I want to share with you some research we’ve done at Guideposts recently, but first I’d like to tell you a story I heard from a friend the other day.
He was pushing his son in a swing that hangs from a tall old oak tree in their back yard. All the while their Golden Retriever lay quietly in the grass watching, his head bobbing back and forth as if he were a spectator at a tennis match. The boy squealed with excitement, my friend pushed harder and the swing arced higher and higher.
Suddenly the dog leapt up, trotted purposefully over to the swing and sat down. My friend had to stop swinging his son to avoid the dog. He tried to shoo him away but the dog was quite stubborn, almost insistent. Then my friend heard a faint cracking sound. He looked up. Far above, the screws that held the swing to the tree branch had torn almost completely loose. One more push and his son might have…
“Every day I pray that my boy is protected,” he told me. “That day I saw protection in action. It sent a tingle down my spine.”
Me too. I love this story and not just because I love Golden Retrievers (Hi, Millie!). It is a perfect example of a Mysterious Ways story, the monthly feature Guideposts magazine readers have always said they turn to first and can never get enough of.
Now you can get even more. As I’ve been telling you recently, we’ve launched Mysterious Ways magazine devoted exclusively to those stories that send a tingle down your spine, stories that prove what our hearts know: Everything happens for a reason. We may not always understand that reason, but we know a loving hand can touch any moment of our lives in wondrous and reassuring ways. In ways unexpected. In ways that are more than mere coincidence.
These amazing accounts are glimpses into a larger plan at work in our lives.
We just finished up our fifth issue and have been asking customers what they think. In particular, we’ve been trying to gauge response to our covers. Overall, readers love the magazine. We’ve gotten incredibly positive feedback. And readers have given us some great direction for future covers. I can’t tell you how incredibly grateful we are for the response we are getting. Given the current media environment, maybe the most mysterious way of all is a successful magazine launch. Just the other day Time Inc. announced it was selling off most of its magazine group, including People. We plan to hang on to Mysterious Ways.
But we need your help. Click here if you’d like to try a free issue. And if you have your own Mysterious Ways story, please share it with us. Enjoy your long weekend, if you get one.
