Margaret Fishback-Powers

Margaret Fishback-Powers is author of the world famous poem Footprints

The poem, Footprints, was originally entitled I Had a Dream, written on Thanksgiving weekend in 1964 at Echo Lake Camp in Kingston, Ontario. It was the weekend Paul Powers had proposed to the diminutive red-head, and the pair had strolled along the beach discussing the future and watching their footprints being washed away behind them as they walked.

"When we’re married," Paul had said to her at that time, "and we can’t help each other, the Lord will carry us and never leave us." She was unable to sleep the night after that walk, and took pen to paper to write down the words that she felt the Lord was giving her. The next day, she gave the poem to Paul, and when they were married one year later, it had a special place in their wedding album.

In 1966, the couple formed the Little People’s Ministry Association and worked closely with World Vision. Fishback-Powers continued her career as a teacher and writer, meticulously cataloguing well over 16,000 pieces of inspirational writings. In 1980 the pair moved from Toronto to the West Coast. Along the way, six cartons of her life’s work were lost.

"I waited for three years for them to find my things, and then the moving company went out of business," she said. Then in 1983, she discovered that her poem I Had a Dream was being printed by a US publishing company as Footprints, by an anonymous author. This led to a four year copyright battle, because two others had stepped forward claiming ownership.

Today, Fishback-Powers is considered the true author of Footprints, which is well known around the world and has been translated into 30 languages.

"People ask me if I’m amazed and I say, ‘Yes I am,’" she said. "God has preserved my life many times. I’ve been struck by lightning, twice, so I know how much He loves me."

Fishback-Powers signed copies of her book Footprints: The True Story Behind The Poem.

Source: http://www.calgarychristian.com/articles/512-footprints.htm