Table of contents for Aug/Sept 2023 in Guideposts

Strawberry ice cream. Do you have one little quirky detail about your mother that stays with you forever? Strawberry ice cream is mine. Even though she denied having a sweet tooth, Mom couldn’t resist strawberry ice cream. We usually had it around this time of year. Funny, after all our mothers do for us—birth us, hold us, teach us, love us—it’s those offbeat, real-life details that often shape our image of them. I mention this because so many stories in this issue are about the mother-child relationship. Gloria Joyce learns that sometimes it’s better to let go and let God when it comes to her 16-year-old daughter’s first forays on the open road after getting a driver’s license—and after Gloria herself was badly injured in a car accident years before.…

THE MAGIC OF BOOKS Several years ago, Cordelia Oxley, of London, England, was looking for a meaningful project to do out side work. She’d always loved to read—her dad owns an independent bookshop—and the idea of passing along books appealed to her. She joined a small group that drops donated books in trains and stations on the London Underground, the public railway system that serves the city. Eventually, she became the director of the group. Cordelia wanted to share the joy of reading with even more people, so in March 2017, she launched The Book Fairies, a community of book lovers around the world who hide books in public places for unsuspecting people—both kids and adults—to discover. Anyone can be a book fairy. When someone has a book to share,…

When basketball coach John Mosley got an offer to appear on television, his first thought was: No way. Bad idea. It was 2019. John, 46 at the time, was head coach of the East Los Angeles College Huskies. East L.A. College educates a diverse student body in a working-class community far from the glitz of Hollywood. Perennial losers, the Huskies had won just half their games the season before John’s 2012 arrival. Seven years later, they were conference leaders, vying for a regional championship. The TV offer was for a hit Netflix documentary. Last Chance U spotlights scrappy college sports teams that never get to bask in the glow (or financial windfall) of NCAA glory. “It was a cold call,” John says. Maybe another coach looking for his big…

GOAL-SETTING POWER Ty’Ann Brown’s Keeping the Faith article in your Dec/Jan 2023 issue, about setting goals, helped and inspired me in my work as an itinerant preacher. I liked Ty’Ann’s gracious approach to moving forward despite not meeting a goal. She wrote, “When you are firmly rooted with God, you have the power to grow stronger and thrive.” What great encouragement not to give up! I built upon Ty’Ann’s thoughts and wrote a sermon about goals and God’s faithfulness. I even shared a goal of my own: teaching my granddaughter to drive. The three congregations where I shared this message appreciated its wisdom. One person told me afterward, “You always make us think.” That was a goal I hadn’t yet voiced! Another person said, “I love it when you preach.”…

“Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive.”KE HUY QUAN, former child actor who struggled to find acting jobs for 20 years but recently won an Oscar “Joy is not the absence of sadness or the presence of the spectacular. It’s the undercurrent of understanding God’s goodness in every season.”TAUREN WELLS, contemporary Christian singer-songwriter “I never say, ‘I can’t do it.’ I say, ‘How can we figure this out?’”REAGAN BISCHOFF, teen with cerebral palsy whose YouTube channel showcases tips for people with disabilities, named one of People magazine’s Girls Changing the World in 2022 “Love is everywhere around you—in everything that God created. You only need to pause for a moment to recognize…

I moved to New York City straight out of college. I’d been there only a year when my brother and sister came to visit from Virginia for a week. Seventeen-year-old P.J. and 14-year-old Toni were excited to see the sights, and I was excited to show them. The one thing I wasn’t proud to show them, however, was my apartment. I lived in a small two-bedroom rental in a decrepit old building in the Theater District. I’d done my best to decorate the place with mementos from my travels, but it still looked pretty shabby. Not that we stayed in much. The days passed in a blur of sightseeing—the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park. P.J. and Toni especially loved the boat tour around the island of…

Rick Nelson epitomized all-American wholesomeness playing the son of his real-life parents in the 1950s–’60s sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. He also emerged as a teen idol for singing old-time rock and roll, especially rockabilly, on hits like “Be-Bop Baby” and “Hello Mary Lou.” Then in the mid-1960s, Beatle mania swept the United States, and Nelson’s music fell out of fashion. In 1971, he and his Stone Canyon Band played an oldies concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden, alongside fellow 1950s legends Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Bobby Rydell. As Nelson strode onstage with long hair and bell-bottoms, the crowd was taken aback. This was not the white-bread Rick Nelson they remembered. When he launched into a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women,” the audience…

Yesterday was the first day of school. Thank you for praying for me as I returned to work. The day went well. I am so grateful. May God bless all staff members and students returning to school and keep them protected.—ANONYMOUS My dog’s blood work was all good. Thank you for the prayers.—LISA Thank you, God, for almost two weeks of being anxiety-free. It all comes from you. Thank you for continually guiding me.—ANGELA I asked for prayers for my nephew to get health insurance. Praise the Lord, he got it!—EVELYN From our readers and website visitors. Send your answered prayer to submissions@guideposts.org.…

