Table of contents for May 2021 in Guideposts

Hello, my friends. I announced last month that Guideposts was making crucial investments in your magazine that would ensure its vitality for years and generations to come. (Many of you tell us you were introduced to Guidepostsuideposts by a parent or grandparent.) Starting with the next issue, June/July, Guidepostsuideposts magazine will be published bimonthly, meaning you will receive six issues a year rather than the current ten. But your magazine will be bigger and better: * Each issue is a minimum of 100 pages. No appreciable increase in ad pages. * Redesigned on better paper with more readable type. * Still filled with true personal stories of hope and inspiration that you love to read and share. * New articles on prayer, Scripture, spiritual growth and well-being, devotions, more uplifting…

“I am not a complainer. If I was that type of person, I would be cluttering the path that God has laid out for me, and I wouldn’t be able to walk it.”REGINA KING, Oscar-winning actor “When you replace judgment with curiosity, everything changes.”ROBYN CONLEY DOWNS, educator and author of The Feel-Good Effect: Reclaim Your Wellness by Creating Small Shifts That Create Big Change “Reading gets us into God’s word. Meditation gets God’s word into us.”MARK BATTERSON, pastor and author of Win the Day: 7 Daily Habits to Help You Stress Less & Accomplish More “I really, really think the secret to being loved is to love. And the secret to being interesting is to be interested. And the secret to having a friend is being a friend.”best-selling author GLENNON…

I flopped onto my bed, exhausted. It was late, so late my teenagers were asleep. I’d put in extra hours working for a friend’s online gift shop. Thanksgiving was a few weeks away, and holiday orders were already piling up for the 2019 season. I was a single mother working two other jobs—maintenance at a community college, house cleaner—to support my family and launch my own addiction recovery program for women. All my hard work would pay off in the end, I was sure, but…Lord, I am tired. I clicked open the Facebook app on my cell phone, hoping to scroll through smiling pictures of friends and family for a quick pick-me-up. But the first thing that popped up was a post—“My dad needs a new kidney”—from April Potter Holleman,…

Age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, 72 percent of the more than 6 million Americans who are living with the disease are age 75 and older. Age, however, is not the only risk factor. Although far less common, youngeronset Alzheimer’s is the term used to describe the disease for individuals diagnosed before age 65. The warning signs and symptoms associated with younger-onset Alzheimer’s are similar to Alzheimer’s, but the experience itself can be quite different. People diagnosed with younger-onset may have dependent children, be at the peak of their professional careers or even be caregivers themselves. Diagnosing younger-onset Alzheimer’s can be tricky. It is common for individuals suffering from early cognitive decline to attribute symptoms to stress. Doctors often discount symptoms due to the person’s…

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket, steeling myself to call my grandma in a nursing home some 500 miles away in Ohio. Why is this so hard? Before Covid, I looked forward to these calls. I thought of them as doing my part to help care for her. Now I wondered if I was making any difference in the face of a deadly pandemic, especially one that was hitting care facilities so hard. Quickly I reviewed the list of things I’d come up with to tell her, the latest games my three-year-old, Amelia, was into: baking cakes for stuffed animals and dancing to Baby Shark with her brother. The word combinations, Jack, now two, was saying: “Doggie, woof. Daddy, bye bye.” Silly stuff Grandma delighted in hearing. Grandma…

I picked up the phone and called my son. I simply had to know. “Carlos,” I said, “I want you to be honest with me. Why don’t you believe in God? Could you ever believe?” It was a very direct question. I am a very direct person. And for years I had been wondering and worrying about my son Carlos’s relationship with God. Carlos is 51. He is a father. He and Bridget, the mother of his son, Santiago, live across the country from me in Miami. (They have been together for a long time, but they do not believe marriage is necessary. That’s a whole separate issue I have learned not to discuss with them.) Carlos is not my only child, but his relationship with God has always been…

