Old Habits Die Hard

It's officially my Spring Break, so I have a little extra time to complete some "blogging." Here's a picture of me and Maggie-playing "tea party."

Owen is practicing his "standing on his head skills." (He's getting a little bit of help from me in the top picture, but not the one directly above.)

Maggie really enjoys playing dressup. Here's our little princess all gussied up. She even wanted me to comb her hair (normally she hates that because she's got baby fine hair and it tangles easily).

With it being our Spring Break I plan to do lots of sleeping. I've already taken several naps and today the kids and I slept in until 7! I love to sleep.

Editor's note...this blog entry originally started March 5....it's now March 16...

Habits...

Every morning I take one or both of the kids to daycare and/or preschool. Each time I go to start our Escape, my left foot goes down and my right hand moves over to move the gear shifter into reverse. Except there's nothing under my left foot anymore. The gear shifter goes straight back, not back and to the right.

It's been 3 full months and a couple of days that I haven't been driving the Ford Focus daily. (It had a manual transmission). I've been driving a stick shift forever. With the exception of one car - most of the cars I've driven high school through now have been stick shifts. So it's no wonder that my foot still hunts for a clutch, my right hand wants to throw the shifter back, and my ears want to hear the small rev of an engine...it's like there's a manual transmission ghost in my feet and hands.

It is hard to break habits. However, sometimes your life has a change-like getting a different car, and that changes allows for your brain to change the "daily route" it takes.

I've always believed that change is good, especially if it's for the betterment of one's self, or family. I'd like to take some time to tell you about another habit I have. Praying.

The first topic in a Lenton sermon series that our pastor talked about was prayer. I immediatley was reminded about the "Examen" reflective prayer (from the Exercises of St. Ignatius). I think I originally learned about these back in my college days...(I went to a Presbyterian college, where you had to take a few religion classes. Not a bad thing, of course..probably would have been wiser to pay more attention back then, then trying to recall information now from memory.) Anyways, I again read about the reflective prayer in a publication of "Alive Now." I thought to myself, "Aha! I have been doing something GOOD that I learned way back when..." I would say about a year and a half ago I started to take time time to reflect on the previous 24 hours. Then give thanks and praise to God for the times and places I've been aware of His presence. Then, ask for forgiveness for the times I have "missed the mark." Finally, I think ahead to the next 24 hours of my life and ask for guidance in the experiences to come. It's a simple exercise. It really sets my head for what I need to accomplish. I can't go to sleep without doing that simple exercise, though. I've gotten into the habit of doing that exercise every evening.

The manual transmission ghost may die away eventually; but not my Examen reflection.