Thank You For Guideposts

By Rick Hamlin, Executive Editor

As appeared in

This is really a long overdue thank-you.

When I was growing up, Mom left all our magazines on a bench at the top of the stairs. Saturday mornings we kids were supposed to do our chores. My jobs were to empty the wastebaskets and sweep the patio, yet somehow I found myself gravitating to that bench, wastebaskets in hand, and lingering…over one magazine in particular, Guideposts. We got a gift subscription every Christmas from Aunt Nancy and Uncle Pete.

I’d pick up the latest issue and soon I was lost in it. Maybe it was a story from someone famous—like Peggy Fleming, Dick van Dyke or Bart Starr. But I was just as likely to be captivated by the story of a kid lost in the wilderness or a car plunging into a river.

“What are you doing?” Mom would ask, coming to find me.

“Reading,” I’d say innocently enough. Well, it was true, I did read every issue cover to cover.

In my twenties, I was barely making a living as a freelance writer. Then I remembered Guideposts. Maybe I should send in a story, I thought. I had always heard about submitting to magazines: “Know what they like.” Not only did I know what they liked at Guideposts, but I liked what they knew.

My story was rejected, but not without an invitation to try again. And again. (Persistence was something I appreciated from reading Guideposts stories.) Eventually I got published and then was asked to join the staff. A job at Guideposts? Doing what I love? I couldn’t have felt more blessed. As you can see, I’m still here…and still loving what I do.

So thank you, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Pete, for that gift subscription. It launched my career!

And as Mom could tell you, those chores eventually did get done.

View a slide show of Rick's favorite Guideposts covers.