My Word for 2011: Renew

(I wrote this about a month ago; just thought I'd share it. Have you ever thought about a word for the year?)

When I first heard the concept of thinking of a word for the year, it was while listening to K-Love radio station. Immediately, I thought of the word "JOY," because I've been longing and hoping to have my joy restored this year. Last year was a very tough year for me emotionally and spiritually, and I'm ready to get out of the frustration, depression and lack of joy I've been feeling far too long. However, as I repeated the word "joy" to myself over and over, it just didn't seem like it was the complete sense of what I needed. I thought of a simple worship song we used to sing that comes from Psalm 51:10-12. The song says, "Create in me a clean heart, Oh, God, and renew a right spirit within me," and "restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and renew a right spirit within me." When I thought about and sang through the words of that simple worship song, it was like God was telling me, "Melissa, I am going to renew your joy, but, more than that, I'm going to renew other things in your life as well. I'm going to renew your spirit, your relationship with Me, your relationships with your family, and other things as well." So, I look forward with great expectation (as the psalmist did in Psalm 5:3) to discover what all God is going to renew in my life this year--2011!!