Jocelynn James Edmonds’s (A Wretch Like Me? page 18) history of addiction and incarceration—during which she encountered Officer Terrell Potter, the man she would go on to donate a kidney to years later—inspired her to reach out to others going through similar struggles. “It’s hard for people to believe in those who are early in their recovery,” she says. That’s why Jocelynn launched The Place of Grace, a nonprofit, to help men and women recovering from addiction get into rehabilitation facilities and housing. Since 2013, she and her organization have helped more than 1,000 people. Jocelynn also has a ministry at the Franklin County Jail, the same facility where she herself was incarcerated in 2012. Before the Covid pandemic, she had visited the jail regularly for years. “I want to…

I joined the Guideposts team exactly four years ago this May. Since then, I’ve come to know many of the positive people who support Guideposts and its mission. From my dedicated colleagues, to our donors and readers, to those who tell their stories, we all share the same faith in God’s love. As the new CEO, I was excited at the prospect of working for an organization whose mission is to create a more hopeful world. I saw a rapidly changing landscape and the growing need for Guideposts, but I had no idea how quickly that change would come. During those four years, I experienced the pain of losing a sister, the joys of raising three girls, the concerns of caring for my aging in-laws and the challenges of helping…

A Memorial Day Lesson She thought she was too cool for her town’s Memorial Day celebration—then learned what being a hero means. Read a classic Guidepostsuideposts story at guideposts.org/memorialdaystory The Joys of Summer Savor the season, even if it looks different this year. Check out three tips from Bishop D. A. Sherron on getting the most out of your summer at guideposts.org/summertips Mothers and Miracles Feel a strong spiritual connection to your mom? Learn what research says about how mothers bond with children via visions and dreams at guideposts.org/mothermiracles The Perfect Beach Reads Enjoy Savannah-set mysteries, immerse yourself in the lives of biblical women or uncover the secrets of an old inn. Check out our fiction collection at guideposts.org/beachreads Keep Your GUIDEPOSTS Coming It’s easy to renew your magazine or…

MAGIC MAKERS In 2015, my friend’s three-year-old daughter, Lily, was diagnosed with cancer. As an oncology nurse, I knew the challenges that she and her family faced. I couldn’t stop thinking about Lily’s beautiful blonde hair, which she’d lose during treatment. I decided to crochet a wig for her. Yarn is much softer on the scalp than a traditional wig. Using yellow yarn, I made a wig with long hair, just like Rapun-zel’s from the Disney movie Tangled. Lily loved it, and getting the wig really lifted her spirits. I knew I had to create more wigs for other kids battling cancer. I talked to my friend Bree Hitchcock, and together we founded the Magic Yarn Project. We converted my garage into a craft room and enlisted other friends to…

I’d practiced my talk for weeks. Agonized over my words. What stories from my life as a farmer in central North Dakota were most likely to inspire hope in an audience of farmers just starting out? Was there any hope for them? Their young faces looked so eager, so hopeful. It takes a lot of courage to embark on life as a family farmer these days. Success is far from guaranteed, no matter where you live. Land is expensive. Banks are reluctant to lend to new farmers. The farm economy favors large growers. That’s why I agreed to address this audience convened by a North Dakota nonprofit organization called the Foundation for Agricultural and Rural Resources Management and Sustainability (FARRMS). The foundation supports sustainable agriculture and strengthens local food systems…

Any caregiver can relate to John Haney’s anxiety about his grandmother’s well-being. When you are unable to visit your senior loved one regularly—due to physical distance or Covid-19 restrictions—it’s easy to worry and wonder: How are they really doing? The isolation problem is getting worse. In 2020, the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging found that 56 percent of older adults reported feeling isolated, compared with 27 percent in 2018. The impact of isolation and loneliness is a real concern for our aging population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes recent studies have found social isolation significantly increases a person’s risk for premature death from all causes and is associated with a roughly 50 percent greater risk for dementia. “The rise in loneliness and isolation in…

