Four new musician followers this week. Take a listen, find some new music to listen to. Please feel free to share/purchase the song I wrote the lyrics to, Lily Messer is the voice and Ceylon Wise is the producer. I have many more songs I would like to get out there but can not financially afford to record them. If interested in teaming up together, feel free to contact me.
Gemini Twin by Natasha Jane Julian –
World At My Feet by Tom Bertram –
March Of The North by Pete Karstens –
Hallelujah by Yanick –
Thanks for all the follows, musicians and non-musicians.
Some other music from non-followers I have listened to recently. Pick out a few you haven’t heard and take a listen.
Heaven by Aaron Neville –
Killer by Band Of Skulls –
La La Lie by Basia Bulat –
Home Is Such A Lonely Place by Blink 182 –
Let It Go by The Boxer Rebellion –
Got Burned by Chevelle –
Home by David Nail (feat Lori McKenna) –
It’s Over Now by Deon Kipping –
Hold You Down by DJ Khaled –
Here It Is by Flo- Rida –
Hell Of A Girl by Grace –
History Has It’s Eyes On You by Christopher Jackson (from Hamilton) –
It’s Quiet Uptown by Renee Elise Goldsberry (from Hamilton) –
Grey Havens by Hands Like Houses –
Scared For The Children by Jeff Beck –
Guillotine by Jon Bellion (feat Travis Mendes) –
I Can’t Go On Without You by Kaleo –
I Know by Keke Wyatt – ]
I’ve Learned To Love Myself by Letlive –
I Will Be Alright by Livre –
I Love This Life, I Know Somebody by LoCash –
I Need You by Magic –
Have You Heard About The Old Hometown by Mountain Heart –
I Am Who God Says I Am by Myron Butler & Levi –
Great Night by NeedToBreathe –
KISA by Rittz –
It Ain’t Easy, I Make My Own Sunshine by Steven Tyler –
I Won’t Let You Go by Switchfoot –
and our song:
I Question You by Lily Messer –
On Itunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-question-you-single/id1018588943
No new musician followers this week. Please feel free to share/purchase the song I wrote the lyrics to, Lily Messer is the voice and Ceylon Wise is the producer. I have many more songs I would like to get out there but can not financially afford to record them. If interested in teaming up together, feel free to contact me.
Thanks for all the follows, musicians and non-musicians.
Some other music from non-followers I have listened to recently. Pick out a few you haven’t heard and take a listen.
I tried to shorten this this week and used some new songs that worked well with my other posts this week. Check out these new songs in these posts :
All I have done is copy and paste these seven good news stories. Maybe once a week all us bloggers can post one new good news story and help change all the bad news we hear. Hope you enjoy.
Be sure to listen to the music at the end also.
1)Janiyah Lewis, 6 years old, was leaving a store and saw a man crying. Her mother was so inspired by what her daughter did next, she shared the story
“After leaving out of the store today my daughter did something that really made me stop and think. There was this guy sitting there crying and she asks me ‘did you see that man crying? What’s wrong with him?’ I said yes but I’m not sure maybe he’s just sad… She said, ‘maybe he’s hot and thirsty’ she walked over to him and goes ‘hi sir be happy it’s a nice day it’s not raining. Are you hot ? Why don’t you go home the ground is dirty?’ He says I have no home but I will be ok. She looked at him with the saddest face and goes “so that means you’re homeless. So you have no food because you have no refrigerator.” She gave him a few dollars out of her purse and her drink and said, ‘Please go eat. It would make me happy. I like McDonald’s you should go there.’ I could tell she made his day. On top of that, 2 more people came up and gave money as well. We had a small conversation and he explained his trailer burnt down and he lost everything including his wife. I felt for him. It just warms my heart. A 6 year old lead by example this morning. AWESOME! Kids see no color and that’s exactly how it should be. It’s not just a statement saying that the children are our future, it’s a FACT. That gives me a little more hope for the world.”
Many people are homeless, not because they’re lazy and don’t want to work, but because they have had horrible things happen to them. We can all learn compassion from this little girl and her huge heart.
Photo credit Kenyatta Lewis/ Facebook
2) Donations are pouring in for James Karagiannis, Buffalo’s “Ice Creamcyle Dude.” Karagiannis, 36, owns a fleet of five cycles that visit the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods, selling ice cream for just $1, or for free in exchange for a correct answer to a history or math question.
