I often find myself speaking of God when all I really intended was a casual everyday talk. My life, in ways both obvious and unseen, revolves around my unprovable, uncontrollable, unstoppable belief in God. Every peaceful thought is a love letter to Him. Every worry is a desperate cry to Her. Everything that happens to me is an opportunity to see the state of my belief reflected in the pool of my life. And yesterday, once again, without instigation, the meandering path of con

A glass of chardonnay can be just about anything a wine lover could want. Depending on where it's sourced, it can be lean, crisp and clear as crystal, or thick, buttery and full of creamy complexity. It can be bone dry or sweet as dessert. It can even sparkle. And yet, chardonnay is still just a grape. But if I chose to look no further than this little grape for a guru on how to live a full and productive life, I would find it the most perfect role model. Little did I kn

Laughter. Easy conversation. Little footsteps scampering about. Giggles and shouts. Kitchen drawers opening and closing. These were the sounds that came echoing into my room where I lay sick while the rest of my family enjoyed Easter together. A few days before Easter, I was knocked down by the flu. It assaulted me with chills, headache, fever, congestion, tiredness, laryngitis, and coughing. It lay siege to my entire life. When the doctor put me on strict vocal rest

This past winter while charged with the responsibility of watering my mother's plants while my parents were away for a month (a dangerous move for my mom to make--I'm not known for my green thumb), I discovered that the plants did me far more good than I possibly could have done them. I learned from them that life happens "just because." Heedless of the future, ignorant of the wisdom of their choices, they just kept going, and I found myself admiring them for it. Of the man