My husband, Tom, had come up with more than a few crazy ideas during our 29 years of marriage, but this one topped them all. “We are not buying a llama,” I told him. “No way.” We had just driven home after spending the afternoon at a huge llama exhibition and show on the Ohio State Fair grounds. We had gone there for the dog show, where for five years we’d shown our beloved boxer. Roxie was a beautiful champion show dog whom I’d loved as if she were one of our children. She’d drawn us into a life I could never have imagined. Roxie came into our lives when she was a puppy, and everything changed. Summer weekends were spent going to shows across the region. It became all-consuming.…

GOOD DOG A January 2017 Guideposts story, Legal Guardian, told about Lori Raineri’s dog, Daisy Grace, who worked in the Yolo County, California, Courthouse, comforting child sexual assault victims. Lori recently told us that Daisy had passed away at age 14. “So many people who knew Daisy as my service dog were happy to learn about her other role, comforting crime victims,” Lori says. Daisy made new friends as she traveled the country for Lori’s work. “The article was a wonderful highlight of our lives together and our effort to help others,” Lori says. “Thank you for all you do to inspire your readers and for including Daisy and me in Guideposts’ mission.” DAISY URGILES Editor FILLING THE NET Amy Eddings’s January 4 devotion in Daily Guidepost 2021, about “deep…

Our cover story this month is a moving account of addiction, recovery and the miraculous gifts of sobriety. If ever there seemed a hopeless case of a person ensnared in addiction’s downward spiral, it was Jocelynn James Edmonds. She had lost everything to her crippling drug habit and appeared destined to become yet another statistic in the scourge of addiction. Then came the miracle. A day at a time, she turned her life around. But it is the next miracle she tells you about that will take your breath away. I too was once hopeless. In my book The Promise of Hope, I wrote about my addiction to alcohol and drugs and the despair I felt of ever recovering. Yet I have been sober for more than a quarter century,…

I called to confirm I’d be babysitting my two-year-old granddaughter, Ella, that afternoon. Though not quite noon, the day was already sweltering. Maybe that was why I’d been feeling light-headed all morning despite the air conditioning. “Grammy!” Ella shouted. “You and me go to s’pool!” That’s what she called my neighbors’ swimming pool. The request surprised me. Ella never suggested anything, let alone so enthusiastically. “Ella, you have to ask nicely,” my daughter-in-law, Amanda, chided. “We go to s’pool today, peez!” “We’ll see, sweetie,” I said. I work from home and had a few tasks to complete. I hoped Ella would forget about the pool by the time I got her. Still, I put on my bathing suit underneath my clothes, just in case. Trying to shake off my brain…

“You have to burp the pickles every day,” I said, pointing out my jars of home-pickled carrots, kale and lemon lined up neatly beneath the microwave. “Otherwise the CO2 will build up and the jars will explode.” “Put it on the list,” my boyfriend, Alex, said. He remained sprawled on the couch, remote in hand. “See all these plants? These need to be watered every three days. Water the two in the bathroom once a week. Don’t touch the succulents. And the ones on the fire escape—” “On the list, Mari.” I bit my lip. God, I asked, is Alex even listening to me? Doesn’t he care about how I want things done while I’m away? Alex and I were wildly different. He was so unlike the well-educated, middle-class public servants…

TANKS BE TO GOD Real men fix their own toilets. Especially when they don’t have money for a plumber. I set the replacement tank on the floor of the bathroom with a thump. It’s a simple job, I thought. Just disconnect the water supply, unscrew the bolts on the old tank with channel lock pliers and replace it with the new one. I didn’t need to hire a plumber. I could do it myself. I eyed my opponent—the toilet that wouldn’t stop running—tucked into the corner of the bathroom. There wasn’t much room for a fullgrown man to work, but I was determined. I dropped to my knees and wedged myself into the space between the toilet bowl and the wall. With my left cheek smooshed against cold porcelain and…