Proof The Bible Is True

Skiing was all I had on my mind.   There was nothing I liked more than grabbing my cross-country skis on a sunny winter day and leaving everything else behind. I drove out to the local nature preserve. There was real freedom in being out there alone, just me, the snow and the sky.   The day was so beautiful, I stayed out way later than I should’ve. How can I go back to my day-to-day life when I’ve got all of this? I thought as I whizzed down a small slope. The sky darkened and the wind picked up. Better get home [More]

It was the 16th of February, 1985, on a cold, dark Saturday in Red Bank, New Jersey, and I was determined to die having a good time.   I had nothing to live for. Just a thankless job as a gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps. I was going to go to every bar I could find and drink myself into a stupor. Then, defiant in the face of my misery, I’d tell the world that I just didn’t care anymore, and hopefully end my life for good.   This is fitting, I thought as I swung a leg over [More]

Eleanore had warned me about going out alone to grain the horses.   My wife knew I wasn’t as steady on my feet as I used to be. But I had a lot of errands to run that day. Best to take care of the horses early. The stables were on the farm my sister-in-law managed, several miles away.   I parked by the barn and grabbed my cane. I could see the horses scattered about, some near the tack shed, the rest down by the tree line at the end of the property. I scanned the pasture for my [More]

Up here on the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland February blizzards come up right quick, and when they do, watch out!   Snow blows in heaps from the northeast, pack ice piles up and you can’t see five feet in front of you. A man can lose his way just walking to a neighbor’s house. It’s weather you don’t want to get lost in.   I should know. I had my own brush with a blizzard when I was just 25. It happened on a chilly February Saturday here in Raleigh, where I’ve lived all my life.   Read More: Snow [More]

As a budding amateur genealogist in the 1950s, I collected all the family heirlooms and records I could find—including an early ninetieth-century scrapbook.   It was so delicate I decided to photograph every page. That way I could study the pictures and preserve the book’s contents.   But on the day I meant to take the film to the developer, I couldn’t find the roll for the life of me. I sank into a chair. Lord, I prayed, all that work for nothing. If you could help me find that roll of film, I’d be forever grateful.   Read More: Retouched by an [More]

Dreams were not something I usually remembered in the morning, but recently I’d started having vivid ones about my son. One Saturday morning I woke from yet another, rubbing my eyes in confusion. What did the dreams mean?   It wasn’t surprising that my son Chad would be on my mind. He had recently undergone brain surgery to remove a tumor. Doctors were optimistic, but a mother can’t help but worry. Chad was married, with two beautiful children. They needed him. We all needed him.   The strange thing was, Chad wasn’t the son I was dreaming about. I was [More]

“Think I’ll do a little yard work,” my husband, Gary, announced. It was early Monday morning, and I caught myself grinning as I opened the cupboards to get out the ingredients to make pancakes while Gary got to work outdoors. I could relax and enjoy myself knowing Gary would be around the house a few more hours.   But it would be time for him to leave for work soon enough. Gary was a foreman at a plant with lots of big, dangerous machinery, so ever since we got married I said the same prayer when he left the house [More]

Just yesterday, it seemed, I was a new mother, but here I was expecting my first grandchild.   I was lucky my daughter, Shayne, and her husband, Shawn, lived close by. I didn’t want to miss a second of watching their child grow up. That got me to thinking seriously about retiring from my job as an art teacher. I was at an age when retirement was an option, and I’d toyed with the idea before. At the dinner table one night, I raised the issue with my husband.   “We can afford to live on one salary,” I said [More]

How had my life gotten to be such a mess? I sat alone in my apartment asking myself that question. I’d stayed out late the night before at a bar, slept the morning away, and I still felt exhausted. I had no job to go to; I couldn’t hold one. It was too hard to get out of bed most days.   I pulled myself to my feet and went to the mirror, hardly recognizing the gaunt face that stared back at me. I was 27 and weighed 85 pounds. It was no wonder I got sick so often, but I [More]

