Then and Now

Good morning, everyone. I think that you will like what I have done with my blog today. If you will remember, I came to you in that poem as a young girl just leaving home with all of the hopes, joys, etc. that the optimism of youth possesses. I took the poem from page 18 of my book, W.O.W. created w.o.w. and applied a, "Now" theme to it. I talked about life as a woman fully grown. In other words, I started the poem back then and brought you up to now. Do read it and tell me what you think. The questions at the end will prove to be interesting, too. (The green highlighting represents the now.)

Wind at My Back

The day that I left my hometown

To go off to school

 Is a day that I’ll always

Remember as being exciting and cool.

What I knew about life

You could fit into the smallest paper sack

I just did not know what I would be up against

Didn’t realize that I was “new meat”

Set for the world’s attack.

I left home with stars in my eyes

And the wind at my back

Courage came along with me to

Make up for the materials things that I lacked.

No, I did not have money at the time

But I was not worried about that

For I had the strong conviction

That the powerful God of heaven

Had taken an inexplicable interest in me.

Didn’t have any money to pay the necessary fees

And only had one pair of shoes

But I had hope in my soul, joy in my heart

And a FATHER to guide me.

I knew that the same God that had

Opened the doors of the university

And had found acceptance and a room for me

Would supply whatever I needed because

The state of my non-existent bank account was sad.

I hit that dorm with a smile on my face

“Look out world; am here to begin my race"

Don’t look down on me

With your assumed superiority.

Though I didn’t have material things just yet

But I knew that my education was the

Means by which I could get

Anything that others had as far as material gain

And I knew that they’d look past my clothes

Once they got a taste of my wisdom- laced brain

For you see before you a being

Who will take on any challenge

And whip this feat “lickety” split

Before you realize what you are seeing.

Now, stands before you a woman fully grown

Who has walked through fires, pitfalls, and traps

Set by some in their determined and relentless quest

To, this woman of faith, take down several pegs

Even if it meant attempting to cut off her faith legs.

By the time you realize that

Here is a force to be reckoned with

You will discover that you have been bested

By the penniless one, without

Ever realizing that you were being tested!

The penniless one learned that the testing was mine, not theirs

I learned to keep going, no matter what efforts

To stop my commitment to the Lord were made

Learned that, “I AM” was the One Who paved my way green

Learned to lean and depend on Him no matter how

Unjust and piercing the trials and traps seemed

Learned to keep stepping on as long as the grass kept

Returning year to year with its green

Learned that, “I AM’s” love surpassed any mean intent

Finally learned that happiness and prosperity

Way before I was born, for this little one, was meant.

Proverbs 8:32

 Jeremiah 29:11

2 Chronicles 32:31

Psalms 23

1.     What does the phrase, “stars in my eyes” mean from line 5? Does the phrase still mean the same now?

2.     What can you surmise from verse 4 about the speaker’s personality? Self-concept?  What can be said about the speaker's personality and self-concept now? If it has changed, how so?