{"id":945,"date":"2013-12-07T14:35:21","date_gmt":"2013-12-07T14:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=945"},"modified":"2013-11-29T21:58:01","modified_gmt":"2013-11-29T21:58:01","slug":"chronic-illness-and-pain-holiday-budget-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/chronic-illness-and-pain-holiday-budget-blues.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness and Pain: Holiday Budget Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of nuchylee\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A harsh reality of life with chronic illness and pain is that it is expensive both in terms of what it costs medically (doc visits, medications, etc.) and productively (perhaps you cannot work as much anymore, or at all and your income has diminished considerably). \u00a0Especially at year’s end, expenses can add up sharply – and just at the time when gift-giving, charitable contributions, and other seasonal activities come up, too.<\/p>\n

Even if you have a strict budget and have stuck to it 11 months out of the year, during the holiday season, it can be easy to give in to the “spirit of the moment.” \u00a0And yet, depleting precious resources now can mean having a rocky resource road ahead as 2013 moves into 2014.<\/p>\n

How to balance a budget while partaking of at least some of the Season’s happy activities?<\/p>\n

Once again, a strong spirit can be a powerful protecting force against much of the monetary pressures of the holidays, as can humility and creativity.<\/p>\n

A strong spirit. God gives you all the resources you have in expectation that you will be responsible about stewardship, so making Him part of the decision process is both helpful and important . \u00a0Keeping close to God at this time, and going to Him in prayer before making significant purchases beyond your budget can help tremendously to make you see clearly and act practically and responsibly. \u00a0Also, you will be cultivating strength that doesn’t go out of style, and reliance on faith that stands up to any material pressure.<\/p>\n

Humility. \u00a0Not having a lot of money does not make you less worthy of respect or validity. Spending money does not give someone intrinsically greater worth (although many forces in our world would lead us to think otherwise). \u00a0With this in mind, there is nothing wrong<\/em>\u00a0with saying, “No, I cannot afford it,” \u00a0and everything\u00a0right<\/em> with putting your financial situation in perspective with God’s priceless gift of life and individuality that is yours.<\/p>\n

Creativity. Gifts need not cost money. Great gifts that come from the heart can take many different forms. Time, prayer, presence, re-gifting of something you have enjoyed, and many other things can have a tremendous impact on others and express our love as much, if not more, than things we buy or dollars we donate. God has give us lives – and creativity. Exploring possibilities for giving beyond buying opens up new and potentially life-changing avenues for us now and in the year ahead.<\/p>\n

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

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

A harsh reality of life with chronic illness and pain is that it is expensive both in terms of what it costs medically (doc visits, medications, etc.) and productively (perhaps you cannot work as much anymore, or at all and your income has diminished considerably). \u00a0Especially at year’s end, expenses can add up sharply –…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,3,43,4,379,95],"tags":[839,219,19,837,30,838,96,840],"class_list":["post-945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-lupus-2","category-prayers","tag-creative-gift-giving","tag-gifting","tag-illness","tag-money","tag-pain","tag-poor","tag-prayer","tag-spiritual-giving"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness and Pain: Holiday Budget Blues - 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\/2013\/12\/chronic-illness-and-pain-holiday-budget-blues.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness and Pain: Holiday Budget Blues - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A harsh reality of life with chronic illness and pain is that it is expensive both in terms of what it costs medically (doc visits, medications, etc.) and productively (perhaps you cannot work as much anymore, or at all and your income has diminished considerably). \u00a0Especially at year’s end, expenses can add up sharply –…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/chronic-illness-and-pain-holiday-budget-blues.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-07T14:35:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-11-29T21:58:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/candle-photo-by-nuchylee-199x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chronic Illness and Pain: Holiday Budget Blues - 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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. 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