With his reflector sunglasses and sneakers the color of a blueberry Popsicle, Karagiannis is a familiar sight in many parts of the city.
But after almost a decade in business, Karagiannis still feels the sting when saying no to a kid who doesn’t have a dollar for ice cream. So he and his drivers keep a stash of freebies to give to children who cannot afford a frozen treat.
Still, nothing is free. The youngster must answer a math or history question.
News spread fast on social media about Karagiannis’ business model, so he started a “Pay It Forward” campaign to allow people to buy ice cream for deserving children.
In return for your donation, Karagiannis has the child who receives a free ice cream write a thank you card which he then mails to you.
“I truly did not think we’d raise more than $500,” Karagiannis wrote on Facebook. “I’m afraid to look at the current total but it’s got to be over $6k and who knows where it’ll be when I wake up tomorrow morning.”
Photo credit: Robert Kirkham / Buffalo News
3) More than $167,000 dollars has been raised for a 19-year-old who was found sleeping in a tent outside the gates of his college last weekend.
Fred Barley, who is homeless, was discovered by two police officers responding to a trespassing call near a parking lot at Gordon State College in Barnesville, Georgia. He told the officers he had ridden his little brother’s bicycle six hours to register for classes for his second semester of college.
In addition to the bike, Barley had two duffel bags containing all his wordly possessions and two gallons of water. All he had to eat was a box of cereal.
The officers brought Barley to a nearby motel and paid for two nights accommodation.
The story, however, doesn’t end there.
One of the officers, Dicky Carreker, posted Fred’s story on Facebook and it went viral. A GoFundMe page on Barley’s behalf has raised nearly $168,000 dollars as of Saturday evening.
“I was not expecting any of this support and am in awe of how this community has come together to help me,” Barley told the Herald-Gazette. “I was just trying to go to school, find a job and make it on my own. Now it seems as though I am part of a new community and have a new family.”
4) A simple act of kindness from one Louisiana man is giving all of us a little slice of hope.
James Varnado brought a smile to many faces in Kenner, Louisiana, when he began helping Target shoppers to their cars in the middle of a heavy rainstorm with his trusty umbrella.
Inside the store, another shopper, Deepak Saini, witnessed Varnado’s good deed and captured the moment in a photo that later went viral on Facebook.
“In that moment, it didn’t matter that he was black and the woman in this picture was white. It was one human helping another,” Saini wrote. “Kindness is something we all need to give to each other right now and let this man be an example.”
In the photo, Varnado appears to be escorting one of many shoppers to their car despite the downpour, proving that not all heroes have capes — some have umbrellas.
photo credit Deepak Saini/Facebook
5) Instead of getting presents for her birthday, Samya McLaughlin, 9, wanted to send a message.
After watching news about the deadly shootings of Dallas police officers on July 7, Samya decided she wanted to use her birthday money to buy lunch for everyone at the 11th Precinct in her local neighborhood in Detroit.
“I wanted to show that all lives matter,” Samya told TODAY. “I felt really bad for the kids (in Dallas) who lost their fathers, so I wanted to take care of the police officers and support them.”
Joining her mother, Sierra McLaughlin, and her father, Sam Walker, along with several other family members, Samya surprised the local officers with a brown bag lunch on July 9, a day before her ninth birthday. She helped pass out about 30 bags with sandwiches, fruit, chips and a cookie.
photo credit Sierra McLaughlin
6) One woman had a “proud mommy moment” last Monday when her young son stopped and shared a compassionate moment with local policemen.
According to Kelly Garza’s Facebook post, she had just finished eating breakfast with her 6-year-old son at a Bob Evans in St. Petersburg, Florida. On the way out, her son spotted policemen eating and approached them.
“My sweet boy prayed over these officers, for safety and thanked them for their service,” Garza wrote in her post.
Many people commented on the post, praising Garza and her son, Joshua.
“Joshua is being brought up in a very loving church, where he has learned that it’s ok to share his faith and that it’s an act of love to pray for others,” she wrote.
photo credit Kelly Garza
7) A Connecticut police officer with a passion for helping children posted an adorable note two siblings wrote him while he was recovering from a knee injury. 8-year-old Malik and 9-year-old Tasha thank Officer Anthony Nolan for “being like a dad for us” and reading to them.
Nolan, who was injured when he fell at a traffic stop a couple of weeks ago, told TODAY.com he was surprised when he recently found the letter duct-taped to his front door.
