Hugh's News & Commentary

Today, I want to give honor and praise to Almighty God for allowing Melvine and me to have this 50th Wedding Anniversary reception for our family and friends. Without Him, this event could never have happened. All that we are or ever hope to be, we owe it all to Him. He is the sole Source of our salvation, our strength for today, and our hope for tomorrow.

Then, we want to thank all of you for coming today to celebrate with us this once-in-a-lifetime experience. You have truly honored Melvine and me, and our adult children, Greg and Stephanie. We are so grateful to you for coming.

I have always loved music. One of my favorite all-time singers was Nat King Cole. He like me, is an Alabaman. He was born in Montgomery, and I in Birmingham. The song that he sung so beautifully expresses my deepest love for Melvine, and I want to quote it for you today:

"When I Fall in Love" (Nat King Cole)

"When I fall in love it will be forever
Or I'll never fall in love.
In a restless world like this is
Love is ended before it's begun
And too many moonlight kisses
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun.

"When I give my heart it will be completely
Or I'll never give my heart.
And the moment I can feel that you feel that way too
Is when I fall in love with you.

"And the moment I can feel that you feel that way too
Is when I fall in love with you."

When I first saw Melvine she came up to Appomattox, VA, in a snow storm with her next door neighbors, Melvin and Callie Moore and their daughter, Betty Von Moore. Melvin Moore was a top executive for Fieldcrest Mills. Betty was dating Daneel le Roux, the pastor of the Pentecostal church as well as a school teacher in the public school system. The men's quartet that I sang in from Holmes Bible College was conducting a weekend revival at the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Appomattox, VA.

When I stood up to play my trombone I saw that strikingly beautiful young woman with curly black hair, brown eyes with olive complexion, I said to myself, “I’m going to marry her.” It was love at first sight. I had never seen a woman so beautiful in my life. From that moment I have loved and cherished Melvine.

She was 5 feet and 1 inch tall. I was 6 feet 4 inches tall. That concerned me, and I talked with one of my professors at Furman University about it. He taught a course on Marriage and Family Relations. He said, “Walking down the street you may look like Mutt and Jeff, but when she sit down in a movie (and we didn’t attend movies) you are about the same height."  Somehow that settled the perceived problem for me.

i always checked with my mother and my maternal grandmother about the girls I dated. They seemed to be more discerning than I was, and I trusted their opinion and wise counsel. Although my grandmother never met Melvine, she really like the photo I showed her of Melvine and she said, "Hugh Holmes, Melvine is the right woman for you. She has a strong character, and is strong physically, emotionally, and spiritually."  I thought it was amazing that my grandmother could pick up so much about the girl I have fallen in love with from a photo. Getting her seal of approval, as well as my mother's, was vitally important to me, and I knew I had found my jewel of great worth.

Melvine had a great deal of faith in me and my vision and determination to go to seminary and become a military chaplain. I am not sure many young women would have done what she did in helping me get a seminary education. I told her upfront that God had called me to be a military chaplain. Shortly after our honeymoon in the mountains of Western North Carolina and Tennessee, we drove our car, a 1956 Chevrolet to Wilmore, KY, where I was to be a student at Asbury Theological Seminary.

The truth is that we had no place to live, no jobs, and no money to pay for a furnished apartment or a seminary education. My mother asked Melvine where we would live, and she said, "I don't know. We may have to sleep in our car the first night or two; but, we will make it."

Well, we drove all day from Draper, NC, to Wilmore, KY, arriving there at midnight. We were weary and our faces felt dirty. You see we had no air conditioning and no radio. The town of Wilmore had gone to bed; the streets were vacated, the sidewalks rolled up, and there were no barking dogs in the neighborhood. We stopped in front of one of the buildings at Asbury Theological Seminary, and there were three students from India sitting on the front porch. It was a hot August night as the full moon clearly lighted the way.. I parked our car, and told Melvine to wait while I talked with these young men. One of them knew the manager of the guest quarters, and woke her up. She was very pleasant and helpful, and gave us an air conditioned room, with a comfortable bed, and a hot shower with soap, wash cloths and towels. It didn't take us long to fall asleep as we were exhausted. All we had in this world was packed in the smallest U-Haul trailer we could rent for the trip. In the trailer was Melvine's hope chest, our clothes, and many gifts that had been given to us.

Apparently, God had gone before us and was with us. We met a Methodist lady the next morning, and she informed us that there were no available teaching jobs in Wilmore, but in Versailles, about 17 miles away, they needed a 3rd grade teacher. She said, "I think you may get the job if you drive over there." So, we did, and when Melvine walked into the principal's office, he asked, "Are you Mrs. Morgan?" Melvine was not accustomed to anyone calling her Mrs. Morgan. She had been known as Miss Stewart. Apparently, Mrs. Kinner in Wilmore had called the principal for us. Well, he hired her after the interview.  We learned that the butcher of the IGA grocery store had a furnished basement apartment and we looked at it. He offered us a great deal, but we didn't have the money for a down payment or the first month's rent. Melvine told him she had a teaching position, but it would be a month before she could be paid. Melvine is a persuasive speaker. That was no problem for him, and he allowed us to move in and wait until Melvine got paid to pay the rent.

