People Shaped Spaces

I am a huge fan of Birthdays, not necessarily my own, but I love the idea of celebrating the uniqueness of an individual, the fact that though they personally had little to do directly with their birth, that the fact that they were born, is actually a truly remarkable thing. Of all the spiritual/theological concepts that are hard to swallow, I think many would claim that creation or the age old question of “How did we get here?” is a big one, if not one of the biggest. While I am fully aware the wide disparity of opinions on the origins of life, I would ask that for a moment, regardless of where you stand on the topic that you could briefly consider the implications of being created. I am not asking for anyone to abandon a scientific viewpoint on the topic, for I feel that there are many scholars who have breached the topic at length and far greater depth than I would ever, however, if we could for only a moment consider the deeper implications of life, and life created with purpose, or life as a part of a design and our part in it, we might take a new and refreshed viewpoint on what it is that we’re all really doing here on earth.

Back to birthdays…one of the things that I’ve become increasingly aware of over the years is how amazing the mosaic of situations, locations, relationships, and circumstances of our lives truly are. If we were even remotely able to understand even a portion of the expanses of creation I think we’d all be utterly dumbfounded, and I do not mean creation in a natural or elemental standpoint, I mean creation personally and relationally.

To think that prior to the creation of time and place, there was a purpose, a plan. In the plan, everything was crafted out, every detail, every moment. Like a puzzle, it was all placed together perfectly, each little piece contributing to the larger whole. In that puzzle, in the plan, was us, people…individuals who from the beginning, and even before the beginning, were a part of the bigger story.

When the foundations of time were laid, regardless of what you believe about yourself and your circumstances, the Lord above thought it best that YOU, and only YOU, an individual, be placed into the puzzle, exactly as you are, exactly where you are. There was a YOU shaped vacancy that needed to be filled, distinctly and uniquely by YOU.

There were relationships that from the beginning needed a YOU. There were people who distinctly needed a smile that would only work if it came from YOU. There were jokes that needed YOUR laugh. There were tough moments that needed YOUR tears. There were friends that would need YOUR shoulder to cry on, and only YOUR shoulder that would do. There were children that needed YOU as parents; there were parents that needed YOU as children. There were bosses and jobs, which needed YOU as an employee. There were songs that needed YOU to sing them. There were sunrises, and sunsets, that needed to be savored by YOU, and YOU alone. There were congregations and communities that had YOU shaped spaces that needed to be filled by YOU.

Friends, the uniqueness and purposefulness of US as people is something that we must not overlook. While the world would have us believe that we as individuals are nothing special, God above couldn’t feel more differently, and to think that we’re not special, and that the people around us are not of equal and dire importance is an insult and a tragedy. Both the trivial and extraordinary moments of our lives, were distinctly made for us, and us for them. To ignore the gravity of US, is to disregard the gravity of our creator, our design, our purpose…

Now there is one other important thing to remember, and that is that our uniqueness, our individuality is a part of that great mosaic. When the pieces come together they create a picture of God’s great love, his sovereign divinity, is perfect plan…his grace, his creation, his redemption, and his invitation to be a part of it all. It is us in the context of him, and not the other way around. If we take the fundamental concept of self, and strip it of the context of the greater significance of the plan to which we were placed in, we become hedonists, egotists, self-worshiping, self-indulging hopeless swine. When we extract ourselves from the greater picture, we cheapen life…though some would have us believe the opposite.

From the beginning, there was a YOU shaped space that needed filling…and it needed to be filled as a part of a plan for the ultimate glory of God. After all, happiness and enjoyment are not real until they are shared. The creator has carefully kept this in mind, as he wanted to share his mosaic, his purpose with YOU. The spaces we fill are an invitation to get in on the action, to enjoy God, his purpose, his plan, his beautiful creation work. Of course many of our daily spaces are far from sexy, but they are our spaces none the less, and they need filling, so whether we’re gas station attendants in Sandusky, OH, or Presidents in Washington, DC…there is work to be done filling the spaces of our lives.

Filling my Space,
CP
http://Chrispanoff.blogspot.com

Memorials

I am a huge believer in living life in the right tense, the present, I know I have touched on the topic in various points in my writings and it’s a consistent theme no doubt. I guess I’ve come to realize that there are huge risks to neglecting to live life where we are. Our realm of influence is small, and we lack the ability to dictate much control over even the minutest areas in our world which we deem significant. That being said, the present tense requires a proper context of history.

