How can a word be so powerful? To eighty-nine-year-old Betty Bishop, words are a part of her life. “I first started taking notes to keep myself from falling asleep in church.” But after discovering how those words impacted her devotional life, Betty kept at it. “I have 3,100 legal pad pages of notes I’ve taken while listening to Andrew’s program over the last several years, and even more from church or other teachers I listen to. I’ve understood [Scripture] so much better since studying with him.”
When Betty first heard Andrew Wommack on television, she had been a Christian for years. “I discovered Andrew’s program while scanning through the Christian stations. I was attracted to the uncompromising Truth he spoke. I take notes because I know I won’t remember everything he says, and I don’t want to miss anything important. My notes let me go back and study to make sure I understand what I’ve been taught.”
Enjoy this excerpt from one of her poems:
Since studying with Andrew, Betty says she’s learned to totally depend on God. Recently her 16-year-old cat got lost: “Symmi usually stays very close to the house,” Betty recalls. “Her back legs are weak and she’s deaf. But when she hadn’t returned by nightfall, I began to worry. By the third night, I was losing it.” Rarely letting her emotions get the best of her, Betty says she “was bawling.” “I went out with a flashlight to search for her, and just as plain as if He were visible, I heard God say, ‘I will take care of Symmi. You calm down and go to bed.'” Immediately, Betty felt God’s peace, and the next morning, Symmi waltzed around the house a little thinner but just as bossy and spoiled as before. “As simple as that may seem, it illustrates how personal God is in each of our lives when we learn to trust Him.”
With a lifetime of stories of God’s faithfulness—even in her unfaithfulness—Betty takes time each day to remember His goodness and write down her “life notes” in a book she’s putting together, called Traveling Life’s Road on a Learner’s Permit. In it, she details God’s faithfulness to her during childhood, through war, as a mother, and the death of her spouse—in narrative poetry. Betty’s hope is that the power of the Word in her life will reflect in the words she writes and will bless others.
I waited for the feeling that Christians talk about—
The feeling folks experience—the one that makes them shout.
I’ve seen the tears of happiness flow freely down their face,
And wondered when it was my turn to feel this work of Grace.
I did just what the Bible said to have my sins forgiven;
I accepted Christ and all He did to pay my way to heaven.
I bowed my head in thankfulness, but still I wanted more—
That feeling that I knew should come from Heaven’s open door.
I read His Word, as written; I memorized it, too.
Then found each time I studied my soul was fed anew.
I learned to listen to His voice and heard Him speak my name.
He touched the chord that filled my soul—‘twas then the feeling came.
