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Articles by Roberta Messner
Roberta Messner
Wash. Rinse. Spin. That’s what was on my menu early in the morning one Thanksgiving a few years… Red hearts decorated the windows inside the dollar store, but that wasn’t what I’d come in for today.… Every man for himself. That seems to be everyone’s motto these days, women and young people included. Even… Centerpiece. Place settings. Tablecloth. Thanksgiving was days away, but everything had to be just right. This year the… Happy framed faces filled the silver tray on my baby grand piano.
Guideposts - lifestyle - Read this story on Magzter.com
Guideposts | Aug/Sept 2025 In the early 1970s, Kris Kristofferson was riding high on songwriting successes “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Sunday Mornin’ Coming Down.” Although church wasn’t his usual scene, he went with a friend to a service in Nashville, Tennessee. Jimmie Snow, a country singer-turned-preacher, gave an altar call, saying, “If anybody’s lost, please raise their hand.” This story is from the Aug/Sept 2025 edition of Guideposts.
Kindness Brought a Group of Strangers Together on Valentine's Day
Skip to content Was there anything more lonely than sitting in a doctor’s waiting room on Valentine’s Day? Scroll to Top
A Final Gift from Woody Williams
Like the rest of America, I was deeply saddened at the recent passing of Hershel “Woody” Williams, the last living World War II recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest military award a service member can receive. Five days into the Battle of Iwo Jima, he was the only surviving Marine in his six-man team. The five-foot-six soldier, who didn’t meet the height requirement the first time he tried to join the service, prepared and employed his flamethrowers to stunningly heroic effect.
A Real Life ‘Anne With an E’ Inspired Her
I’d been scoping out a new office in the medical center where I worked as a nurse; a change of scenery for the despair I couldn’t shake. Suddenly, a lady with shoulder-length red hair bounded down my hallway rattling a metal cart piled high with supplies she balanced with her chin. Hospital staff I’d never known existed poured out of closed doors. “Rita!” they hollered.
She Bought Naomi Judd's Chair for $5
In the early 1980s I lived in the tiny town of Sweet Run, West Virginia. It’s right on the border of Kentucky—the intersection of struggles, stories, and songs. Judd Country. The first time I heard Naomi and Wynonna Judd was in a field somewhere near Ashland, Kentucky, the place of their roots. I was so mesmerized by their sound I don’t recall the specifics. Only that I stood so close to the stage I could see their eyebrows rise and fall.
An Angel Helped Her Buy Her Dream Bedroom Set
Shoppers at the antiques show in Columbus, Ohio, milled around, but I stood still, mouth agape. Was I seeing things? It seemed impossible, but there it was. A genuine 1920s era Berkey & Gay bedroom suite was being unloaded from a truck by a couple about my age. For me this was like discovering a treasure, one I’d been looking for since junior high school. The furniture was deep green, with hand-painted twining pink roses. “Like it?” the woman asked as I studied the fine detail on the dresser.
4 Reasons to Keep a Caregiving Journal
Recently, I happened upon a stack of vintage suitcases filled with old journals. The one covered in pink cabbage roses took me back two decades. I opened it to find the notes I’d kept during my mother’s final battle with cancer. As mom struggled onto the exam table, I had a sinking feeling in my gut. Dr. Huckabee’s eyes locked with mine. “We need a bone scan right away, Roberta.” I didn’t need a scan to give me the heartcrushing news. Nurses know before they know.
A World War II Hero Taught This Nurse How to Care for Veterans
My first assignment as a VA nurse is as vivid in memory as if it were yesterday. I was 23 years old, with a mere four years of experience under my starched cap. Those on my watch included veterans of five wars: Spanish-American, World War I, World War II, Korea, and the recently-ended Vietnam. I was positively terrified. My experience with war was limited to the little I remembered from history class and the occasional teen-aged soldier in the Army-green uniform I’d see at the airport.
A World War II Hero Taught This Nurse How to Care for Veterans
Six life lessons learned from 98-year-old Woody Williams. My first assignment as a VA nurse is as vivid in memory as if it were yesterday. I was 23 years old, with a mere four years of experience under my starched cap. Those on my watch included veterans of five wars: Spanish-American, World War I, World War II, Korea, and the recently-ended Vietnam. I was positively terrified.
