Table of contents for December 2018 in Guideposts

What is Christmas about if not family? Your issue of Guideposts this month is full of stories with this great and compelling theme. You would think Rashad Jennings, retired All-Pro running back for the New York Giants and 2017 winner on Dancing With the Stars, had done enough in his life to win the approval of his father. Yet Rashad strove to gain that approval. Only his faith, not his accomplishments, sustained him through years of semi-estrangement. On page 42, you will learn how the two men finally reconciled and about the relationship they enjoy today. You will also meet Alicia Reisinger, who struggled with perfectionism until she had a daughter with a birth defect. That struggle led to the creation of a thriving business inspired by her grandmother’s love…

HELPING OF LOVE Mama’s spaghetti bowl. It was hard for me to part with my mother’s things, and this was the final object I’d included in her estate sale. You can’t keep everything, Elizabeth, I chided myself. The morning of the sale, a stranger claimed that periwinkle bowl. “Mama always wanted to be a stewardess,” I told her. “But airplanes were new in 1939, and you had to be an RN to become a stewardess. So Mama took care of that—she went to nursing school!” “Oh, I love hearing this!” the woman said. “Mama was 98 years old when she passed away. She lived independently in her own home until a stroke took her to heaven,” I continued. I mentioned how my mother’s hands had been featured in a TV…

EIGHT HUNDRED FEET OUT ON A pier in northern Lake Michigan, I steel myself against the sleet and spray stinging my eyes. Every Christmas Eve, I come here, to the lakeshore town I first called home. The waves bashing against the break-water, the near-zero temperatures chill me to the bone. I peer into the depths, knowing lake trout are here. Like me, they have returned to their birthplace. It may seem an odd place to welcome Christmas, so cold and foreboding. But to me it feels right. Walking through the woods with my corgi near my house in southwest Michigan, or here in northern Michigan, watching the comings and goings of the chipmunks, deer and wild turkeys in the snow, the trees stripped bare of their leaves—this is where I’m…

A YEAR AGO, I WAS GIVEN THE assignment of editing our 2018 series of stories about addiction and recovery. America is in the midst of a drug addiction crisis, fueled by opioid dependency. Drug overdoses killed 72,000 people last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 1999, more than 700,000 Americans have died from drug-related causes. That’s nearly twice the number of U.S. soldiers killed during World War II. Chances are, you or a loved one has been affected by addiction. You could say America is losing the war on drugs. Not a very inspirational topic, I thought. And I had another reason to wonder how I’d handle this assignment. I grew up in an alcoholic household. Alcoholism continues to affect one of my parents and…

Clearwater, Florida: Dr. Meir Shinitzky, Ph.D., is a former visiting professor at Duke University, recipient of the prestigious J.F. Kennedy Prize and author of more than 200 international scientific papers on human body cells. But now he’s come up with what the medical world considers his greatest accomplishment — A vital compound. so powerful, it’s reported to repair… even regrow damaged brain cells. In layman’s terms — Bring back your memory power. And leave you feeling more focused and clear-headed than you have in years! In his last speaking engagment, Dr. Shinitsky explains this phenomenon in simple terms; “Science has shown when your brain nutrient levels drop, you can start to experience memory problems and overall mental fatigue. Your ability to concentrate and stay focused becomes compromised. And gradually, a…

Thy (Im)Perfect Light Alicia Reisinger (page 30) shares how her grandmother’s love of candles inspired her to launch her own candlemaking business. guideposts.org/candles Countdown to Christmas Check out our brief history of Advent calendars and some fascinating trivia. guideposts.org/adventcal Make It a Sober Holiday For families who are affected by substance abuse and addiction, the holidays can be the hardest time of the year. Here are some ways to cope. guideposts.org/soberholidays Keep Your Guideposts Coming We make it easy to renew your magazine, check on the length of your subscription or manage book series shipments. guideposts.org/ecares…

FOR FIVE YEARS, I’D BEEN DEALING with the fears as best as I could: prayers, books, Scripture, retreats, talking to people. Now I was at the end of my rope. I had to do something, something different, even if it meant traveling halfway around the world. I wanted to meet the one person whose words had made the biggest difference. For both my wife and me. Martha had been 50 years old when she got the diagnosis, devastating both of us: early-onset Alzheimer’s. Martha had always been a force of nature, her energy level twice mine. “What’s next?” was her response to any challenge, whether it was raising our three children or working with me at the magazine I’d started or serving on the St. Petersburg city council. Then in…

