Poetry Inspired by the Bible

By Wanda L. Gauthney

Like most people in the world, 2020 finds me in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. Inspired by the Word of God and how God has something to say about every situation, I began to write seventy-five poems. It was February when the Holy Spirit prompted me to write God's Word in poetry, and needless to say, 2020 did not find me with nothing to do while in the house, wanting to follow the rules.

I have been saved, born again, for thirty-two years. I am a native-born Philadelphian and attend the Bethany Missionary Baptist Church. I love serving the Lord and serving people (i.e. Helping Hand Rescue Mission, women in prison, ushering, and more). My life verse is Matthew 5:16: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

While reading the first five verses in Joel 1, Wanda began to write.

Nothing like This Has Ever Happened Before

God gave a message to the prophet to say "listen," everyone

See what's happening all around while you are still having fun

It came upon the land quickly with a mighty and destructive force

Tell your children, everyone, everywhere has been thrown off course

Not in our time or your parent's time have we ever seen this before

We ask when will it end, how long can it go on each day more and more

Everyone, wake up including those who partied too hard and went to sleep

Cry out and mourn, like it or not, you're on the wagon, now it is time to weep

The virus will attack you no matter who you are, red, brown, black, or white

Take heed and realize the seriousness of the situation, we can't win this fight

All are closed, restaurants, gyms, malls, nail salons, barber shops, no relief

And with virtual doctor's appointments, we pray nothing happens to our teeth

We must seek to sense God's purpose for what is happening in the world today

Only the Holy Spirit can help us to know what we should do before it all slips away

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098089634

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Poetry Inspired by the Bible

Wanda L. Gauthney

ISBN 978-1-0980-8962-7 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-0980-8963-4 (digital)

Copyright © 2021 by Wanda L. Gauthney

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible: King James Version

The Message

"Scripture 1Corinthians 13:4-8 taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group."

English Standard Version

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

In loving memory of my mother

My mom went to be with the Lord March 13, 2006. She was the kindest, most soft-spoken, loving mother you would ever want to know. Of course, many of us say that about our moms. Mom taught me how to love unconditionally through the good and bad times, through the I-wanted-to-wring-my-brother’s-neck times.

She taught us to love family as she and her sisters and brothers were inseparable. Growing up, we could see what love looked like. We may not have had much, but we had an abundance of love.

Without fail, Mom would remember everyone’s birthdays. She had six children and her sister had five. Aunt Franny also remembered all the birthdays. She showed us how family was always there for each other no matter what. If she needed an uncle to take you to the parade, Uncle Joe was there. If someone graduated or you had a dispute in the neighborhood, you could count on Mom to have support from her family to help get through it. We were never alone. Our family was so large and loving, when you had a birthday, it was a birthday party—aunts, uncles, and cousins.

We grew up poor, but I didn’t know it; the love was rich. Mom knew how to laugh and have fun. She said yes more than she said no. Growing up poor in the ’60s during the time of the Democrats and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, being signed were good times for us children. A lot of things you wanted to do outside the home cost $1.00 (Wildwood beaches in New Jersey, amusement parks, sport events, and shows at the Spectrum, etc.), and Mom would give us $1.00. The movies cost $0.50, and inside the home Sunday night, Roller Derby on TV with Jiffy popcorn that you popped on top of the stove.

Other evenings, Mom would play board games with us; we had Monopoly, Scrabble, Easy Money, and Twister, just to name a few. Imagine, six children. Someone was always asking her do something or be somewhere, but she never turned us down. I was a Brownie, and when it came time to be a Girl Scout, we didn’t have a troop leader. So of course, I begged her to be the troop leader. She said yes. We were Troop 1,000. Oh, how I love and miss her; she was so sweet and kind.

We had so much fun together with our family, my stepdad would say, Fran, y’all will celebrate everything. Yep, we would because her generation would find a way to