A Special Heaven-Sent Laundromat Gathering
She found the secret ingredient that made Thanksgiving special despite the unusual circumstances. Wash. Rinse. Spin. That’s what was on my menu early in the morning one Thanksgiving a few years back. With no kids of my own, and my siblings out of town with their families, it was just any other Thursday for me. “Might as well have clean clothes,” I muttered, walking into the laundromat.
Finding Faith at the Flea Market
A lifetime of searching for treasures at markets and garage sales across the country taught her—and PBS star Bob Richter—lasting life lessons. When I was a child, I loved nothing more than to go junkin’ with my daddy. The markets we’d hit up proved to be a mecca for great finds—and great fun. But the older I get, the more I realize it wasn’t just about toting home a car full of stuff. The life lessons I learned at the flea market continue to inspire me today.
She Used Self-Care to Overcome Chronic Pain
She almost lost her faith when faced with yet another serious medical condition. But then God, and a kind chiropractor, helped her heal. A fiery pain shot down my left leg as I struggled to change from my exam gown into leggings. It made me want to scream. But the conversation outside the X-ray dressing room door was almost as troubling. “This scoliosis is severe,” I heard my chiropractor say.
The Texas Pie Queen on Love, Pie and Jesus
Tara Royer Steele’s famous bakery helped hundreds of neighbors during the pandemic. Now she ships pies—and inspiration—nationwide. I’ve visited Round Top, Texas, several times during one of their fabulous annual spring or fall Antiques Week. On my very first trip there in 1995 I met Tara Royer Steele. After shopping the tiny town’s endless vintage venues, on the recommendation of umpteen people, I visited Royers Round Top Café,owned and run by Tara’s family.
This Poetry Teacher Made a Lasting Impression
She realized that her brother had made a difference for generations of students. Could she have impacted her patients in the same way? After retiring from a long career teaching English at Huntington East High School, my brother, Bob, planned to travel the world. Instead, I was visiting him in the hospital where he had undergone a triple coronary bypass and an aortic valve replacement. He had a long road to recovery ahead. Bob didn’t have much experience with being a patient.
Her Faith was Restored While Waiting at the Drive Thru
How an unexpected act of kindness at McDonald’s assured her that God’s good neighbors were everywhere. Every man for himself. That seems to be everyone’s motto these days, women and young people included. Even a quick stop at McDonald’s reminded me of it. Just as I started to pull into the parking lot, a white Camry cut right in front of me! “Is it really that important to be first?” I muttered. The man behind the wheel couldn’t hear me, which was probably for the best.
How Her Faith Helped Her Face Up to Overwhelming Medical Debt
How could she find the courage to tackle the growing mountain of bills? I sat cross-legged in the middle of my bed. A storm lashed the windows. I should have felt deliciously cozy on this antique four-poster, snug in my restored log cabin. Instead, I was terrified. A wicker tray on my lap held a stack of medical bills—43 of them. All from the past week. And more were coming.
How to Cope With Medical Debt
How to Cope With Medical Debt A nurse shares hard-earned lessons after years of financial struggle due to chronic illness. by Roberta Messner From Posted in Managing Life Changes, Feb 26, 2021 The burden of medical debt can isolate a person from help, hope and healing. There is a better way. Here’s what I learned: Don’t feel bad about trying to get well. Americans spend $3.8 trillion per year on health care, and some 137 million of us suffer financial hardship from medical bills.
Her Care Packages Comforted These Vietnam Veterans on Valentine’s Day
HomeInspirationAngelsHer Care Packages Comforted These Vietnam Veterans on Valentine’s Day A Vietnam vet struggling with alcohol addiction shares how her simple sewing kits made a big impact. Red hearts decorated the windows inside the dollar store, but that wasn’t what I’d come in for today. I’d stopped off on my way home from my nursing shift at the V.A. Mental Health Clinic as a favor to one of my patients. Irv was a Vietnam veteran who struggled with alcohol abuse.
