Now I pray, 'Lead me not into Temptation and Help me Not to be Easily Distracted from your Love.' Amen.

My parents taught me the importance of a routine.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit ~ Aristotle.

When I was growing up, my parents taught me the importance of a routine. Not so much by their words, but by their actions. They did the exact same thing everyday. They got up, went to work, had coffee, ate their meals, showered, watched TV, and went to bed every day at the same time. It amazed me, as a teenager, how simply boring their life was. The only deviation was on Saturday nights. They went to church where they sat in the exact same spot every week.   

LOS ANGELES, CA - I was determined to live life differently than them. loved them very much but I wanted excitement.

When I attended college, I found that excitement.  My Dad told me to be careful about getting
distracted. 

Light a virtual prayer candle and say a prayer

'Oh, I won't,' I told him.  But I was very distracted with the new freedom and social opportunities
every where I turned.  Before long, I was too busy to go to church and private prayer was long forgotten. But, I continued to forge ahead thinking how easily I could balance all these new activities.

It didn't take long before I received that first failing grade in a class that I should have easily passed. I went to the professor in despair.  'I don't understand this,' I told him.  'I should have done so much better in your class.' 

He was a kind, good-hearted man and he told me that my failing grade was borderline. I wasn't preforming at the level I should be in lab. I seemed distracted.

I promised to study harder and left his office very sullen. What had I done?  My father had warned me about distractions and suddenly I heard the same thing from my instructor. Obviously, I was being given a message. My Dad didn't know my teacher, they lived in 2 different states.

After going home, I began to think about my routine and my actions. I was paying good money for my education and I was wasting that by making bad choices. I started to pray. 'What do I do?'

It was time to re-establish the good habits my parents had taught me.  Perhaps going back to church would help too. Soon I began to imitate what I had seen my parents do for years. Go to class, eat my meals, go to lab, study, sleep, and go to work same thing every day except on Sunday when I went to church.  All my new friends never even seemed to miss me. But, my heart became peaceful and my grades improved. 

The new life I had encountered was very tempting and as my father so wisely put it: distracting. Now when I pray, 'Lead me not into temptation,' I also ask,  ' and help me not to be easily distracted from your Love,' Amen. 

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