Autobiography In Poetry: A Collection of Inspirational Poems Book I

By Regina Rogers

The poems were written during hard times to encourage me. I tell my life experiences growing up with cerebral palsy throughout the pages. The struggles as a child that help me to endure rejection as an adult while in church and out. The poems in this book is very encouraging with biblical references. Almost every poem has a scripture relating to it, that was written down 5,10, or 30 years later.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781304412362

Book preview

Autobiography In Poetry: A Collection of Inspirational Poems Book I

Autobiography In Poetry:

A Collection of

Inspirational Poems

Book I

Written, Edited, & Published

By Regina Rogers

Copyright

Autobiography In Poetry:

A Collection of Inspirational Poems Book I

ISBN978-1-304-41236-2

Publisher Regina Rogers 2014

Copyright: © 2002 by Regina Rogers

Copyright: © 2010 by Regina Rogers

Copyright: © 2014 by Regina Rogers

For information on receiving copies of this book or distribution of this book contact

www.lulu.com/spotlight/regerogatyahoodotcom or [e-mail]

Printed in the UK

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Jesus Christ and my daughter. Without their love I would have given up on life years ago. Thank you Jesus for the poems of love; thanks Shirley for never being ashamed of me. 

Forward

This first book could have been done without comments but someone said, You must have been fasting and praying when you wrote your poems. That statement made me realize the truth about my work should be told. Writing poetry started after receiving the Holy Ghost in 1980. They were written to share during testimony service. My purpose changed, in 1981 because my trial was an attack on my physical appearance. It was devastating; I had just learnt, the name of my birth defect, that year. Writing became my way to express my sor-rows, caused from the people’s inconsiderate behavior. Jesus responded to my tears with love and comfort through poems. Every verse written from pain, he gave me others with knowledge, encouragement, and promises. Even during my weaknesses and failures Jesus encouraged me to hold on, with poems full of scriptures.

My collection is an accumulation of different materials, styles and subjects. They were placed in categories and typed on a computer disc in 2000. Several were written to say, Thank you Jesus but were redundant as a group. A poem from that cluster was selected to put in front of each chapter. In 2001 everything was retyped. My testimony is shared throughout both books with commentary. Some is in the introductions or before a poem. The chapters are organized by to-pics while the intro gives details about it. Some may have scripture references or definitions for further explanations. Verses written for the same reasons are combined with one explanation, while others have separate information or none at all.

The Story Behind Poems was written in 2013, to expand on living with a birth defect. In the first book it describes a dream at age 9 that is also a vision at 19. The second book explains the difference between healing and miracles. This book is encouraging and informative. I point out things that are happening now that reveals the soon return of Jesus Christ. Emphasizing the importance the rapture is to believers. It’s common to read poems on love, faith, victory, or praise but not the rapture. The real promise and hope for the church. ...We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed...in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (I Corinthians 15:51-52). For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive...shall be caught up...to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).

My books have truly evolved over time. The last adjustment is the idea to put as many quotes from the Bible for references as possible. December 2013, scrip-tures from the book of Isaiah were written out in book II. They were on index cards every since the 80’s, to read for encouragement. The decision to write out scriptures related to my poetry and prose came in late February 2014. Each time I thought the books were finished a copy was bought to proof read; unfortun-ately errors were found and new ideas were given to me from the Holy Ghost.

The lettering has also gone through changes. Originally the font chosen was Poor Richard but the numbers were too large. Then, Traditional Arabic and Gabriola, were used together but they both had a large spacing between the letters and the print was small. Arial Narrow was tried out on the first book but before receiving a copy to proof read. For some odd reason, the second one would not down load. When the book came, the print looked like it was for a news paper article. Several fonts were tried out on the computer but they didn’t complement the style of the books. Finally, Poor Richard, was chosen again. This time the numbers were made smaller and everything down loaded per-fectly.

Several poems have been revised; they are noted by their new and original dates. Some have been combined or separated to make other poems. Even titles were changed as the poem’s focus evolved into something different. There are 3 newly written that must be mention because it’s the first time anything new has been composed in 5 years. The first, Time Is Running Out, was done after watch-ing the news. My heart was burden because society is changing for the worst and people seem to be immune to it.  It’s found in this book under (Signs Before The Rapture). After it was written 2 scriptures in Isaiah were found stating the exact same thing. The second one is called, Prepare Me For Your Glory, it’s found in the second book under, (Prayer). This was done the same time as the first. It was like being compelled to rededicate my life to Jesus all over again. The third is call-ed, Salvation or Damnation, found under, (Salvation), also in the second book. This one is not really new; it was mixed in with the verses from the poem above it. Together it was odd and didn’t make sense. Finally it was separated; a few more words were added and a new poem was made.

