Table of contents for September 2017 in Guideposts

If I write another book, it will be about my late mother, Estelle Rossiter Grinnan. I’m not sure how she would feel about that. I think she’d hate it. As unforgettable a character as she was, she did not like drawing attention to herself. Or at least she did not like admitting it because (as we all secretly knew), deep beneath her Christian humility, she had an ego the size of the Rock of Gibraltar. That robust ego was nowhere evident in the postmortem my brother and sister and I insisted on, to help give us a clue as to what had happened, not just to her but to her father, both her sisters and a brother, and who knows who else along the Rossiter line, going back to the…

SCHOOL TIES My church, Young’s Chapel, which is in a small Virginia community called Mouth of Wilson, has lots of young people. A couple years ago, we realized we had a lot of high school seniors who would soon be heading off to college. Our pastor’s wife suggested that we come up with a way to keep them connected to church. So we created the college support ministry team. Once a month, or whenever we feel our college students need extra prayers and encouragement, we meet up to pack care boxes to send to them. We include everything from home-baked goodies and restaurant gift cards to gas cards for trips home and personalized notes to let them know what is going on here. And of course we include our prayers.…

CANDY WILLIAMS AND I TEACH MIDDLE SCHOOL history at the same school. One day at lunch, Candy mentioned she’d never been to Mount Rushmore. We looked at each other and said in unison, “Let’s go!” We got some travel guides, brainstormed other places to see, mapped out a route and said a prayer. The minute school was out for the summer, we hit the road in our already loaded vehicle. Eight days, four thousand miles, a close call with a bison and a crazy ridge road later, we had visited the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Bryce and Zion, the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. Six states in all. The following year, we went on a cruise to Alaska, another place neither of us had been. Then we decided to go to…

Three hundred pairs of eyes watched me expectantly. I stood in the sanctuary next to the piano, trying not to hyperventilate. I was about to lead the congregation in singing a Psalm. No one was forcing me to do this. And was it really such a big deal, singing in front of people I’d gone to church with for years? For me it was. I’d been terrified of singing in public for as long as I could remember. I was fine mumbling hymns in the anonymity of the pews or hiding in the adult choir. But singing solo in front of a large group seemed like asking for humiliation. So why had I volunteered to lead the Psalm this Sunday morning? Why had I spent months working with a voice…

DID YOU KNOW THAT TRUCK driving is one of the unhealthiest professions in America? Obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, limited physical activity, fewer than six hours of sleep per day… In a national survey, 61 percent of long-haul truck drivers have two or more of these health issues. I know what that’s like because for nearly four years, I was a truck driver myself, for Prime Inc., one of the largest trucking companies in the country. Now I do something different: I’m the driver health and fitness coach for Prime. I also founded my own company, Fitness Trucking, designing health and fitness programs specifically for the truck driver lifestyle. An unusual occupation, especially for a Yale grad with a philosophy degree. So how did I end up here?…

SEPTEMBER 28, 2002. I CAME TO work at the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I was chief forensic pathologist. A new body had come in, that of Mike Webster, a former professional football player who had died penniless at age 50, presumably of heart disease. “He was a great Steeler,” said one of my colleagues. “A Hall of Famer.” I knew little about pro football. I’d grown up in Nigeria and never been much of a sports fan. But I had seen something on the news about Webster, how this star athlete had descended into drug addiction, homelessness, dementia and depression. In the morgue, I peered down at his body. As always when preparing to do an autopsy, I asked for God’s guidance. Then I whispered,…

1½ cups flaxseeds 2½ cups coconut milk or almond milk, plus extra to serve 1 tablespoon honey (optional) 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon Blueberries and blackberries, to serve Warm Flaxseed Porridge A nourishing way to start the day In a saucepan, combine flaxseeds with milk, honey (if desired) and vanilla seeds. Mix well, and simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent porridge from sticking to pan bottom, until porridge is light and fluffy, about three minutes. Let cool a little before stirring in cinnamon. Spoon the porridge into two bowls, and scatter the berries. Serve with extra milk on the side. Serves 2. From The Complete Gut Health Cookbook: Everything You Need to Know About the…