One universal cultural phenomenon is the creation of memorials, or things to help us remember the weighty foundations upon which our world was build. For our nation, its is our flag that memorializes our freedom, our capital buildings that memorialize the principles in which our forefathers built this country, it is walls and burial sites that memorialize the price that has been paid to protect the freedoms which were so desperately sought long ago. For the Christian faith, it is the cross that singularly memorializes the price that was paid in Christ’s redemptive work and it is creation as a whole that cries out to remember the creator. Memorials give our present tense an adequate sense of our history, a history which if we are attentive to can give us a context for which today exists, and a reminder of the faithfulness of God’s promise to us as his people (if we so choose to accept).


Memorials are like mile markers in our lives, they give us a sense of not only where we are but also how far we’ve come, and often times how far we are yet to travel. History is a GPS of sorts, in that it can help us to navigate our current circumstances much more efficiently and effectively. After all, how am I to trust in the faithfulness of Christ if I have no context for the good and patient work he is performing in my life? Relationships are built on history, they are not formed instantly, they do not bud overnight, but rather they are proven through time and trials; a relationship with Christ is no exception to this rule.


A few years ago I took some time to construct some memorials in my life, to remember all that God had done, and all that God was doing. At the time I was at a crossroads, one of those, “what’s next in life?” moments, I realized that in order to get my bearings and ready my heart for whatever it was that God was in the process of doing, I needed to look back and see his work to remind myself that he is in fact faithful but looking what he has already done. A lot of people confuse faith for certainty, when in fact I believe that doubt is a healthy component of faith, and real faith is defined by action despite our doubts and fears. At the end of the process I had a long list of times where God had come through and delivered me in the truest sense of the word; his fingerprints were all over circumstances which I could not have survived on my own and on outcomes that I never could have dreamed of, let alone hoped for.


Recently I’ve been reminded of how blessed I am, both in the context of my past and my present, God is good. Many people seek firm “proof” of the Christian faith, what better proving ground than life itself. Salvation cannot be tested in a laboratory, nor can it be worked out in the sterile environments of the hypothetical, salvation is and must be proved in our lives. As I look back and see the landscape of my life scattered with Ebenezer stones, I am humbled, blessed, and reaffirmed. While I may not understand what is happening in the present tense, my history, my memorials give me context with which to confidently place my trust in the hands of my Father above. I am blessed, simply and completely, I have been taken care of in ways I could never have fathomed.


Regardless of what you believe, it’s impossible to strip where you are today from where you’ve been. It’s worth the time to set up stones of remembrance in your life, if they don’t come in handy today, they will soon. Furthermore, if all you see in your life is despair, hopelessness, and emptiness, maybe there is an opportunity for Christ to help you literally and figuratively reconstruct somethings.


So as I look back, I eagerly approach today, hoping to build more monuments for Christ, places for all men to look, see, and know that “here is the work of the Almighty”… and while I’m certain I fall short each day, a memorial life is what I seek for Christ’s glory, and it is yet another opportunity to be rebuilt in him.


Humbly yours,

CP

http://chrispanoff.blogspot.com/

Joy

Joy is neither a state of mind nor a feeling. Joy is not a result of the things around us. Joy is not a product of its conditions nor does it attempt to change the conditions in which it is subject to. Joy is not about wanting anything more, but it is also not about selling ourselves short. Joy is not pleasure, joy is not happiness. Joy is not self reliant, because real joy cannot be found in one’s self.

Joy is unmistakable, un-disguisable, and uncontainable.

Joy is not a verb, it’s not something we can do, joy is a reinvention of the way we see the world. Joy sees the world for all that the world truly is, but does not attempt to evade the brokenness and suffering that accompany this life. Joy, like love, endures and outlasts all things.

Joy is knowing that no matter what “today” looks like, “today” is a good day because today is an opportunity to know Christ more deeply, to love him more, and to share the good news with our friends.

Joy knows that no matter how bad today, this week, this month, this year…or even this lifetime may be…that Christ has redeemed this life completely. Joy constantly measures the world in the context of the great work that Christ completed on the cross.

Joy is the knowledge and true understanding that we were prisoners once, but we have been set free. Joy is the absolution of sin, guilt, and shame in our lives. Joy knows the cost that was paid, and knows the cost has been paid in full.

