Letters From Grandpa #47

• LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
• 47

Dearest Grandchild,

Just going through a pile of papers and stumbled on this poem which my mother had saved. I grew up in a modest neighborhood at 207 N. Tacoma in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mrs. Joe Bryan was one of our neighbors who lived just across the alley on Brady Street. When I was three years old I rode my little red tricycle in front of her house on my way around the block. This was, of course, far beyond the boundaries allowed by my mother.

Based on what she saw, Mrs. Bryan composed this poem.

His Mother’s Call

There’s a spirit of adventure

In this tiny lad of three.

As he starts out on his “trike”, And so he thinks, thinks he. “I’ll go around the whole block On my pretty trike so red”. And not a worry ever enters

That little curly head.

‘Till he hears his mother calling.

Calling him by name.

Faster and faster he hurries, ‘Till he’s round the block again.

If in the far far future,

When this lad becomes a man, And the spirit of adventure Once more leads him by the hand. “I’ll go round the whole world In my shining plane so red”. Will these be the thoughts That enter his curly head? Will he hear his mother calling,

Calling him by name,

Guiding him around the world

And safely home again.

Written in 1939 by Mrs. Joe Bryan

As a point of interest, my first international flight as a pilot was to Mexico in 1963. The airplane was a four place Aeronca Sedan (N1136H), with a bright red fuselage.

But the purpose of this letter is not about me, it is about you. As you know, there are 26 grand children in our family. At this time (2015) the oldest is 36 and the youngest is 12. It is interesting to consider the possibility that God has had a plan for your life from the time you were an infant.

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God had a plan for Jesus before He was born.

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God had a plan for King Cyrus before he was born (Is. 44:28 - 45:3). He is the only gentile called the Lord’s anointed, and generations before he was born God ordained that he would rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

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God called Isaiah to be a prophet before he was born (Is. 49:1, 5).

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God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations before he was born (Jer. 1:5). #

David wrote that all of his days were written in God’s book before one of them came to be (Ps. 139:16).

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Paul was set apart from birth to be an apostle to the gentiles (Gal. 1:15).

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Etc.

Just because God had a plan for others does not necessarily prove that He also has a plan for you, but if you are wise you will certainly consider that possibility.

Charles Thomas Studd was born in England in 1860. His father was a wealthy, retired, planter. By the age of 16, he was an expert cricket player, and at 19, captain of his team at Eton College. He became a Christian at the age of 18, but that commitment never really changed his life. Then, a series of events put him on the mission field. The following words had a great impact on his life:

“If I firmly believed, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, then religion would mean everything to me. I would cast away earthly feelings as vanity. Religion would be my first waking thought, and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should labor in its cause alone. I would take thought for the morrow of eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a life of suffering. Earthly consequences would never stay my hand, or seal my lips. Earth, its joys and its griefs, would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon eternity alone, and on the immortal souls around me, soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach to it in season and out of season, and my text would be: What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

These words, I am told, were written by an Atheist. He didn’t believe in God, heaven, or hell, and his life was consistent with his belief. When this Atheist, however, looked at Christians, he saw a glaring inconsistency. The Christians “claimed” to believe in God, heaven, and hell, but they basically lived the same way he did. That’s why the Atheist began his remarks by saying “If I firmly believed, as millions say they do”.

Ashamed of his own lack of commitment, C. T. Studd went to China as a missionary in February, 1885. He chose to eat, dress, and work like the Chinese peasants that he might have a better chance of winning them to Christ. At the age of 25 his father died, and he inherited a large sum of money. He immediately gave away 30,000 pounds to Christian causes. When he came to realize the full value of his inheritance he gave away thousands more until he had only 3,400 pounds left. He saved this as a wedding present for his bride.

After three years on the mission field he married a young Irish missionary named Priscilla Livingstone Stewart. When he presented her the remainder of his inheritance, she followed his example and promptly gave it away.

In 1900 the family moved to India, and in 1910 he went alone to central Africa. When a Committee of businessmen failed to follow through with financial support they had promised, C.T. said: Gentlemen, God has called me to go, and I will go. I will blaze the trail, though my grave may only be a stepping stone that younger men may follow”.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m. in July of 1931, C. T. Studd went home to be with Jesus. The last word he spoke was “Hallelujah”. His legacy is summarized by a poem he composed. While the poem is long with many stanzas, these opening words will be sufficient to reveal an important truth for you to consider:

“Two little lines I heard one day, Traveling along life’s busy way; Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart; Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce