tell her
She was ‘all the world to me.'”
–Charles “Badger” Clark
It wasn’t underneath a tree, but on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, ’round about midnight in the pouring rain that I pulled off to the side. It was such a romantic setting, not like you see now with guys kneeling and begging, nor the fancy dinners and doings. I told her (right out of Charlie Pride’s songbook) that “There’ll be no mansion waiting on the hill with crystal chandeliers… Everything I have is standing here in front of you to see. All I have to offer you is me.” (Arthur Owens) It was the right time and the right place, so I proposed. We had been dating since mid-February, and I wasn’t about to let her cut me loose. So I entered the school year with a smile on my face.
However, the spring before I popped the question I had to “wine and dine” her. Ha, ha, on my income. Usually we would have a “date” in the library and if I could save a couple of dimes we would go to the snack bar for a coke or ice cream bar. If only one dime, then we’d share a coke. There was one fella, he was kind of bothering her, in fact, he was right down stalking her. He would pop up almost anytime. Finally, I decided it was time for he and I to have a little discussion. I told him in no uncertain terms to SCRAM! I wasn’t about to let him get in the way of my wondrous romancing.
That summer I went home to work so I could come back to school the next year. Annie stayed for summer school so she could graduate with her class as she started school a semester late. A lonely summer for sure, but I wrote close to every day. We planned to meet at Gary and Kathy’s wedding in August, and it was I was taking her home from there when I asked her to marry me. Boy howdy, did I make the right choice!
When I look over at her in the evening as we are watching Gunsmoke or some other show, I think to myself how much the Lord has blessed me. Then on those days when we share morning coffee on the deck, or beside a campfire, I smile, at least inwardly, thinking that the Lord knew what He was doing to bring Annie to me. When I look at her cooking and baking (i.e., the pies whether they be apple, blackberry, butterscotch or other) I smile, not only is she good-looking, loyal, and dependable, she can bake pie.
Milton Carson (a pseudonym) penned the following:
“My love will grow deeper as time passes by
Deeper as the ocean and as high as the sky
My love, my devotion are yours till I die.”
When I think of those early days of courting, I often stop to think of the Lord and His relationship with His bride–the Church. He is betrothed to her and has currently gone away to prepare a place for them to dwell. He is building, and thinking of His beloved and waiting for the day when He will go to get her. There will be a grand jubilee, and a wondrous feast in heaven when He returns with her. As I did, with some of my money designated for school, I placed a seal upon Annie with a ring, so the Lord has sealed His bride.
“Place me like a seal over your heart, or like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, and its jealousy is as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame.”
–Song of Songs (Solomon) 8:6 (NLT)
There are stalkers in this evil world. Foul-mouthed individuals who mock and scorn the bride. Jesus will not have His bride sullied and dirtied. He will make sure that she is kept pure for the wedding day. Oh, and a side-note, if the Lord wants a pure bride, how much more should we follow His example with the one we love? The Lord is ready, I’m sure His eyes are burning fire right now as He looks down on how His bride is being treated. It won’t be long before He says, it’s time! Time for the wedding, time for the feast–time for Me to go and fetch My bride home!
Milton Carson (a pseudonym) penned the following:
“My love will grow deeper as time passes by
Deeper as the ocean and as high as the sky
My love, my devotion are yours till I die.”
When I think of those early days of courting, I often stop to think of the Lord and His relationship with His bride–the Church. He is betrothed to her and has currently gone away to prepare a place for them to dwell. He is building, and thinking of His beloved and waiting for the day when He will go to get her. There will be a grand jubilee, and a wondrous feast in heaven when He returns with her. As I did, with some of my money designated for school, I placed a seal upon Annie with a ring, so the Lord has sealed His bride.
“Place me like a seal over your heart, or like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, and its jealousy is as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame.”
–Song of Songs (Solomon) 8:6 (NLT)
There are stalkers in this evil world. Foul-mouthed individuals who mock and scorn the bride. Jesus will not have His bride sullied and dirtied. He will make sure that she is kept pure for the wedding day. Oh, and a side-note, if the Lord wants a pure bride, how much more should we follow His example with the one we love? The Lord is ready, I’m sure His eyes are burning fire right now as He looks down on how His bride is being treated. It won’t be long before He says, it’s time! Time for the wedding, time for the feast–time for Me to go and fetch My bride home!