Joy is one of our first taste’s of heaven here on earth.

I’m glad to know the Joy that Christ affords; I miss it sometimes because I get caught up with “me” a whole lot, but it doesn’t take long to notice the vacancy left by Joy.

Joy has one source, and one source alone…he’s my rock and redeemer.

Joyful,

CP

http://chrispanoff.blogspot.com

Embracing the Great Adventure

When you strip life down to its core, it doesn’t seem to be all we expect does it? As children we idolize superheroes and princesses, and aspire to a life of world-saving, dragon slaying, and hopeless romancing. Yet it doesn’t take long for the glitter to fade, and eventually we’re all dealt realities cruel hand. We are quick to learn that this world is quite not the place that we as children expected it to be. But is the reality we are given all that different than the reality we hoped would be? Is our world truly empty of the adventures to which we aspired?

Life certainly isn’t fair, but neither is it boring, I think the reality of life just might take a little adjusting to. Part of our internal conflict as people (speaking personally) is entrenched in the fact that while we love adventure and the risk associated with it, yet we also desire stability and safety. Our human desires for excitement and variety are so often held in tension with our desires to be on stable ground, and being the uncompromising people that we are (or for certain that I am) we desire complete adventure to pair with safety…if the risk wasn’t risky it wouldn’t be exciting, but if risk presents certain death it then becomes foolish…finding the balance is quite paradoxical.

While we desire to summit the peaks of this life, we often fear the treacherous routes we must traverse. And while everyone’s “summits” may be different they are summits nonetheless and they are a part of our inner groaning for something beyond what this world has to offer.
It’s interesting as I am going through the process which may be described as “growing up”, how much I realize that life’s greatest adventures are seldom set in the exotic and extreme backdrops that the arts so adequately depict, but rather they are set in a reality far more ordinary, in a locale far simpler. Life’s constructs, for most of us, are built more often in the settings of work and home than they are in sports arenas, royal courts, and glorious battle. Instead of battling Goliath, we are fighting traffic in our morning commutes. Instead of a life driven by of capturing love and beauty, we are flung into jobs and workplaces that on the surface appear to be lacking even a thread of excitement contained in the stories we were read as children.

So what are we to do?

I would pose that the issues is not reality itself, but the way in which we perceive the real reality that we live. Even in life’s banal ordinary conditions are truly some great adventures, we mustn’t lose sight of this fact, for if we do, we will be cast into a plot where we’re nothing more than lemmings living lives devoid of passion, desire, and purpose.

There is a reason that Christ came to this world in humble circumstance, and lived a life that was very truly human. As it is said, Jesus made no compromise of his divinity while on earth, but also no compromise of humanity, he was fully God and fully man. Had Christ come and lived a life simply hovering above the realities of life as a human, how would we be able to follow his model for living? If the God of the universe’s ultimate act of love was to come to reality, shouldn’t we take this into consideration when viewing our own reality?

Through a variety of conversations and introspection, I’ve come to realize that the ordinary can be largely unappealing. However, the model that Christ sets forth is to be deeply extraordinary, while living in the astonishingly ordinary world. When we begin to embrace our lives and our work as embarking on a great adventure for Christ’s sake, the script takes new shape and the stories of our 9 to 5 lives are transformed into an adventure in a brave new world.

For me, I’m realizing all the more that my life is in fact a great adventure; I just need to be reminded of such with frightening regularity. While sometimes my circumstances feel a lot more like an episode of “Leave it to Beaver” than it does a bout with Apollo Creed, I need to remember that humanity and reality were Christ’s great adventure, so why should it not be mine. In embracing reality we may just find that our lives are quite amazing. Instead of romanticizing about all the summits we could be out conquering, we make diligent steps to summit the mountains we’re on.

I feel that a life of extraordinary-ordinariness is quite an aspiration, and I’m trying to be diligent in finding and thriving in all the simple adventures that are in front of me…which is proving to be quite an adventure in and of its self. We have the opportunity for a great reality, we simply must emerge ourselves deeper in it, as opposed to attempting to escape from it.

Embracing Today and all the adventure it brings,

CP

Chrispanoff.blogspot.com

Economic Crisis, Being Needy, & Maslow

Its amazing what happens to your world view when luxury is stripped out of the equation. While prosperous times are by no means a bad thing, for they certainly are a part of life’s seasons, they can however begin to blur the lines between necessity and vanity, what we want, and what we truly need.

