{"id":208,"date":"2012-12-01T01:00:12","date_gmt":"2012-12-01T01:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=208"},"modified":"2012-11-23T20:47:17","modified_gmt":"2012-11-23T20:47:17","slug":"advent-2012-what-are-we-waiting-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/12\/advent-2012-what-are-we-waiting-for.html","title":{"rendered":"Advent 2012: What are we waiting for?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Image courtesy of lamnee\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s Advent already?! Christmas is four weeks away!?<\/p>\n

There is precious little time these days to linger over lengthy blog posts. So much has to get done between now and December 25! And it’s not as if the rest of life is on “hold” as we navigate through these days of Advent.<\/p>\n

So, during Advent, I’m going to be brief and to the point. Each day, a different question and food for thought, a kind of “Advent Blog to Go” for we who juggle health and life and who crave God’s presence all along the way. Here goes:<\/p>\n

ADVENT DAY 1:<\/p>\n

What are we waiting for?<\/p>\n

Yes, Christmas is on the way and our to do lists are endless. But, what are we really waiting for? A fresh pie out of the oven? The arrival of a load of on-line purchases?<\/p>\n

A renewed depth of heart and soul that dawns with the blazing lights of Christmas?<\/p>\n

As we wait for earthly things, let’s use that time to go inside and encourage God to speak, work, revive.<\/p>\n

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

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

It’s Advent already?! Christmas is four weeks away!? There is precious little time these days to linger over lengthy blog posts. So much has to get done between now and December 25! And it’s not as if the rest of life is on “hold” as we navigate through these days of Advent. So, during Advent,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[224,43,4],"tags":[225,47,227,123,230,229,228,23,226],"class_list":["post-208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent-2012","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","tag-advent","tag-god","tag-holidays","tag-light","tag-renewal","tag-revival","tag-soul","tag-spirit","tag-waiting"],"yoast_head":"\nAdvent 2012: What are we waiting for? - 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\/2012\/12\/advent-2012-what-are-we-waiting-for.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advent 2012: What are we waiting for? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s Advent already?! Christmas is four weeks away!? There is precious little time these days to linger over lengthy blog posts. So much has to get done between now and December 25! And it’s not as if the rest of life is on “hold” as we navigate through these days of Advent. 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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\/208","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=208"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions\/246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}