Footprints in the Sand

I wanted to say that I was intrigued to see this poem Footprints in the Sand was written by Mary Stevenson. A few years ago I came across a little book written by an American lady - Margaret Fishback Powers. The book is entitled Footprints and tells the supposedly true story of how that poem came about. It was originally called 'I Had a Dream'. Margaret fought to get copyrite of her poem but in the end she felt God tell her to hand it over to Him and let it go. Margaret concludes her book by saying that she is no longer offended when she sees copies of her poem in shops that have been slightly adapted and prays that her poem will continue to help people through their struggles. The poem, as written by Margaret is FOOTPRINTS – Margaret Fishback Powers

One night I dreamed a dream.
I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me, and one to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand
And to my surprise,
I noticed that many times along the path of my life
There was only one set of footprints.
I realised that this was at the lowest
And saddest times of my life.
This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.
‘Lord, You told me when I decided to follow you,
You would walk and talk with me all the way.
but I am aware that during the most troublesome
times of my life there is only one set of footprints.
I just don’t understand why, when I needed You most, You leave me’.
He whispered, ‘My precious, child, I love you and will never leave you
never, ever, during your trials and testings. when you saw only one set of footprints
it was then that I carried you’.

SITE ADMIN'S EDIT:

There is actually proof that the poem was written by Mary Stevenson, and that Margaret Power's claim to have written it (like many other similar claims) is false.

Footprints in the Sand has been seen in print by people the world over since the late 1940's and for most of that time it was credited to 'Anonymous'.

It was actually written by Mary Stevenson in 1936, and for many years handwritten copies were distributed by Mary to those who needed something to give them comfort at a low point in their lives. It was sometime after this that friends of Mary saw it in print and wondered why she wasn't given credit for writing it. An attorney at that time told her that it would be very hard to prove her authorship, as since the 1940's it had been published in so many books and greetings cards, so although Mary had written the 'Footprints in the Sand' poem she was unable to prove it.

In 1984 while cleaning out the garage to prepare to move from her house she rediscovered a very old handwritten copy that she thought was lost. It was dated 1939, just three years after she wrote the original. The copy was subsequently examined by a forensic expert who checked both the paper and the ink, and checked the handwriting against a copy of Mary's handwriting of the time, and they were able to authenticate that copy had indeed been writen in 1939. In 1984 the U.S. copyright office awarded her the copyright for 'Footprints in the Sand' 48 years after it was written.

Many other people, including Margaret Fishback-Powers, have tried to claim authorship of the poem, but Mary Stevenson is the only person who has been able to produce authenticated forensic proof.