I had to have $200 to register for school and I didn't have that kind of money. So, I decided to go to the Wilmore Bank to borrow the money. The loan officer asked me if I had any collateral or if I had anyone who could sign for me. Of course, I had no money or worldly possessions, and I didn't known anybody in the town. The banker asked me, "Well, why are your here?" I told her that God had called me to be a military chaplain and that He directed me to Asbury Theological Seminary. She said she would have to talk with the president, and suggested that I come back in a couple of hours. I did, and to my pleasant surprise, she informed me that the president had approved my loan. I was given the $200 in cash after signing a lot of papers. I walked to our apartment and in the mail was a letter from my brother-in-law, R. H. McDuff. He wrote only two lines, "Dear Hugh and Melvine. I was thinking of you and thought you might need this money." The check was made out for $200 exactly what I needed. I took the $200 cash back to the bank and paid off the loan without any interest, and cashed the check for $200.

When I went to register for the fall quarter at the seminary, I discovered that a Methodist lady in Sebring, FL, would be my donor for one-half of my tuition every quarter during my seminary education. She said that she had always wanted to invest in a Pentecostal Preacher Boy.  She told me that every soul that was saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit God would give her credit, too. God provided for us, and I never had to take out a student loan and graduated with honors, and owed no one anything except love the day we left to drive to the home of my parents in Birmingham.

Shortly after we got to Wilmore, I got a job working at the Winn-Dixie super market in Lexington for a short time. Then, God opened up a job for me to work at the IGA grocery store in Wilmore, only a block from our apartment.

My last year of seminary, I was the minister of music at the Wilmore Presbyterian Church. I led the singing, directred the adult choir, planned special musical programs for the Sunday evening worship services, and Melvine directed the children's choir. In addition, I was given opportunity to preach when the pastor was away.

During the three years we lived in Wilmore were some of the most exciting and wonderful years of our lives with growth producing experiences. However, it was not all glorious. Melvine had a miscarriage and she was far enough along in her pregnancy to learn that he was a boy. Then, my last year in seminary, Melvine carried a baby for the full nine months. However, the doctor didn't exam Melvine properly and was not aware that she had a curvature in her spine, and was unable to give natural birth to a baby. The doctor waited too late, took Julia Frances Morgan by C-Section. She was a still born, and I held her in my arms with blood and amniotic fluid all over her. She was still warm, and I held her close to my heart. I wanted to scream, and shout. I cried and prayed for God to raise her from the dead. He in His wisdom and divine Sovereignty chose not to answer my prayer, and I had to surrender to the providence of God. I was young and didn't understand that Melvine needed to see and hold our baby. The doctor and nurse did not instruct me to do that. I was left alone. I am bothered today that I was so insensitive to Melvine. She was unable to go to the graveside service for Julia Frances. However, I am confident that one day Melvine will hold her in her arms in heaven and look upon a beautiful girl who is alive and well.

I had a graveside service for Julia Frances Morgan, Melvine's parents and her sister came from North Carolina. Dr. Frank Bateman Stanger, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, conducted the service. Classmates, professors and local pastors including Dr. David Seamonds, senior pastor of the Wilmore United Methodist Church, and his wife were present and offered pastoral care to Melvine and me. Dr. Harold Greenlee, the foremost Greek scholar in the 20th Century, told me that I would hold Julia Frances in my arms again, and see her not as a baby, but as a person growing and learning in heaven. What a comfort that has been to Melvine and me.

Over the years, Melvine and I have ministered to scores of couples who have lost children through miscarriages, abortions, still birth, and early childhood deaths.

Melvine has taught me more than I have taught her. Several times in seminary I felt like giving up, but she challenged me to hang in there.
Although I majored in psychology, Melvine knows far more practical psychology than I do. She knows how to get me to do what needs to be done. For example, she will say, "Hugh, I am going to let you take out the garbage today."

I believe the secret of a successful marriage of 50 years is learning to say “Yes, ma’m.”

It’s remembering birthdays, and anniversaries. It has to do with continuing to court long after the wedding ceremony. It is telling Melvine that I love her every day. It’s sharing in family events and keeping the lines of communication open with in-laws, especially Melvine’s father and mother. I couldn't have asked for better friends than Russell and Frances Stewart.

It took me all of 35 years for me to understand that the house where we lived was not mine, but hers.  I had the mistaken idea that I could turn the formal dining room in Richmond. VA, into an office at home. I learned very quickly that would never happen. When she saw what I as trying to do, she put her hands on her hips and informed me that this was her home, and I could not turn the dining room into my office. I got the message.

We have moved about 14 times in our marriage. I hope we never have to move again until we move to heaven.

We have enjoyed our four pastorates, including 2 years in Brownville, AL, 9 years in Birmingham, 9 years in Athens, at Tarkenton Memorial P. H. Church, 2 years in Richmond at the First Pentecostal Holiness Church. We actually lived in Richmond 4 years. God enabled us to sell our home in Richmond, and move back to Georgia. We have purchased a moderate home and love where we live.

God blessed us with a career in the Air Force on active duty and in the reserve, an opportunity to be a college president, and now director of Chaplains Ministries, IPHC, and a Christian journalist.  I am the publisher of Hugh's News that is read around the world. I am glad I have some time to do some above the ground gardening, and I love to raise tomatoes, okra, squash, and other veggies. The best part of gardening is giving the produce away.

We moved back to Georgia to be near our children, and the church we gave the best years of our lives to. Melvine is a marvelous teacher and everywhere we’ve been, she has had a large Sunday school class. She has probably led more people to Jesus than I have by being who she is. She is a radiate Christian, full of life and joy.

Melvine is the love of my life, my best friend, and the mother of our children. I still enjoy being with her and taking her to many places in this big, wide world of ours. This Friday night, August 13, I will take her out to dinner, just the two of us. I look forward with eager anticipation to dining with her alone.