The current economic “crisis” is doing quite an effective job of delineating between need and want, and is yielding embarrassing (but not surprising) results about our value system. There is of course no shortage of stomach churning news about how bad things are economically, and how bad they are expected to get, but worst of all is seeing the resulting impact of improperly defined need. It is pathetic if a person would go so far as to fake their own death, to avoid the facing the reality of falling short of their financial aspirations (see also: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/13plane.html ).

As much as we may try, it’s hard to not muddle need & desire; sometimes we want things so desperately and so deeply that they really feel like “needs”. When we stop thinking about day to day life in terms of mere survival, we begin to inflate the value of things we can otherwise do without. Below is Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, which was basically a psychological construct that ranks categorically what we as people need most and how we our priorities in terms of need dictate our world view. The bottom reflects the most essential things to life (need), the higher you go on the pyramid, the less dire the need is. What you may find, is that we all probably have inverted this structure in some major ways.

Something I’ve had reaffirmed over the past few months, is that my needs are quite simple, but slightly different that Maslow’s structure. My foundation starts with Salvation, above all I need Jesus, I need the presence and constant hand of my savior in my life. God is the gatekeeper to all my other needs, salvation yields confident reliance that all my needs will be met, and that all I really “need” is a healed and contrite heart. Only through an honest realization of my true depravity can I grasp my real need for a savior. When we begin to take seriously how incapable we are to handle even the marginal things independently, we can firmly attest all the more to how desperate our need really is to be saved.

The strange contortion of it all is that the more I realize that I NEED Christ, the more I truly and deeply WANT his intercession into every waking moment of my day. My need for God is self perpetuating; I need him more each day. I’m not sure what happens to the shape of the above pyramid when need and want coincide in Christ, however, I am confident that the need/desire for Christ becomes all consuming and the singular focus of all our efforts. The best part is that when we throw away Maslow’s construction, and transition to compete reliance on Christ, we end up never NEEDING and never WANTING anything more that we have, Christ is sufficient.

I would imagine that the hierarchy goes from a 2 dimensional triangle to a three dimensional sphere. Sphere’s have total balance, and if Christ is our singular focus he is all we need and he is all we want. When Christ is what we want, we never need any thing more.

Needily Yours,
CP
http://Chrispanoff.blogspot.com

Thy Sea is so Great

It’s interesting to me how God can use circumstance and/or coincidence to remind us of his constant hand in our lives. A friend of mine says it like this, “Coincidence is God’s fingerprints on our lives.” It couldn’t be more true, and it couldn’t be more real. Attentiveness to God in all of our circumstances and through all of our coincidences opens new doors to engaging our heavenly father, and when we become students of our surroundings there is much to learn about the workings and caring manner which God walks with us and protects us.

I guess it might go without saying that this particular posting is actually a derivative of a journal writing I wrote a little more than three years ago. In a fortunate collision of some current circumstance and reminiscence, I was drawn back to re-read an entry that marked a point of revelation in the way I viewed God, especially as it pertains to how I view myself in relationship with God.

When John F. Kennedy was President, he kept a wooden placard on his desk in the oval office. The placard was given to him by Admiral Hyman Rickover, a naval commander credited with being the father of the nuclear navy, a man whom my grandfather personally knew and worked closely with for much of his professional life. It wasn’t until about three years ago that I had any idea that such a ornament existed, but the words engraved upon the simple token of appreciation gifted to President Kennedy struck my with a level of profound depth for which I am increasingly grateful. Their proverbial wisdom has reminded me often of the foundation in which I am grounded.

The little wooden plaque bore a humble appearance but at least to me it seemed to carry a profound weight. On it was engraved this, the Breton Fisherman’s Prayer, which reads.

“O God, Thy sea is so great, and my boat is so small.”

Oddly, I only this week found out that my grandfather was given the same plaque by Admiral Rickover. I can only wonder if the wisdom of the engraving ever meant anything to him…but the mystery only serves to open my heart and mind to the possibility of how big God really is…coincidence, fingerprints, God’s hand.

