My Verse for 2011

I am guessing all of you can relate. I have been in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Add that on top of regular life and things are certainly a bit crazy around here. In the first ten days of December alone we have had two end of season soccer parties, three Christmas parties, and two church events. All that on top of trying to finish the semester strong and being sick in the middle of it all. Phew!

Yet in the midst of preparing for the holidays, I am also thinking about starting off 2011 strong. Every ending also means that a beginning is near, right? As I am trying to enjoy the holidays and keep the true meaning of it all in front of my kids I am also thinking about 2011 and a new year.

This morning I read a verse I have read many times. But like it so often happens I saw something I had never seen before:

One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

~ Psalm 27:4-5

This is my heart's cry - I want 2011 to be about my seeking after the beauty of the Lord. I am praying about how to make that ever more a reality in the middle of the busyness of everyday life. How to do center on His beauty in the commonness of dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning, and teaching my boys? How do I focus on structuring my days so that there is room to, "inquire (meditate) in his temple"?

David wrote these words while Saul was seeking to take his life. He was sleeping in caves and worrying if each day might be his last. His prayer was that he would seek God above all. That is encouraging to me. David's prayer from so many years gone by is mine as well.