Still I Rise

Sometimes life gets hard.  Things don't seem fair.  I wonder why.  I wish for a way out.  I want to run away. I want to quit.  But, I think back over other hard times and remember that I've always made it through.  First, with God's help (even when I didn't know it was Him helping me).  And with the help of so many people that He has placed in my life along the way.

This poem has often been a motivator for me.  Many hurdles have been thrown in my path, but I've always risen above them.  And I know that whatever is thrown in my way, I will continue to rise!

Still I Rise 

by Maya Angelou

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 back yard.

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.

An Intruder in the Night

We've been praying over the last few months about moving from our current house........  Here's another reason why added to our list:

Most of the locks on our windows were broken.  That meant that most of the windows in the house couldn't be locked.  We have left it since the landlord wasn't fixing them thinking that since we have burglar proofing on the windows it would be fine.  Also, most of the doors inside had no locks- our bedroom door had a broken latch so couldn't even be closed.

Last Thursday night, a thief climbed over our perimeter wall.  He then went to the kitchen window and used the long handle of a shovel to push the bolts off the kitchen door.  This gave him full access to our house.  We found his footprints in almost every room.

Jurnee has been sleeping through the night for several months.  For some reason, on Thursday night, Jurnee decided to wake up at 3 to play.  While she was playing, David and I were quietly talking.  We heard the door to our room creak a bit.  We just assumed it was the wind.  David got up and decided to open our bedroom door.  He found a masked man standing there peering into the room.  David then chased him from the house.  

This was probably the most frightening thing that has happened to me in Uganda.  It's left fear in all of our hearts.  Needless to say, we feel it's definitely time to move from this house.  We've begun raising support for our move......  Landlords here in Uganda require tenants to pay at least six months in rent up front.  

Pray for us as we are searching for a new home:

-  that we'll find the right place- we're leaning towards an apartment 

-  that enough funds will come in to be able to move

-  enough monthly support to be able to continue paying the rent after the initial six months

-  peace and sleep for the remaining days that we are here.

Thank God with us for:

-  watching over us that night

-  waking Jurnee up to play

-  that no one was harmed and nothing was taken.