I’ve gotten completely off schedule with my blog, and I apologize. I usually post on Fridays, but there was Memorial Day weekend and then this past weekend, I was in Portland, Oregon, for the Guideposts refresher writers workshop that Edward Grinnan blogged about.
Despite the jet lag (getting up at 3:30 am to catch a flight is painful even if you’re a morning person and I am definitely not), I came away from the workshop saying, “I can’t wait to do this again!” That’s because there’s no better way of keeping a positive attitude than surrounding yourself with positive people. People who inspire you and deepen your faith. Who help you think positive about even your toughest challenges. Who love life and are just plain fun to be with.
People like our workshoppers. Want some of their positivity to rub off on you? You can meet them in the pages of Guideposts and Angels on Earth, or right here at Guideposts.org.
Let me introduce the writers who were in Portland and some of the stories they’ve published with us:
- Robin Dias, who in looking for lost keys discovered something deeper.
- Lori Durham, who, like all good teachers, loves learning. In this story, it was an unexpected lesson from a class project.
- Shawnelle Eliasen, who shares her adventures as the mom of five boys, including a family vacation at Higgins Lake.
- Julie Garmon, who adores her high school sweetheart husband and finally came to like his quirky hobbies.
- Jennie Ivey, who brought us the inspiring story of Jon Wehrenberg, cofounder of Pilots-n-Paws. Look for it in your August Guideposts!
- Shauna Kattler, whose golden retriever Ripley had an amazing nose for the ball. Baseballs, in particular.
- Catherine Madera, who says her passion for writing is matched only by her passion for all things equine. You can see both in this story about finding the right horse for her 9-year-old daughter.
- Sharon Mangas, who met a wonderfully positive person at the drive-through at McDonald’s (really!).
- Aline Alexander Newman, who had an unforgettable encounter with an angel named Mandana.
- Ginger Rue, who wrote here about hope and healing in her Alabama town after the recent tornado. And don’t forget to check out her story “The Pie Solution” in the new July issue of Guideposts (turn to page 81)!
- Stephanie Thompson, who’s written about everything from finding true love to finding her way out of a spiritual rut, thanks to an episode of Seinfeld.
- Marilyn Turk, who discovered that love sometimes means you have to kiss a fish.
