Table of contents for July 2017 in Guideposts

Reviewing this issue before sending it to the printer, I looked for an article I might base my editor’s note on. The one I kept coming back to was Sharing the Pain, by John Gallagher, on page 28. I told myself it was too heavy to discuss on this page, that I didn’t want to bum readers out. Then it struck me: John’s point is that we as a society are too reluctant to discuss suicide, a subject he is painfully familiar with. He tried—twice. The statistics are troubling. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. More than 44,000 Americans take their own lives each year—and for every one suicide, there are 25 attempts. Seven out…

Christine rowsey didn’t know how she would go on. The last three years had been hard, some of the hardest in her life, but she’d at least felt as if she was making progress toward her goal of becoming a nurse. She was working full-time to support her 5-year-old son, Bryson, all while taking prerequisite science courses at a community college in the evenings. Then she was laid off from her job as a financial risk analyst and, perhaps most devastating for a native Detroiter, her car was repossessed. “I didn’t have any money. I didn’t have anything—just a dream,” she recalled. That dream came out of the tragic loss of her infant son, Christian, three years before. Christine had been only six months pregnant when she was rushed to…

I didn’t want a cane. i didn’t want to look like an invalid. I was only 45. I had put off getting a cane as long as I possibly could. But I gave in when my three-year-old daughter, Dari, asked if we could take a trip to the playground and to the “fancy” Nordstrom café at the mall. I didn’t want her to miss out just because I was sick and in pain. “Sure, sweetie,” I told her. “We just have to pick up something for Mommy first.” We stopped at the drugstore and went straight to the aisle where the canes were. Dark, cheap-looking woods. Ugly. Geriatric. I pulled out one cane and examined it. I still had my pride. This can wait, I told myself. I’ll have to…

Not every doctor is as attuned to their patients’ state of mind as Marion Bond West’s. Depression is often overlooked in older adults. How do you recognize depression and talk to your doctor about it? Victoria Walker, M.D., chief medical officer of the Good Samaritan Society, offers these suggestions: Learn what depression is. It’s not a normal part of aging, a sign of weakness or a spiritual failing. It is a medical condition that affects your quality of life, treatable with psychotherapy, medication or lifestyle changes. Know the signs. Common symptoms of depression in seniors include irritability, low energy, loss of joy in favorite pastimes, sleep problems and loss of appetite. Dr. Walker also watches for “pain or limitations that are out of proportion to physical findings, trouble concentrating and…

WHERE’S THE FIRE? Every July, my two sons and I drive up to a reservation in the White Mountains of Arizona for a guys-only camping vacation. On the second night of our trip one year, the three of us sat around a roaring fire. It had been raining off and on the whole weekend, but we’d brought plenty of firewood with us. My older son, Parker, made sure the fire was always crackling. “Where’s the rest of the wood?” he asked, adding more logs to the fire. “It’s all over there, behind that tree,” I said, pointing to the spot where we’d piled and covered it to protect it from the rain. “That’s where I’ve been getting it,” Parker said. “But where’s the rest? We brought more than that, didn’t…

Karen Jason (The Perfect Flag, page 22) had a big 2016. Not only did she, her husband, John, and her older daughter become American citizens, but Karen was also a winner in the Guideposts Writers Workshop contest. She had been introduced to the magazine when a missionary family from Florida rented an apartment from her parents in India. “As we opened our home to them, they in turn shared many things with us,” Karen says. She and her sisters enjoyed Jif peanut butter. And, of course, Guideposts. The missionaries loaned them their copies and eventually gave them a subscription. “Each month, I would wait for the mailman to bring Guideposts and would devour every story,” Karen says. Here in the States, Karen and her family are very active in their…