“We walked up the stairs and I was like, what in the world is on the door? After seeing it, it was a little emotional,” Nolan said. “Guys, we like to have our egos, but it took my ego away.”
Nolan, an officer for the New London Police Department, said he first met the siblings while working on the beach a couple of years ago.
“I heard crying and when I approached them and asked the person who I assumed was their grandmother what happened, she explained that their book got wet and they didn’t get to read it,” he said. “I tried to calm them down because it seemed like the book was important to them.”
That sparked a conversation about books and reading, and ever since then, Nolan has been visiting the children at least once a week to read or take them to the park or for walks on the beach. He said he volunteers with many children in the New London area, especially ones who don’t have a father figure, or who live with a single parent or another relative who could use some help.
photo credit Anthony L Nolan
Brother To Brother by Union Of Sinners and Saints –
Five new musician followers this week. Take a listen, might find someone new that you really like their music. Please feel free to share/purchase the song I wrote the lyrics to, Lily Messer is the voice and Ceylon Wise is the producer. I have many more songs I would like to get out there but can not financially afford to record them. If interested in teaming up together, feel free to contact me.
Thanks for all the follows, musicians and non-musicians.
Paper Or Plastic by Temecula Road –
Weak For A Week by Goodbye Kitty K –
Wanting For Nothing by Stewart Harding –
St. Lucy’s Flying High by Whitty Whitesell –
Got U by Malice and Mario Sweet –
Some other music from non-followers I have listened to recently. Pick out a few you haven’t heard and take a listen. In trying not to put way too songs on here I am going to start putting 1 or 2 per band max and just tell you the entire cd, or 90%, is good and I would recommend purchasing it or checking out more songs on your own. I may add more artists and their new cd’s as I listen to more songs from them. Not all the way through all of them yet.
Cd’s I recommend:
Three Kids No Husband by Brandy Clark –
No More Crying The Blues by The Cactus Blossoms –
Only Because Of You by Candlebox –
These Stones by Chrisette Michele –
That Don’t Worry Me Now by Colvin & Earle –
Lightning In The Sky by Devour The Day –
So We Know by DMA’S –
Still A Child by Dori Freeman –
Tell Me That’s Not God by Doug Anderson –
A Place For Us by Fitz & The Tantrums –
Sweet Time by Frankie Ballard –
Opening Statement by Hard Working Americans –
Love Falls by Hellyeah –
Tess-Timony by Ice Nine Kills –
Not Today by Imagine Dragons –
Run To Heaven by The Infamous Stringdusters –
Thank You For Everything by Jason Gray –
Out Of Style by Jon Pardi –
Simple by Jordan Feliz –
Stay by Kygo –
Running With The Boys by Lights –
She Makes Me Laugh by The Monkees –
There Will Be Time by Mumford & Sons w/ Baaba Maal –
Rushing by Nada Surf –
Sick Love by Red Hot Chili Peppers –
Take It All By Sawyer Fredericks –
Prayer Changes Things by Shirley Caesar –
Stay With Me by Thrice –
Rising Up by Young Guns –
and our song:
I Question You by Lily Messer –
On Itunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-question-you-single/id1018588943
Four new musician followers this week. Take a listen, might find someone new that you really like their music. Please feel free to share/purchase the song I wrote the lyrics to, Lily Messer is the voice and Ceylon Wise is the producer. I have many more songs I would like to get out there but can not financially afford to record them. If interested in teaming up together, feel free to contact me.
Thanks for all the follows, musicians and non-musicians.
Some other music from non-followers I have listened to recently. Pick out a few you haven’t heard and take a listen. In trying not to put way too songs on here I am going to start putting 1 or 2 per band max and just tell you the entire cd, or 90%, is good and I would recommend purchasing it or checking out more songs on your own. I may add more artists and their new cd’s as I listen to more songs from them. Not all the way through all of them yet.
