#690. The luxury of this moment.  I love that I have moments like this...where I could be doing a million things but either because of where I am (perhaps waiting for something/someone) or because it is "in between" the "must do" moments of life, I get to just sit, contemplate, be still, wait and enjoy. These moments are precious.

#691. That through one of the most difficult trials of my adult life, God is showing me that the strategies that he has taught me over the years work. I can do this trial for the glory of God. This isn't just some sort of bizarre, unhealthy, dysfunctional, denial. It is God at work, doing a new thing.

#692. For baby girl's chipper voice last night on the phone. For the friendships she is developing, that she is experiencing life outside the four walls she grew up in (and the mom who sheltered her oh-so-overly-thoroughly), and that she is planning to go to England this summer. Wow...I am in awe of all she is becoming.

#693. For the soft heart of the "baby boy," who is still willing to apologize for an email sent too hastily. I treasure that he is so willing to reconsider his words--and do the right thing.

#694. For the crazy technology that allows us to connect with people on the other side of the world instantly, to share a message, to post a video for others to view...gosh...it really is amazing!

#685. The gradient in the sky at dawn and the silhouettes of the barren trees. It really is serene.

#686. For the capacity humans have been created with to experience pleasure.

#687. Texts from my 18 year old daughter that cause me to know she is thinking of me in the midst of her busy life.

#688. For devotions that just "happen" to speak to the very thing that I have a heart burden for. It is a love note from the Lord straight to my heart. An answer to my plea, "Please, Lord, I need some encouragement....just to know you are there!"

#689. A wonderful time playing tennis with a player I admire who stopped to pray for me. Wow...what a gift that was. A holy moment. There. On. The. Tennis. Court.

#681. This may sound gross, but well...I am grateful for this anyhow. My husband has this great big bushy mustache and last night he kissed me right after having a drink of water. When he kissed me, he "transported" a bunch of water that was hanging in his mustache to my face. In the past, I have fussed a bit about that. Right now, I am so thankful for those drips of water that dribble onto my face when he kisses me. I wouldn't trade it for a dry face and no husband-kisses!

#682. Late-night Harley nickers that ask me why I am 4 hours late in bringing dinner!

#683. The incredible energy and unbridled joy of under-eight year old girls, squealing about hitting tennis balls with racquets! They came in as "new best friends" and celebrated moving their bodies with one another with such abandon!

#684. Down comforters in the early morning hours that cradle me so cozy.

#675. Making the bed with my husband. :-) What a sweet blessing it is.

#676. The humming sound of his M Roadster coming down the street at day's end.

#677.  Friend's loving face across chips and salsa at Chevy's.

#678.  One more sniff of Doc's mane.

#679.  Early adulthood dream realized in the dawning of twilight years. Strange, God-ordained, irony!

#680. Buzzing cell phone--text from a friend who has been praying, asking, inquiring. What a blessing!

#671. The redemption I find in writing about strategies that I am using to navigate through the rough waters of the trial I am going through. See my From Fear to Faith on the Path of Praise blog to see what I mean. It is such a blessing how it is encouraging me to write about it!

#672. A wonderful tennis lesson that I got to teach a little girl yesterday. What a delight she is to my heart!

#673. The fun, joy, and uplifting of my spirit to be at worship practice last night--I seem to say this each Friday. There is something "re-centering" about being there with others, talking about the book we are reading--about God's amazing faithfulness to us, about the joy of worshiping him no matter what, and then to sing praises even as we practice for Sunday. Last night, the songs were especially meaningful to me.

#674. The confidence that God has placed in my heart that HE WILL REDEEM THIS. (Guess redemption is a theme right now...I have to find value in what seems awful to me. I know I don't see the full story.)

#667. No matter what life brings, God is unchanging. There is such comfort in knowing that the Rock to which I cling is immovable, steadfast, strong.

#668. Sleeping dogs. There is something about a dog sleeping that captures the peace that I think God has for me when I stop, be still, and know.

#669. The quiet in the early morning hours.

#670. That God meets me, greets me, welcomes me, comforts me any time, any where.

Photo Courtesy of iStockPhoto.com

#661. Establishing an almost daily "habit" of adding to this blog, is tranformative. I am so thankful for the way God uses thankfulness to change me.

