Table of contents for May 2017 in Guideposts

I’ve said before that every new issue of Guideposts is my favorite. We start the production month with me worrying if the content is strong enough. Then, as the issue takes shape, I fall in love with it. By the time we ship to the printers, it is the best issue of Guideposts ever. At least until the next one. This issue is no different. It’s wonderful to see the multitalented Kristin Chenoweth back on our cover for the third time. That’s her new puppy, Thunder, she’s holding. The first time we shot Kristin, it was with her beloved Maddie, who died just last summer. Kristin feared she would be betraying Maddie by getting another dog. That’s something many of us have struggled with. In my new book, Always By…

I WAS RUNNING LATE TO A college pal’s wedding. I got into the interstate’s far left lane, leaning over the steering wheel as if that might somehow make my Pontiac’s supercharged engine turn even faster. With my hands locked on the wheel at ten and two, I scanned the three lanes of traffic ahead for passing opportunities. A quick check of the dashboard clock told me I barely had enough time to make it to the church. I took a deep breath and pressed down on the accelerator. It wasn’t like me to be late. In fact, my preference is to be early. And while my tendency on any given day is to drive, ahem, assertively, on this particular day I was pushing it, frustrated by all the little things…

I was a wild child. A high school dropout who was self-medicating bipolar disorder with alcohol, among other things. I can’t tell you how many hot Alabama nights I woke up my mother and sister, staggering home late after a party, banging my fists against the steel frame of our house’s burglar bar door, pressing my face to the thick glass pane and waiting to be let in. The same door I unlocked and slammed behind me with an earth-shattering crash every time I fled the home after another shouting match. The sound of a cry for help. I couldn’t live there anymore. I moved in with my oldest sister in North Carolina. For a while, life got better. I babysat my nephew and took GED classes. But soon I…

Moral injury is a relatively recent term used to describe a crisis that soldiers like Marshall Powell have faced for centuries, the internal suffering that results from doing something against your moral code. In essence it is a wound to the conscience. What causes moral injury? In a combat situation such as Powell’s, the damage done to a person’s psyche might result from following or issuing certain orders or from simply witnessing something that is deeply offensive to his or her moral sense. What are the symptoms? Rita Brock, research professor and codirector of the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas, describes the “feelings of guilt, shame, meaninglessness and alienation” that arise from knowing one has transgressed “one’s most deeply held beliefs and moral values—…

WHY? I COULDN’T STOP ASKING that question. I was a nurse in the maxillofacial ward of a surgical ship docked in the African nation of Madagascar. I had worked on the ship for more than a month, treating patients with facial tumors, cleft lips and other ailments too severe for local hospitals. The job was a dream come true. The ship was operated by Mercy Ships, a global Christian medical charity. I had long yearned to use my nursing skills for God. Now on board the Africa Mercy, I felt as if I had found my calling. But I’d found something else too. Just a moment ago, I’d been hugging four-year-old Armel. His mother had brought him to the ship seeking treatment for facial tumors. Armel had neurofibromatosis, a genetic…

As Deb Hipp and her mom can attest, scams targeting the elderly are a growing concern. Seniors and their families lose upwards of $3 billion a year to financial fraud. Home Instead Senior Care has created a public education program to help protect your older loved ones from fraud. Some tips: Shred financial documents, including bank and credit card statements (once they’ve been reviewed), credit card offers and receipts. Store tax returns and other documents that need to be saved in a safe deposit box. Remind seniors to never give out personal information over the phone unless they initiated the call. They can tell unsolicited callers, “I don’t give money to or buy from people I don’t know. Send something in writing.” Visit donotcall.gov to add seniors to the National…

“This life isn’t easy, but we’re such a tight family because of it,” says Elizabeth Gray (Reporting for Duty, page 56) of moving wherever and whenever the Army sends them. Elizabeth, husband Cody and their daughters—who are now 10, 6 and 4—have developed plenty of tricks to make moving more fun. They look for funky restaurants and strange sites along the route. “If there’s a roadside cement chicken, we are stopping. Fudge shop? Check!” Elizabeth says. “We are swayed by oddities and guaranteed to buy a magnet.” The girls like picking the colors and accessories for their new rooms. Though the family’s next stop will be Texas, if the Army pays attention to the Grays’ dream sheet, they’ll someday head back to Europe—they still have a lot of ground to…

I ♥ My Mom In our exclusive video, singeractress Kristin Chenoweth talks about the close bond she has with her mom and shares some of her favorite traditions for Mother’s Day. guideposts.org/chenoweth Happy Mother’s Day! Celebrate moms with this collection of inspiring prayers. guideposts.org/motherprayers Support Our Troops and Their Families May is National Military Appreciation Month. Here are seven ways you can show your support to military families. guideposts.org/milfamsupport Favorite TV Moms Who’s your favorite TV mom? Whether you prefer the ones in classic shows like Leave It to Beaver or current hits like The Middle, there’s something for everyone in our collection of lovable TV moms. guideposts.org/tvmoms…