Our new house was at the end of the world. That’s what I thought the first day my family rolled up to our cabin in the Cahuilla Hills of Palm Desert, California. No more green trees, no more breezes off the sea like on the coast where we used to live. No more neighbors close by, corner store or mall. Nothing but brown sand. “Everything’s dirty and dead,” I announced to my parents and carload of siblings.   “Look carefully,” Dad said. “The desert is full of life. It’s just secret life.”   I didn’t see how anything could survive [More]

I fretted as I felt my five-year-old daughter’s warm forehead. All day she had been sick with a fever. I checked her temperature again. Still high.   It had been nearly four years since she had a seizure, but still I worried. The doctors had never figured out what triggered her off-and-on seizures as an infant. I lay down beside her and dozed off   A piercing scream jolted me awake. I knew that scream. I grabbed for my glasses and shoved them on. Celina was deathly white and her eyes were glassy and fixed. Her body was stiff. Her [More]

I dropped my husband off at the trail at around 8:00 a.m. He got his lime-green mountain bike off the rack and checked it for readiness. “Are you sure this is the right spot?” I asked.   “It’s the Colorado Trail, Ruth,” he said. “Tons of people use it.” He kissed me, then got onto his bike. “I’ll see you at the parking lot at the North Pass in about six hours.”   I watched him head off, then got on Highway 50. I had a nice picnic lunch packed, might take a hike, or just sit in the sun [More]

I come from a family of rescuers. My two sons are officers in the military—one in the Army, the other in the Coast Guard. They come to the aid of those in need every day. You could say it’s in their DNA. My Dad was a “lifer.” He served first in the Navy during World War II, and then the Coast Guard, where he spent the remainder of his military career conducting dangerous air search and rescue missions for lost mariners. But the most important rescue mission was one that my family, more than 60 years later,   Read More: [More]

Diana T. was a happily married mother of two daughters, working at a grocery store, when she slowly slid into a depression. Like many in this situation, she did not know why, so she eventually changed jobs, hoping her spirits would brighten.   But they didn’t. And one day on her new job, she was hit in the head with a heavy box. While in the hospital emergency room, Diana’s doctor told her that she had a buildup of fluid in her skull. This could lead to swelling in the brain, he explained, and she should consult a neurologist if [More]

Dad always taught me to find joy in life wherever I could. He certainly did. He was as kind and playful as his favorite animal—the dolphin. He collected dolphin sculptures, pictures, anything he came across. For me the dolphin became the symbol of joy.   I was afraid Dad’s cheerfulness might fail him when his doctor scheduled him for a triple bypass. But as Dad prepared for the surgery he reminded me, “You have to enjoy every day God gives you!”   Read More: Dad’s Angel Friends – Guideposts

Drew opened the door of the kayak rental shop for me. I couldn’t help but admire his wedding ring, chiseled silver rimmed with gold. Our Hawaiian honeymoon was almost over but our life together, symbolized by our polished bands, was just beginning.   I’d prayed long and hard about marrying Drew, even after I’d accepted his proposal. I’d been married before, for 36 years, only to see it fall apart. Drew was divorced too. We’d met on an internet dating site, but I needed to know with absolute certainty that it was God who had brought us together.   Now, stealing [More]

You might think I’m lucky to live where I do—on the big island of Hawaii. And you’d be right. But I’m also lucky to be alive, period.   Not all that long ago I was a hopeless addict. I waited tables, working just to make enough money to buy whatever drugs I could get my hands on. If I’d kept on like that, I’d be dead by now. Instead, I’ve been clean and sober four years and counting.   It’s not always easy. Some days I still hear the little voice in my head tempting me to get high. Times [More]

Elephants were my daughter Andrea’s favorite.   Wherever we traveled, we brought back a little elephant souvenir. She arranged them all in her room. One day they were joined by a big picture of a sunflower.   “I just love this picture,” Andrea said as she hung it over her bed. “It reminds me of the sun even when I’m indoors.” I didn’t need a flower to remind me. Andrea was my sunshine.   When she died at 19 in a boating accident, I felt like she took all the warmth in my life with her. On the five-year anniversary, [More]