Her Old Car Helped a Family in Need
She thought her car would have to be junked. But some divine intervention gave the vehicle a new lease on life. BEEP-BE-BE-BEEP! A chorus of angry horns blared at me as I sat in my Altima, stalled in the middle of a busy intersection. It was a blazing hot August afternoon. Quite the time and place for my car’s entire electrical system to give out, including the power locks on my doors and windows. Trapped inside without air conditioning, I had to wait for a police officer to arrive to assist.
When Fear Became Faith
A retired nurse learns to cope with the anxiety of the coronavirus pandemic by praying relentlessly—and focusing on some important truths. It started innocently enough. When news of the global coronavirus pandemic rocked my small-town West Virginia world, uncertainty began to choreograph everything. Prior to my retirement a few years before, I’d managed a hospital-wide infection prevention and control program, so I understood the threats to the world as we knew it.
A Message She Needed To Hear
She was once embarrassed by her father's job with the railroad until a stranger helped her view his legacy in a new light. I walked into the tag sale, excited to find a treasure. The first table I came upon was full of railroad memorabilia. “Fantastic, aren’t they?” another early bird said, admiring some old Chesapeake and Ohio Railway calendars. “Are you a train buff too?” “Not really,” I said. It was a complicated question. Trains had always been part of my life.
A Miracle Healed Roberta Messner of Pain and Addiction
After decades of coping with an incurable disease and a reliance on opioids, her suffering ended almost overnight. I sat beside my mother’s hospital bed. She lay dying of cancer. I didn’t know whether she could hear me, but I spoke anyway. “Mother, whatever hard words I said to you in the past, I want you to know I didn’t mean them. I have been so blessed to be loved by you, and I will be okay if you go home to Jesus.” Mother’s eyes opened, and she reached out and squeezed my hand.
9 Practical Tips to Make Your Weight Loss Resolution Last
Are you feeling discouraged about your efforts to lose weight? Get practical advice from Roberta Messner, who lost almost 100 pounds, and has kept it off for years Get organized. Be more patient. Lose weight. If you’re like most Americans, your New Year’s Resolutions List for 2019 reads something like this. Perhaps most of all, you want to get into shape and shed those holiday pounds. But did you also know that you have an 80% chance of failure? That’s right: A whopping 80%.
How to Be a Good Customer
One sultry August Sunday, I was trapped. The electrical system of my keyless-entry car had gone out, right in the middle of a busy intersection. I had no flashers, couldn’t budge the windows or doors, or shift gears. I also felt like I was suffocating. A man appeared at my window and yelled through my closed window: “Got a cell phone, honey? Call the Barboursville police.
4 Tips for Overcoming Loneliness When You Have a Chronic Illness
A longtime nurse offers expert advice on how to avoid isolation by joining a support group, getting a pet and more. In my 45 years as a registered nurse, I’ve seen how chronic illness and pain can isolate people, taking over their lives until it seems as if there’s no room for friends or family, even God. I know firsthand how dealing with physical and emotional pain can be one of the loneliest experiences you can ever have. It can even have physical and mental health consequences.
7 Easy Prayers for When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed
Are you swamped, stressed and strung out? Remember, He’s only a prayer away. If you’re anything like me, life catches you by surprise. One moment, you feel as if everything is going fine, the next you’re overwhelmed at every turn. When those times come, as they do for us all, there is one can’t-fail solution. It’s easy, doesn’t cost a penny, and it only requires that we turn our hearts toward God. Prayer. I have discovered many variations that I use in different situations.
7 Ways to Be More Resilient
After an auto repairman she trusted ran off with her car parts and money, she leaned on these important lessons. The whole thing had caught me off guard. The auto repairman I’d long trusted, had done good work in the past and always treated me fairly, duped me. He took off with my money and my car parts, never to be seen again. It split my heart wide open. My virtues—my trusting nature, belief in the goodness of people and the wonder of the world at large—had made me vulnerable.
7 Ways to Ways to Be More Resilient
After an auto repairman she trusted ran off with her car parts and money, she leaned on these important lessons. The whole thing had caught me off guard. The auto repairman I’d long trusted, had done good work in the past and always treated me fairly, duped me. He took off with my money and my car parts, never to be seen again. It split my heart wide open. My virtues—my trusting nature, belief in the goodness of people and the wonder of the world at large—had made me vulnerable.
