{"id":1276,"date":"2014-07-24T17:37:36","date_gmt":"2014-07-24T17:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1276"},"modified":"2014-07-13T17:46:20","modified_gmt":"2014-07-13T17:46:20","slug":"this-is-the-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/07\/this-is-the-day.html","title":{"rendered":"This is the day"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of graur codrin\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Imagine if you gave a good friend a present, all wrapped up and shining in the light. What if that friend, instead of opening the package, set it aside. He or she tells you, “Oh, thanks. But I’ll get to it later. I’m really not all that excited about a present right now. I have other things to do.”<\/p>\n

How would you feel? Upset? Disappointed? More than a little irritated that you’d gone to all that trouble, and your friend couldn’t care less?<\/p>\n

Now, think about this day. Yes, this very day, this moment. It is a day that the Lord, with all his love and care, has made and has given to us. Thoughtfully. Happily. Self-lessly. This day is all wrapped up with wonder, with the mysteries of his Creation and the sights and sounds of natural beauty.<\/p>\n

Yes, this is the day the Lord has made, and he gives it to you and me.<\/p>\n

What are we going to do with it?<\/p>\n

Are we so focused on pain, illness, and clouds that seem to never go away? Are we going to set aside this day to think about tomorrow or regret yesterday? Are we going to eye today fearfully, not sure if we even want to see what it holds?<\/p>\n

Or, are we going to raise a heavenward “Thank you, Father!” and eagerly tear open the package and see what gifts await us this time?<\/p>\n

This day.<\/p>\n

Today.<\/p>\n

Today, I’m going to be that friend who accepts the gift, opens the package, and gives great thanks, no matter how small the blessings may be this day.<\/p>\n

How about you?<\/p>\n

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

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

Imagine if you gave a good friend a present, all wrapped up and shining in the light. What if that friend, instead of opening the package, set it aside. He or she tells you, “Oh, thanks. But I’ll get to it later. I’m really not all that excited about a present right now. I have…<\/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],"tags":[1153,44,32,1154,183,50,30,1151,1152],"class_list":["post-1276","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","tag-being-a-friend","tag-chronic-pain","tag-giving-thanks","tag-god-the-father","tag-gods-love","tag-living-with-illness","tag-pain","tag-the-gift-of-today","tag-today"],"yoast_head":"\nThis is the day - 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\/07\/this-is-the-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This is the day - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Imagine if you gave a good friend a present, all wrapped up and shining in the light. 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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\/1276","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=1276"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1277,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276\/revisions\/1277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}