"I carried you"

I think Footprints was maybe the first example of religious poetry that I can distinctly remember encountering as a child. Recently, I've been thinking about it a lot. It seems trite and saccharin, I suppose, but in its own way, I still think it's very beautiful.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. 
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could only see one set of footprints,
So I said to the Lord, "You promised me Lord, that if I followed You, You would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, 
There has only been one set of footprints in the sand. 
Why, when I needed You most, have you not been there for me?"
The Lord replied, "The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, My child, is when I carried you."