Sometimes things get stuck in my head. Sometimes I overanalyze. Sometimes God puts it there. Usually, I learn something from the mantra repeating over and over during my waking and sleeping hours in the deep and crazy parts of my mind.

"Restore to me...
The joy of Your salvation...
Don't cast me away from Your presence, O Lord...
Don't take Your Spirit away from me...

Hid Your face from my sin,
from my iniquity...

Restore to me...

Deliver me from this tower of darkness,
from the pain and brokeness,
I will sing of Your lovingkindness,
of Your righteousness.

Restore to me...
the joy of Your salvation.
The wonders of Your love...

Restore to me, restore to me."

I saw two of my friends become my siblings in the last month. They asked Him to give them salvation. And He has... because He is faithful. Always faithful. Watching their hearts change, their lives change... it is beautiful.

Keep them in prayer. They have a lot of growing to do and a lot of brokenness yet to be healed.

The lyrics to this song run over and over in my head as I observe them and their new walks. Their joy is contagious and their peace is amazing. Their excitement makes me excited.

I have that joy. Most of the time. A lot of the time, at least. I still get excited. I still have epiphanies when He teaches me something new. But I don't have it every day anymore. I don't have it all the time. It shows a growth and maturity - moving past the infatuation stage to a real and deep love with Him. But at the same time, I miss it. I miss when I would learn something new in devos or chapel and then run to tell Kate about it or a professor or someone else just because I HAD to tell them. Surely, I was the only one who knew this truth. So SURELY I had to tell everyone else about it. Instantly. Not realizing they learned it already... but... that's ok. My enthusiasm was contagious then as my friends' are now. And it has not been that long for me. Not long at all.

And there is still a lightyear and more left to learn and experience. Bring it on... but give me Your strength.