Table of contents for August 2020 in Guideposts

I’ve mentioned that I compose this page a couple of months before you actually see it, due to print production deadlines. Usually it doesn’t matter; I share things that aren’t time-sensitive. But this year is so very different than any most of us have known. As I write, we are still in the grip of a viral pandemic that is spread from person to person, often without symptoms. States and businesses are trying to get on their feet again. The economic pain of the shutdown has hit Americans hard. There is a lot to be worried about, and however the months ahead unfold, the world is a changed place. And we are changed by it. In my last editor’s note, as the shutdown took effect in most parts of the…

FACE TIME It’s hard enough to be hospitalized. Even worse, because of a highly contagious virus, not to have loved ones nearby. But having no human connection can jeopardize patient recovery. That’s what inspired artist and professor Mary Beth Heffernan to start the PPE Portrait Project during the Ebola outbreak. Concerned about the isolation that Ebola patients faced, Mary Beth traveled to Liberia in 2015 and took photos of health-care professionals, asking them to offer the smile they wished their patients could see. She then printed the portraits onto stickers to be worn on personal protective equipment. Being able to see who was treating them helped patients feel less lonely and more connected to their caregivers. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States, experts revisited Mary Beth’s idea. Dr.…

Look at the red strap. The warning was clear, almost as if it had been spoken aloud. But what did it mean? I was cruising along the interstate in my little Kia Soul. I scanned ahead. In the middle lane was a shiny gray pickup truck. In the truck bed was a sofa, lashed down with a bright red strap, the end flapping lazily in the breeze. My 19-year-old daughter and I had spent the afternoon at a home and garden show. My sister was the event manager. Though she hadn’t had much time to chat, it had been great to see her. She’d looked so professional in her sleek black outfit and gold hoop earrings—the ones she saved for special occasions. My daughter and I had a great time…

IT BEGAN AS SUCH A happy day, Good Friday one year ago. The snow which had been coming down for two days let up, which meant that my husband, Lowell, could fly to Fairbanks and get back to Anchorage in time for us to have all of Easter weekend together. The children and I waved goodbye as he drove off to the airport, then shut the door quickly because it was still below freezing outside. About five o’clock, feeling lonesome for him, Anne, eight, David, six, and I went upstairs to watch TV. Anne and David were wearing blue jeans and cotton Tshirts; I had on a wool dress and nylon stockings. We took off our shoes so we could sit on the bed. It was half an hour later…

THIS DOG! SHE INSISTED on following me every time I hiked this trail. Why couldn’t she see that I wanted to be alone? It was a crisp November day. I was halfway up to Rocca Angitola, a breathtaking hilltop in the Calabria region of southern Italy. I’d lived in Calabria part-time for years, and this was the place I’d always come to find peace and renewal, the place I felt closest to God. But now I could barely take a step without this darn dog getting underfoot. I whirled around, then picked up a clod of dirt and tossed it in front of her. “Shoo!” I said. The dog retreated a bit and cocked her head, thinking we were playing a game. “Fine, have it your way,” I muttered and…

While her husband, Alex, has been busy writing his book, The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life (Simon & Schuster), Jean Trebek (Acceptance, Strength, Gratitude, page 20) has been busy writing and editing for her website, insidewink.com. The name comes from her friend (and the site’s co-founder) Alison Martin. “She said everything good comes from within us and is expressed outwardly,” Jean says. “Share the good” has become the blog’s tagline as the duo post positive insights about being human. Their mission reminds Jean of Guideposts, which she started reading at her grandmother’s house. “I fervently believe there is more good going on in the world than bad,” Jean says. You could say Kent Rollins (Chuck Wagon Chef, page 26) accidentally left a warm impression on his wife, Shannon. “Mail…

