Within the folder was an assortment of clippings and articles and even a letter from my grandmother. But as I kept snooping through my collection of "Ideas" I stumbled upon a small booklet that stopped me in my search. It read; "What is a Christian?" (sub title--"A follower of Christ") by Ada M. Wishon.
I knew this special lady when I was just a young girl, way back in the 70's. She had every right and every noble quality in her character to be the author of this little booklet, not that she needed my approval. She has been deceased many years now. I remember my mother loved her dearly. I can see her and her husband's image in my mind like it was yesterday. I called him Brother Wishon. I called her Ms. Wishon. They lived right in the heart of town in a sage green colored cinder block house in Grove, Oklahoma where I grew up. Even this little booklet I found is sage green. She must have liked the color. I flipped open the front cover and these are the words that caught my attention, which were on the flip side of the cover. It was titled "The Temple of God", She writes:
God did not build His Temple
Of mortor, stone nor clay,
He built it in the soul of Man
where it can not decay.
His Temple must be always clean
The cob webs swept aside,
With Satan's ever constant snares
Our Christ can not abide.
The way to keep His Temple clean
We must spend time in prayer,
Repent, believe, trust and obey
for we are in His care.
In us He lives and moves and breathes
He is our living bread,
He feeds us daily with His love
He can not feed the dead
The dead, in darkness and in Sin
Always in deep despair,
Need only to look up to Him
for he is always there.
He lives to come into our lives
To cleanse our hearts from Sin,
To live eternally in us
'Tis then our LIfe begins
A life of Love and Joy and Peace
To never be alone;
To always have that home in Him
When He calls for His own.
The small booklet was only 8 pages long, with hardly a type err. She clearly explains the defining truths of what the Bible says to do if you want to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
What impressed me about this small booklet, also spoke to me greater than the words themselves. It reminded me of how valuable our thoughts can be when shared with others to hold and read.
My daddy told me years ago to write down heart felt words especially to people you love, as it would be words of promise for them to retreive when they seem to have a doubt of how you feel. He told me this while going through my first divorce. Funny, some of the words I kept through the years from my dad were sharp and harsh, yet always full of so much love.
Ada--Ms. Wishon nudged my heart within her written words. She would have loved knowing I found her little booklet today that was printed in Pittsburgh, Kansas and who knows how many years ago. There was no year to date.
I would have loved sharing with her my written words and shared with her my 2 books. But she is gone and I will just have to blog on her behalf. As a matter a fact, I just found out TODAY that my second book is now in the printing process as I write this, and after a grueling process of submission I can call myself an Author. Amazing now that I think about Ada's encouragement to me, today! My 'book' has 228 pages and yet Ada's 8 page booklet of words speak as loud as the 'ba-zillion' words! My nephew Kyle told me one time to just write, it transcends the heart. He was right.
The truth is, I hope many years from now that the person who purchases or I give one of my books to will tuck it away like I did Ada's. I would hope that in the moment when it's most important, they will find it, take it out and flip open the pages. My prayer is that when they begin to read it, they feel the "Promise" in which it was written.
Ada's closing words of her booklet were this; "So shall we ever be with our Savior and Lord."
She concluded her booklet with a passionate promise and a profound text. She is right. Are you a follower of Christ? Well, I hope you find that lost Bible or that certain book, maybe one of mine..........or Ada's.
