Table of contents for March 2021 in Guideposts

March. In like a lion, out like a lamb, right? This year, I hope it comes in more like a house cat. It’s been a harsh winter, and I am praying for an early spring. Not that I don’t love the snow and the mountain trails here in the Berkshires. They make Gracie happy. But I miss my home. A year ago, as the pandemic descended on New York City, I left for western Massachusetts, where we have a little place we could hunker down until it was over—a couple months at most. Instead, the months dragged on, and I’ve been back to New York, briefly, only a couple of times. I miss it. New York is my home. Not that I was born there. That honor belongs to Philadelphia—nearby…

FEELING LUCKY I called my three children—ages eight, four and three—into the kitchen, where I’d laid out supplies for a special craft project. “I know how sad you are that the St. Patrick’s Day parade was canceled because of Covid-19, so we’re starting a neighborhood shamrock hunt,” I said. The kids got busy making shamrocks with construction paper and crayons. When our schools closed in early March last year, I knew that keeping my kids occupied would be challenging. I’d done small scavenger hunts for them in the past, but this time I wanted to get our community involved. I created a Facebook page to let folks know about the hunt and even sent a message to the mayor. I asked people to make shamrocks and display them in windows…

We’d finally gotten it. A face-to-face meeting with the head buyer at Sephora. After hearing no from every major retailer in the country and, maybe the most painful of all, from a potential investor who told me, “I just don’t think women will buy makeup from someone who looks like you, you know, with your body and weight,” this Sephora meeting felt like our big chance. To convince Sephora, with more than 200 stores, that we had the perfect product line for them. IT Cosmetics—IT for Innovative Technology. My husband, Paulo, was my business partner, and we’d prepared like crazy for this meeting. Pulling snapshots of “before” and “after” photos of women who’d used our products, pictures they’d posted on our website.Putting together a PowerPoint presentation, packing up samples. I…

I sat cross-legged in the middle of my bed. A storm lashed the windows. I should have felt deliciously cozy on this antique fourposter, snug in my restored log cabin. Instead, I was terrified. A wicker tray on my lap held a stack of medical bills—43 of them. All from the past week. And more were coming. After two years of unexpected health problems and surgeries using out-ofnetwork doctors and hospitals, I owed a staggering sum: more than $125,000. The number was so huge, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I’d stopped opening the bills. I couldn’t face the fear. The shame. I’d worked for decades as a nurse. I should have known better. I’d saved for retirement. I had health insurance. None of that mattered. The past couple…

DIVINE INTRODUCTION As far back as I can remember, I’ve been terribly, paralyzingly shy. As a little girl, I would hide behind my mother’s legs whenever she talked to anyone—even people I knew. But you’re an adult now, I chided myself, looking out the window at the farmhouse across the street. You’re too old to be scared to introduce yourself! Living in the country, I didn’t have many neighbors. When a couple moved in across the street a few months earlier with their three children, I imagined myself bringing over a pie, the way people do in novels. Maybe we’d even become friends, borrowing sugar from each other and chatting over coffee. But I couldn’t seem to get myself to cross the street. I just knew I’d say something wrong,…

• Redefine marital intimacy. If a chronic illness makes sexual intimacy impossible, you can still reap the health benefits of touch—including reduced stress and lowered blood pressure—by maintaining a close physical relationship. Try holding hands, stroking each other’s hair or giving each other a shoulder or foot massage. • Fall in love with different personality traits. Maybe you cherished the way your husband always made you laugh, but now his dementia causes him to have angry outbursts. Mourn the lost attributes that you loved, but also find new things to admire about your spouse. Appreciate the courage it takes to perform physical therapy exercises every day or his newfound interest in watching movies with you. • Find new things to bond over. You might not be able to travel the…

Words of Wisdom Celebrate Women’s History Month with our slideshow of inspiring quotes. Hear from 25 influential women, past and present, including principal ballerina Misty Copeland, at guideposts.org/womensquotes Faithful to Your Dreams Jamie Kern Lima (page 24) shares her most important tips for success and why she never gave up on her dreams at guideposts.org/jamiel Caregiving Breakthrough Learn how Judy Spence (page 55) was inspired to care for her husband after his stroke through a passion for photography. Go to guideposts.org/jspence Lenten Reflection Explore the meaning of sacrifice and fasting during this holiest of seasons, especially this year. Go to guideposts.org/reflectonlent Keep Your GUIDEPOSTS Coming We make it easy to renew your magazine, check your donation history or manage book series shipments. guideposts.org/ecares…

A flurry of flour, swirls of vanilla buttercream frosting, employees working around the clock, cake pans shipped overnight from the supplier. For six weeks during May and June 2020, Bill Hanisch of Hanisch Bakery and Coffee Shop in Red Wing, Minnesota, pulled out all the stops for high school seniors graduating during the pandemic. “I wanted to make sure these kids had as memorable a graduation as mine was in 1998.” When Covid-19 shut down schools in Red Wing last March, seniors missed major milestones such as prom. Bill realized they’d miss out on in-person graduation too. “Graduation is the culmination of watching these kids grow up through school and sports,” he says. “It’s big no matter what and even more important in smaller communities like Red Wing.” What could…

