Toot! Toot!

Scripture warns that “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” I was also told when I was a kid that “One shouldeth not tooteth thine own horn.”

Forgive me, but I am going to do just that.

So, if no other blog posts appear after this, you'll know that my pride did me in.

But May has been a good month.

Toot 1

First, just over three weeks ago I learned, via a Facebook post, that I'd won first place in the Blog: Single Author category of the Awards of Excellence from the Evangelical Press Association (EPA)*. 

I won the same award two years ago. You can read about that here, “This is really something!” What I said then still applies today.

I finally received an email with more details just yesterday. The judges provided these brief comments:

• “High impact blog with clear grasp of its audience and singular voice.”
• “Scrolling format makes for a simple, accessible reading experience.”

In truth, it is humbling and a real honor to receive recognition from my EPA peers. My heartfelt thanks goes out to all involved in judging the contest entries.

You can view the full list of winners here, Awards of Excellence, and here, Higher Goals Awards. Congrats to all the winners!

Toot 2

Second, over the holiday weekend, the total views for this blog edged over 50,000, and the number of views continues to climb at a brisk pace!

While this doesn’t necessarily mean my blog posts have been seen by that many people, it does mean that this blog has a wide reach.

Knowing this is also humbling.

In fact, according to the tracking stats, here is a list of some of the countries where my blog has been read:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• Burkina Faso
• Canada
• China
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• India
• Indonesia
• Israel
• Malaysia
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Vietnam

My prayer is that all those who visit and read are blessed as well as enlightened and, yes, even entertained.

To all who stop by FaithBraised™.com and read, thank you!

If there are topics you’d like to see addressed here, please let me know. If you disagree with something I’ve written, sound off! I’d love to hear from you.

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Here’s the EPA award certificate:

*FYI: The EPA is a professional association of some 300 Christian magazines, newsletters, newspapers and content-rich websites from throughout North America. EPA's purpose is “to strengthen evangelical periodicals through inspiration, instruction, and networking.” I’ve been a member since the 80s.

(And I guess this post makes me a “self-toot” man. Get it? Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck.)


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What do you think of my blog? Do you stop by frequently? Is this your first visit? Do you like the “scrolling format” as pointed out by the judges? Anything else you especially enjoy or despise? Share your thoughts in the comments!