Let Freedom Ring! Hot dogs, fireworks and family. There is so much to be grateful for. Join Executive Editor Rick Hamlin as he celebrates the many blessings of America. guideposts.org/july4 A Marriage Rekindled Watch Marion Bond West (page 41) and her husband, Gene, share the lists they made of things they love about each other. guideposts.org/mbwlists Rafting Revelation Dottie Pratchard (page 48) relives a close call on the American River that changed her outlook and revived her faith. guideposts.org/dpratchard Trip Tips It’s getaway season! If you’ve got the urge to hit the road but not the budget, try out some of these 10 tips for an affordable vacation. guideposts.org/cheaptravel…

“Mom, can we have a picnic?” my five-year-old, Billy, asked. We sure could! It was a beautiful sunny day in Marietta, Georgia; the azaleas and dogwood in our backyard were in full bloom. I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Billy’s favorite, and we spread out a blanket on our second-story deck. Billy tossed a bite to our German shepherd, Gretchen, on the grass below. A perfect, carefree afternoon. Well, almost carefree. Long before Billy was born, my husband and I had committed ourselves to helping others. My husband was a mental health counselor; I was a nurse. Recently we’d felt the call to heal souls and share our faith with an underprivileged community elsewhere in the world. We’d begun preparing for the mission field, even hired a real estate…

LIFELONG FAN Back in the early 1950s, when I was embarking on my career in chemical engineering, I traveled often. Whenever I stayed in Hilton hotels, I’d find a copy of Guideposts in my room, along with a note from Mr. Conrad Hilton, encouraging guests to take it and share it; so I did. My wife, Jean, and I have subscribed to Guideposts ever since. We’ve given subscriptions and copies of Daily Guideposts, as well as other Guideposts products, to family and friends over the years. The positive impact of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s words, along with those of hundreds of other authors, had a profound effect on our lives. From being newlyweds, through raising five children together, to filling leadership roles at work and at church, we always found…

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” actor DWAYNE “THE ROCK” JOHNSON “When you forgive someone, you are as close to God as you will ever be, because in that forgiveness you are demonstrating the very heart of God.” MAX LUCADO, pastor “Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.” FRANK BORMAN, commander of the Apollo 8 mission, the first crewed spacecraft to fly around the moon “Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.” STEVEN PRESSFIELD, author of The War of “Humor is the shock absorber of life; it helps us take the blows.” writer PEGGY…

Are you generally happy? “NO!” I printed boldly on my rheumatologist’s patient questionnaire. Maybe too boldly. I added a note to explain. “I’ve lost my joy.” Of course my doctor questioned me about it. “What’s going on, Marion?” he said. I told him the truth: “I don’t feel cherished anymore.” My husband, Gene, and I didn’t talk much. Didn’t leave the house much. Didn’t do much of anything. We used to be vibrant and active. Now we were in our eighties, both of us coping with chronic pain. I have a trio of autoimmune diseases. Gene had just recovered from a bad fall that left him with a broken leg and hip, and he was still dealing with the depression that came after the accident. Gene watched television. A lot.…

‘‘ Wow,” crystal said. my friend was clutching the white railing of the ferry taking us to Martha’s Vineyard. We had come a long way to see this island. Flying from Texas to Boston. Spending a night in Cape Cod before catching the 6 a.m. ferry. Now, at long last, the island was coming into view. Sailboats dotted the coastline, sails snapping in the breeze. Wooden piers and green cliffs jutted out over the water. Crystal turned to me and smiled before looking back toward the island. “It’s beautiful.” “Uh-huh,” I said and walked back to the covered portion of the deck. The glare from the sun was making it hard to read my text messages. I scrolled through them, wondering how things were going back home. Had my daughter…

HEALTHY FOOD FOR BODY AND SOUL 2 cups fresh orange juice 1½ cups finely diced seedless watermelon 1 cup finely diced strawberries 1 cup finely diced peaches 1 medium tomato, halved, seeded and diced 1 Persian cucumber or ½ English cucumber, finely diced 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (optional) ¼ cup finely chopped sweet onion 2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil, plus more for garnish 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh basil 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus more for garnish 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar ½ teaspoon kosher salt Combine all ingredients in a large glass pitcher, and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 24. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Ladle the gazpacho into clear drinking glasses, and drizzle a little olive oil over each. Garnish with mint and…