Poplar Bluff woman among winners at Dove Awards

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- For the second time in the past two years, Poplar Bluff's own songwriter Tina Sadler has claimed one of the highest awards in gospel music.

In front of a sold-out audience in the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn., Sadler was honored with her second Dove Award in the Southern Gospel Recorded Song of the Year category for "He's Watching Me," a song performed by the Gaither Vocal Band.

"When I was a kid, I got the idea that God was watching us, almost like Santa Claus, to see who was naughty or nice," said Sadler. "I later realized as I came to know God better that He watches us because He loves us. That's where I got the idea for the song."

Sadler won her first Dove Award last year in the same category for the song "God is Good All the Time," which also was performed by the Gaither Vocal Band.

"I am just as excited as I can get," she said. "To win twice is unbelievable. It almost makes me want to go out and buy a lottery ticket."

The Dove Awards is the premier television awards show for the contemporary Christian and gospel music industry.

Spring Hill Records, the recording label for the song, accepted the award on Sadler's behalf and will ship it to her.