There are 749,404 restaurants in the United States and with that comes an astounding variety of foods available to us. There are also countless types of diets that anyone can choose from. Our dietary choices are often affected by ethical and religious beliefs, medical needs, or a desire to control weight. From a young age, we learn, and over time better understand that our physical growth and health require that we provide our bodies with proper nutrition. We need a regular i

Lindsey stared at the screen in front of her. Another rejection email, another month with no job leads. She bit her lip in despair, trying to hold back her tears. She didn’t have money for her house payment, or any other bills, for that matter. The economy was seriously struggling and had been for some time now. She knew that she wasn’t the only person in her position, but being out of work for five months now was taking its toll on her. She thought back to when she was first

Have you ever heard of the Grain of Mustard Seed parable? It is one that has passed the test of time, being passed down over the last 2000 years. Its message is that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains - and nothing will be impossible to you. I had been thinking about this parable quite a bit before the following realization hit me: You don't have to have faith the size of a mountain to move a mountain.   This parable is trying to give a small

A couple of weeks ago, I authored an article about not feeling ready to become a father, but my wife was due with the baby soon. I wanted to write a follow up article to talk about how the change has affected me. If you have not read the first article, it might enhance this story to read that article first. The main question that I pondered in the last article was if I was ready to be a father. Now I get to see the answer. At least, I have proven that I can be the father of a

Jenny made another mistake on the piano as I watched with a bit of confusion. Teaching her to play the piano has been a unique experience. During some piano lessons, she displays an almost prodigy-like knowledge of piano theory and ability. Other times, she just stares at the sheet music in confusion. Those who have taken piano lessons before might guess that the lessons in which she excels directly follow the weeks she practiced daily. That’s what confuses me. Why does she n

A significant amount of my prayers have gone unanswered. I’ve always believed and hoped that God answers prayers. I have prayed many times in my life and have received answers and guidance at various times. However, I have also prayed at other times, and have not received the items I earnestly sought for. Many of my prayers have simply resulted in silence and more questions and doubts rather than in guidance, inspiration, or clarity. I don’t imagine that my experience is much

News flash! Humans are fallible! We make all kinds of mistakes every day. We say the wrong thing at the wrong time, think we know the answer when we’re dead wrong, lose control of our emotions, disrespect or misuse authority, lack humility and charity, demean others through word and deed, care too little, care too much, and a host of other failings. We even make mistakes in our own self-evaluations. Some people aren’t critical enough, glossing over their own faults or justify

Sitting at his 6-year-old son’s soccer game, Jim watched as his son’s coach started yelling at the referee and the coach on the opposing team about a claimed rule violation. This season, the league was experimenting with a rule that required keeping a goalie in for the entire half. This rule came about as it often took the younger kids a fair amount of time to substitute goalies since they needed to put on the goalie jersey and gloves. The other team had a goalie on the field

How many times have you heard somebody when, after given a compliment, say “No, that’s not true”, or “Not even”. They often reject the compliment trying to be humble, or because they do not believe the compliment, but in reality, they are being detrimental to themselves and the person giving the compliment. Saying “thank you” to a compliment greatly increases our ability to love ourselves and others. Let me explain why with a case study. I once knew a very impressive girl. Sh

I remember observing a Facebook conversation where a lawyer mocked certain modern trends and concluded by firmly stating that he was entirely self-made and had not relied on anyone else for his success. “I worked for my success” has a certain appeal to it. I remember often saying similar things myself in various situations, but when I saw it come from this attorney, I really started questioning the statement. Is any person self-made? As I have reflected on this question for s

I love to play in the dirt. Pulling the weeds, planting seeds or new plants, moving rocks, transplanting trees or plants, and creating new spaces in a yard brings me so much joy. As a young child, I would go out and help weed the garden, but I secretly loved it. At times I would go out and water the plants and then “fluff the dirt”. I loved how it looked, and I equally loved how it made me feel when it was done. There was a purpose in doing it.   Several years ago, I wanted t

Anger. Bad Drivers. The World Ending. What do these things have in common? They are things that many people feel, see, or experience on almost a daily basis. Some people believe that almost all drivers are bad, that the world is full of angry people, and that the world could very well devolve into war or suffer cataclysmic weather changes soon.   I work as an attorney. I often have conversations with clients who feel certain of something. Some feel that the government is secr

I’ve seen quite a few satirical sketches recently that depict American Conservatives and Liberals agreeing on most of their political viewpoints at a very basic level. Most are quite humorous and display far more truth than most would like to admit. One principle that I believe Conservatives and Liberals seem to agree upon is that freedom is vanishing. Different groups may site different areas from which they believe freedom to be vanishing and each seeks to blame the other f

I once asked a group of students what one plus one plus one equals. Most said two, but one cleverly said “It depends on if it is in math or chemistry.” I added, “It would also change if we are talking about synergy because then the answer would be eight”. They were quite confused, but I explained with a pencil analogy. I gave a student a pencil and asked if he would break it. He did. I then gave him a stack of pencils and asked him to try to break them which he could not. One

It had been a week since my son had gone to school. He had been ill, so I went to his school, talked with his teacher, and picked up his homework. I took it home and looked it over with him, talking him through what was needed. He responded that he would be able to do it and didn’t need help. A few days later my son was feeling better, and he proudly announced all his homework was done and that we now had time to do something fun. We were both excited at this announcement, bo

Potential – what does it really mean? We often talk of reaching our potential as if it is some far-off concept, something elusive that we have not found yet.   When we look at a 16-year-old child and say that “he has a lot of potential”, what are we really saying? And, more importantly, when does that 16-year-old child actually reach his potential?   Is it when he gets married, becomes CEO of a company, starts a non-profit, speaks in 47 countries, helps a friend through a har

I stood at the front of the classroom, starting to teach a new concept and technique to my elementary art students. I was so excited to teach this new project. I had spent days coming up with the concept, gathering and preparing the proper materials to create it and the history behind the technique. I was excited and committed to this project. The response from the class was varied, as expected, but I knew once they got started, they would be just as excited. In front of them

Human vision, while amazing, only picks up a small subset of the complete light spectrum. I have often wondered what we might be missing out on seeing or understanding with how much of the spectrum we do not process. Of course, we have machines that can process various portions of the light spectrum, but are they capturing everything? Science theorizes too about ‘dark matter’ that we cannot see but that exists. Are there more things to see than light alone would reveal to us?

About 16 years ago, I planted two peach trees. I grew up with my mom and grandma canning peaches and prefer those over store bought canned peaches. I also enjoy eating them fresh. I selected a variety that I liked and got them planted. It takes about 3 years before you can let them bear fruit. This helps the tree to get established and grow strong as well as be able to handle the weight of the peaches. My family and I have enjoyed many years of fresh peaches and had such an a

Tales are told of explorers who spent significant energy, time, and resources searching for the Fountain of Youth, pirate treasures, the City of Gold, Atlantis, and other significant things. For many such explorers, they never found what they were looking for, and the question always lingers over their tales – did the item they searched for actually exist, or was it just a legend? When reading their stories, it is easy to smile at the ignorance of someone searching for a Foun