A mother's harrowing disappearance has thrown Savannah Guthrie into a storm, but her unwavering faith is her anchor.
Just one day after her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, was taken from her home in Tucson, Arizona, under the cloak of darkness, Savannah made a heartfelt plea for prayers. She shared on social media, "Raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment." This marked her first public statement following the abduction.
Two days later, in a deeply emotional video, Savannah, the beloved host of NBC's "Today" show, sat alongside her older sister and brother. With tears in her eyes, she spoke of her mother as a woman of immense strength, deep faith, and "God's precious daughter."
Throughout this agonizing, nearly week-long ordeal, Savannah's faith and her belief in the power of prayer have been a constant source of strength. This is a theme she explored in her 2024 bestseller, "Mostly What God Does." In the book, she credits her parents for her religious upbringing and shares how her faith has been her guiding light through life's most challenging periods. She's come to believe that "the pains of this world are not (God’s) original plan and will not be how the story ends." This, she explains, is the essence of faith.
One of Savannah's earliest memories is of her entire family – parents and siblings – being baptized. She fondly recalls her sister saying, "God was the sixth member of our family." Tragically, her father passed away during her high school years, a time when her mother's strength truly shone. Savannah shared in a 2023 "Today" segment how her mom "set aside her own grief in many ways, just to be there and make sure that we could all move forward together." She attributes her mother's greatest gift to her as "faith and belief in God. It changed my whole life."
However, Savannah candidly admits in her book that her faith hasn't always been easy. There have been times of struggle, and it was often her mother who helped her find her way back. A cherished tradition involved her mother gifting her a plastic-wrapped devotional journal for nearly a decade. "This was our tradition, our special thing, our bond," Savannah writes. "It was how she encouraged/reminded/prodded me to walk with God as I walked into adulthood."
After college, Savannah's mother helped her relocate from Arizona to Butte, Montana, for her first news job. This two-day road trip marked Savannah's first time living away from home. But here's where it gets tough... just 10 days after she started, the news station unexpectedly closed. Experiences like these taught Savannah that faith isn't built in times of ease, but rather forged in the crucible of adversity. "I learned to trust God not because the terrible thing never happened, but because it did," she writes. "We often turn to prayer in desperation, when … our hearts and souls (are) plagued by the struggle." She emphasizes, "It’s at these times we need prayer the most. And often when we find it hardest to do."
And this is the part most people miss... Nearly a week has passed since Nancy Guthrie vanished. Beyond ransom notes sent to various media outlets, investigators have confirmed no direct contact from the alleged captor. Savannah's son, Camron, posted another urgent plea on Thursday, directly addressing the abductor: "Whoever is out there holding our mother. We want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach out, and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward." This plea coincided with a deadline set by the FBI, mentioned in one of the ransom notes.
Local law enforcement and the FBI are now offering a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to Nancy Guthrie's safe return. As of now, no suspect has been identified.
In a touching chapter of her book, Savannah recounts a childhood tradition that fostered her spiritual growth. During summers, her cousin Teri would orchestrate mock "kidnappings," piling Savannah and her sister, Annie, into a station wagon for a road trip from Tucson to Phoenix. During these excursions, the girls would find a payphone and call their mother, who would "feign shock … then assure us she’d drive up to retrieve us in a few days."
It was during one of these playful "kidnappings" that Savannah's cousin introduced her to Psalm 23, a scripture that has since become a cornerstone of her faith. "Psalm 23 is our secret code, God and me," she writes. "Sometimes in moments of need, it appears out of nowhere." Savannah finds solace and hope in its words, particularly the passage: "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you (God) are with me." She explains, "Wide awake and beset by anxiety, I turn to (Psalm 23) for meditation, a way to train my focus on something other than my worries and fears."
Decades later, in a cruel twist of fate, the Guthrie family is no longer playing pretend. As Savannah's children anxiously await any word, Savannah alluded to Psalm 23 in a video message to her mother, saying, "Mommy … we believe and know that even in this valley, He (God) is with you." She concluded with a powerful declaration: "We pray without ceasing and we rejoice in advance for the day that we hold you in our arms again."
What do you think? Is faith a personal coping mechanism, or can it truly provide tangible strength in the face of unimaginable adversity? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
