{"id":1917,"date":"2015-12-18T17:46:12","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T17:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1917"},"modified":"2015-12-14T17:54:33","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T17:54:33","slug":"chronic-illness-knowing-the-way-at-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/12\/chronic-illness-knowing-the-way-at-christmas.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Knowing the Way at Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Second<\/a>Oh, my! This is a wonderful time, but there are so many things we forget about between the last Christmas and this one. How to untangle the Christmas lights, for example (many of us find ourselves praying a lot for Mary the Untier of Knots to intervene!), or cook the beloved family tradition of turkey and trimmings. There are also directional challenges as we navigate the roads to get to the once-a-year party or family reunion. And, oh, the mysterious aspects of gift-giving and Christmas card sending – Who wants what? Who lives where? What are so-and-so’s children’s names again?<\/p>\n

It can be very difficult to know the way at Christmas!<\/p>\n

But there’s one thing that we can be assured of – Christmas knows its way to us.<\/p>\n

Not only are we surrounded by reminders of the Season, but in our churches, fellowship groups, daily devotionals, and faith traditions, we see, hear, and absorb Christmas. And the more we are mindful of finding it, the more Christmas comes to us, enfolds us, cheers us.<\/p>\n

We have only to look at a picture of a sweet baby to see Christmas and its promise, love, and light.<\/p>\n

Yes, we will fumble with those lights and probably burn the Christmas cookies or turkey at one point or another. We might even lose the map and forget the turn on our way to grandmother’s house, since none of us probably use the “horses that know the way to guide the sleigh” to get there!<\/p>\n

But even if we get completely turned around and upside down, Christmas will find us. God will be with us. And we can sing “Gloria!”, even if we forget when to come in or what note to sing!<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

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

Oh, my! This is a wonderful time, but there are so many things we forget about between the last Christmas and this one. How to untangle the Christmas lights, for example (many of us find ourselves praying a lot for Mary the Untier of Knots to intervene!), or cook the beloved family tradition of turkey…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,3,1422,43,1242,1047,578,1420],"tags":[2120,808,1979,1978],"class_list":["post-1917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-chronic-pain-and-the-holidays","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-good","category-goodness","category-pain-2","tag-christmas","tag-holiday-season","tag-illness-and-christmas","tag-making-mistakes-at-the-holidays"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: Knowing the Way at Christmas - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Don't be worried about getting lost at Christmas - 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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\/1917","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=1917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1918,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917\/revisions\/1918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}