Shirley Miller of Pittsburgh had received a phone call from her brother in Phoenix, which had left her alarmed and upset. “Our 96-year-old mother was in the hospital, and wasn’t expected to live much longer,” Shirley says. “The family was gathering, and I needed to fly out as soon as possible.”   Fortunately she was able to find a seat on a flight later that day. A friend took her to the airport and dropped her in front of her airline checkpoint. So far, so good. But when she arrived at the security line, her heart sank. Passengers were in [More]

As my friend Meg was driving to her niece’s wedding, she realized her mother would have been 80 years old on this day, had she lived. Meg was filled with loss and grief. My friend is deeply spiritual, sensitive, intuitive. She knew it was silly, but she wished for a sign that the spirit of her mother was at the wedding, watching her grandchild’s big day. I don’t know if she prayed for it, but the longing certainly was there.   Read More: A Gift of Love from Beyond – Guideposts

I’ve been a “water bug” for as long as I can remember. My dad taught me to swim when I was 10 years old, and I’ve been swimming almost every day since. When I was in my 40s my teenage son taught me to bodysurf. The idea is to catch a large wave at its crest. Just as it foams over, you flop on your stomach with your arms stretched out in front and ride that wave to the shore for all it’s worth. There’s no thrill like it.   In 1990 my husband, Donald, and I were vacationing in [More]

Just a few more minutes and school would be over for the day.   I packed up my books and straightened my uniform, the same one worn by every girl at Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in St. Louis, Missouri. Finally the bell rang. “Bye, Sister,” I called as I passed her at the door.   I followed the crowd down the hall, jostled and carried along to the front door. Once outside I ran down the steps and over to the church, where I waited for my father to pick me up.   Inside it was quiet and peaceful. Statues [More]

Going back to school for my accounting degree would be good for my five-year-old daughter in the long run, but for now it kept me from spending time with her.   So in the free minutes I did have I made sure Georgia came first. We played “Lion King,” her favorite game, with a play set of figurines from the movie. Timon, the funny meerkat, was her favorite.   One Saturday afternoon I studied in the yard while Georgia shuffled through the fall leaves with her figurines. The darkness snuck up on us.   “Mommy,” Georgia said, “Timon is missing!” [More]

Everything in my life was falling into place. I’d found David, the man of my dreams. We had just gotten married and moved to Hays, Kansas, where David was president of Hadley Regional Medical Center.   One Friday afternoon I went to the medical center for an appointment. David promised me a romantic lunch when I was done. It was just a follow-up to my annual physical. My regular doctor had noticed symptoms that might indicate multiple sclerosis, and he recommended an MRI to rule it out.   After the MRI, David and another doctor were waiting for me. Something’s wrong, [More]

My baby sister, Rachel, had respiratory syncytial virus, which made it very difficult for her to breathe. My parents had to watch her every second. One night I awoke after midnight to an extraordinary sight   Read More: Kids and Angels – Guideposts

I tossed and turned in bed next to my husband.   I hadn’t slept much in the two weeks since our third daughter, Katie, died in a drunk-driving accident. My days were a haze. Painful thoughts consumed me. How could she have done it? Could I have stopped her?   Before the accident, I’d thought my second daughter was the one I had to worry about. She was going through a rough patch and her six-year-old daughter, Alana, stayed with me or her other grandmother most days. Would life ever be alright again? It seemed impossible. My bedroom door creaked [More]

There were two rules at the summer camp I attended in 1945: Don’t leave the Marwedel camp boundaries and don’t go off alone.   I was breaking both rules as I wandered through the redwood trees of Mendocino County, California, but getting in trouble was nothing new for me. With my bad grades, bad attitude and bad language, a lot of people considered me a lost cause.   “Watch out for Henry Petereit,” the principal of my grammar school had written to the junior high principal who would inherit me in the fall. “He’ll be in San Quentin by the [More]