Table of contents for August 2015 in Guideposts

This being August, I would guess a lot of you are on vacation. I hope you are, because we all need a break from something, even if it’s the work we love. But don’t forget to take your Guideposts. Vacation is a great time to catch up on your reading. When I was a kid in Philly, before we moved to Michigan, my family vacationed on the Jersey Shore, at a little town called Stone Harbor. One summer I read the entire Hardy Boys series twice. My family didn’t get Guideposts, but I remember my mom in a beach chair reading The Power of Positive Thinking, by our cofounder Norman Vincent Peale, and my aunt Anne asking if she could borrow it when Mom was done (not that she would’ve…

With each dream accomplished, bigger ones are put in their place.” Golden-Globe-winning actress GINA RODRIGUEZ “Grace isn’t a little prayer you say before a meal, it’s a way to live.” from actress ANDIE MacDOWELL’s Twitter feed “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” BILL BRADLEY, NBA Hall-of-Famer and former U.S. senator “I believe any success in life is made by going into an area with a blind, furious optimism.” actor SYLVESTER STALLONE “Earth is Forgiveness School.” ANNE LAMOTT, author “Curiosity has never let me down.” Oscar-winning director BRIAN GRAZER, from his book, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life SEND AN UPLIFTING QUOTE from a newsmaker or yourself to upside@guideposts.org or GUIDEPOSTS, The Up Side, 110 William Street, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038.…

ROAD SHOW Where to start? The dirty dishes or the laundry? It was nearly 8:00 p.m. Caring for four children while my husband worked long hours left me little time to do basic housekeeping during the day, what with the kids’ playdates, sports practices and play rehearsals. It felt as if I never had a day off, let alone a vacation. Vacation. I relished the word. I had friends who took family trips to Disney World, or romantic cruises with their husbands, or just the occasional long weekend. I pictured myself in a resort pool or relaxing in a warm bath with no kids banging on the door. Not forever. Just long enough to recharge my batteries. But money was tight. “Mom!” Michelle called. “I can’t find my script!” I…

How the Irish Saved Christianity Be inspired by Guideposts’ digital editor Brooke Obie’s stunning images of ancient monasteries and churches. Get a glimpse of how Irish Christianity flourished in the Dark Ages. guideposts.org/ireland Making Time for God Jen Hatmaker (page 52) is a prolific author, a blogger, reality-TV star, motivational speaker and mother of five. How does she make time to pray? Find out in our exclusive video at guideposts.org/hatmaker. Pope Francis Did you know the Pope is planning a visit to the United States next month? Learn more about our special guest—he’s the first Latin American Pope, for instance— at guideposts.org/pope-francis. Inspiration for Caregivers If you or someone you love cares for an aging relative, get practical advice and inspiring stories at guideposts.org/caring.…

8TH IN A SERIES I glanced over at the rows of black robes. They filled the great lawn outside Roberts Hall at High Point University in North Carolina that cold, misty morning. But I was not a student. I was a 72-year-old man, pushing the wheelchair of the first graduate who’d been called to the stage. Collin Smith. The university president handed Collin his diploma, and the crowd stood and cheered. I beamed, as proud as if Collin were my own son. It had been a long and sometimes bumpy ride, our eight years together. There were times, in fact, when this moment would have been unthinkable. When I retired, at 63, I found myself with too much time on my hands. We had recently moved to Asheboro, where I…

THE SUPERSTITION MOUNTAINS ARE a 160,000-acre wilderness of red rock east of Phoenix, Arizona. Eons of erosion have carved the range into slender stone towers hundreds of feet tall. They practically dare you to climb them. But they’re eerie too. It’s easy to get lost in the Superstitions. The rock formations can play tricks on your eyes. Early one summer morning, my buddy Jared and I set off to climb one of those towers. Jared had just graduated from high school. I was a year behind him. He’d recruited me into Junior ROTC. We’d both done backpacking, and the last couple of years our parents had let us camp on our own. I had never done technical rock climbing. But I’d spent many hours on the climbing wall at the…

WORKOUT WALKIES Tricia Montgomery’s April 2015 story, For the Love of Louie, about getting fit and healthy with her basset hound, inspired me to make my own dog, a coton de tulear named Maddie, my workout partner. I’d wanted to add strength training to my fitness routine but I can’t afford classes or a gym membership. So I’ve followed Tricia’s example and incorporated strength exercises into my walks with Maddie. When I see a piece of trash along our route, I do a lunge to pick it up. Once Maddie and I clean up that route, we move on to another. Thanks to Tricia, my community’s prettier and my dog and I are fitter and stronger. CINDY JEPPSON Farmington, Utah GOD’S GOT IT I’m a Vietnam veteran who was exposed…

A blur of purple-and-white jerseys surrounded the coach on the middle school football field. The Granger Lions. I sat in my car in the parking lot, waiting for my 12-yearold son, Joseph, to finish practice. It was his first year on the team, and I couldn’t have been more proud. Joseph was tall and confident, with wavy brown hair just like his father’s. He was going to be a linebacker. If only his father could see this, I thought. Two years earlier, my husband, Kelly, had died suddenly. He’d been a linebacker himself playing high school football. We didn’t go to the same school. He’d lived more than 200 miles away, but we’d met on a camping trip the summer before sophomore year and soon those 200 miles meant nothing.…

MAYBE YOU’VE HEARD OF or even tasted Sriracha, the Asian hot sauce in the squeeze bottle with a rooster on the label. It’s a genuine food phenomenon. For years it’s been on the table in Asian restaurants across America. But these days you’ll find it at Applebee’s, in its fried shrimp with mayonnaise and Sriracha. Or in White Castle’s Sriracha chicken sliders. Or Taco Bell’s Sriracha quesarito. Even Lay’s and Pringles potato chips have offered Sriracha flavor. What is Sriracha? (By the way, it’s pronounced sirah-cha—the first r is silent.) And what is it doing in all of these quintessentially American foods? You might be wondering why a 72-year-old farmer from southern California is even asking such questions. If you came to my farm’s fall harvest festival in October, with…