Most people don’t know i have a chronic illness, or that pain and fatigue have been my companions for years. I have lupus. I rarely talked about it, except with my good friend Glenda, who had her own battle with autoimmune disease. She understood the struggle of living with a disease that steals your energy and strength. I was determined not to let lupus steal my joy too. I followed doctors’ orders, and I tried to look on the bright side of my health issues. For instance, having them gave me more time with my mom. The closest rheumatologists, specialists in autoimmune disorders, were in Anchorage, a 12-hour drive from where my husband, Jeff, and I live in the Alaskan bush. Hotels were so expensive that it made more sense…

iT WAS JUST AFTER CHRISTMAS, and I thought maybe I should get a new dog. If I was ready. Not a purebred like my Maddie, my Maltese and constant companion, who had died in August. A rescue dog this time. If I was ready. I drove to the place in Los Angeles that everybody recommended—Spot! ADOPT A RESCUE DOG, its sign said out front. I could hear the boisterous barking before I even opened the door. Inside there were wagging tails and yearning expressions, eyes begging for an owner. Was it too soon? Was I betraying Maddie somehow? I didn’t think I’d ever own another dog. After all, the two of us had been together for 13 years, and she’d gotten me through thick and thin. Then my eyes fell…

I SAT IN MY CAR AT THE END OF Wintergreen Court and waited for my husband, Cody, to join me in his car so he could follow me out of our neighborhood. Our former neighborhood. The place I’d called home for the past year. I glanced at my daughters in the backseat. Four-year-old Morgan was lost in an electronic game. Four-monthold Brynn was already fussing in her car seat. I didn’t blame her. I wanted to fuss too. Instead, I said my silent goodbyes. Bye-bye, house with the buttercupyellow kitchen. So long, driveway where Morgan learned to play hopscotch. Farewell, first home Brynn had ever known. Soon it would all be a memory. It was 2011, and we were moving. Again. We’d already moved nine times in 10 years. That…

6 cup frozen berries, defrosted, with liquid ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons chia seeds ¼ cup pure maple syrup or honey 2 cups almond flour ¼ cup coconut oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup pecans “Blessings on this day: May we make it special in some way.” MARILYN MILLER, Belleville, Pennsylvania Berry-Chia Breakfast Crisp A protein-packed way to start the day Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter or coconut oil. Pour berries and their liquid into prepared dish. Sprinkle ¼ cup chia seeds over berries, stirring slightly to mix evenly into fruit. Pour maple syrup over the top. In a food processor or blender, pulse together almond flour and coconut oil until crumbly. Add vanilla, 2 tablespoons chia seeds and pecans. Pulse until…

SWEET TREAT The December 2016 Abundant Table recipe, a single-serving candy-cane cake baked in a mug, caught my eye. The instructions were simple—just mix the ingredients and zap in the microwave for one minute. That would be a fun activity for my church youth group, I thought. I got the cookbook it came from, Best Mug Cakes Ever, by Monica Sweeney, and the kids and I met before Christmas to bake. Everyone brought in mugs, and I had a selection of ingredients. Most of the cakes are variations of two basic recipes, and it was easy to find a variety to suit everyone’s taste. Each person made one cake to eat and several to give as gifts. There was even a coconutcake recipe perfect for our vegan member. The kids…

“I’ve always believed that success for anyone is all about drive, dedication and desire. But for me, it’s also been about confidence and faith.” basketball player and NBA championSTEPHEN CURRY “When the spectra of stars show me their personalities, I feel that I’m getting to know them a little more as God knows them. What a shared delight!” CHRIS CORBALLY, research astronomer at the Vatican Observatory “Refuse to be bored.” from the book Start Right Where You Are, by SAM BENNETT “Asking for something from God does not mean talking God into it; it means an awakening of the gift within ourselves.” Franciscan friar RICHARD ROHR, from his book The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See “Pray is a 4-letter word you can use anywhere.” sign seen…

HUG A SOLDIER My husband and I were staying at a motel on vacation. As I was checking out the offerings at the welcome buffet, a young man in army fatigues joined the line. “You first,” I said. When he politely declined, I looked over at the table where his wife and two small children were sitting. “Please go ahead,” I insisted. “Your family is waiting for you.” While we were filling our plates, the young man and I got to chatting. We talked about his home state, his family and his travels. He was heading to Afghanistan. I told him that my husband was an Air Force veteran from way back and that I understood how serving in the military means being away from family. “Would you accept a…

5TH IN A SERIES I TOOK A BITE OF WATERMELON and wiped away the juice dribbling down my chin. The stirring strains of a Sousa march drifted over from Ester Park’s open stage. I scanned the crowd at this quintessential Fourth of July celebration, looking for my husband, Jim, and four-year-old-daughter, Aurora. People chatted in line waiting on their barbecue. Families lounged on picnic blankets spread on the lawn. In theory, it was a perfect day. Not that I was feeling anything close to perfect. We were spending the summer in Fairbanks, Alaska. Jim owned a micro- scope sales and service company, and he’d developed a large social network. He’d always been good at that—fitting in, making friends, finding his niche. Not me. I missed my routines and friends in…

MEMORY AID Sterile white all around, seeming to close in on me. The hum of the machine. My third MRI in just about as many days. I felt myself panicking. Our Father, Who art in heaven… It had all happened so fast. One minute I’d been in my kitchen cooking a ham. The next I had slipped on a bit of grease and fallen hard. Neighbors called an ambulance. Doctors operated on my dislocated hip. After I woke up, one of my feet was numb; doctors diagnosed nerve damage. The hospital staff did test after test to find the source and see what they could do to help me, if anything. Lying on my back in the machine, trying not to move, I felt my thoughts swirl. How bad was…