{"id":1089,"date":"2014-03-20T01:10:52","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T01:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2014-03-15T18:20:29","modified_gmt":"2014-03-15T18:20:29","slug":"add-a-little-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html","title":{"rendered":"Add a Little Spring!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of SimonHowden\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hallelujah! Today is the first day of Spring!<\/p>\n

Even if your neighborhood is still digging out from snow, or you have to wear heavy clothing just to go out to get the mail, rest assured, the calendar has spoken – Spring has begun, and we can benefit in so many ways just from the knowledge that warmer weather and more abundant blooming is just around the corner.<\/p>\n

If you’re having a bad day, remember that Spring is going to spring.<\/p>\n

If your pain is particularly bad, focus – a little or a lot – on the beauty that will soon blossom and the marvel that is God’s world around.<\/p>\n

If your illness is flaring, and you’re really frustrated about it, meditate today about how the world has been through a really, really rough winter – but God is now about to give us the gift of Spring outside and will surely give us spring inside, too.<\/p>\n

Need something more tangible than a thought or a meditation focus to make Spring seem possible?<\/p>\n

Linger in the Produce and Floral section of your grocery store and see the variety that abounds, now.<\/p>\n

Add something enjoyable and relaxing to the extra hour of daylight we have, now, and put this “Spring ahead” time to good use.<\/p>\n

Read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ arrest, death, and resurrection, the foundation of our faith, and let the profound implications for each of us sink in deeply and rejuvenate your spirit.<\/p>\n

In short, in all, add a little Spring today to celebrate what is and is to come. And let that, too, accompany you through your journey now and in the days and months to come.<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hallelujah! Today is the first day of Spring! Even if your neighborhood is still digging out from snow, or you have to wear heavy clothing just to go out to get the mail, rest assured, the calendar has spoken – Spring has begun, and we can benefit in so many ways just from the knowledge…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,379],"tags":[491,968,511,133,46,19,969,30,623,454],"class_list":["post-1089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-lupus-2","tag-despair","tag-first-day-of-spring","tag-flares","tag-gods-promise","tag-hope","tag-illness","tag-illness-flares","tag-pain","tag-resurrection","tag-spring"],"yoast_head":"\nAdd a Little Spring! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Add a Little Spring! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hallelujah! Today is the first day of Spring! Even if your neighborhood is still digging out from snow, or you have to wear heavy clothing just to go out to get the mail, rest assured, the calendar has spoken – Spring has begun, and we can benefit in so many ways just from the knowledge…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-20T01:10:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-03-15T18:20:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/apple-blossoms-by-Simon-Howden-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Add a Little Spring! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Add a Little Spring! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"Hallelujah! Today is the first day of Spring! Even if your neighborhood is still digging out from snow, or you have to wear heavy clothing just to go out to get the mail, rest assured, the calendar has spoken – Spring has begun, and we can benefit in so many ways just from the knowledge…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2014-03-20T01:10:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-03-15T18:20:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/apple-blossoms-by-Simon-Howden-300x199.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html","name":"Add a Little Spring! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/apple-blossoms-by-Simon-Howden-300x199.jpg","datePublished":"2014-03-20T01:10:52+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-15T18:20:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/apple-blossoms-by-Simon-Howden-300x199.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/apple-blossoms-by-Simon-Howden-300x199.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/03\/add-a-little-spring.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Add a Little Spring!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1090,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions\/1090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}