9 Ways to a More Satisfying Life
These simple, time-proven tips will help you live your best, most rewarding life. Health. Happiness. Success. It’s what we all seek in life, what we’ve been told leads to a satisfying life. Too often, however, these can seem out of our reach. I’ve been there, and many days, I still don’t have it all together. But I’ve discovered a few things along the way that might help you, too. Live to give. When I was a young girl, true happiness eluded me.
6 Life Lessons from an Old Log Cabin
How renovating an old, rundown place ended up restoring her life after divorce The divorce, at midlife, left me disillusioned, hurt and afraid. After 24 years of marriage, my dog Spanky and I started life anew in a century-old log cabin I purchased “as is,” which just so happened to be the same condition the cabin found me in—very ill, with a brain tumor that had returned. Never had I felt more alone. Time had forgotten the rundown place. Virtually every surface needed renovation.
You Decluttered... Now What?
Decluttering one’s home and life is a lot like weight loss. It’s almost easier to accomplish the initial feat than to maintain it. Here are some tried-and-true strategies that have helped me stay clutter-free. I hope you find them to be beneficial as well. • Designate a place for everything. If you find yourself just putting things away, but not in a certain location, you’ll likely be in the same clutter-chaos boat before long. Pick a spot and make it a point to stick to it. • Make a game of it.
5 Ways to Declutter Your Home with Joy
Author Roberta Messner shares some of the discoveries she made while clearing out her space Most of us have been there. We suddenly discover we have more stuff than space, or that our treasures don’t seem to enjoy the spotlight like they once did. I found myself in that predicament recently, when props I no longer needed for my home-styling business overtook every spare inch of my home.
Holiday Shopping: The Thrift Store Way
Stretch your holiday budget with these helpful thrift store tips for gift shopping. Would you like to stretch your holiday budget and not have those dreaded bills filling your mailbox come January? You can, if you shop the thrift store way. Thrifting is a great way to stretch your family’s dollars and to be a good steward of the resources God has entrusted with you. Gifts. Holiday fashions. Home décor. It’s all there just waiting for your discovery. Here’s how to make the most of your efforts: 1.
10 Ways to Help Prevent Weight Gain During the Holidays
It’s been nine years since I lost nearly 100 pounds following the advice and coaching of my sister-in-law. I wrote about it here last Christmas, and I’ve received more reader mail from it than anything I’ve ever shared. The number one thing people wanted to know was how I followed Ellen’s tips during the holidays when folks typically gain at least a pound and then don’t take it off when the New Year arrives. While it’s admittedly not easy, it is possible.
Could She Reconnect with a Long-Lost Friend?
Roberta Messner wondered if her friend would even want to hear from her It hit me in the middleof the checkout line at Marshall’s. I was thirsty. As thirsty as a camel. I couldn’t wait another minute to get something to drink. But four days before Christmas, the place was packed. The line? Moving like molasses. Just ahead, though, I saw something by the registers, like a mirage in the desert. A refrigerator of drinks.
5 Tips for Reconnecting with a Long-Lost Loved One
These helpful tips will help prepare you for the initial conversation with a loved one that has drifted away. Thanks to social media, it’s never been easier to locate a loved one with whom you’ve lost touch. But reconnecting with a long-lost relative or friend can be tricky. I know first-hand. I hadn’t seen my cousin Debbie, my childhood best friend, in nearly 20 years.
5 Things I Wish People Knew About Opioid Dependency
This past spring, the medication I’d been prescribed for 28 years for severe chronic nerve pain was discontinued by my physician. It was Oxycontin, an opioid. My new doctor at the pain clinic told me there was another medication that specifically targeted this difficult-to-treat kind of misery and recommended that I try it. Two days into the transition, I found myself in flagrant opioid withdrawal. What I experienced was precisely what addicts go through when they enter withdrawal.
