Índex per November 2020 a Guideposts

Those of you who read Daily Guideposts, our popular annual book of devotions, will recognize Patty Kirk, whose devotion we feature in this issue as a preview to Daily Guideposts 2021. For Patty, a passionate cook, Thanksgiving is the culinary culmination of the year, a moment when family and food unite. The year she writes about, however, was different. One of her daughters was unable to make it home. Crestfallen, Patty wondered if this augured future Thanksgivings when her children would be grown and far away. I won’t spoil the ending for you, though. You’ll have to turn to page 35. Thanksgiving 2020 is shaping up to be a little like the one in Patty’s devotion. Because of the pandemic, many of us will be holding smaller celebrations without family…

SIMPLY THE BEST The first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic got my husband, Kevin, and me down. We slipped into the habit of saying “That’s the worst” whenever we heard an alarming news report or encountered a rude person. Griping only added to our unhappiness. Then I came across a plaque that read: A Grateful Heart Opens the Door to Miracles. We could use a miracle now more than ever. I shared the saying with Kevin and suggested we focus our conversations on the best, not the worst. came across a plaque that read: A GRATEFUL HEART OPENS THE DOOR TO MIRACLES. We could use a miracle now more than ever. I shared the saying with Kevin and suggested we focus our conversations on the best, not the worst.…

A Memorial Day party—the perfect way to get to know my new neighbors. I’d recently moved to Follansbee, West Virginia. I’d already introduced myself to my next-door neighbors, an older couple named Sam and Liz. So when I saw the small gathering in their backyard, I went over and said hi. Memorial Day always brought thoughts of family. Both my father and his father, my grandfather Willard, had served in the military. Grandpa had fought in World War II. Dad had been in the Navy during Vietnam. Though it had been years since they passed, days like this always made me think of the sacrifices they’d made for their country. Every Memorial Day, I said a prayer of remembrance. Liz took me around the party, introducing me. “This is my…

TEN YEARS AGO, IF YOU told me I’d give up the business I spent my life putting together to go build houses on Indian reservations, I’d have said you were nuts. The Seattle-based loungewear company I started with a partner was cranking out a profit. At 33, I’d just married my longtime sweetheart, Anita. I wanted to slow down, have a family, savor life and the rewards of success. Then I saw that headline. I was in New Mexico on business and picked up a local paper called Indian Country. There it was on the front page, like an epitaph: “Elders Freeze to Death.” How could such a thing happen here in America, the richest country in the world? I tore out the article and stuck it in my pocket.…

PROMISE KEPT In our July 2014 Guideposts cover story, “You Are My Brother,” we told about how hard it was for Janis to get a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) to bring his family to the United States from Afghanistan. He was an interpreter for the Army and had saved Matt’s life in battle. After almost three years and multiple threats from the Taliban, the Shinwaris arrived in Washington, D.C., in October 2013. Once they were settled, we used some of the donations we’d received to start No One Left Behind (NOLB), a nonprofit that advocates for the SIV program and provides funding and job search assistance to these brave men and women who have served alongside U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are pleased to announce that the Shinwaris…

Music Man! Don Embrey (page 36) honored his Vietnam service in the United States Marine Corps with a banjo he crafted himself. Listen to him play a classic tune in our exclusive video in celebration of Veterans Day. guideposts.org/dembrey Sweet Peace In this Guideposts video, Rose McGee (page 48) talks about her mission to bring healing to hurting communities, one sweet potato pie at a time. guideposts.org/rmcgee Thanksgiving Anywhere Not all of us will be together this Thanksgiving. Check out our five tips for gratitude at a distance. guideposts.org/thanksgivingprayers Keep Your Guideposts Coming We make it easy to renew your magazine, check on the length of your subscription, view your donation history or manage book series shipments. guideposts.org/ecares…

LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, I’D BEEN doing all I could to hold things together during the pandemic lockdown, especially for our four-year-old daughter, Julia, but I couldn’t always hide my anxiety. Life as we’d known it had changed in so many ways. Here it was the middle of summer, and hopefully I’d soon be able to go back to work on my next Hallmark Christmas movie, Christmas Waltz, but the joy of the holidays felt miles away. Matchmaker Santa; Love, Romance & Chocolate; Pride, Prejudice and Mistletoe—those movies always made people happy and, I hoped, reassured them that things would turn out for the best. More than ever, I saw the importance of making movies that bring some light into the world, but lately I’d been missing that Yuletide feeling. I…

