Restore Joy

A week ago I began to experience technical issues with my blog.

Ugh.

They are not resolved, and I am tired, so I’m pulling a previous writing not yet shared here.

(This post is from the hope*writers reimagine writing challenge. It originally posted to Instagram on May 14th. The word prompt was “restore.”)

I wrote recently on my blog about my “spot” and how God speaks to me most clearly and deeply when I retreat to sacred spots along my faith journey.

My Ebenezer(s), if you will.

One of those spots for me is the Baptist Campus Ministry building at Troy State University. 

The BCM was the cornerstone of my college years.

I met my very best friends in that building.

Many days, I met God in that building.

Each Monday night, the BCM hosted a worship service we called Alpha Omega.  The program included praise songs, student stories and a word from the Word given by a guest speaker.

As a freshman navigating a new world (one that included an ornery old English professor) I carried a lot of stress. I hid the weight of that emotion deep in my heart. So deep, neither my eyes or my smile ever betrayed it.

Monday night worship music became a balm to me.  It didn’t erase my anxiety, but it soothed my spirit.

Tonight, 20+ years later, my heart still sings:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Your presence, O Lord.
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me, the Joy of my salvation.
And renew a right spirit within me.”

It’s easy to let my environment, be it college professor or global pandemic, influence my attitude.

I sometimes forget the joy of my salvation.

But God always restores it, especially when I seek Him in my spots. 

P.S. I learned to love my professor. This pandemic, not so much.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Your presence, O Lord.
Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me, the Joy of my salvation.
And renew a right spirit within me.”

(Psalm 51: 10-12)