Edward’s story is excerpted from his new book, A Journey of Faith: A Mother’s Alzheimer’s, a Son’s Love and His Search for Answers. In this deeply personal narrative, Edward shares the all-too-relatable progression of his mother’s Alzheimer’s, its impact on him and his siblings, his quest to understand the disease and his search for answers about his own uncertain fate. Edward chronicles his journey of pain and fear, empathy and hope, addiction and recovery, joy and love, and faith and prayer. Woven in are the experiences of others who have traveled the Alzheimer’s path in one way or another. In Edward’s story, we see the universality of human experience and the indestructibility of love, even at the hands of a disease that steals our very selves. A Journey of Faith…

There are two things you shouldn’t feel on a date—uninspired or worried you’re breaking the bank. Let’s be real, though. With the demands of career, home and family competing for your energy and attention, do you find you and your spouse settling for the same old, same old? Here are some ideas for date nights that will remind you both why you do life together. And they won’t put too big a dent in your budget, either. 1. Be tourists in your own town. There’s something romantic about exploring the place you call home with the fresh eyes of someone seeing it for the first time. What will you discover about your town—and your partner? 2. DIY together. When you tackle a paint job, a repair or an art project…

Chandler, Arizona I took my daughter Aleah to lunch, excited to hear the latest on her pregnancy. This was her first, and every day the anticipation was growing. “I was wondering, would you watch the baby after my maternity leave is over?” Aleah asked. “Todd and I can juggle our schedules so it would only be two days a week.” “I can’t,” I said. “My calendar is filled with community and church commitments.” Aleah sighed, resting her hand on her seven-month baby bump. “We will check into day care, but it’s hard with a newborn.” “You’ll figure it out,” I said, refusing to feel guilty. My son and his wife had managed with my other three grand children. Didn’t Aleah realize I was done with child-rearing? I’d been a stay-athome…

Fort Worth, Texas I was at home helping my daughters with their online schooling when a text arrived on my phone. “Attention, salon employees,” the text said. “We are reopening this week. All employees are required to report to work. Contact your manager with questions.” My heart sank. It was the late spring of 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic was upending life all across America. The salon where I worked as a skin care and makeup specialist had closed 45 days earlier. Now the owners were reopening the salon. Leaving aside my safety concerns about resuming in-person work, I faced a more pressing practical challenge. My husband, Luther, and I have four daughters, who ranged in age from 9 to 15 years old that year. Their schools were operating remotely, and…

Brazil, Indiana On Christmas Day, 2021, we got the call that my stepdad, Doug, had passed away. My husband, Eric, and I were shocked. It was so unexpected—and on Christmas, no less. We raced across the state of Indiana to be with Mom. We found her sitting on the couch with my brothers, Mike and Tim. We all hugged and cried for a long time. Mom was clearly exhausted. We let her get to bed, then discussed next steps. “Holly will be here in the morning,” Tim said. I nodded but said nothing. Holly was the second oldest of Doug’s four daughters from his first marriage, and the one who lived the closest, so she would be here first. The two of us were cordial, but I always felt a…

America’s teenagers are in the midst of what the U.S. Surgeon General recently called a mental health crisis. The pandemic, excessive screen time and all the usual stresses of ado lescence are driving up rates of depression, anxiety and suicide. Writer Tonya May Avent has been there with her own kids. Here are her top tips for raising teens grounded in faith, family and emotional well-being. 1. Your children were created for a purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 says: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’” declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Teach your children about God, and seek his direction daily when making parenting choices. Studies show that having a solid grounding in faith and…

Farmington, New York SPIRITUAL BALANCE My eight-year-old grandson, Hayden, lived in an apartment with his parents, but he kept his bicycle at our house. Every weekend he came to visit, I would try to teach him how to ride it. Bike riding is one of those things that you can learn only by doing it. I had taken off the pedals so Hayden could coast down the gentle slope in front of my house and learn to balance. He sat on the bike seat. I tied a beach towel around him and jogged behind to hold him up. Hayden had started out full of enthusiasm, but after more than a month of trying, he was no closer to finding his balance. I could see he was getting discouraged. One Saturday,…

Tam Jones (Bless-ings in Abundance, page 34) is expecting a new hire at her salon. “My husband, Luther, wants to be my business manager,” Tam says. Luther, a supervisor at AT&T for many years, was laid off recently. He started an expedited delivery business, then realized he could use his skills and experience to help his wife. Tam loves the people part of her work—getting to know and taking care of clients, hosting community events. Keeping track of schedules, invoices and the other practical parts of running a business? Not so much. “Luther and I are already partners in prayer and raising a family,” Tam says. She has set a new goal: opening a school to teach skin-care specialists how to serve people with different skin colors. “There are so…