AS A LIFELONG COOK, I’VE always loved Thanksgiving. At age 12, I proudly took over from Dad the cooking of our meal: turkey with bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, cranberry-orange-apple-walnut relish, a gratin of little onions, marshmallow yams, rolls and pies. My Thanksgiving prayer is one I pray all year—that my girls will grow up to love others and God. Cooking bored the girls as kids, but when they turned 12, I gave them each a task: Charlotte the stuffing and Lulu the cranberry relish. As they got older, they took charge of the pies, first deciding what kinds but eventually weaving dough lattices and making leaf-shaped decorations gritty with sugar sparkles. We even bought half-size pans so the girls could make six different pies and not have any…

I SAT IN MY LIVING ROOM IN MINNESOTA, watching news coverage of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a Black 18-year-old, by a white police officer. Video of police in riot gear, tear gas snaking through dark streets, people’s eyes filled with anger and fear. How horrible it was that violence had led to more violence! But what could I do? Go make pies. The thought came to me in a flash. Not a big booming voice but the seed of an idea. I got up and went into my kitchen. Make pies? Seriously, God? I couldn’t imagine how pies would help a community torn apart by violence. Sure, my pies were good. The basic recipe came from my grandmother and great-grandmother, who’d raised…

“My faith is the guiding force in my life. It keeps me grounded, aids in every decision I make. It’s the foundation. With a rocky foundation, you will stumble, but with a solid one, you will flourish.”OCTAVIA SPENCER, Oscar-winning actor “God says that we are all valuable, that all of us are important. And we’ve got to take care of what God thinks is valuable—even when it’s you. Especially when it’s you.”entrepreneur LORI ALLEN, from her book, Say Yes to What’s Next: How to Age With Elegance and Class While Never Losing Your Beauty and Sass! “There are only two responses to the world: fear or love. Your life depends on which one you choose.”DEEPAK CHOPRA, author “What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God…

There are an estimated 5.5 million military caregivers in the United States—spouses, family members and friends who care for wounded, ill or injured service members and veterans at home. They play a vital role in improving the health and quality of life of service members and veterans. Unlike Lynn Rufing, most are not trained professionals, and their caregiving takes a significant toll on their own well-being. A study by the RAND Corporation found that, compared with civilian caregivers, military caregivers report more sleep deprivation and greater incidence of chronic illness. They have an elevated risk for depression. They have greater out-ofpocket expenses and are more likely to experience workplace problems and social isolation. Post-9/11 caregivers—taking care of someone who served after September 11, 2001—fare worst. They tend to be younger,…

DOWNTOWN ALBANY WAS AS BUSY AS usual that blustery January day last year, with no place to park on the street. My husband, Mike, pulled into the underground garage of the state office complex, 40 city blocks of concrete buildings and four office towers connected by tunnels and a windowless concourse. “You good?” he asked. I wasn’t good. My heart was pounding. But I said, “Sure.” Sweaty palms, a knot in my stomach. We were six floors underground, and the cold concrete walls were already closing in on me. Our golden retriever, Ernest, tossed his shaggy head and wagged his tail in excitement. Easy for you, buddy. We were here for Ernest to do his job as a therapy dog, providing stress relief to employees at the New York state…

I pulled a piece of curly maple from a stack at the specialty wood shop. I checked its color, its grain, its sturdiness. This would be the neck of the banjo I was building. It needed to be exactly right. To feel right in my hands, right from the start. I’d built dozens of banjos over the years, but this one was different. You could say my life’s story would be in this banjo. A lifetime of mistakes, selfdestruction and redemption. I wanted this banjo to tell that story, to share my truth, every time it was played. At last I found the perfect piece. I loaded it into my truck and headed for my workshop at home. I grew up outside Washington, D.C., not far from where I now…

BIRDIE’S BLESSINGS COVID-19 had kept me from visiting Grandma Sue at her nursing home in Virginia. Now it was going to keep me from attending her funeral. I just want to remember my grandma the way she was, Lord, I thought. Was that too much to ask? I turned my attention back to the big box of donations I was going through, handmade hats and blankets for the patients in our cancer center at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation. Grandma Sue had crocheted all her life until Parkinson’s made it impossible. All the brightly colored hats in the donation box made me think of the love she put into every stitch, the scent of her perfume on everything she made, her perfectly coiffed hair. I lifted out a hat and found…

“I always try to bring a little of my personal life to my movies,” says Lacey Chabert (Close to My Heart, page 24). When she filmed A Royal Christmas, Lacey was a newlywed and wore her own wedding dress for a big scene. For this season’s Christmas Waltz, she took dance lessons. In the movie, Lacey’s character is heartbroken after the cancellation of her wedding until she meets a helpful dance teacher. The lessons, Lacey says, gave her a new appreciation for professional dancers. Her daughter, Julia, is impressed by what her mother learned. “My little girl told my sister, ‘Mom’s a dancer now,’” Lacey says. “If a couple weeks of rehearsals convinced her, I guess I’m on the right track.” Check hallmarkchannel.com or follow Lacey on Instagram @thereallacey to…