Conversations

A Collection of Inspirational Poems

Bill Wyland

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781645157854
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Religious Poetry
• Index: Literature

ONE MUST KNOW GOD BEFORE ONE KNOWS THEMSELVES May the poems in this book, Conversations, give the reader, encouragement and hope. You, the reader, will be privy to private conversations that will enable you to discover answers to questions that the Bible deems important for your growth toward salvation: What does sovereignty of God mean? What do we know about man's free will? What is truth? How is my salvation accomplished? How to discern good and evil? and more...Hopefully, the questions and answers you discover will encourage you to ask your own questions, so that you will understand God better. Prayerfully, you'll then understand yourself more fully and be given a desire to have a loving relationship with Jesus. -John 15: 15Conversations $00.00

Conversations

A Collection of Inspirational Poems

Bill Wyland

Copyright © 2020 by Bill Wyland

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Graphic design by Rebecca Barbier.

Scriptures are from the MacArthur Study Bible.

Dr. John MacArthur, Publisher: Thomas Nelson; Lea THM edition, October 10, 2006.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

I Believe

Remember

Stay in Touch

Sufficient

Take His Hand

Time to Think at the Shore

Trust

Truth

Innocent

Abide

Man’s Free Will

The Little Boat

Be Teachable

Dependent

Good

It Is Not Enough

Lucky

Our Prayer for You

P + O = S

The Ball

The Field

The Road That Is Forked

True Tolerance

Worry

They Believed

The Goal

Jim and Joe

Making an Impact

Having a Baby

Mom

A Healthy Family

A Mother’s Prayer

Hand in Hand

Dad’s Tribute to Your Mom

Be as One Soul

Our Daughter

Our Sons

Cousins 7 at the Beach

Cousins 9 at the Beach

Perseverance

Valentine’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day 2017

Available

Can I Be Available Again?

Do!

True Joy

To Be a Good Neighbor

Why We Do?

Another Day at the Shore

Autumn

Unity

Worship—Honor

Dedication

To my wife, Donna, for her love, faithfulness, and perseverance during our spiritual journey, for the past fifty-six years.

To my three children—Jim Wyland, Doug Wyland, and Kim Krul.

To my ten grandchildren—Olivia, James, and Addison Wyland, Isabella, Jack, Samuel, Katelyn, and Benjamin Wyland, and McKenna and Brandon Krul for their love and inspiration.

Introduction

It was when I was encouraged to write this book of inspired poems that I realized the poems perhaps could encourage others to seek the truths of the Bible and assist them to understand the path to salvation. The poems give the readers the privy of hearing various conversations, such as self-conversations, a believer and a doubter, a believer and a non-believer, and more.

Some people, perhaps like you, placed by God, will gain answers that will free you and others, so all will grow a more mature, discerning attitude about what is good and evil.

When I was young, my questions seemed simple to some: “Where do I fit?” and “Will I ever have a true friend?” Is it possible that you had or are having similar questions? My beginning time for these questions, and more, started when I was two to six years old. God blessed me, over time, with answers that now enable me to share more with you.

As I began looking back in my life, there was much confusion for such a young boy. My mom’s dad had just died, and we were moving from the north side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My dad and mom decided, very lovingly, to include my aunt, five years older than me, and my grandmother. A doggy named Buddy was not included. Oh, how I missed taking him through the fence to the meat packing plant behind our rented apartment for his hotdog. This made me feel good that I had helped my best friend and buddy.

My parents also rented to Ethel Culler, a single mom, and her son, Ardean, who was being deployed to France. He was really tall, with his many medals on his broad chest. His shoes were very shiny, and his paratrooper beret was tilted to the side. Wow, I had hero! As I stretched up, he bent way over to hug me good-bye. I wondered if I would ever see him again, well, I did not. He lost his life at the Normandy Beach invasion of France in the 1940s.

Little did I know, Ethel would become my helpful anchor when my mom began working. Ethel comforted me through my difficult early grade school years with her knowledge of her best friend and Savior, Jesus Christ. She shared many of His attributes: “He sacrificed His life for me, He was kind, He’ll protect me, and He will never leave me.” When Ethel’s son lost his life in World War II, she shared that her son, Ardean, was now in heaven with God and that I too could be, when I know God better, realize He keeps His promises, and learn to trust Him. Ethel also gave me my first Bible, which I took to college, from where I continued to correspond with her until years later, when our three children had a chance to meet her and her born-again husband. He played the organ, and we all sang songs together.

