I love Saturday mornings because I get to participate in Then Sings My Soul Saturday. I join with Amy of Sign, Miracles and Wonders and other bloggers. We add a song and we get to visit one another and sing and worship.

I keep coming back to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir for many of my songs. This one is "Nothing Is Impossible".

It speaks to me as I've been going through a difficult season in my life. But I cling to the fact that nothing is impossible with my God. Nothing is too hard. When I consider who He is; the Creator and Sustainer of all things, how could I even question His ways and His timing?

I pray that you will enjoy this song as much as I do.

It's Fitness Friday today. I'm linking with Sandy at God Speaks Today for this week's health information.

Since I spent time at the Pritikin Center several years ago, I subscribe to their newsletter.

Today I read one of their articles about an ABC news segment. Dr. Robert Vogel is professor of medicine at the University of Maryland. He is also the chief medical director of Pritikin.

Two ABC journalists went to the University of Maryland and met with Dr. Vogel. They conducted an experiment to see the impact of one high fat, high calorie meal.

The journalists began by having their blood drawn. Then they sat down and indulged in a 3 course meal. This meal consisted of the following:

• Cheesecake Factory's Mac and Cheese appetizer
• Applebee's Quesadilla Burger
• Chicago Grill's Mega-sundae

The total calories for this meal were a whopping 6,190 calories and 187 grams of saturated fat! Can you believe it? And saturated fat is the kind of fat that can clog your arteries and believe me, that number is very high.

How many of you eat 6,000 calories in just one day ...much less one meal?

( Photo by Scotty TFK12 on Photobucket)

Two hours following the meal, the reporters' blood was again drawn. It looked quite different in appearance than before the meal. Instead of their blood being clear, it was cloudy with a fatty substance look to it.

The reporters also felt sluggish after consuming this meal. Gee, I wonder why?

We may think that one mega-meal is OK. But I think we need to consider the damage these types of foods do to our bodies. And we often underestimate the calories we're consuming each day.

It's a wonder why we're seeing more heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity today.

Let's consider what we're putting into our bodies. I can be as guilty as anyone, particularly when I'm really hungry or stressed or tired. But I'm getting to the point where I am planning ahead what I will eat so I can make healthier choices for my heart and health.

If you'd like to view the short video of the ABC segment, you can link to it here.

So, on this Fitness Friday will you consider the eating habits you are forming? Your children and grandchildren learn much from you. How about making the choice to begin to eating healthier?

Then I thought about the gift certificate to a spa that I haven't had the time to use ...yet! I received if from Jill of Forever n Ever n Always as one of her blog giveaways. Isn't she generous? Thank you, Jill. As I continued to contemplate contentment, I thought of how nice it would be to have Ina Garten serve me one of her fabulous meals that she cooks on Foodnetwork's Barefoot Contessa show. Of course, she would take out all of the calories. But I would love to be invited to her new "barn" where they film her show in East Hampton.

And then I remembered that word "stress" that I seem to be so familiar with lately. Would contentment be walking away from all stress?

I'm a bit late in posting my Thankful Thursday post on contentment. I have to say in all honesty, contentment hasn't been at the top of my mind lately. So I really had to think hard about this one.

• Am I thankful for contentment when life isn't perfect?


• Does my life have to be peaceful, organized and fun in order for me to be content?

What I realized is that a beautiful ocean view, a relaxing massage, a fabulous meal can provide contentment for the moment. But the only way to have true contentment despite the stress and uncertainty of life is through ...my relationship with Christ.

And for that ...I am truly thankful! And so I am content ...in Him. How about you? Are you thankful?

Today I'd like to share a memory of my niece Katie. She and her sister Kristin are my brother's daughters. But in so many ways, I always felt like I was a second mother to them.

But Katie grew up and graduated from high school in 2006. For her graduation present, I took her for her first trip to New York City.

We had a great time together. Although I grew up on Long Island and made many trips to the city, it's always fun to introduce the sights to someone who has never been there before. Here are a few photos to document our trip.

Katie in front of Rockefeller Plaza's skating rink.

One of our first stops was the Carnegie Deli. We had to have their corned beef on rye sandwich. At least, we knew enough to split a sandwich so we'd have room for their fabulous cheesecake for dessert!
Do you recognize who that is with Katie? Yes, it's Diane Sawyer. Katie was just so popular that all the celebrities wanted to have a picture with her. Not really! We had tickets to the inside audience of Good Morning America.
And of course, Charlie Gibson wanted in on the action too.

The cast from The View wanted Katie to stop by the set.

" They better not ask me to do anything, Aunt Debbie. Why did they put me in the front row?"
We loved going to Broadway plays. Mama Mia was a favorite!

One of our favorite things to do in New York was to eat pizza! And Lombardi's in Little Italy was a place we loved to go.

Relaxing in Central Park on a beautiful sunny day!

Katie went on to beauty school and after graduating ...she moved to NYC!

She has an apartment in Brooklyn and takes the subway to work each day. She's getting to be a seasoned New Yorker as she works in a hair salon in Manhattan.

Katie at the top of the Empire State Building

Here's Katie riding the subway

I hope you enjoyed my special memory of my trip to NYC with Katie. You can find other Wednesday's Walks down Memory Lane on Lynnette's blog.

God wants our hearts.

Romans 12: 1-2 says that we are to present our bodies daily as a living sacrifice to God. As Christians, we allow His Word to transform our minds and thus our lives. When we do this, we are submitting to the Holy Spirit's guidance. The byproduct will be the fruit of the Spirit evidenced by ...love.

If God doesn't have our heart then all our church attendance, the money we give, the time we devote to Bible studies and other good works ...won't matter. They are being done in ourselves by the power of our flesh.

In contrast, when we submit ourselves to the Lord, He guides us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Going to church to worship will be done with the right heart motive of love instead of out of obligation. And that's pleasing to God and ...counts for eternity.

So my answer to the question in this quote is NO that is not passionate, wholehearted love for God.

How about you? What do you think?

Here we are outside T. Cook's Restaurant.

And inside the restaurant to celebrate. Mom didn't have much of an appetite at this point. She'd been suffering with pain for so long. I remember as we were driving to the restaurant she told my dad and me that she was ready to go whenever the Lord called her home. Of course, we said that we weren't ready for that ...yet.

Later that same year on Christmas Day, I had a big surprise for my parents. My brother Steve invited them to his house but they didn't know that I was flying to Florida from Arizona ...to surprise them. And boy, were they were surprised! I think this is the last photo I have of the two of us. My mother died only two months later. I was so glad I made that trip on the spur of the moment.

My mom always loved to set a pretty table. Whenever she had dinner guests, she had linen tablecloths and napkins and a flower centerpiece. I even found her notes for each dinner party including the table setting details. So in honor of my mom's birthday on July 6th, here's a beautiful table that she would have enjoyed.

I'm so glad that I know I will see her again one day. But until that day, I miss her very much and haven't forgotten her special day.

Happy Birthday Mom!