Bear with me on this one, okay? I’ve got to provide a little context. For decades, people have been moved and inspired by the poem, “Footprints in the Sand.” Long attributed to “Anonymous,” authorship is now generally attributed to Mary Stevenson who penned the words in 1936 at the age of 14. You know the gist of the poem: a person has a dream about walking along the beach with Jesus. As scenes from past experiences flash before them, the individual notices that at times there are two sets of footprints in the sand, and at other times, most notably periods of great personal difficulty, there was only one set. The author was tempted to think that Jesus had abandoned them in these hours of trial, until the Lord offered this explanation: “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand is when I carried you.” It is a tender depiction of the Savior’s love and compassion for our “weary and heavy-laden” hearts and His willingness to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

But, what about those times when we should have grown strong enough and mature enough to walk on our own, but kept insisting that we be carried? I suppose this question is what inspired(?) someone to write the following. I offer it for your edification or amusement, whichever one you are in most need of today.

BUTT PRINTS IN THE SAND
(Author Unknown)

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?
Those prints are large and round and neat,
But Lord, they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” He said in somber tones,
“For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.”

“You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt.”

Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand.”