The Power of Prayer Learn how Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek and his wife, Jean, (page 20) lean on prayer during his battle with cancer. guideposts.org/trebekprayer Faith Factor Guideposts blogger Bob Hostetler (page 60) shares his tips for choosing faith over fear in our exclusive video. guideposts.org/choosefaith Spirit Lifters Need a lift? Turn to these hope-filled Bible verses selected by Executive Editor Rick Hamlin. guideposts.org/versesforhope Movie Night Check out our list of heartwarming movies you can stream with the whole family. guideposts.org/heartwarmingmovies 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…

Earlier this year, I flew back to New York from a conference where I’d been talking about my faith. It had been a long trip, and I was glad I’d made arrangements to get a ride from the airport to the commuter train station. At the last minute, the friend who was going to pick me up couldn’t make it. Now with two heavy bags and a brain fogged by jet lag, I had to figure out how to get to my place in Connecticut. First, I took the shuttle train to the subway, which took me to Grand Central Terminal, the commuter rail hub. I glanced up at the departures board. A train on the Harlem Line was leaving that very minute! I hurried to the platform as fast…

WE’D GONE TO ISRAEL TO VISIT the sites of the Holy Land in December 2018, taking our son and daughter, Matthew and Emily, then 27 and 24. We’d finished dinner one night, and I looked across the table at Alex. His coloring seemed off. “You feeling okay?” I asked. “I’m good,” he said. Alex is not one to complain. But he admitted that he was having some stomach pains. I figured, okay, we were in a different country. Maybe it was something he ate. Later, back home in California, things were still not right. His doctor ran some tests, then some more. We weren’t so worried that we canceled a trip to New York. It was there, in our hotel, that we got a call from his doctor. “We need…

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE “Let’s move on to today’s lesson.” I walked to the DVD player at the front of the room with what I hoped was confidence. Technology was not my strong suit. I’d been teaching a Bible-based addiction recovery class at the homeless shelter where I volunteered. The student who normally helped out with tech wasn’t in class today. It was just me, the DVD player and my students. Including Makayla. She sat in the back row, rolling her eyes. Makayla thought I couldn’t do anything right and wasn’t shy about saying so. She’d struggled her whole life. Childhood abuse. Addiction. Prostitution. People had let her down over and over. She had no reason to trust me, some clueless lady from the suburbs who didn’t know what the world was…

WITH EVERY NERVE IN MY body tensed, I hurried down the dark streets of San Francisco’s Mission District. Frightening even in the daytime, the neighborhood took on a sinister life of its own in the early morning hours. Only an emergency would have gotten me into those filthy alleyways at 2 a.m., and that was exactly why I was there that night in 1956. Clutched in my hand was my third-grade report card. It had to be signed for school the next day; “No excuses,” my teacher had warned. So I had to find my mother. I reached the back door of another loud, smoky bar and pushed it open. Inside I stood for a long moment, giving my eyes a chance to adjust to the dim light before I…

“My prison ministry, Wings for LIFE International, distributed Daily Guideposts to inmates in Liberia. We were thrilled to learn they pass the books around so everyone’s on the same page and can encourage each other in spiritual growth.”ANN EDENFIELD SWEET Albuquerque, New Mexico For more information on Guideposts’ outreach programs, visit guideposts.org/helping-others, write to GUIDEPOSTS FOUNDATION, 100 Reserve Road, Suite E200, Danbury, CT 06810 or e-mail us at outreach@guideposts.org.…

“Sometimes our journeys might seem uncertain and without purpose, but every step we take brings us closer to understanding why we are here.”JOSÉ ANDRÉS, acclaimed chef and founder of World Central Kitchen, which provides free hot meals for people in crisis around the world “Faith to me is well summed up in the phrase ‘Facing All I Trust Him.’”BEAR GRYLLS, TV host and outdoor survivalist “I believe there’s never a point, as long as there’s breath in your body and one brain cell that’s still hopping along, that we cannot continue to grow and to learn.”PATSY CLAIRMONT, speaker, author and cofounder of the Women of Faith conferences “Jesus never says, ‘Get cleaned up and then come in.’ He says, ‘Come in. I’ll clean you up.’”MAX LUCADO, author “Control what you can.…