Sometimes the smallest of seeds sprout the biggest of trees, and for me this simple prayer, this simple statement of faith caught me at a time when I desperately needed to not only hear its truth, but practice its wisdom. The poignancy was like a stiff jab that caught me across the chin, and so now years later the tiny seed has sunk its roots deep, and the Breton prayer is a regular keepsake that I am reminded of when my life is experiencing rough seas and I’m not so sure my small boat can make it.

Three years ago when I first saw the prayer, I was at a place where it felt that just about everything was falling apart around me, it seemed that no matter how hard I tried, nothing, absolutely nothing, turned out as planned. I was straining at the oars, desperately trying to go my own direction, when clearly God had other things in store, instead of steering me out of the storm, he wanted me in it. It was as if I had boarded the wrong train and had fallen asleep, only to wake up at the end of the line, miles from where I wanted to be, stranded with no clue how to get home. God taught me volumes through that challenging phase, and through it he certainly helped my faith become much more “seafaring”, and much more capable to weather the future storms that inevitably came (…and continue to come).

Our circumstances do much to ready us for what God’s doing, whether they be good or bad, circumstance frames in context the way we see and seek God. Circumstances can be the difference between a seed that sprouts, and the seed that withers in the sun. Circumstance is the preparation of the canvas by a masterful artist.

In embracing the Breton Prayer, we rightfully surrender ourselves to the sea, knowing that however big out boats may be, that in fact, they are quite small. And we rightfully acknowledge God as the owner and master of us, our boats, and all that is in, above, below and beyond the sea. We cast sail, trusting simply and completely in nothing more and nothing less than God’s promised provision and care over us. And in the moments when seas get rough, we can confidently sail on knowing that no single thing governs Gods gracious tide more than his abounding love for us…and whether by storms or by the peace of a still sea, all we know and all we see are rightfully his to command.

When I was a boy, my father and I would go on adventures together, he would often take me places or have me do things that at the time were utterly terrifying. When I lacked the will to go further, I was left no choice but to resist my Father’s seemingly reckless behavior. I remember so clearly my Dad asking me at these moments “Do you trust me?”, often the answer in my head was “NO!”, but I knew in some way that my Dad had only the best intentions for me, and would never put me in harm’s way if there was not a greater benefit. Looking back on some of those terrifying moments, it just so happens they are some of my fondest memories with my Dad, and some of the greatest experiences of my childhood…it just took a little fear, and a little faith to get there.

I guess it is no surprise that our Father in heaven has some spectacular adventures in store, yet often it seems that in order to get in on God’s action, we have to head into some treacherous waters. And it is in those times when we must know and trust God’s good heart for us, his deep love, and that he does not wish harm upon us even in the slightest, but rather he wants us to taste the fullness and richness of who he is. I feel that for every storm of anxiety, fear, heartache and doubt, I learn to taste and see new rich flavors of who God is, I trust and love him more, and yet I fear the vastness and mystery of his sea no less, maybe I’m just becoming a more seasoned sailor.

To close, here is the last paragraph from me in a storm at sea (figuratively) three years ago…If I have learned anything over the past three years, it is that God undoubtedly is there in our storms, in really really real kinds of ways…through my storms I’ve learned to be a better sailor in God’s great sea.

“At the end of the day, none of the things that are making my life difficult are gone, nor does it seem like they will be gone any day soon. While I can not understand the course of time and the events that take place between the hours and days of our lives as they pass along, I can feel comfortable in my lack of understanding. If we knew what was really going on, serving God would require no faith and no trust. I am confident that God allows us to get to and often takes us to place where we are left to question, ”What are you doing?” only to be met with his simple reply, “Do you trust me?” I know that right now there is much going on which I cannot understand, however, I can stand at the shore of this great sea, and trust that the hand that has unsettled the waves, will also keep me afloat in the midst of the storm.” – Me, Sept 22, 2005

If it takes storms to let me see, know, and love God more each day, then I pray that he takes me to sea. And I pray that if it takes a storm for you to see the bigness and realness of a God that loves you, then I pray that you would never know a still sea.

Safe Sailing,
CP

Chrispanoff.blogspot.com

It Never Lasts...

Over the years I have come to appreciate cherish some profoundly simple moments, and simple places. One place I have found that is a great reminder of my place in this world, and God’s rightful place on his throne above is the airport. I believe that there is no place in which we become quite as human, and there is no place at least for me where I get such a clear grip of where I really am.

