Table of contents for April 2018 in Guideposts

Why am I shouting this, you might ask? You’ll find out when you reach page 23 of this issue, but suffice it to say that without best-selling novelist Debbie Macomber, we’d be hard-pressed to bring you your monthly magazine filled with uplifting content and inspiring storytellers. That’s because Debbie sponsors our biannual Guideposts Writers Workshop Contest, for which 12 finalists are chosen to spend an all-expenses-paid week in Rye, New York, learning everything we know about inspirational storytelling. Thanks to Debbie, you could be one of those 12. Some of your favorite GUIDEPOSTS writers first broke into print by way of the Writers Workshop: Sue Monk Kidd, Marion Bond West, Roberta Messner, Stephanie Thompson, Karen Barber. My very first day of work at Guideposts, as an assistant editor, I was…

COOKIE DOUGH HEAVEN A classroom food festival. That’s what my preschool teacher had planned. I couldn’t wait to tell my mom. “Everyone’s bringing something! I’m supposed to make cookies!” I said as I climbed into the car after school. I showed my little sister, Hannah, the letter from the teacher. “It’s next week!” Mom didn’t seem as excited as I was. “That’s a tough one because we don’t have any cookie dough right now and it might be hard to get some.” I was five years old. I didn’t understand that baking cookies meant buying the ingredients. Ingredients that cost money. My parents had three kids and another on the way. There was no extra money for anything. I’d never worried about our finances until then. Maybe other families can…

A Crusader Against Opioid Abuse Janice Dennis (page 44), a nurse who lost one son to opioids and saw another one struggle for years against addiction, shares some alternative approaches to dealing with pain. guideposts.org/jdennis Verse and Image Celebrate the Easter story in scripture and classic paintings. guideposts.org/easterscripture Talk About the Weather! Good Morning America and ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee (page 28) explains how she became a meteorologist and what she’s learned from covering major weather events. guideposts.org/gingerz Get Guideposts in Your In-box Can’t wait for the next issue of your favorite magazine to arrive? Sign up to receive one of our FREE inspirational e-newsletters at guideposts.org/newsletters…

“Mom! Mom!” My seven-year-old son Jonathan’s cries jolted me out of a deep sleep. The sleep of the exhausted. After a long day at work, catching up with my husband and son over dinner, getting Jonathan ready for bed… By the time I’d been able to climb into bed myself, I was totally wiped out. I’d fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The clock on the nightstand read 2:30 A.M. I got up, trying to shake off my grogginess, and hurried down the hall to Jonathan’s room. He never had nightmares; he barely stirred in his sleep most nights. It must have been a really bad dream. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” I said, sitting on his bed and taking him in my arms. “What happened? What woke…

EIGHT MONTHS AFTER SETTING out on the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail, I was a mere 120 miles from finishing. It was October. Ahead lay Maine’s One Hundred Mile Wilderness, one of the most remote and unforgiving stretches of country in the eastern United States. I was 75 years old, and I was exhausted, mentally and physically. I’d lost 30 pounds since starting the trail at Springer Mountain, Georgia. My white hair and beard were long and unkempt. I was in the hospital. Tendons in both arms were torn after frequent falls. My right shoulder was swollen, hot and useless. Did I plan to quit? Absolutely not. All my life, I’d wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail—the AT, as we hikers call it. I’d postponed that dream through decades of work and…

In getting homeless youth off the streets, Kathy Tillotson found that volunteering benefits not only those being helped but the volunteers as well. That’s something the people at Good Samaritan Society–Ambassador, in New Hope, Minnesota, have experienced. We talked to them about how volunteering does you good: It gives you new purpose. This is especially true for people who feel lost when their working days are over. George Rosch came to Ambassador as a rehab patient after brain and spinal injuries landed him in a wheelchair, ending his career as a truck driver. “He was very depressed,” says customer engagement coordinator Barb Burger. “He had no idea how to find meaning in life. I reminded him God works in mysterious ways. We were looking for a concierge, and I thought,…

“Soul is about authenticity. Soul is about finding the things in your life that are real and pure.”musician JOHN LEGEND, who plays the title role in the live TV broadcast of Jesus Christ Superstar, April 1 on NBC “Faith is like Wi-Fi: It’s invisible, but it has the power to connect you to what you need.”message seen on Pinterest “In my weaknesses, he made me strong, 2 Corinthians 12:9. You know, whenever I was at my lowest, that’s where my relationship with Christ grew.”NICK FOLES, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, who was close to retiring before returning to win Super Bowl LII “Do more things that make you forget to check your phone.”sign seen at Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York, New York “Never say anything about yourself you do not…

AS A METEOROLOGIST ON TV, I’ve covered every natural disaster from Katrina on. Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, wildfires—I’ve reported on them all, and one thing I’ve seen firsthand is how people rebound, no matter the devastation. They take stock, draw on their faith, rebuild and grow because they’ve faced the worst. Often they are the first people to reach out and help when others are suffering. In my own life, I’ve struggled with a different sort of natural disaster—devastating bouts of depression. The first struck when I was 22, a recent college grad looking for a job in television meteorology. I know now that transitions can be a trigger for major depression. Back then I couldn’t understand why I felt life wasn’t worth living. As if I were a prisoner in…

MY HUSBAND, DAVID, AND I had just gotten married and were living in L.A., trying to make it as actors. In his crisp British accent, David asked me one evening, “What are we going to have for dinner tonight, dear?” We were happy to order out, but for the first time it occurred to me that I wanted to learn how to cook for my family, how to pick the best recipes and make them—and how utterly clueless I was. There was no trove of family recipes for me to rely on. My mom was one of 15 children, and her mother didn’t have time to pass along any culinary secrets. To feed my four siblings and me, Mom scrambled to figure out what other moms—and dads—already knew. I’d come…

FIRST CLASS In October 1967, I was one of the lucky ones chosen to attend the very first Guideposts Writers Workshop. What a thrill to get the telegram telling me I’d been selected! At the time, I was a pastor in Mexico City—the only member of the workshop from outside the United States. My entry for the contest was a story about a friend who had received a kidney transplant, a relatively new and risky procedure then. Among our workshop leaders were Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Ruth Stafford Peale, John and Elizabeth Sherrill, Van Varner, Fred Bauer and Catherine Marshall. I made friends I kept for decades. And I learned to write. I went on to publish 11 books. My wife and I still subscribe to Guideposts. The magazine is…