Reporting Inspiration NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC anchor Lester Holt (page 24) shares why he loves hitting the road for his popular “Inspiring America” reports. guideposts.org/lholt A Job Well Done Observe Labor Day with our collection of quotes that celebrate the contributions that workers have made to our country. guideposts.org/workquotes Caught in the Act Hear best-selling author, TV personality, wife and mom of five Jen Hatmaker (page 36) talk about how her family keeps it positive with a chalkboard Brag Board. guideposts.org/jhatmaker Keep Calm and Get It Done As summer winds down and life gets busier again, these tips can help you cross off the items on your to-do list. guideposts.org/todolist Think Positive Try these simple steps for a rosier outlook. guideposts.org/bepositive…

Eleven o’clock at night. I settled in for my shift at the residential drug and alcohol rehab facility where I worked as an RN. I’d be responsible for administering meds. The charge nurse for the evening, Toni, wasn’t feeling well. “Can you take over for me and supervise?” she said. “I’m going outside for some air.” “I guess so,” I said tentatively. “Thanks. I appreciate that!” she said. I said a quick prayer for guidance and headed to the nurse’s station, hoping it would be okay for me to take over Toni’s responsibilities. The first patient I saw was a young man I’d admitted a month earlier. He was complaining of indigestion. “Any chest pain?” I said. “Just indigestion. My hiatal hernia makes it worse,” he said. His color looked…

Perhaps you’ve experienced the healing power of music, as Dennis McNicholas has. But did you know there’s a health care field that uses music to address people’s emotional, physical, social, cognitive and spiritual needs? We found out more from Megan Godfrey, a board-certified music therapist at Good Samaritan Society, in Stillwater, Minnesota: What is music therapy? “It’s the use of music in a therapeutic medium to accomplish a goal that is nonmusical,” Godfrey says. “I focus on sensory stimulation with those who have lower cognitive function. For higherfunctioning folks, I lead a tone chime choir, which promotes social interaction and community. I work oneon- one with people who have anxiety or depression or are in hospice.” What might a session involve? Music therapy can be active—you and the therapist might…

Kim Krejci discovered that being a caregiver for a relative with Alzheimer’s is emotionally draining. It is not unlike grief, although the person being mourned is still physically present. And there can be a loss of identity for the caregiver. A husband or wife might wonder, Am I still married if my spouse doesn’t recognize me? To better understand how to navigate these issues, we spoke to Dr. Eric Reiman (above), the executive director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Arizona. Learn all you can: The more a caregiver knows about Alzheimer’s, the more prepared they’ll be. “Look for a doctor with experience in treating the disease,” says Dr. Reiman, “and ask for a full evaluation.” Find out what medications the patient is taking. Some might exacerbate symptoms. Too many…

I CRIED TODAY. IT happened sometime between changing the diapers of my one-year-old, Annie, and those of my elderly mother-inlaw, Carol, getting them down to nap and rushing to fold clothes while they slept. There was no more holding it in. No more pretending that this was how I wanted my life to be. Laundry basket in hand, I sat on the basement stairs as the tears fell. I’m not usually one to let my emotions get the better of me. Why today? It was a day like any other—chores, doctors’ appointments, meds and baths. Why break down now over laundry? I longed for my husband to see me in something other than sweatpants. I wanted to shower, curl my hair and look gorgeous for Jack when he came home.…

I SQUINTED AGAINST THE AFTERnoon sunshine, looking out the window for the paperboy. Ever since a stroke had weakened my legs, I hadn’t been able to get around so well. I depended on the paper to keep me up-to-date with a world from which I often felt disconnected. When the paper came late, I got edgy. Finally I saw someone coming down the street. A girl, no more than 10 or 11 years old, hurled a rolled-up newspaper toward my screen door. It landed with a thud. “Just a minute,” I called out the window. “Where’s the usual carrier?” “I’m the carrier now, lady,” she said, hands on her hips. “Well, the old one used to bring the paper in to me.” “Oh, yeah? Well, I can do that.” She…

“My kids always surprise me,” says Executive Editor Rick Hamlin (Lesson From Tim, page 64). “I never know what they’ll do next.” Since his return from South Africa, Tim has moved to Los Angeles and is now working for an organization that helps the chronically unemployed train for and find jobs. Father and son will reunite when Rick travels to California this month to promote his latest book, Pray for Me. And next month, Rick will be leading a group of Guideposts readers on a 12-day tour of Sicily and Southern Italy with Colette Vacations. “It will be a dream trip for all of us,” he says. The itinerary includes a visit to the Valley of the Temples—a UNESCO World Heritage site and inspiration for generations of poets, writers and…

