{"id":1927,"date":"2015-12-27T18:27:49","date_gmt":"2015-12-27T18:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1927"},"modified":"2015-12-14T18:36:23","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T18:36:23","slug":"if-you-feel-a-little-hollow-after-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/12\/if-you-feel-a-little-hollow-after-christmas.html","title":{"rendered":"If You Feel a Little Hollow after Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Crecheforblog\"<\/a>Sometimes, the brightest of Christmas celebrations is followed by a feeling of letdown, a hollow sensation that something is missing after all the festivities, gifts, and socializing. And if you live with a chronic, serious illness, you might feel this and dread – even with all of the readings and songs about God’s love and comfort, you are still sick, still suffering.<\/p>\n

I find myself sometimes a bit melancholy after Christmas. The decorations go down or, even if they don’t, their presence still seems to remind me of what\u00a0was<\/em>, the holiday that is in the past.\u00a0<\/i>But, now when I look at the chreche.<\/p>\n

When I see the creche, I am filled again with awe and wonder of the simple story that began and the amazingly grand story that unfolded. I am heartened that Christ remains and prayer and praise are daily, not just once a year. The creche reminds me of the others in the Christmas story – we’re never alone when we consider the shepherds, journey with the magi, and rest quietly and softly beside the manger.<\/p>\n

Even when all decorations are put away, the creche remains in my heart, the best present for times when, during the rest of the year, Christmas seems so far away and other painful feelings mar the simplicity of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

If you feel a little hollow after Christmas, keep the creche close. revisit with Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the others who were there and who still are in our faith. Pray that a prominent place for that creche will be made in your heart and that it will be filled, not void, with hope, encouragement, and love.<\/p>\n

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

Sometimes, the brightest of Christmas celebrations is followed by a feeling of letdown, a hollow sensation that something is missing after all the festivities, gifts, and socializing. And if you live with a chronic, serious illness, you might feel this and dread – even with all of the readings and songs about God’s love and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,3,1422,360,43,1242,4,1047,578,1423,1420,1245,1236,95,1246],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-chronic-pain-and-the-holidays","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-goodness","category-holiday-aftermath","category-pain-2","category-positive","category-prayer-2","category-prayers","category-uplifting"],"yoast_head":"\nIf You Feel a Little Hollow after Christmas - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to handle the letdown after Christmas\" \/>\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\/12\/if-you-feel-a-little-hollow-after-christmas.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If You Feel a Little Hollow after 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\/1927","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=1927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1928,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927\/revisions\/1928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}