Psalm 46:5 “God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day

You’ve cried. You’ve questioned. You’ve felt forgotten. But you’re still here. And if you’re still here, that means God isn’t finished. You don’t need to have all the answers to rise; you just need to believe there’s more.

Rising doesn’t mean pretending nothing hurt. It means refusing to let what hurt you have the final say. It means standing on the Word instead of the whispers of doubt. God is strengthening you as you move. You don’t need perfect faith, just honest faith.

Today, rise. Even if your knees shake. Even if your heart still hurts. Even if it’s just a whisper, say it: I’m still standing.

Still I Rise Maya Angelou 1928 –2014

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt, But still, like dust, I’ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still, I’ll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave. I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

“I did my best, and God did the rest.” — Hattie McDaniel.