"STILL I RISE"

Sitting here watching the special on the life of Dr. Maya Angelou and inspiration has over taken me. I'm flooded with tears and emotion listening to her stories and watching all of the women, black, white and every other kind that she has touched. I was in the 5th grade when I learned of her and the poem she wrote "Still I Rise". That poem touched me back then in a way that I had never been touched. But now it's meaning resignates within me deeper than even I could ever imagine. I've been raped, treated like the black sheep, disliked and even hated by many, talked about, called ugly, slapped in the face, stabbed in the back, misused and abused, and made to feel completely and utterly worthless. BUT, STILL I RISE!!!! 

The truth of who I am is so clear to me! I am not my rape, I am not my failures, I am not my adultery, I am not ugly, I am not the abuse I have suffered, I am not the pain I have endured, I am not worthless, I am not my experiences good or bad. I AM A CHILD OF GOD! I am strong because my Father is strong in me. I rise from the ashes because my Father picks me up, dusts me off and moves me forward. I am whole because my Father mends my brokeness. And more than anything I am LOVED because my Father Loves me unconditionally, He gave His son for me, He created me in His image which is Love and His Love rests, reigns, and rules inside of me! 

What a wonderful feeling it is to know that He Loves me that much! I feel so overwhelmed by His Love for me. It means I don't have to settle for any thing less, I don't have to seek love or approval from anyone or anything, and I don't have to give up any part of my being for someone else to Love me. No matter how many times I fall I will rise because his Love lifts me! I will be a legend, I will walk on Faith, I will walk in Love, I will rest in His Presence daily, my ministry will take over the world, millions of women and men will be healed and made whole because of my testimony, I will never again fade into the shadows, I will stand flat footed and declare His goodness and His grace for me! I AM A CHILD OF GOD and still I rise, STILL I RISE, STILL....I.....RISE!!!!!

Thank you Heavenly Father above, and to the amazing Maya Angelou I salute you. Your spirit gives me wings. Rest in Paradise. 

Maya Angelou April 4, 1928~May 28, 2014