Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt

Politics, weather changes, back-to-school/work/life in general…Patience? It might seem as if this season of external stresses  that’s pressing upon our internal resilience will never end. But, blessedly, it will. And if we apply patience to these next few days, we’ll be in good shape for the rest of the year! It all just takes a…

I have lived with multiple, serious chronic illnesses for many years. I am also a life-long Chicago Cubs fan. The two don’t necessarily have much to do with each other, however this week and, I hope, the following couple of weeks, will bring these two “states of life” together in a way that most chronic-illness-suffering-Cubs-fans…

Whether I am out or at home, going through a medical test or waiting for a prescription, I pray. I might recite a prayer that I’ve memorized, or I might just carry on a more free-form conversation with God. But however I do it, prayer accompanies me everywhere I go and remains a constant activity…

How wonderful it is to have faith! Despite the stresses in the world and the way some denigrate those who believe, persecuting people because they turn to Jesus, my faith in the Lord is the light that makes all the trials of chronic pain and illness tolerable. When I’m felled by a flare, it is…

My heart goes out to all who had to weather (no pun intended) Hurricane Matthew. From Haiti to Cuba to the U.S. East Coast, it was terrifying to watch the monster storm move and it must have been even more terrifying to live through it, even if you had to evacuate. How well I know,…

What’s your idea of a good walk? One that takes you through your neighborhood, visiting with friends along the way? A rapid-paced, perspiration-inducing bit of exercise around a track? A great accomplishment on a “bad day”: less pain from chair to sofa? Or, is it something else, entirely? When I was first diagnosed with lupus,…

I have a simple, silver and pearl ring that I like to wear. But for several weeks, I couldn’t find it. I looked and looked, and thought and thought about where I’d last worn it, but no amount of looking and thinking helped. The ring remained lost. As I moved along, the lost ring took…

Sometimes when we are at a low point, or we have experienced unfeeling, unthinking hurt from someone who doesn’t understand the pain or chronic illness we struggle with, we might wish that someone could speak up for us, defend us, or present our “cause” to the world and thus make the way smoother for future…

Many years ago, when I lived near our Nation’s capital, I had emerged from a polling place on Election Day and a busload of foreign journalists piled out of it. They were covering the current Presidential election, a heated race (as many have been and are). A few of the reporters circled around me and…

I’m still thinking of the amazing creature that turned up at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of California. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the link: http://nautiluslive.org/video/2016/08/12/googly-eyed-stubby-squid The poor purple, stubby squid must have been terrifed at the sudden bright light that spotlit it, alone on the barren sea floor. Nearly all eyes, its…

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