I had work at 7 am, which is not really how I wanted to spend the first morning of the year. But it was a slow and painless work day, so I can't complain. After church, we had a most delicious New Year's meal at the maternal unit's and then headed off to church to meet a friend for New Year's service.

I love the first sermon of the year...it's always full of hope and leaves me feeling like I have a sense of spiritual direction for the next 365 days to come. This particular sermon was about "First"...seeking God first, in particular, and how everything will be added to you. Not just seeking Him at the beginning of the year...but at the beginning of every day in prayer and scripture reading...at the beginning of every week with corporate worship...and the beginning of every month with tithes.

It was a particularly a spiritually charged night for me because the friend we met at church tonight was not Christian. She's Hindu...and she's seeking the true God in her life. I feel like I've been on this journey with her since early summer and it's been really interesting to see how God is working in her life...to see the way He speaks to her...how He's revealing Himself to her. At times, I've been jealous, in a way. I see these little spiritual revelations happening in her life, and I've thought...Hey, I want that! But then I realize that it's the way in which she's pursuing Him...the passionate way she's seeking Him. And I realized that I need to seek the truth in the same manor...instead of taking for granted I was raised knowing the truth. I need to do more than just know it...I need to experience it.

So, in short, my verse for the year is ...."Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, Then all these things shall be added unto you."

What's your verse for the year?