Guideposts May 2015

I paid a visit to my mother’s grave this morning. Inadvertently, I might add. With Mother’s Day nearly at hand it occurred to me that of all the people I’ve Googled, including myself many times, I’d never Googled my mom. Maybe it was because she was already in the early stages of Alzheimer’s when the internet came of age that I never really thought of her digitally (though she would have loved e-mail and she was curious about everything). So I typed in Estelle Rossiter Grinnan and up popped a picture of her gravestone at Holy Cross Cemetery in Philadelphia that my cousin Carol had posted. It startled me, I have to admit. Yet I also felt a connection with that name inscribed in both stone and pixels. Which led…

The Race Set Before Her Hey, all you armchair jocks out there, have you ever dreamed of getting onto the field and competing? Baseball blogger Lisa Swan did (page 64). She discusses how her faith motivated her at guideposts.org/lisaswan. The Rewards of Giving It started with Hollywood producer Shelene Bryan (page 48) writing a check to sponsor a little Ugandan girl named Omega. It ended with her doing more than just writing a check. Much more. See a slide show of Shelene’s work around the world at guideposts.org/shelenebryan. Online Inspiration Have you visited our new website? It’s filled with stories, inspiring quotes, blogs, devotions, videos, slide shows, Bible studies, web-exclusive articles and more— and it’s mobile-friendly too! Check it out at guideposts.org. Customer Care 24/7 Take care of all your…

SPRING SURPRISE Spring is my favorite season—a time of promise and new life. But a few years ago some hardships kept me from getting excited about it. One day, I was on my back patio when I heard the doorbell. I ran through the house to get the door. No one was there. Then I noticed my friend Mary and her daughter driving away, waving. I looked down. There was an old-fashioned May Day basket on my doorstep. It was made of bright construction paper and contained a flower, candy and homemade cookies. I couldn’t help smiling. I remembered making and stealthily delivering May baskets in grade school. Still giggling, I called my friend Judy. “Do you remember May baskets?” I asked. “Want to make some?” We crafted our baskets…

“We’re up to our ears in dirt, bugs and superheroes. No mother should go through such things alone” CHANGE IS HARD, EVEN WHEN IT’S GOOD. TAKE the time I was eight months pregnant with my first child, living in a new town. My old college roommate had just moved out of state. I was about to leave my job to be a stay-at-home mom. I was scared. And I was lonely. So I asked God for a friend. I met Marti at our husbands’ company picnic. “Do you know what you’re having?” she asked. It was hard to miss my beach-ball belly. “A boy,” I said. We discovered we both loved historical fiction and the Iowa State Cyclones. And we both had a strong faith. I thanked God for answering…

Good job! Continue to make movies of inspiration and humor! And always remember to help others. It is true with age comes wisdom. Love, Mom.” text REESE WITHERSPOON received from her mom (left) the day after the Golden Globe Awards ceremony; she had been nominated for best actress, but didn’t win “Resistance is not necessarily a sign you are going in the wrong direction; it is often a sign that you are moving forward.” from What Keeps You Up at Night: How to Find Peace While Chasing Your Dreams, by PETE WILSON “Courtesy counts. Others will thank you.” sign seen in New York City “Luck is luck…and hard work.” BARBARA WALTERS, broadcast journalist “Stop talking to God about how big your mountains are, and start talking to your mountains about…

EVERYONE TOLD ME I WAS OUT of my mind. And maybe they were right. What 63-yearold woman from Iowa up and moves to New York? My closest friends in Sioux City were shocked. “Shirley, people in New York aren’t like people in Iowa,” they told me. My 39-year-old son, Blyth, agreed with them. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through, Mom?” he said more than once. Everyone I knew tried to dissuade me. “Your life is here,” they said. Frankly, I had no clue what I was doing. I was too old for a midlife crisis, I knew that. But I was sure God was calling me to New York, for whatever reason. The idea had struck like a thunderbolt that summer when I was going over reading materials for…