I hung up the phone, wondering what I’d gotten myself into. I had been talking to the president of the local alumnae chapter of my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta. I’d been an active Delta in college and for a few years afterward, but I’d become less involved after marrying and having kids. Now that my career was established and my kids were older, I’d re-engaged as an alumnae member. I planned to join the social action committee of the chapter where I lived in south New Jersey. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., was founded in 1913 at Howard University, in Washington, D.C. The sorority was based on the Christian principles of public service but is open to women of all faiths. My local chapter focused on community service activities such…

• Don’t feel bad about trying to get well. Americans spend $3.8 trillion per year on health care, and some 137 million of us suffer financial hardship from medical bills. Americans borrowed an estimated $88 billion last year to pay health costs. • The strengths, skills and faith that sustained you through illness will serve you now. You are more creative and resilient than you think! • Don’t isolate yourself or avoid the problem. Admitting your situation to just one friend can be empowering. • If you are unable to tackle the medical bills yourself, whether because of illness or lack of know-how, ask a trusted friend, relative or professional for help. • Don’t delay. Explaining your situation to healthcare institutions early in the process makes it much easier to…

It started 30 years ago with a squirrel. A few months after I had moved into a building in downtown Manhattan, my next-door neighbor, Nicole Figaro, knocked, asking for help with a squirrel that had gotten into her apartment. I scared out the critter and made a new friend. Soon Nicole was inviting me over for dinner or leaving home-cooked food at my door. When I went to my beach house, Nicole picked up my mail and watered my plants, and when she traveled as a flight attendant, I did the same for her. She’d bring me wonderful gifts from far-flung places, but her positivity and prayers have been the greatest gift of all. In 1997, I took care of my partner during his final days, and it was Nicole…

In addition to growing closer to his neighbor Nicole Figaro during the height of the pandemic, Stephen Wilder (Best Friends, page 52) has also strengthened friendships with other neighbors Kerry Ryan and Roxanne Slimak. “Kerry, a fashion designer, sewed masks for most people in the building and even made the mask I’m wearing with Nicole,” Stephen says. Roxanne, an art director, tends flower boxes on the building’s front stoop. “The boxes are so beautiful that people regularly stop and take photos,” he says. Roxanne’s creations have inspired other residents, including Stephen, to create window boxes of their own. Over the years, Stephen and his neighbors have helped each other out during tough times. When Hurricane Sandy hit New York in 2012, taking out power, he brought food, batteries and candles…

“Optimism is really rooted in gratitude. Optimism is sustainable when you keep coming back to gratitude, and what follows from that is acceptance.”actor MICHAEL J. FOX, 59, who has battled Parkinson’s for 30 years “Always leave people better than you found them. Hug the hurt. Kiss the broken. Befriend the lost. Love the lonely.”submitted by Guideposts reader SUSAN J. DECUIR, of Carrollton, Texas “I say a prayer of thanks every morning. When I put my feet on the floor, I set my attitude. I make the conscious decision it’s going to be a good day.”LORI ALLEN, author of Say Yes to What’s Next: How to Age with Elegance and Class While Never Losing Your Beauty and Sass! “God may lead us into the wilderness…but he will never leave us there.”TRACIE…

Total whiteout conditions. I couldn’t see anything beyond the hood of my pickup. I turned my headlights to low beam to cut the reflection off the wall of blowing snow. I glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure my cargo trailer was still there. It was barely visible. My wife, Jane, and I had just moved from Ogema, Wisconsin, to Volga, Iowa, to be closer to her parents and family. We’d planned to rent a huge truck and move everything in one trip. But the only trailer the moving company had was this smaller one. We would have to make two trips—some five hours each way. I’d left Jane at our new house early this morning and driven to Wisconsin to get the rest of our furniture. I made…

December 21. Winter solstice. The longest night of the year, when some churches hold a service for those who are grieving or hurting. Sadness tinged with hope… I knew that feeling well. It was part of the reason I was having one of my big bonfires—to celebrate the changing of the seasons and to honor the loss that had led me to these 20 acres in northwestern Oregon that I’ve turned into a home for rescued farm animals. The animals here at Enchanted Farm Sanctuary love the bonfires. I don’t know if it’s the sight and sound of me stacking wood in the firepit or the light and heat of the flames that draw them, but they all come from the barn or the fields and gather around. I read…

I was in the kitchen, sorting my husband Joe’s medications into his weekly pill organizer, when I heard a familiar metallic rattle. He was pushing his walker down the hall to our home office. I mentally urged him on, holding my breath as he pulled out the chair, hoping he didn’t lose his balance. Finally he was seated safely in front of the computer. I turned back to sorting pills. Blood pressure tablets. Diabetes meds. Blood thinners, which he’d been on since his stroke six years earlier. Prostate pills. Vitamins. Probiotics. I needed to call the doctor about the pain in Joe’s hip. He was hard of hearing, so phone conversations were up to me. Then I had to review his appointments for the week: physical therapy, pain management, audiology.…

GRATITUDE A TO Z Rick Hamlin’s blog post Pray the Alphabet (Instead of Counting Sheep), at guideposts.org/prayabc—about praying for others, beginning with folks whose name starts with A and going to Z—inspired me to do my own version. I struggle with depression and have difficulty falling asleep, so at bedtime I go through the alphabet and pray my gratitude for a blessing that starts with each letter. “Thank you, Lord, for another day to spend with my loved ones, for the beauty of a sunset, for my cats….” This alphabet approach puts me in a different mindset. It shows me how much I have to be thankful for. I feel closer to God as I thank him for everything he’s bestowed upon me, my family and friends. Ending my day…