कोशिश गोल्ड - मुक्त
The Advice I Needed
Guideposts
|April 2021
Out here in the hills, I’d always prided myself on being independent. Why was my friend Red pushing me to change?

I’m not coming to your church. Pe-riod. Please stop asking.”My friend Red and I were stand-ing in my yard, the morning sunlight filtering through the trees, just as we’d done for some two decades. In all that time, I’d never said anything to Red that I feared might offend him.
Until now. Recently Red had been trying to get me to go to his church. The invitations started casually but had grown more insistent. Today he’d come over to fix my lawnmower. He and his boys had helped me out in countless ways during the four decades I’d lived out here in the rural West.
Before he even got to the mower, he started in about church. Red was a Mormon, but that wasn’t why I resisted his invitation. I’d been burned by churches in the past and preferred to meet God in Scripture and in nature, walking the hills with my dogs.
“I respect your church as I do all churches,” I said to Red. “I am just not drawn to a particular church anymore.”
“You can’t deny that belonging to a congregation has certain benefits,” Red said.
“I don’t deny that. I just don’t feel the need for church at this time in my life.”
Red kept at it as he worked on the mower.
“Are you afraid of where I’m going when I die? I’m not a heathen, you know,” I said, trying some humor.
Red laughed. “I think you would really be happy in a church family,” he said. “You spend too much time alone.”
यह कहानी Guideposts के April 2021 संस्करण से ली गई है।
हजारों चुनिंदा प्रीमियम कहानियों और 10,000 से अधिक पत्रिकाओं और समाचार पत्रों तक पहुंचने के लिए मैगज़्टर गोल्ड की सदस्यता लें।
क्या आप पहले से ही ग्राहक हैं? साइन इन करें
Guideposts से और कहानियाँ

Guideposts
Justice Served
Thanksgiving for this judge arrived early... and unexpectedly
5 mins
Oct/Nov 2025

Guideposts
Concert on a Clear Night
Dad never said much about serving in Korea, and it was hard to imagine him as a soldier. I remembered him singing, not fighting
4 mins
Oct/Nov 2025

Guideposts
Thanksgiving Masala
I was excited about my son, my only child, going off to college. I also knew it was taking him away from me. But one thing would always keep us connected
4 mins
Oct/Nov 2025

Guideposts
A Blessed Mess
I'd invited my new friend to church. I wanted everything to be perfect. Nothing was
4 mins
Oct/Nov 2025

Guideposts
The Teacup
It was more than just a gift from my grandfather. No matter where life has taken me, it has come with me
5 mins
Oct/Nov 2025

Guideposts
Runaway Farm
He was a cop with trust issues. Duke was a horse with a troubled past.How would they end up healing each other?
6 mins
Oct/Nov 2025

Guideposts
Sarah's Siddur
“We'll pray together at the Western Wall,” my friend promised
3 mins
Oct/Nov 2025

Guideposts
Taken for Granted?
I wondered if my husband even realized how much I did for us
5 mins
Oct/Nov 2025

Guideposts
family room
MEET THE PEOPLE IN OUR PAGES
4 mins
Oct/Nov 2025

Guideposts
My First Friendsgiving
I loved my family, but hosting Thanksgiving dinner year after year? That was driving me crazy
5 mins
Oct/Nov 2025
Translate
Change font size