My friend Valerie showed up this morning at 9:30 to pick-up Ben for a playdate with her son Jack and she handed me a tall cup off vanilla coffee. She said she knew I wasn't a java drinker but that she thought it might be what I needed after this week of rather tumultuous sleep. And as I sit here sipping my cup o' joe I am warmed through to my soul, not because of the caffeine, its now luke-warm at best, but because of the sweetness it represents, spiritually, for me. Eh? you say...spirit-filled coffee? Well, its more like a sweet-nothin whispered to me from the heavens-echoing that his presence is all around me, even when I can barely lift my head to notice.

Christianity for me has been a long, bumpy road filled with alot of disdain and often, doubt. Events in our world, such as 9/11 and the constant suffering of people around the globe, have left me with serious questions regarding the nature of the God we worship and, at a more basic level, his existence at all. I think that most of us look for evidence of more Biblical proportions when faith is being lost- where's the burning bush, the healing of the sick, the resurrection? But I have come to believe that Jesus speaks to us in smaller ways, creating unexpected miracles that occur during our day, most of which we overlook or brush off as coincidence or kindnesses. I believe that when we've had about enough, he whispers to us sweet nothin's- like a front row parking spot when you can't imagine lugging your four children a hundred yards to get into the grocery store for a loaf of bread, or a complement when you feel fatter than ever and your hair is standing on end, or a letter from a friend amongst a pile of medical bills you don't know how you'll pay, or the smile on a stranger's face when you are miserable....He lives there.

Did you hear the whispers today?