Preparing my books for publication has truly been a spiritual experience with my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. During the actual composition to design-ing the books, Jesus has directed my actions.  Clearly Jesus is my co author; giv-ing me new ideas, scriptures, and designing the inside and outside of the books.    

Story Behind Poems 

My mother knew what happened to me during birth but she had no medical term for what it was called. The lack of information left me psychologically de-fenseless. The muscle in my left leg is undeveloped and causes me to walk with an abnormal limp. Every since kindergarten, classmates teased me about it. By age 9 my life experience had already developed my personality. It made me shy and withdrawn from others. Hours were spent alone either crying in silence or daydreaming. My tears released the hurt built up during school. Daydream-ing enabled me to escape into a fantasy world, away from reality. Although my imaginary world lasted only moments at a time, it allowed me to hide my pain from others. 

The year was 1970, in the summer. The grass, trees, and clouds looked like a beautiful painting, from my bedroom window. It made me believe there must be a God, to create a living canvas, full of different colors and shapes. That moment the words were spoken in my mind, make my legs the same like everyone else. Afterwards every morning and night both legs were rubbed up and down for two weeks. Looking and feeling for the slightest change. A dream about my legs came to me one night.

This is my dream: After checking my legs in the morning, they were the same size. I ran downstairs shouting momma, daddy, look at my legs. My parents were standing by the doorway, in shorts looking down unexcited. Feeling something was wrong my eyes looked down. Both of them one leg was bigger than the oth-er. It was strange because no one else in my family had this defect but me. See-ing this caused me to run out the house because it was upsetting. That morning it was warm and people were already sitting on their porch; some were walking or getting out of their cars. Everyone had on shorts and their left leg was unde-veloped. A voice spoke saying, "if it is that important to you, I will do it but will change everyone else to keep you different.

That dream had never been thought about ever again, until the spring of 1981. I prayed to get married and for my legs to be the same size. That same year both prayers Jesus gave me an answer. First he told me who would be my husband. Not long afterwards, the man and several people in church started staring at me including the pastor. Some would turn in their seats to look at me all through service. It went on for 9 years, even though the young man had gotten married to someone else 4 years earlier. My answer about my legs came during prayer service. It was the same year the church was under construction. We were wor-shipping in the basement. The pastor said, Sometimes you have to cry to get a prayer through. My prayer was, heal my left leg, so the man will accept me. That night not one tear fell from my eyes but the same dream at age 9 came back in a vision. A voice in my mind said, No, and I meant it! There was no doubt Jesus had spoke those words because the dream was never mentioned and totally forgotten for 10 years.

Around the same time all this was happening, the name of my birth defect was learnt. A member of the church said, You should apply for disability. During the application process a doctor examined me and said, You have a form of cerebral palsy. With a name information about my birth defect was learnt. I know now that it’s caused from a lack of oxygen, to the brain during birth. It can be seen in a variety of forms and degrees depending on which part of the brain is damaged. The more information about my problem learnt, my self esteem increased. My condition is mild. It’s noticeable only when walking. My mental ability is not affected, allowing me to function normal. Where others with the same thing may be mentally challenged or confined to a wheelchair. All my education was in a normal classroom and CP never compromised my ability to learn. My imperfection does not stop me from walking, running or jumping. How it looks when these things are done, is what others notice.      

Message In Poetry and Poetry to the Young Introduction

This chapter has two groups. The first is a variety of different poetic styles and the other a series of poems to encourage the youth. The first section is a diverse cluster. The verses in this collection don’t fit under the chapter headings in either book. It was actually created to put my leftover work together in a group. The second set of poems was written especially for young people. They imply our choices and friends made while young will affect the rest of our lives. They are to promote making good decisions early in life.

A Diary of Poems

My poems are my diary,

A book to keep track of my life and walk with Jesus

I say things in them I want to express and keep within me

It’s my way to talk to Jesus, to say things to him to remember them

I tell Jesus how