It was because of Ethel that I asked my mother for special going-to-church clothes. I got up myself, dressed, and walked a good way to a child’s class at a Presbyterian church. When I learned as a teen that my good friend and teammate went to a Lutheran church for Sunday school, I began to attend, and after two years of attendance, I was baptized at the age of fifteen. At age eighteen, I was elected president of the high school student body, where I was given the opportunity, with an English Sunday schoolteacher, to prepare the Bible verses I would read in the school’s assemblies.

When I had asked my mom why we did not attend a church together, she simply said, “I grew up in a particular church, and I want you to choose for yourself.” She also added, “Your great-grandfather was a devoted Christian in Pittsburgh.” I was also very happy to hear he was a highly respected and successful businessman. He died before I met him, but he was my secret hero all my life.

My mother, who was adopted, was an example of agape love: giving and not expecting in return, forgiving, selfless, and truthful. My dad, in his early twenties, sang on KQV radio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the great Stanley Theater and surrounding nightclubs. He experienced many disappointments from his father. As a young man, I witnessed the absence of God in my grandfather’s life, when he allowed life’s circumstances to dictate and he committed suicide. My dad never spoke about this situation to me but was always there for Mom and me. He always made a good living, even self-employed as a mechanic, and had income property. He was a good neighbor, and after his voice failed, he left his radio show and later became a successful licensed real estate agent. My father was a friend of mine, because he disciplined me fairly in my early youth years and encouraged my love for baseball, football, and reading. However, he did not attend church regularly, and as time went by, I was wishing I had the complete understanding of salvation so I could assist him in his understanding.

After high school graduation, our family moved to Bellevue, Pennsylvania, and I began attending Bellevue Presbyterian Church, where my dad began, occasionally, to attend church with Mom and me. He had a stroke and surgery, which forced him to retire, and together they moved to Florida and away from church-going. I was afraid, because Mom did not drive. I became more concerned as I was learning about salvation, and Dad was refusing Mom’s desire to continue attending church in Florida. Then he became very ill, and I was blessed to be able to witness to him at his bedside, before he died.

My deceased grandfather, a businessman, had dropped out of school and tried out for the professional Canton, Ohio, Bulldogs football team at age fifteen. He loved sports and encouraged me to follow my dreams in baseball and football, which led to a grant-in-aid in both sports to a Methodist school, Mount Union College, now University of Mount Union. Mount provided chapel each week, and I noticed quickly that the assistant football coach was the minister and led the chapel service.

My major was business administration, with courses in social studies, math, and science. I was recognized by the National Council of Social Studies for high grades in all my social study classes, which included a Religions of the World class. This course explained many of the differences in religions, which raised my curiosity and later helped me when I taught world history.

My adviser in college was chairman of the business department, and he was pleased with my freshman grades. He also advised me that the economy was not strong and that I should take an extra course in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the summer, which would start me toward a second major in education.

Why was I extra dependent on the Lord my senior year? Let me explain. In my first semester of the “silly” sophomore year, I was careless with my prep time for cl...

Table of contents

• I Believe
• Remember
• Stay in Touch
• Sufficient
• Take His Hand
• Time to Think at the Shore
• Trust
• Truth
• Innocent
• Abide
• Man’s Free Will
• The Little Boat
• Be Teachable
• Dependent
• Good
• It Is Not Enough
• Lucky
• Our Prayer for You
• P + O = S
• The Ball
• The Field
• The Road That Is Forked
• True Tolerance
• Worry
• They Believed
• The Goal
• Jim and Joe
• Making an Impact
• Having a Baby
• Mom
• A Healthy Family
• A Mother’s Prayer
• Hand in Hand
• Dad’s Tribute to Your Mom
• Be as One Soul
• Our Daughter
• Our Sons
• Cousins 7 at the Beach
• Cousins 9 at the Beach
• Perseverance
• Valentine’s Day
• Happy Mother’s Day 2017
• Available
• Can I Be Available Again?
• Do!
• True Joy
• To Be a Good Neighbor
• Why We Do?
• Another Day at the Shore
• Autumn
• Unity
• Worship—Honor