Five Things I Wish People Knew About Opioid Dependency
This past spring, the medication I’d been prescribed for 28 years for severe chronic nerve pain was discontinued by my physician. It was Oxycontin, an opioid. My new doctor at the pain clinic told me there was another medication that specifically targeted this difficult-to-treat kind of misery and recommended that I try it. Two days into the transition, I found myself in flagrant opioid withdrawal. What I experienced was precisely what addicts go through when they enter withdrawal.
Declutter with Prayer
The recession was continuing to take its toll. When more of the decorating magazines I’d worked for ceased publication, I took another good, hard look around my cabin. In the twenty years I’d styled homes for photography, I’d seriously blurred the boundaries between work and home. Besides the countless props I owned, my shelves were lined with hundreds of books on interior design and my basement served as a library of photographs of clients’ homes and published articles.
13 Tips to Manage Unexpected Weight Gain
Suddenly gaining some pounds? Here's what you can do to take action and keep them off. I’d lost 92 pounds and kept it off for seven long years. Those pounds were history, right? Wrong. When I was started on a new medication, I suddenly wanted to eat everything that wasn’t bolted down. My choices of food were not admirable, and I soon began gaining weight to the tune of a pound or two per week. Within a couple of months, I had put on 15 unwanted and unexpected pounds.
10 Travel Tips for a Cheaper Vacation
"Summer afternoon--summer afternoon, to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." That age-old sentiment by Henry James has long been one of my favorites. But how do you have a vacation during those beloved months that doesn't break the bank? With some careful planning, it’s possible. Here are some tips to make your trip as affordable as possible: 1) Plan ahead. You usually secure the best fare and accommodation rates when you book early.
9 Practical Tips to Make Your Weight Loss Resolution Last
Get organized. Be more patient. Lose weight. If you’re like most Americans, your New Year’s Resolutions List for 2018 reads something like this. Perhaps most of all, you want to get into shape and shed those holiday pounds. But did you also know that you have an 80% chance of failure? That’s right: A whopping 80%. Most people fail to adhere to their weight reduction plans by the time Cupid’s love notes are in their mailbox and a box of chocolates is sitting open on their kitchen counter.
Keep That Weight Off During the Holidays
It’s been nine years since I lost nearly 100 pounds following the advice and coaching of my sister-in-law. I wrote about it here last Christmas, and I’ve received more reader mail from it than anything I’ve ever shared. The number one thing people wanted to know was how I followed Ellen’s tips during the holidays when folks typically gain at least a pound and then don’t take it off when the New Year arrives. While it’s admittedly not easy, it is possible.
Experience Has Taught This Nurse to Trust Her Intuition
I was 19 years old, studying for my associate’s degree in nursing. It was the winter of my last semester, and I was headed for the library. “Come eat lunch with us and study for the psych quiz tomorrow,” one of my classmates said. “The neurology exam isn’t until next week. We can cram for it later.” I shook my head. I couldn’t explain it. But I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I had to study my neurology materials for class right now.
10 Weight Loss Tips That Work
Roberta Messner shares how she lost almost 100 pounds--and kept the weight off! How did it ever come to this? I wondered aloud. I’m 55 years old and shopping for a scooter to help me get around! I was distraught by how I’d let my joints get so bad, carrying all of this extra weight, but I knew I needed that scooter, so I swallowed my despair and ordered a red one. Might as well have one that matches my nails and purse, I decided.
A Christmas Eve Coincidence Saves a Life
I missed my friend’s party for nothing. Or so I thought. I made it to my friend Jessie’s Christmas party minutes before midnight… just as everyone was leaving her house. Just my luck. Too late. I’d spent my entire night stuck at the hospital where I worked as a nurse. All thanks to a little voice inside me. “Take Candy’s shift,” it had said. Over and over again. Candy was a new nurse on staff, a single mom. She’d asked me to cover for her on Christmas Eve so she could spend the time with her little girl.
Paying an Angelic Act Forward
Long ago, a handsome soldier showered her with kindness. Now it was her turn to pay it forward. I loved the diner near my house for its hash browns, but I also loved the staff. Or really, one staff member in particular. Mia was just 15, but she bused tables to help her mother make ends meet at home. “The usual today?” she said as I slid into a booth. I nodded. “Table three needs coffee!” one of the waitresses snapped. Mia hurried to get the pot. I felt a stab of recognition.
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