praise

It's so easy to be negative in today's world yet we are told to think on things that are true, lovely, good, and more. Randy is a bit of a pessamist by nature and I tend to be somewhat melancholy but we're discovering that praise works! And I know it pleases Him because He's told us to do it. Anyway, on this very stormy Washington morning, here are some praises I just can't keep to myself:

1. Paul's new fiddle scholarship!
2. The Alpha study starting at our church tomorrow night.
3. My brother, Chris, for finding just the right pictures to go with these posts:)
4. My publisher for telling me yesterday that the cover for my book The Frontiersman's Daughter is expected any day! Yes, I know I've been dangling this cover business like a carrot on this blog but it is coming!
5. Praise Him that while I may be stuck on page 82 of book 3 He is not!
6. I just wrote the final chapter of book 2 and have put it away to get some distance from it until the next self-edit. This story takes place in 18th-century Kentucky in the Red River Gorge area - a really wild and scenic place with all that sandstone and those natural arches. Since I must say goodbye to The Preacher's Daughter I'm renaming it "Red River Daughter" which will probably not be the actual title but it works for now.
7. Last, I'm thankful for you blog readers, mostly family and friends, but there are some readers cropping up in Port Townsend and Oregon and other places unknown to me and I'm pleased and intrigued you would take the time to read this - humbling, actually. Thank you! Things should get more interesting the closer we come to publication day.
8. Praise that this blog will burn up one day but His word lasts forever!

Celebrate God all day, every day, I mean, revel in Him! Don't fret or worry. Instead of worry, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Summing it up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst, the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into His most excellent harmonies.Philippians 4:4-9, The Message Bible