I love gazing out the window of a plane to look down on the world below, I think in a lot of ways it helps me to be realistic about the size of what’s important in my life. From 30,000 feet, no problem can be that big of a deal…it all gets reduced to a scale that seems so much more manageable.

I love watching people navigate all the lines and protocols at the airport. Protocol strips us all of our worldly “rank”, and evens the playing field. No matter who you are or how much you make, your shoes are coming off, you’ll present your ID, and you’re going to play by the rules to get to where you need to go. It’s not negotiable, we all are reduced to the same level (despite what we think about ourselves).

I love imagining the lifetimes that somehow all get to meet and the same intersection on a 2 hour flight from Atlanta to Newark. I love knowing that God’s level of intimate involvement, love for, and care over everyone is the same no matter what aisle, seat, or flight we’re on. Sometimes it just helps me to understand how big he is when I remember he’s got the whole world in his hand, not just my silly little life.

Airports, as bad as they can be, do much good for me, particularly when they help me to reconsider what really matters, and to what extent the things that matter, matter. They help me be and stay in the present tense; they help me live where I am.

Like the seasons, nothing lasts. Sometimes I find myself being all too concerned with what was, or what is yet to be, and I miss out on so much. I spend my Summer readying for harvest, I spend my Fall, stocking up for Winter, I spend my Winter bitching about snow and cold temperatures, I spend my spring regretting my Winter…I mean its not a literal sequence of how my life works, but the point is that there is so much out there that we have to keep us from savoring where we are. I have missed the colors, scents, and sights at many times in my life. I am learning to slow down, I am trusting that the quantity of time I get largely isn’t up to me, but the quality of my time here can be impacted by my choices…one of which being pace.

Time, just like anything is a gift from God, to abuse it whether by carelessness, or selfishness, through hurry or laziness, is treacherous.

None of it lasts, and when we come to embrace this fact as truth, we learn to gently embrace each moment…always being seasoned with the right amounts of past and future to give the present a succulent sweet aroma in our lives. Ultimately we end up having our pleasures and problems all in the right size…as opposed to being the focal point of the dialogues of our lives they become footnotes, and we begin to focus on the real story…the story of God’s love being worked out in our lives.

I think fear is one of the greatest poisons that distracts our priorities…fear either hurries us or makes us stagnant…enjoyment, in balance, is the only way to hold the present tense in proper reverence…

Using the food metaphor…if life is an all you can eat buffet, I’m the guy who eats himself sick, and dies of an arterial blockage 30 years before his time…fear leads to eating disorders, either we gorge ourselves or starve from not partaking the food of life.

I have been thinking a lot recently about how things change in life, what we learn from that change, and how we choose to respond to change.

Understanding the concept of being temporary has substantial implications on our lives. When we come to embrace the concept of transience of our circumstances, we ready our hearts for change and we loosen our grips on this world. The reality is that it never lasts…no matter what it is. Pain, pleasure, wealth, famine, beauty, youth, popularity, social accomplishment, professional accolades…we are promised that it all fades to nothing. When we come to view any of our earthly conditions as permanent we experience an extreme detachment from all that is holy, and we destine our selves for a place of hopelessness. Whether we subscribe to the permanence of evil, or the permanence of good on this earth; assigning permanent qualities to impermanent things communicates a hugely out of balance view of this world.

When we start to embrace that all that we have is borrowed time, we begin to live coexist with the delicate balance that is living in the here and now…the present tense. Some would conclude this concept of fleeting existence to be disturbing or depressing, but when held in the context of Christ it liberates us in so many ways. We no longer become slaves do finances or cultural believe, instead we enable ourselves to indulge deeply and richly in a life focused on the now, founded on God’s work, and honoring and enjoying God forever (amen).

I feel we all benefit from assessing the attributes of those things we deem to posses permanence, and upon careful consideration, we’ll have a clear picture of all that matters in our lives, and where we put our faith. If at the end none of it is left standing then I guess it might be time to rethink the way we live, the way we love, and the way we spend our present tense.

Personally, I’m thankful to know that whether or prosper or am in despair, that none if it lasts and that all that matters is the love of Christ for me, and my life’s purpose, to honor him.

I’m eagerly anticipating living my life at the right pace for 2009, neither starving nor over-indulging at the buffet of life, just savoring what I have, and knowing that this too shall pass.

Paced,

CP