“It’s the repetitive things that give your life an anchor.” actress LAURA LINNEY “Generosity truly is the best investment.” DIANE VON FURSTENBERG, fashion designer “Face life with a little guts and a lot of glitter…and when ‘i’ is replaced by ‘we’, even ‘illness’ becomes ‘wellness.’” KATE ARIAN, founder of ManiCare, a company that gives manicures and pedicures to the hospitalized and homebound “Counting your blessings builds up your thank account.” submitted by Guideposts reader THOMAS BUTLER, of Captain Cook, Hawaii “Offenses are a part of life, but conflicts can be resolved and relationships restored when we stop paying the past with the resources of our future.” pastor T.D. JAKES, from his book Let It Go: Forgive So You Can Be Forgiven “Sometimes the only means of transportation is a leap…

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. —HEBREWS 11:1 (NKJV) I keep a favorite necklace hanging from the mirror of the vanity in my bedroom. The long chain holds a glass dome pendant containing a single mustard seed. On the back is Matthew 17:20 (ESV): “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you.” I wear the necklace when I’m worried about the outcome of things. Last night, in the midst of a dream, I heard the necklace fall. I didn’t think much of it, but this morning when I went to pick it up, I saw it was broken. That glass dome had snapped off the backing, and the mustard seed was gone. I checked…

IT’S A QUESTION ANY PERSON OF faith struggles with, not just a journalist or newscaster. You see misery in the world, terrible suffering, and wonder how it can be fair. How can you go on living your life of abundance when others suffer such deprivation? How can some have so little while others have so much? My work has taken me to places that have been devastated by war and natural disaster. I’ve stared into the hollowed-out faces of people suffering hunger and thirst. I’ve seen refugees living in abominable conditions. I remember visiting Somalia, where thousands of people were dying of starvation in the midst of civil war. We flew in to cover the story and spent several days on the ground. Then it was time to go. We…

SETH ROGEN, THE POPULAR Canadian- American comedian and filmmaker, is serious about helping families caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s. The cause is personal: His mother-in-law, Adele, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at age 55. “Until my wife and I experienced firsthand the devastating toll Alzheimer’s takes on family members,” Seth has said, “it was hard to conceive of how brutal the disease is.” After Adele’s diagnosis, Seth’s father-in-law retired to take care of her at home full-time. When Adele lost her ability to speak, feed and dress herself, more help was needed. Seth and his wife, Lauren Miller, moved them to L.A. so they could be closer and found a livein caregiver. The couple couldn’t help but wonder how caregivers without their resources coped. How did they hold down…

I’M A CHEF, nutritionist and author. I’m also the daughter of someone who struggled with dementia for a decade before eventually dying of it. Given my genetics, I worried that I was on a timetable, that my mind had an expiration date of age 70 or so. So I decided to explore the role that food plays in fighting Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. My latest book, The Healthy Mind Cookbook, focuses on the connections between food and brain health. More and more studies show that what we put on our forks has a definite impact on mind and memory. I learned that it’s important to keep hydrated: Even a one to two percent loss of fluid in the brain has been linked to a host of mental impairments,…

HEALING WORDS Most Sundays my husband, Hal, and I had dinner with his brother Norman’s family, who lived nearby. Our four-year-old niece, Lisa, always had lots of news to share with us, so I was surprised one Sunday evening when she was extremely quiet. She really wasn’t eating either. “Aren’t you hungry?” her mother asked her. My niece just shook her head and slumped in her chair. “Lisa, sit up,” her mom told her. Lisa pushed herself up a bit in the chair but, just a short while later, was slumped down again. “She must be really tired,” I said. Her parents took her upstairs for an early bedtime. The rest of us finished our dinner. Then Hal and I drove home and went to sleep. Hours later, the phone…

ON THE RIGHT TRACK I read GUIDEPOSTS from cover to cover as soon as it arrives, but I didn’t get to the June issue until bedtime. I skipped right to Debbie Macomber’s A Prayer & a Stitch, where she recounted how knitting helped her become a best-selling novelist. Writing is my passion too, though I can’t always find the time. The next day, while I was visiting my friend Clarice, her friend Dulce joined us. She had a book with her: The World of Debbie Macomber—Come Home to Color. An adult coloring book by Debbie! This was God’s timing! I’ve long been inspired by Debbie’s support of the Guideposts Writers Workshop, and I hope to win a spot in it someday. I needed a nudge to get back to writing.…