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Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt

This was one of the first things I heard when I was diagnosed with lupus. “Lupies are like snowflakes – no two are alike.” It’s turned out to be a truly wise statement, in myriad ways. And it’s good to revisit it once in awhile, because sometimes we compare ourselves and our life with illness…

A friend and I were going to get together, but she ended up in bed with the flu.  She was “really, really sorry” that our plans couldn’t work out. But, “Be gentle to yourself,” I told her. All else can wait until you’re feeling much, much better. When we have plans and they’re derailed by…

What is the soundtrack of your life? What songs lift you up? Make you want to move? Make you laugh? Make you cry? What songs do you take with you when you’re going to the doctor’s office? Or, having surgery? Or, waiting for test results? What songs bring out the best in you? What songs…

Illness can be very ugly. Yes, it can be that horrible blot on our lives, and certainly change our appearance in undesirable ways.  And one of the hardest things to handle it is when we’re out in public – or planning to be out in public – and we know that we look “different” or…

A dear friend of mine who also suffers from severe lupus is not a believer. Nevertheless, we share a very profound sense of faith that’s summed up by saying, “Spring will come.” Of course, from my perspective, the phrase relates to knowing that suffering leads to grace and joy and that Our Lord’s trial on…

If you’re sick, in pain, and low, you might have heard yourself say, “I don’t have enough support.” or, “I don’t have enough money to get the care that I need.” or, even, “I don’t have enough energy/mobility/resources/hope to feel better.” At times, I’ve said similar things myself. Seems like, for example, one flare subsides…

The weight of pain and illness, and the limitations these bring to daily life, can become excruciating, oppressive. But beneath the heavy burden of physical challenges is, often, a glimmer of light. Even if the door to wholeness and health doesn’t open for us, won’t there be a window? One, brief window leading to freedom,…

“He just didn’t listen to the doctor,” she said to the paramedic as he opened the ambulance door. “He went out there and shoveled that snow anyway.” “I heard the doctor,” he said, lifting his head from the stretcher. “But who else is going to shovel it? The squirrels?” “I could have done it,” she…

Happy Valentine’s Day! Despite the challenges we face, and the pain we endure, this is an uplifting day…and one for reflecting on the active, reflective effect of love on our world. What do I mean by that? I think especially of the way our inner feelings bubble outward and inspire others. I smile. You smile.…

While driving along a frozen Midwestern road, I saw a startling sight. Despite the frigid temperatures and snow-covered landscape, a horse was grazing in a pasture! Much like this photo by prozac1/FreeDigitalPhotos.net, the horse seemed oblivious to the weather. Even in deep winter, it was going about its day, finding sustenance buried below the surface…
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