When I'm Sad, I Sing Praise!

Three and a half years ago, we learned that my brother Peter had lymphoma cancer. His battle with it is almost over now. Only God knows the time and date. Back when I first learned about Peter's illness, I bawled my eyes out for an hour, and then went into my recording studio, wrote this song, and recorded it in three parts within one hour. Sometimes, that is the way God works in a person.

Psalm 42:5 NLT:

"Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again - 

My Savior and my God!"

[These are the notes:

Do re fa so so fa

Fa la do re re do

Do re fa re do la

Fa so la so so fa]

When I'm sad, I sing praise!

When I'm sad, I sing praise!

For my soul needs Your rest.

When I'm sad, I sing praise!

When I'm down, You lift me up.

When I'm down, You lift me up.

For my soul needs Your rest.

When I'm down, You lift me up.

(Raise the key 1/2 step)

To my Lord, I sing praise!

To my Lord, I sing praise!

I thank You for my days.

To my Lord, I sing praise!

By Your grace, I am here.

By Your grace, I am here.

To my Lord lift Your praise.

By Your grace, I am here.

(Raise the key 1/2 step)

To Your love, I testify.

To Your love, I testify.

No more fears have I.

To Your love I testify.

To Your strength, I hold tight.

To Your Strength, I hold tight.

To Your love and Your might.

To Your strength, I hold tight.

(Raise the key 1/2 step)

I am home, I'm with You.

I am home, I'm with You.

I am home, You saw me through.

I am home, I'm with You.

(Raise the key 1/2 step)

I sing praise for my days.

I sing praise for my days.

I'm no more a jar of clay.

I sing praise for my days.

The Bible is the New Cool

This is an excerpt from the the book Common Sense: Listening to the Spirit, which was just released by the publisher:

Derek, Lilia, and Butch sat in the study hall. All three of them poured over their Bibles. Jack wondered at all the Bibles that had popped up at school lately, and decided to tease Butch about it, "When did you become a Bible thumper?" He chuckled in an accusatory and unpleasant nasal tone.

"Get with the program Jack! The Bible is the new cool!" Butch chortled and shook his head in disbelief at his own interest. "I can't get enough of it. Nola and I really dig it!"

Jack asked, "Why? It's just a bunch of religious crap!" Jack's angst showed itself in the little bit of spittle that ran from the corner of his mouth.

"Don't knock it if you haven't tried it. God's wisdom changes us and makes us into better people, people who can be happier just being people." Butch chuckled. When did I become so wise? He felt completely undaunted by anyone who poked fun at him because it was the first time in his life in which he felt internal peace.

Lilia listened to the conversation with interest, but kept her nose in her book, since she didn't want to interrupt Butch. Derek Listened, too. They both knew that Butch must have done the "one-eighty" somewhere along the line.

They listened carefully as Butch countered, "You should come to one of Lilia's 'Ride by His Side' Saturdays. It might really turn you on. You might actually have fun!"

"How many people go to that anyway?" asked Jack curiously, but with hesitation. He was part of the beer and party crowd and didn't necessarily want his life to change.

"There are usually between twenty and thirty people, and if you come to our fellowship on Thursday evenings, you could learn about what we're doing to change the world," said Butch with enthusiasm and winked at Lilia. She and Derek smiled. They were now officially included in the conversation. "Lilia might even find you a girlfriend. That wouldn't be all bad, would it?" Jack glanced in Lilia's direction, and she nodded, "Yes" in a knowing manner.

"Let me know when you have the next one," said Jack, who liked to please people, whether he meant it or not, "Maybe I'll try it."

Incredible Cabo San Lucas Whale Migration

The first week in November, we traveled to our place in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, the Pacific side. We planned to vacation, enjoy my famous nephew photographer and his lovely wife, and conduct a photo shoot on the beach for the cover of my next book in the Sexy at Sixty series.

The last play day of our visit, we witnessed the most massive California Gray Whale migration imaginable. We glanced up from the pool to see the spouts of Gray Whales fill the blue Pacific from the shoreline to as far as the eye could see. It was unbelievable! The event lasted for over a period of a couple of hours, which means that there had to be hundreds of thousands of whales!

The spouts of the whales are very high, and they blast out into a spray that rises in the air up to 15 feet. The whoosh from the spout is so powerful that it can be heard up to a half mile away on a calm day. They spout a few times, and then dive again. The number of times they spout depends on how long they spent in the dive.

The California Gray Whales swim eight thousand miles from the Bering Sea in Alaska to the Sea of Cortez in Baja California to give birth to their calves and grow fat on the plankton in the enriched Sea of Cortez. They vacation in the bays and inlets off of Cabo until they give birth to their calves.

The newborn whales are about 15 feet long, and weigh around 1500 pounds. The adults are 40 to 50 feet in length, and weigh up to 73,000 pounds. The calf's blubber grows from the cow's 50% fat milk. The calf cavorts with its mother in the warm lagoon, and grows stronger swimming against the ocean current. When it needs to rest, it rests on top of its mother. When the calf reaches 19 feet in length, and around 3000 pounds, the cow and calf depart to return to their northern destination in the spring.

Every year, I've seen an occasional whale, but I've never witnessed a migration of this size. It was exhilarating and astonishing! God grows bigger in my eyes every day. I was struck with awe at the design of the perfect ways of our Creator.