{"id":1425,"date":"2014-11-04T01:25:27","date_gmt":"2014-11-04T01:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1425"},"modified":"2014-10-29T18:36:35","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T18:36:35","slug":"tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html","title":{"rendered":"TLC Tuesday: The Difference in You!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/02\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-525\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/350\/2013\/02\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic11-246x300.jpg\" alt=\"Maureen Pratt Author Pic\" width=\"246\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>All the efforts to standardize healthcare can be very confounding for those of us with chronic illness. We oh, so often don&#8217;t fit into the neat little codes and pigeon-holes developed by others, and we frequently find ourselves beyond frustrated with trying to explain complex situations to healthcare workers who expect everything and everyone to fit into those &#8220;neat little codes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s TLC Tuesday is meant to remind each of us that we are different, we are distinct &#8211; and it&#8217;s all right! In fact, it reflects God&#8217;s love for each of us; He called each of us by name, knew each of us before we were born. God does not have a list of codes into which each of us fits, in a group, neatly and scientifically.<\/p>\n<p>The difference in you is what makes you wonderfully you! It enables you to bring your difference to make a difference (if everyone were the same, there&#8217;d be no hope of getting beyond those limitations). It enables you to express love, bring joy, and mend broken hearts.<\/p>\n<p>Today, embrace that wonderful you &#8211; and the next time you feel frustrated by someone who expects you to follow the herd, take strength in knowing how beautiful and unique you are &#8211; because you are made by God!<\/p>\n<p>Joy and peace,<\/p>\n<p>Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All the efforts to standardize healthcare can be very confounding for those of us with chronic illness. We oh, so often don&#8217;t fit into the neat little codes and pigeon-holes developed by others, and we frequently find ourselves beyond frustrated with trying to explain complex situations to healthcare workers who expect everything and everyone to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,360,43,1245],"tags":[946,1334,1336,1337,1182,1335],"class_list":["post-1425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","category-positive","tag-being-different","tag-difference","tag-not-fitting-in","tag-standardized-healthcare","tag-tlc-tuesday","tag-you-are-different"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>TLC Tuesday: The Difference in You! - 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\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TLC Tuesday: The Difference in You! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All the efforts to standardize healthcare can be very confounding for those of us with chronic illness. We oh, so often don&#8217;t fit into the neat little codes and pigeon-holes developed by others, and we frequently find ourselves beyond frustrated with trying to explain complex situations to healthcare workers who expect everything and everyone to&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-04T01:25:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-10-29T18:36:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/02\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic11-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TLC Tuesday: The Difference in You! - 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\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TLC Tuesday: The Difference in You! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"All the efforts to standardize healthcare can be very confounding for those of us with chronic illness. We oh, so often don&#8217;t fit into the neat little codes and pigeon-holes developed by others, and we frequently find ourselves beyond frustrated with trying to explain complex situations to healthcare workers who expect everything and everyone to&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2014-11-04T01:25:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-10-29T18:36:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/02\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic11-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html","name":"TLC Tuesday: The Difference in You! - 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\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/02\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic11-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2014-11-04T01:25:27+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-29T18:36:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/02\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic11-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/02\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic11-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/11\/tlc-tuesday-the-difference-in-you.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TLC Tuesday: The Difference in You!"}]},{"@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 &amp; 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\/1425","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=1425"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1427,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions\/1427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}