{"id":1585,"date":"2015-03-07T12:58:54","date_gmt":"2015-03-07T12:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2015-03-06T19:08:52","modified_gmt":"2015-03-06T19:08:52","slug":"a-praying-spirit-discerning-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/03\/a-praying-spirit-discerning-gifts.html","title":{"rendered":"A Praying Spirit: Discerning Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image Courtesy of dan\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As we move into springtime, many of us will undergo life transitions. Perhaps you are completing a significant part of your education, anticipating the workforce and “digging in” to a career. Or, maybe, you are looking forward to your wedding and starting a household with your soon-to-be spouse. Maybe, too, you are thinking of changing your career, the place where you live, or starting a new activity.<\/p>\n

“Something new” can sound absolutely wonderful if you’ve been snowed in for months (as many have). That fresh outlook, newly minted degree and brand-new chapter of life can seem like an exiting adventure…or something daunting or nervous-making.<\/p>\n

Prayer is a powerful way to find security in new endeavors and activities. It is a wonderful way to be still, speak to God, and listen to find discernment, especially about which gifts – among the many you possess – are those God is calling you to use in the months and years ahead. It’s an internal process with external components – we know from Scripture that we’re not to let our light be hidden under a bushel, but rather to let it shine, to use the talents God has given us to the fullest extent we can.<\/p>\n

Of course, we can’t do everything all at once. And God has a way of showing us that the gifts we thought we were supposed to use might not be the ones he wants for us to use, at least not yet!<\/p>\n

Prayer can help us sort all of this out. And, as we pray and act, moving forward, we can find even more light along our journey and, no doubt, more gifts along the way, too!<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

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

As we move into springtime, many of us will undergo life transitions. Perhaps you are completing a significant part of your education, anticipating the workforce and “digging in” to a career. Or, maybe, you are looking forward to your wedding and starting a household with your soon-to-be spouse. Maybe, too, you are thinking of changing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1272,1245,1236,95,1246],"tags":[1573,308,1577,1578,1576,1574,1579,1575],"class_list":["post-1585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-praying-spirit-prayer-2","category-positive","category-prayer-2","category-prayers","category-uplifting","tag-a-praying-sprit","tag-discernment","tag-getting-married","tag-graduating","tag-out-talents","tag-prayer-and-discernment","tag-starting-something-new","tag-using-our-gifts"],"yoast_head":"\nA Praying Spirit: Discerning Gifts - 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\/2015\/03\/a-praying-spirit-discerning-gifts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Praying Spirit: Discerning Gifts - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we move into springtime, many of us will undergo life transitions. 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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\/1585","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=1585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1586,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions\/1586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}