Cd’s I recommend:
Thousand Foot Krutch – Exhale
Sick Puppies – Fury
Blue October – Home
Kongos – Egomaniac
I Will Be There by Art of Dying –
Girls by Ballyhoo! –
Home by Blue October –
Girl Next Door by Brandy Clark –
Give It To You by Cana’s Voice –
I Want It Back by Candlebox –
I Want To Be Here by case/lang/veirs –
Jinx by DNCE –
God Speed The Day by Doug Anderson –
Gonna Get Better by Fifth Harmony –
Handclap by Fitz & the Tantrums –
If Only by Gin Wigmore –
Leap Of Faith by Hellyeah –
I Believe by The Infamous Stringdusters feat Lee Ann Womack –
Learning by Jason Gray –
How Long by Jordan Feliz –
If You Could by The Kongos –
Fragile by Kygo & Labrinth –
Empire Builder by Laura Gibson –
Follow You Down by Lights –
Just Like Fire by Pink –
A Good Storm by Sawyer Fredericks –
Learn To Love by Secrets –
It’s Alright, It’s Ok by Shirley Caesar –
Just The Beginning by Sick Puppies –
Incomplete, Give Up The Ghost, Honest by Thousand Foot Krutch –
Entertainment by Tom Odell –
The King by Zakk Wylde –
and our song:
I Question You by Lily Messer –
On Itunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-question-you-single/id1018588943
“Come on in friend. I was just reminiscing on my younger days. Looking at all these old pictures brings back memories.”
“Take a look at this one. I was just a baby. My first shell.”
“I still relied on my parents a lot. They taught me what was going to happen as I got older. They taught me how to be polite and how to treat my friends, as well as strangers. One of my favorite things my parents taught me was to be kind to everyone. Treat others as you would want them to treat you. You never know when you are going to need someone to help you and they won’t if you are mean all the time.”
“Oops. You weren’t supposed to see that one. My mom took it in between shells. She embarrassed me so many times by showing that one to my friends. Moooommmmm!!!!!!”
“Here is me as a teenager. That shell was a little too small for me. I thought I knew it all then. I forgot how my parents told me how important it was to get the right shell. Too small and I will have to move again soon. Too big and I would have to carry that weight around until I could fill it.”
“That didn’t keep me from getting this shell as a young adult. Look how big it is.”
” I got it shortly after I left the care of my parents. I was going to take on the world. I didn’t need anything or anyone except me. I was growing so fast I was constantly changing shells. I was invincible. I ran over anyone who stood in my way.”
“Then I needed someone. Everyone just walked around me. That’s when I remembered what my parents had taught me. I was being terribly mean to everyone around me. It’s no excuse but it wasn’t easy for me to change shells. Every time I got comfortable and things were going my way I would grow a little more and have to leave my comfortable home. ”
“All I wanted was to have things stay the same. I liked many a shell and had to leave them. Some of my friends didn’t grow like I did and were able to settle into their shells for far longer times. Some even stayed in the same shell their entire lives. They were too scared to leave and to grow into a new shell. Can you believe that? ”
“I, however, changed each time I changed my shell. Not all of those changes were good but, looking back, I can see how they all helped me become who I am today. I have become wiser , kinder, and more giving. You see , as I moved out of a shell that left a shell for someone else to move into. A younger version of me if you think about it. I could mentor them and teach them what I have been taught.”
“Life isn’t always sunshine on a beach. Sometimes you get these big waves, and sometimes the small ones too, that knock you on your back. You have to fight to get back on your feet. Fight for what you believe in. Become a stronger, better crab.”
“Have you ever had someone be there for you every time you needed them? I didn’t think I did either but I did. And I do.”
“You see, one day I was just getting into a new shell when some humans were walking by. I heard them talking about God. How he made the sunrises and the sunsets I see every day. They were telling their children about how much he loved them. How he is always with them. When they are tired he can carry them. When they struggle he can help them overcome. They told them about his grace and how he forgives them for their mistakes. They even told them about who they are in him. That no matter what happens in this world, they are his children and they are loved and cherished by him. He even gave his one and only son to them and let him die on a cross to show how much he loved them. ”
“I wish I would’ve heard about God a lot sooner in my life. Maybe I wouldn’t have made a lot of the mistakes I did. I would’ve known that I didn’t have to live with those mistakes. I could live guilt and shame free and be forgiven.”
“I will also tell you God has a plan for me, and for you. Even in times of struggle, stay true to Him and His promises. Some of the hardest times in my life turned out to be blessings. I learned so much about who I am when I had to leave one shell for another. The moments when I was vulnerable and felt unprotected. The times when the shell didn’t fit just right but I had to hold on and wait for a better day. Those are the the times I remember the most.”
“Now that I have told you about what I know about God will you go tell your friends. Let’s learn more about Him together. Let’s go treat others like we want to be treated. It’ll be hard and some will reject what we have to say but we have to stay steadfast. Stay true my friend, stay true.”
My God, My Music, My Life 