I walked through a cemetery late at night. Even by the light of the full moon, the names on the tombstones remained shrouded in darkness. Then lightning zigzagged through the sky and illuminated the headstone before me. Wes Smith. My heart stopped. I knew that name. I awoke with a start. It was only a dream, thank goodness. Still, I was unsettled. Why had I dreamed of Wes? Sure, we’d liked each other as sixth graders. We’d met in the fall of ’72 and clicked right away. He was so handsome, with his soft brown eyes and sweet smile. But then he moved away. I hadn’t really thought about him in the four years since. It was just a strange dream, I told myself. It doesn’t mean anything. But over…

PRESIDENTS’ DAY WEEKEND IN my third semester at the University of Pittsburgh, I went home to Virginia to see my folks. I couldn’t wait to show them what I’d been awarded. Only four freshmen had ever started as a running back for Pitt, and I was one of them. “Look, I got a letterman’s jacket!” I said. I pulled it out of my duffel bag and held it up so Dad could see the golden P stitched on the chest. “Shad, that’s fantastic!” Mom said. Dad barely took his eyes off the TV. “So?” he said. My heart sank. Dad had earned a full scholarship to play college football. My brothers, Butch and Bryan, 14 and 10 years older than me, played in the NFL. Dad knew what it meant…

When I ask the mother’s Light, page 30). Why? Last year Alicia and her husband, Jon, took their kids on an epic road trip. “The impetus was that Jon’s brother would be deployed for a year just after Christmas, and we wanted to go hug him one more time,” Alicia says. But the one-week trip soon turned into a seven-week expedition: three on the road, checking off an “adventure list,” and four in a small apartment in Portland, Oregon, where Alicia’s candlemaking company, Wax Buffalo (waxbuffalo.com), has an office. “Because we were so smooshed together, we became extra close—reading and whispering secrets late into the night.” Now the family has a huge atlas of the world, providing inspiration for future travels. “It’s what Jon and I always dreamed our family…

“Whenever you’re giving, it’s like a gift to yourself.” SANAA LATHAN, actress “Some people won’t love you, no matter what you do. Some people won’t stop loving you, no matter what you do. Go where the love is.” ELEANOR BROWNN motivational speaker and author “If we live for the applause of our father in heaven, who cherishes us, we will find that his affirmation nourishes us, fills us and sustains us far longer than human acclaim.” KEN SHIGEMATSU, from the book Survival Guide for the Soul: How to Flourish Spiritually in a World that Pressures Us to Achieve “Wise men still seek him.” sign seen on the Etsy website “To eat cookies or not to eat cookies…there is no question.” from The Joy of Cookies: Cookie Monster’s Guide to Life…

It’s easy to let your own needs fall by the wayside when you’re dealing with the daily challenges of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease. Doing that can take a toll on your health and well-being. As Carlen Maddux learned, taking care of yourself is critical when you’re a family caregiver. Feeling refreshed—in body, mind and soul—helps you be the best caregiver you can be. Say yes to help. Are you constantly stressed out and exhausted? Ask for help. Talk to family members, and come up with a solution together. Maybe they can pitch in more regularly. Maybe friends or volunteers from your faith community can offer a few hours of respite every week. If you’re considering professional caregiving help, call (866) 996-1085 or go to homeinstead.com/guideposts for…

TAPPED INTO Toothbrushes, hand tools, art supplies, shoes. Those were the things my husband and I were encouraged to bring for our week at a Guatemalan orphanage. The staff was excited to see my suitcase full of sneakers—until they found the dance shoes. Women’s size six tap shoes and tiny ballet slippers. “The children don’t have much use for these,” one of the dorm parents said, frowning. My face turned red. I knew how it looked. Dance shoes for kids going barefoot? Ridiculous! But when I was shopping, God planted me in front of them and wouldn’t let me move without buying them. Had I gotten the message wrong? For the next few days, I helped out around the compound. I played with Elliot, gave hugs to Maggie, pushed Estephanie…

POSITIVE FEEDBACK I love Guideposts and the messages of faith, healing and positivity you share. Recently, I was drawn to the Someone Cares story about Crisis Text Line (September 2018). It was uplifting to see how technology is used to help people like its author, Jennie Tezak. Last year, sick and tired of negativity online, I committed myself to making my Instagram a source of kindness for others. I post only images that convey a positive sentiment, and I follow only people who post the same. Nothing negative. So far, I have more than 700 followers. We exchange loving and kind messages with one another on a daily basis. Being an online optimist has made me a happier person off-line. Because I sometimes post more than once a day, I’m…