Day 13: P is for Perseverance

I had intended to post *something* for PAL each day, but that has not happened. However, I am not throwing in the towel. This is a valuable venture, even if I am in it alone (or perhaps with the few friends who expressed interest at the get-go).

My father, the healthiest 60-something-year-old imaginable, had to have heart bypass surgery last week, which threw our family into a frenzy of visiting, calling, praying, communicating with various friends and relatives, and hoping, hoping, hoping for his success in surgery and his speedy recovery. We are still in that last mode, but he *did* make it through surgery and he *is* home recovering. Praise Be! Praise Be!

All that being said, I have had to modify my PAL observances this past week, as I have been serving as the family dispatcher of information -- emailing friends and family about Dad's status and well-being. I think I can safely commit to resuming the 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. computer "fast." However, I would like to scratch the sugar/flour fast and replace it with this: a food fast from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. as well. I find that the sugar/flour restrictions interfere with my family too much. Plus if I eat a piece of Halloween candy or two, I'm inclined to "freak out" and feel dreadful for hours thereafter. That's not drawing me closer to Christ; that's prompting me to feel sorry for myself. No, I'll allow myself sugar and flour in moderation and focus on the purpose for PAL: Thinking of Jesus, the author of perfector of my faith.