HOW TO HELP THE LONELY? HOW to help yourself when you are one of the lonely? I’m a clinical psychologist, and my passion is helping people who feel so disconnected they contemplate and sometimes attempt suicide. The bad news: There is a loneliness epidemic in America. The good news: We can do something about it. And it won’t take an army of specialists and billions of dollars. It’s as simple as reaching out, using the genuine compassion and empathy we all have. All it takes is a caring message. Before I say more about caring messages, let’s look at loneliness and the steps you can take to address it. Let me turn to my own experience. Acknowledge what you’re going through. We moved around constantly when I was growing up,…

TEXAS’S PALO DURO CANYON GETS mighty cold in December. Especially at 3:45 in the morning. My hands, my whole body, felt frozen as I rolled out of my 1876 Studebaker chuck wagon. I could barely hold a match to the lantern, the wind blowing from the north. “God, let this catch,” I muttered. The cowboys were still asleep, though they’d be stirring before long. It’s my job as cook to be up first, firing up Bertha—my 385-pound, wood-burning camp stove—and get enough eggs and bacon going to feed a small battalion. An army moves on its stomach, they say. A cattle drive is no different. Without a hearty breakfast…brother, we’ve got problems. It’s all riding on me. I gave up a good-paying, secure job to become a chuck wagon cook.…

THE CHRISTIAN CAMP WHERE MY husband, Frank, is operations director is open year-round. It’s a big job. Sometimes it takes all five of us—Frank, me and our three sons—to keep it going. We host all kinds of groups. Who wouldn’t want to spend time in a lake house, surrounded by 78 acres of rolling hills? It’s a relaxing getaway for our guests. For Frank and me, it’s hard work. Especially during the summer, when we run our own children’s camp. In the evenings, we’re lucky if we manage an “I love you” before falling asleep. Yet somehow, after 20 years, we’re as close as ever. How do we do it? The answer lies in six simple words: “Meet me at the golf cart.” The golf cart came to us our…

THERE IS A WORD IN HEBREW for people like me, those who choose to leave their country and move to Israel: We are called olim, from the word la’alot, meaning to rise or “go up” to the land. We step into the unknown, away from our family and friends, our jobs, our comforts and our mother tongues to fulfill the destiny God promised Abraham and his descendants. Almost 30 years ago, my husband, Jeff, and I left Maryland and moved to the southern city of Beer Sheva, the cultural capital of the Negev desert. Jeff’s sister had moved there several years earlier, and what she told us about life in Israel spoke to a longing in our souls. We were in our twenties, seeking something we hadn’t been able to…

FEAR CAN PARALYZE OR ENERGIZE, as many of us are discovering in these extraordinary times we live in today. Fear—whether fueled by a virus, economic woes or something else—can either raise the hair on the back of your neck or put steel in your spine. The difference isn’t in the situation itself but in the faith we apply to the circumstances. I learned this on a backpacking trip one summer 27 years ago with my 11-year-old son, Aaron, and 12-year-old daughter, Aubrey. I’d backpacked a few times before, but the longest hike the kids had done was maybe half an hour. We drove five hours from our home in Butler County, Ohio, to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, arriving at the trailhead of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park around six that evening.…

HISTORY REPEATS In September 1953, Guideposts published I Thought I Knew My Wife, by John LeVere. He described the day his quiet wife, Peggy, stood up in church and gave an impromptu speech about fund-raising for a new building. Why not do without new possessions—cars, furniture, appliances—and put that money toward their church? People pledged more than $13,000 that day. I heard that speech at my family’s church, West Des Moines Methodist in Iowa. I was nine. Peggy’s bravery stuck with me. Decades later, the members at my current church, Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist, realized we’d outgrown our space. I told folks about how Peggy LeVere inspired my childhood church. When people join hands in faith, they can make amazing things happen! I’ve seen it twice—in 1953 and in 1997,…