#662. The joy that God is putting in my heart as I obey his calling during this challenging season. Who would have thought that scrambling so much to find a way to make a business out of teaching tennis would be so fulfilling? I don't think it is the business that is fulfilling, though. It is doing what I am called to do that makes what could be overwhelming to me so enjoyable.

#663. Discovering new truths just by living life with my eyes open!

#664. For the talented homeschool student I got to meet yesterday. Teaching him a tennis lesson was so much fun for me!

#665. Anticipating the transformation ahead as I continue to post to my Path of Praise blog. I can only post there what God is teaching me as it happens. It is a joy to do so.

#656. The Psalms...I love that we have praises and songs to God captured for us for eternity. When I don't know what to say or sing, I can turn to the psalms...add some of what is there to my "God List" and praise God out loud by just reading to him what I find. Some of today's are:

• You answer me when I call (Psalm 4:1)
• You are a shield around me (Psalm 3: 3)
• You bestow glory on me and lift up my head (Psalm 3:3)
• You bring deliverance (Psalm 3:8)
• You are MY righteous God (Psalm 4:1)
• You give me relief from my distress (Psalm 4:1)
• You are merciful and hear my prayer (Psalm 4:1)
• The light of Your face, God, shines on me (Psalm 4:6)
• You fill my heart with greater joy than when the best of earth's gifts abound (Psalm 4:7)

#657 I am grateful today for sleep. I rarely thank God for a good night's sleep, but I sure to fuss when I don't get one! LOL! On my God List:

• I lie down and sleep in peace because He alone makes me dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8)

#658.  I am grateful that I woke up again!I have a new day because he has chosen to sustain my life.

• I can lie down and sleep, I awake again because the Lord sustains me (Psalm 3:5)

#659. The joy that comes in anticipating giving a gift. I love how my heart leaps just a bit when I have something planned to give another person. But I also love how this speaks to me about the way my God is. I know his heart anticipates with joy the gifts he gives as well. What a great thought!

#660. The privilege of being with God's people to worship Him together.

I have entered a new season of life...returning actively to the working world. Under the encouragement of my husband, I am pursuing teaching kids' tennis. To read more about it, please visit my new website: http://www.tennisfunforkids.com . My gratitude blog will include blessing found in this new season.

#652. To see a light come n for a child, igniting a love for tennis is amazing!

#653. For the ability to focus, to have meetings with key people, to fill out paperwork, make phone calls and other needed things!

#654. For one f my new titles (there are three!)... "Assistant Coach of Men's Tennis" for Sierra College. God has such a sense of humor.  I will be helping with fundraising for the team...that is my primary duty. :-)

#655. For a parent who had been upset with being forgotten by another employee...in calling her and speaking to her, she extended such grace. What a blessing! I get to meet her child next week for tennis lessons. Yay!

#648. For the joy of being with Gil, Rob, John, Dwight, Ruary, and Pat last night at worship practice. What a pleasure and privilege it is to do life with these folks as we read a great book together, prayed together, shared together and sang and played music together. Just what my heart needed! I am so blessed!

Picture taken a long time ago...not of last night's practice. :-)

#649. For a peaceful and quick end to the court trial I served on the jury for. Our deliberations went quickly and the people were really a wonderful group. It sort of renewed my hope about people, Lord! Thank you!

#650. For my God List--a comprehensive, ever-added-to, list of God's attributes and ways he interacts with people. I have been adding to my list for a few years now and recently, I have been adding even more. When I can't see my way to offer a prayer or to have a decent thought, I can pull out my God List (which I have cleverly put in Evernote, so it syncs with my iPad, iPod, phone, and laptop and is always updated everywhere!) and just read what I have there back to God in praise to him. It is precisely what my soul needs. When I am feeling all alone, I can, with an act of my will choose to praise him this way. He inhabits the praises of his people and I testify that his presence becomes very real when I choose to praise him.

#651. The ease of putting together a simple new website with WordPress. Come visit it! Tennis Fun for Kids will be added to regularly as my tennis business progresses. I never cease to be amazed at how clever people are, making a tool like this. I remember only 14 years ago when most of what I used to make websites was a text editor and writing out html code! Wow! People are amazing.

#643. For girlfriends who have reached out to me to invite me to do fun overnight getaways and retreats! The love of Christ is so real, extended to me through Diane, Suzi, and Jan.

#644. People are just so cool. The panel of jurors that have been "randomly" selected for this case are just a really wonderful batch of people.

