Day 8 in Alphabetical Valentining...H Words...

HOWDY HOMBRES...Let me start out this Thursday Valentine post by writing about the Sunday morning I made an all day journey from my HARMAN, Virginia HOME to HIWASSEE Junior College, located about fifty miles from Knoxville & two HARD miles from a little town named Madisonville in Tennessee. It all started at daylight that HOT June morning, for Mom & Dad took me to Claypool HILL to catch a bus that was traveling west....

Mom HAD packed my HABERDASHERY in one large trunk and a suitcase, plus a HANDBAG or two...After boarding the bus at about 9:00, and stashing my goods in an HIDDEN
compartment underneath the bus, we went merrily on our way, passing through numerous towns, picking up more passengers & losing some along the way, but the biggest stop was in downtown Knoxville....

I was beginning to think we would never get there. It was late evening when the bus arrived in Madisonville...There was nothing HOSPITABLE about the bus station or the people I met. The Driver of the bus HELPED me retrieve about a HUNDRED pounds of luggage from the HIDDEN compartment, and with not another single person disembarking, HE went on towards Nashville....

Myself, with no taxis or other HUMANS in sight, just followed the sign that was pointing towards HIWASSEE, carrying a bag or two and dragging a big trunk behind me as I HUSTLED down the HOT & dusty unpaved road....All through HIGH school I HAD HAD good luck HITCHHIKING, but my luck ran out that day. HARDLY any traffic & the few that did pass me, just waved their HAND...Two HARD miles later, stopping only occasionally to sit and rest on my trunk, I arrived near the campus...There was one last HURDLE: An UPHILL climb on a winding road through a cemetery...

After about an HOUR searching for my roommate, fellow HARMAN boy, Willard 'Sheriff' Owens, who HAD attended the First Summer Session & had sent a letter a few months previous, asking me to attend the Second Summer Session...
I HAD just graduated from HIGH School at Grundy & HAD been debating about whether to join the military. Mom & Dad HAD encouraged me to try, so there I was...

But I was ready to go back HOME that very night...Willard's room was a drab basement room, and after Willard showed me around a little (There were less than a HUNDRED attending that summer session.)...and only about 25 boys & most of them must HAVE been HIDING...LOL..

Willard managed to lock me in HIS room and make me promise to stay at least one night, and that was really a no-brainer, for it was almost dark & the prospects of walking back down through a graveyard & HUMPING it two HARD miles down the road to catch a ride HOME wasn't at all appealing...

I said OK and HE laughingly opened the door to a place I HASTILY learned to love as I got HABILITATED to my new surroundings. HIWASSEE was HOME for two HEAVENLY years, and was also HOME for my beloved brother David about five years later..When I visited HIM on occasion, it was HEARTENING to see that HE was staying in a brand-new dorm...AND that the HIGHWAY to the college HAD been paved...HIGH times indeed...

"My son, eat HONEY, because it is good, and the HONEYCOMB, which is sweet to your taste." 
Proverbs 24:13...

"HOW sweet are Your words to my taste, yea sweeter than HONEY." 
Psalm 119:103...

"Blessed are those who HUNGER and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." 
Matthew 5:6...

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your HEARTS and minds through Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:7...

HEAVENLY Father, HELP us to be HOT-HEARTED & Not HOT-HEADED as we fall HEAD-Over HEELS in love with You and Your HOLY Word this Valentine's Day, forgoing the HOGWASH & HOOEY that HOVERS around us...
In HOSANNA's name I pray, Amen...

HAVE a Very HAPPY HUMPDAY Thursday my HEARTFELT Friends ....
& may we HAVE a HANKERING for HIM & HIS HANDIWORK.
HAPPY Valentine's Day...& remember this:
It's HARD to see HALOS when you're looking for HORNS