This poem actually started with my Pastor here in San Antonio, although he does not know it. On Saturday night, January 20th, 2007, I was attending evening services as I am wont to do. I will paraphrase his comments. His sermon that night included comments regarding people carrying around these terrible burdens that many of us put upon ourselves unnecessarily. So many people harbor grudges against friends, family members and others' for some slight that the other person may never even know about. This builds into anger, hate, distrust and more. Many people carry these burdens around all their lives, never wanting to forgive the other person. They do not realize the harm they are doing to their own mental, physical, and spiritual health. His message dealt with taking those self-imposed burdens to The Lord. He said to give them to God to take care of, thereby freeing ones self to feel good again and make amends with others'. Whether by happenstance or design, the music team picked the song "Change My Heart Oh God" to sing that night. It is a song I very much enjoy. I wrote the song title down so I would remember it, because I want to learn to play it on my organ.

Later that evening, I was telling my wonderful friend, poet Helen Thompson, who lives in Florida, about the sermon, and the song. She thought the sermon was very interesting and she loves the song. They sing it in her church also. Late that night, after she had gone to bed, God began speaking to her about this subject of placing unwarranted burdens and unhealed memories on ones self. A poem began to form in her mind. After awhile she got up and starting writing, before she forgot what God was giving her to write. This is often how she writes her poems, as she lies in bed, trying to go to sleep. By 3am she had it written out as she thought He wanted it and went back to bed. She often wonders why God gives her these poems at such early hours of the morning! Because He is up all night, He might forget that humans need sleep!

The next day, today, Helen sent me her poem to see what I thought about it. I thought it was wonderful, and began searching for a good version of the song and found one. Then I started searching for the appropriate background set for a web page for her poem, and found what you see here. Then I started coding her web page for her, loaded it and all the files to her poetry website and this is the result! You just never know when someone speaks where the spoken word will take you. It took me to Florida, for the poem, to Margi Harrell in Arkansas, for the music! And to California, but that is another story! Apparently, God wants this poem and song in others hands, who need it. It has already been read to several people, two who told us that they needed to hear this very day what the poem says and felt that this is all God-driven. Helen hopes that her poem and the song will help you throw off the burdens that you may be laboring with and give them to God. Then make things right between you and those you might have been in contention with.... And now you have the whole story as to how this web page came about! God Bless you!

Finally, there is one final word. This is one of the last poems, that I know of, that Helen Thompson wrote. By this time in her life, she had developed several severe health issues regarding the heart, lungs and kidneys. The kidney problems would eventually lead to dialysis for the last year or so of her life. Last year, she spent most of the time in the hospital with only brief periods at home with her beloved Bob, and Gracie, her "kids" as she called her cats. Earlier this year, she went back into hospital and this time, she would not be going back home. However, on the 13th of March, 2011, at approximately 3:45pm EDST, she DID go HOME to her Beloved God. She passed away in her sleep, a few weeks shy of her 86th birthday, after a heart attack that could not be corrected. I have spent the last two days recovering her poetry web pages from a site that had recently gone down, and have transferred them here. Her poetry, her love for others, her friendships will be with us always. If we travel the Straight Path, as the Bible teaches us, we will meet her again...

Thanks to Dynamic Drive for the "floating cross" script.

Webmaster ~ Ray Clark ~ rayclark07"at"gmail.com

Created January 21, 2007

Modified March 15, 2011