#645. Crazy fun tennis last night with girls from Johnson Ranch. I met two new ladies and one was an absolute crazy woman! Being with them, I got to really let down. It felt so good. Thank you, Lord, for friends of all kinds--deep, contemplative, and fun and silly. People are amazing. LOL!

#646. For the opportunities that have been coming my way to teach tennis. I dreamed in high school and college of being able to be a tennis pro. While I am not officially that, I have so many opportunities to teach tennis right now to kids. It is sort of like living one of my life-long dreams. Thank you for that, Lord.

#647. The joy of having a long recess from court yesterday which allowed me to do some of the sit-down-paper-work-stuff I have had on my list to do for over a week. It was great to be able to get something accomplished that I didn't expect to have time to do while being on jury duty.

 #635 Chris Tomlin's latest album is flooded full of prayers that praise God for who he is and declare that I will lay myself down and surrender to God's will, God's way. This album has been HUGELY encouraging to me, putting words in my mind over and over again that are there as a prayer even when the music isn't playing.

#636 Thank you, Lord, for laughter with my husband--that in the past 24 hours we have laughed together about many things. After 30 years we still enjoy one another. What a blessing that is.

#637 For the choice you led me to make to give him a gift certificate that was given to me. He enjoyed the massage so much, Lord! It was his first! Thank you for that and for leading me to sharing that with him. I am sure I enjoyed hearing of his delight so much more than I would have enjoyed having that massage for myself!

#638 El Portal and sharing a chimichanga together.

#639 Looking across the table and seeing my husband.

#640 That you gave me a totally different attitude about jury duty. It is another adventure and gives me a sense of purpose for the next few days.

#641 For godly authors who have been willing to do the work of putting the ideas you have given them into print. I have been so encouraged by books I am reading. Thank you!

#642 For another trip to the gym in the early morning hours yesterday with Bob. It is fun to have him as a workout buddy.

#628. Hubby imagining the next car we will buy ten years down the road...giving hope to my heart! (Just the thought of spending the next 10 years with this one that I love...)

#629. I have been grateful here before for them, but here it is again...I am grateful for his kisses. They are for me alone and I cherish each one.

#630. For late-night movies, sitting on the couch together, holding hands and sharing Diet (Caffeine-Free) Dr. Pepper. I see God in these moments.

#631. For menu planning with my husband and doing the shopping together, even at WalMart and Sam's Club on a Sunday evening! It is funny how doing it with him, transforms it from something I would *not* enjoy, to something I relish.

#632 For two treadmills, side-by-side at the gym. Again, it is such a wonderful thing the way  something not typically enjoyed alone is transformed when done with someone loved.

#633 For every single day I wake up with my husband in my life (and in our bed!).

#634 How God answers prayer in such astonishing ways. Lord, do what it takes...

#625 For hand reaching over to hold mine as we drive to run our errands.

#626 For warm arms wrapped around me, comforting me.

#627 For hope that God authors. Hope in Him will not disappoint. He is inviting me to a new adventure of trust. He is more worthy of my trust than all my manipulations and machinations.

#618 For the companionship, partnership, joy--and even sorrows--over the past 30 years (28 of them married) with Bob Bylsma. It has been a "slingshot around the sun" and I am grateful! No more coy disguises.

#619 That no matter what challenges God ordains in my life, he is sovereign and he is good. He intends these challenges to purify, perfect, and be for the best.

#620 For a home in the country...it is beautiful and like being on a mountain retreat. I can't imagine ever leaving this place. How could I leave paradise for anyplace other than heaven?

#621 For the freedom to come and go as I please...I have been spoiled these many years and haven't fully appreciated the incredible life that God has given me through Bob.

#622 That God provides the strength I need *as* I need it. Bob's mom taught me so many years ago (I miss you, Phyll!) that God won't give me the grace I need one moment before I need it, but when I need it, he will supply it abundantly! (To quote yet another line from Star Trek IV, "Now would be a good time, Mr. Scott!")

#623 That I can choose to praise my God no matter what I face. This is an amazing, powerful truth. If people change, if pain (physical or emotional) is beyond belief, if those I love die, if I can't see through to tomorrow, one thing I *can* do...it is praise. No one can take that from me! I can praise my God and experience the joy that comes from doing what I was created to do!

#624 For song...I can sing. It is amazing the way music affects the spirit. At least the way it affects MY spirit! I am so thankful, God, that you have given us music.