{"id":313,"date":"2012-12-21T01:01:17","date_gmt":"2012-12-21T01:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=313"},"modified":"2012-12-13T19:50:40","modified_gmt":"2012-12-13T19:50:40","slug":"advent-2012-are-your-plans-falling-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/12\/advent-2012-are-your-plans-falling-apart.html","title":{"rendered":"Advent 2012: Are Your Plans Falling Apart?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Image courtesy of nuchylee\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Advent Day 20: Are your plans falling apart?<\/p>\n

Does this seem familiar? \u00a0Just as we’re getting down to the last weekend before Christmas, plans are unravelling.<\/p>\n

A flight is cancelled and you have to spend the night on the floor in an airport. Someone in the house is ill, and then someone else and someone else and…<\/p>\n

The packages that were supposed to have been shipped overnight weren’t.<\/p>\n

The dog ate the Christmas cookie batter and had to be taken to the emergency vet hospital just before the party.<\/p>\n

The church choir rehearsal did not go well, and the director isn’t sure the music will uplift or make people walk out!<\/p>\n

So many things are planned these days leading up to Christmas. And so many things can go wrong.<\/p>\n

But, is the season ruined? Is Christmas a disaster? Is Advent agony?<\/p>\n

Not at all. Somehow, in this season of light, each of our experiences goes toward creating a whole cloth of the holy-days. Not everything moves smoothly, but time does slip day after day, prayer after prayer, and Christ will come, has come, will always be with us.<\/p>\n

So, today, if your plans are falling apart, take a deep breath and pray. Try to laugh. Try to relax. And know that Christmas beauty will outshine any “flaw” we might think we see.<\/p>\n

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

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

Advent Day 20: Are your plans falling apart? Does this seem familiar? \u00a0Just as we’re getting down to the last weekend before Christmas, plans are unravelling. A flight is cancelled and you have to spend the night on the floor in an airport. 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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\/313","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=313"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions\/316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}