The countdown begins

366 days
8,784 hours
527,040 minutes
31,622,400 seconds

Well, another year is upon us. In a more cyclical view, what's the big deal? Yesterday night, 11:59:59 came and went and then midnight, a new day. But in our linear view of things, another year has come to a close, and a new one lays before us. For the briefest of moments, newness.

What will transpire in this short amount of time? I expect to greet a new life, the second human who gets to address me by the special title "Daddy." I hope I will draw closer to God and my family. There will be times of pure, absolute joy. And surely, some periods of tragedy, sorrow and pain as well. I won't pray that they pass me by, but that I am sustained through them. I will be thinner, healthier and hopefully on a little better financial footing.

And so this, a special blog. I intend to keep it for only a year, and then be done with it. A year from now, God-willing, I'll be back here again saying "Wow, 2008. What a year that was."