Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

I have to remember who holds me up and gives me strength. God bless.

1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:

8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

9 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

This Psalm is in memory of my husband who recently and unexpectedly passed away. Although he isn't here with me, I know without a shadow of a doubt that one day we will rejoice in heaven where we never have to say goodbye, there will be no tears, there will be no sorrow, and best of all there will be no death. My journey here isn't over, but I know the Lord is with me now and for evermore.

It seems that my blog content is either boring or of little interest. I am not the greatest writer or most enthralling. I have no illusions or delusions about my abilities. It is okay. No harm...on foul as they say. My blog site is rather plain. No streaming music or pretty pictures to see. I am not feeling sorry for myself, nor am I angry or upset by the lack of interest. I am a realist and have decided to enjoy the abilities and talents of others and keep my thoughts to myself. I do appreciate all the support and prayers that were offered during the recent death of my Papa John. Take care folks. I have other talents I need to address.

I think I was one day ahead of myself. I was counting the day of surgery as day one. Ah well...this is really day 6, because tomorrow will mark the first week post surgery. Anyway, I am feeling pretty good. I am still sore, but getting better. I have a terrible time drinking the protein drinks. The taste is hard to mask. I sip it and it is gross. If I chug it, I retch. Believe me retching is not good. It hurts. My goal is to take in 70 grams of protein a day. The protein drink is 25 grams per scoop and so far I have trouble getting 2 scoops of that down. My husband suggested I break it up and drink it twice a day. Now that would be torture to the extreme. Once a day is more than enough.

The good news is that tomorrow I will be able to add well cooked beans and vegetables to my diet. Don't worry I have the Gas-X ready! Hopefully, this means I can supplement my protein with food! I used to think that mashed up and soft stuff was great. After about a week, it gets pretty boring. The best news is that I have already lost about 7 lbs. since surgery, not including the 12 lbs. before surgery. So things are looking up and I am losing one of my chins. .

Some folks may wonder why I went to such extremes to lose weight. To sum it up as briefly as I can, I want to be as healthy for as long as I can. I don't want to ruin my joints. I already have some mild arthritis in my lower spine. I have high blood pressure and since there is diabetes in my family, I am a good candidate. I have been "obese" all of my life. The first diet I was ever on was at 6 months old. I was too "fat" and was placed on skim milk. During childhood it wasn't as noticeable. I was always just a little bit heavier than my playmates, but not terribly so. Then during puberty everything went haywire. During high school I was heavy. Many diets over the years have proved useless. I always manage to gain the weight back. So in a nutshell, I decided to limit my intake with the Lap Band and with it being permanent, I have a fighting chance at being healthier and slimmer. I don't expect I will ever be a "Twiggy". I don't want that anyway. I just want to be at a weight that is healthy and I feel good. With the Lords help and some determination I believe this will be a success.