We were meeting then as a man and woman must always meet, when the world and time stand aside and there is only this, a meeting of minds and of pulsing blood, and a joining of hands in the quiet hour.”
–Louis L’Amour

“Life was so short.  Hope and love so futile!  Home and family…should be treasured and lived for with all the power of blood and mind.  Friends should be precious.  It was realization that a man needed.”
–Zane Grey

“Pack it up, honey, it’s time for us to be a-movin'”  How did Sarah react to those words?  She was cozy and comfortable in Ur, but now Abraham was telling her that they were moving.  Contrary to many modern women, Sarah didn’t throw a tantrum, she didn’t say that if he goes, he goes alone.  Nope, the Scripture just says that Abraham took her with him.
Nothing is mentioned about her desires or her plans.  She didn’t get the neighbors to join her and protest with a march down the street.  What she must have done was get the goods of the home together and make sure they were properly packed on the camels.  Busy, busy with love, following her man.
Graduation was not far away, but I had no job.  Vietnam was certainly in the picture.  Down I traipsed to the recruiters office and enlisted in the Air Force.  Graduation came, I went to Basic Training, but first the wife and I packed up and took her to her parents for a few weeks.  Then my first assignment, Tyndall AFB, FL.  We went from a small, one-bedroom apartment in Missouri, to a small two-bedroom trailer in Panama City.  But that wasn’t all, we moved twice more in one year.  “Pack it up, honey, we’re movin’.”
From 1972-1977, we moved ten times.  No gripes, no complaints, no threats to run home–she was with me all the way.  After the military there was no work, it was lean times and without Granny and Pappy we would have been hard-pressed to make it.  But then, it must be the Holy Spirit again, we moved to of all places, Houston, TX.  No way, neither of us could believe we were actually moving to Texas.  “Pack it up, honey, we’re moving to the Lone Star State.”
Eight years there, then Cajun country in Baton Rouge for six, then back to cold country in northern Kentucky for three years.  “Pack it up, honey, I’m moving you all around the country.”  In all of the places where we lived, there certainly were no “crystal chandeliers.”  I was teaching, coaching, and working on my master’s degree, whew.  She was teaching and keeping the budget, making sure we always had good food, and once in a while a pie.  Then that “pesky” Holy Spirit sent up back to Texas.  Can you believe that?  “Pack it up, honey, we’re headin’ for San Antonio, yeehaw!”
Abraham moved Sarah around a few times.  I wonder if that camel was comfortable?  Goodness, what a life they must have shared!  Not always smooth, and there was a lot of sand under their feet as they traveled.  Times were different, cultures were different, occupations were different, but Abraham/Sarah have something in common with Don/Annie.  We have tried, in every move, to be led of the Holy Spirit.
“Pack it up, honey….”

“Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich is life.  She will not hinder him, but help him all her life.”
–Proverbs 31:2-3 (NLT)

I remember it well, not the actual day, but it must have been a Saturday brunch.  I was sitting there, mind you, by myself enjoying a sausage and scrambled egg breakfast.  For some reason, must have been the Holy Spirit, I glanced around the room and there was this cute little brunette girl staring at me.  Now I know that people often stare at strange folk so I figured this must be the case with her.  But, I decided to stare back.  She was sitting with an acquaintance of mine that I had in class.  Sitting there, a thought rambled through my gray matter, must have been the Spirit, and I thought, “That’s the gal I’m going to marry.”  That was it, a flash, and it was gone.
Well, she realized that she had been staring at me, and I don’t know the conversation at their table, but eventually they came to me and I was introduced.  Annie Baker from Pittsburgh area.  Nice to me yuh, nothing else from either of us.  Several months passed, and into the new year of 1970, she appeared again.  We just happened to keep bumping into each other, there goes the Holy Spirit again–the post office, the basketball game, a concert, the library.  Finally, while at the library I decided to ask her out.  From that first date of bowling and pizza it became a whirlwind.  You know something; it still is.
Now I fell for her, whooeee, but it took a mite of work on my part.  I’d go my room after we took a walk in the park, and I always saved at least a dime so I could buy her an ice cream or something to drink at the snack shop.  Then I had to spend a summer apart.  The words of this poem, by that famous poet “anonymous” fits the bill.

          “Lonesome?  Well, I guess so!
           This place is mighty blue:
           The silence of the empty rooms
           Jes’ palpitates with — you.”

If you haven’t figured out by now, that crazy day is upcoming–Valentines Day.  My mercy!  This will be our 47th Valentines Day together.  One thing for sure, I wasn’t about to give up on a good thing! 
We’ve never been fancy folk.  I sure didn’t have any money, and still don’t have much, but I kept her for many years.  There was a popular song by Charlie Pride back then and I often sang it to her, much to her chagrin, not the words but my voice.

“They’ll be no mansions waiting on the hill with crystal chandeliers….  All I have to offer you is me.”

Whoooeee, and she took it.  Must have been the Holy Spirit!  Have I ever told you that she really knows how to bake a pie?!!

“Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.”
–Proverbs 31:10 (NLT)

Have you ever felt cold?  I mean real cold, where death, if not to person at least extremities is close at hand.  There is the fear of frostbite, and maybe the joints are starting to stiffen.  If warmth is not found soon then death will come.  Perhaps the cold comes from deep inside.  The heart is cold, the spirit is dead.  It makes me recall the song by Johnson Oatman, Jr.:

          “Once a sinner far from Jesus, I was perishing with cold,
           But the blessed Savior heard me when I cried;
           Then He threw His robe around me, and He led me to His fold,
           And I’m living on the hallelujah side.”

The bait is out there.  There is the lure of the world; its promise of wealth, of luxuries, of dreams.  The lure is bright and dazzling and hard to ignore.  Don’t succumb to the promises of the world, for they are but gilded dreams.  Look instead to the glow of heaven.

          “Tho’ the world may sweep around me with her dazzle and her dreams,
           Yet I envy not her vanities and pride,
           For my soul looks up to heaven where the golden sunlight gleams,
           And I’m living on the hallelujah side.”

Where is your delight?  Is it in your dreams?  Is it in your goals?  Or have you turned those over to Jesus to fully seek His kingdom?  Remember, where your treasure is there will also be your heart.  Seeking the things of this earth is only temporary; it is vital to make decisions and live this life with eternity in view.

           “Not for all earth’s golden millions would I leave this precious place,
            Tho’ the tempter to persuade me oft has tried,
            For I’m safe in God’s pavilion, happy in His love and grace,
            And I’m living on the hallelujah side.

            Here the sun is always shining, here the sky is always bright;
            ‘Tis no place for gloomy Christians to abide,
            For my soul is filled with music and my heart with great delight,
            And I’m living on the hallelujah side.”

Life can come at us with tremendous force and destruction.  The storms may rage against us and even in our soul.  How we deal with those depends much on how we look toward eternity and to the Lord.  If we are not careful, this world can get into the depths of our souls and we have a life that is void and unhappy.  But if we keep our soul refreshed by the Holy Spirit we can truly, even when the storms assail, live on the hallelujah side.

           “And upon the streets of glory, when we reach the other shore,
            And have safely crossed the Jordan’s rolling tide,
            You will find me shouting ‘Glory” just outside my mansion door,
            Where I’m living on the hallelujah side.

                      Oh, glory be to Jesus, let the hallelujahs roll;
                      Help me ring the Savior’s praises far and wide,
                      For I’ve opened up tow’rd heaven all the windows of my soul,
                      And I’m living on the hallelujah side.”

There’s a snake lurking in the grass.”
–Virgil

“It’s not the decisions you make that determine your destiny.  It’s how you handle the outcome of your decisions.”
–unknown

My buddy from junior high and high school and I used to ride our bikes out to lakes in the region to fish.  I remember one day, it was warm, and the fish were not biting.  Doug went off to the left to try some lures in another spot.  I decided to lazy fish, I put a worm on one hook and salmon eggs on the other, then laid back.
I was laying there, maybe fifteen minutes, when I looked to my side and “Whoop-ti!” (a term from my Grandpa) a snake crawled out from under me.  Needless to say I was no longer laying in that spot; actually for a while I might have been airborne.  I didn’t feel it move so I probably was laying on its den.  Well, after I got my young heart slowed down some, I looked and saw it was a garter snake.  By that time Doug had come over, and for some reason he was laughing. Well, I gave that snake a fling out into the lake.  Hopefully he became dinner for a large trout or largemouth bass. 
Now that is the way with life at times.  We are just relaxing, enjoying the day and once in a while a snake crawls out from under us.  We get caught unawares, the old devil has slipped in and we just didn’t realize it.  Sometimes the seemingly innocent things can turn out to be a snake in the grass.  Something happened and we were not expecting it, and then we possibly didn’t react properly and wound up in a mess.
Just a garter snake is not bad, but crawling from underneath you, well, I guarantee it will get your attention.  But what if?  What if it had been one of those nasty rattlers?  They are the ones with those large, deadly fangs full of poison.  We make enough trouble for ourselves in life with the snakes that we see out there.  Those writhing, conniving, sneaky snakes ready to strike out.  There are plenty of those in life, but to lay there on top of one, “whoop-ti”.
I remember a story of a cowboy up north.  He and his buddy were out looking for strays.  They took time to make some coffee and get a little snooze in after lunch.  The cowboy woke up, and yep, on top on him was one of those pesky rattlers.  He softly spoke his pard’s name to waken him quietly for he didn’t want any sudden movements to stir up the snake.  “Get him off me,” he was almost crying.
His partner ran to his saddlebags.  He had a camera there and wanted to make sure to get a picture, for it most likely would not happen again.  Some pard!  But everything worked out all right.  Those snakes!  Just be sure to watch for them when you go walking out after dark.  In fact, as Christians we should never be walking in the dark, but the Word of God should be that light upon our paths.

“Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?”
–Matthew 23:33 (HCSB)