Our Journeys in Life

In our journeys in life, we are going to have roadblocks, and at the very least, a lot of speed bumps. Right now, we're at a point where many of us feel that we could break. We won't break, though. Things have come across our paths all along the journey, and we wonder if we can get through it. Yes, we will, and this time should be no different than any challenging time we've experienced. As always, we will persevere.

The stock market, the economy, life without college basketball and pro sports. How soon will we bounce back? I hope that is your question, and not what we will do without out the normal things in our life, as if it will never come back. Okay? That's all I have to say about this. It will all be right again. It's just a journey in our life.

The Message For Myself: Keep working on it...

Tonight (this morning for some of you), I watched @JjMcNown's message on youtube.com, called "How to live life with STRENGTH. And how to finish STRONG." It was an older one from when he was pastoring Foundation Church Portland, via Fortis Media. It sent a message to me, beyond any of my expectations. JJ is talking about Jacob, and what he was able to tell his children (at some point) before his death.

Seriously, I really had to share this with you today!  Really. Seriously. None of us know how long we are going to be given on this earthly plane.  We all heard about Kobe Bryant's tragic death today, but there were other families, too, that lost loved ones. One family lost three.  For those of us that have children, maybe a generation or two down from us, what would we tell them if we were on our death bed, or knew we'd be gone soon? No. We don't know.  Too morbid? Too soon? Sorry. Well, really, not sorry.  I know this is a struggle for many people to know what to want for our children.  But, after you see this video, and what JJ is telling us here, you may know exactly what it is you are supposed to tell them. And you will know why.



Now, for some of the readers of this column, you may want to go back to the beginning of this video, and see something that I thought was noticeable. JJ McNown seems to be struggling to find the right words at first. He admits to struggles in his own life, where he needs the armor of God. Here is a verse that I know helped him through those trying days.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ~ Ephesians 6:12-13 NIV

And now, for an encore, I bring you a song that I just wrote while playing by ear, when I was struggling with finding my purpose. This was back last Summer, when I had lost a love of my life. I wanted to be the right guy, but found out I wasn't. Very long story. But playing music, and sharing it, made me feel like I could stand my ground. Here's the song:

My First Music Venture (With His help, and for His Glory!)

My First Music Venture (With His help, and for His Glory!)

I began my venture into playing my keyboard for relaxation back in January of 2018. Shortly after the terrible school shooting in Parkland, Florida, I started playing the song, that I eventually named "For the 17," and then actually recorded it. I noticed that the sound came in pretty good on my old Kodak digital camera, so I saved the recording, showing me playing the keyboard. I actually sent the video of me playing that song to Andrew Pollack, the father of Meadow Pollack, one of the victims of that horrible shooting rampage.

Almost a year later, I made a wonderful discovery, that I could use my digital video editing program (Pinnacle) to create an MP3 sound file! That began the journey, where my goal was to create a CD-sized collection of my music. (I also copied all of the songs to my cell phone, which is a very nice thing.)

I finally finished the final song on the album, called, "God Bless America the Beautiful," a medley-type blend of the two songs, "God Bless America," and "America the Beautiful." That song took several weeks, before I found the ways to blend the songs together, finding the tones (instruments), and the rhythm I wanted to use. I finished it, finally, on June 7, 2019, and met my goal of having it done my fiancé Angie's birthday on June 8!

Now, wanting to have a way to share my music with others, I began the search for a platform to share them on, other than Facebook. That search didn't take long, as I found Audiomack.com, and it has been great! That happened last Friday, on June 14, 2019. Over the last few days, I found many of the perfect features that satisfy all of the needs to share this music. Since last Friday, we (with my fiancé's assistance) accomplished the following tasks to get to this point:

Upload all of the songs to audiomack.com ✔️

Discovering a way to use cover photos for each song ✔️

Making actual title covers using the cover photos ✔️

Putting all of the songs in the first album playlist ✔️

Well, there you have it. Mission accomplished. Almost. It is now time to start on Music From My Heart, Volume 2! I can not predict how long that will take, as I never know when a new song will come to my heart. It could take another year. Maybe, but I don't really know. But, at least for now, you can hear the Music From My Heart, Volume 1, all from one easy place! Totally free (it is a gift to you)!  Please enjoy, and relax!



Please know, all of this has been accomplished with His help, and for the Glory of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Music From My Heart

Things on my heart...

Music From My Heart

From my bio at audiomack.com:

I can't read music. I just get on the keyboard, and play, whatever comes to my heart. Sometimes, it could be songs I can remember, where I just play by ear. Other times, it just comes from my heart. This was how I came up with the name for my first album, with 15 songs, "Music From My Heart."

I know that if I share my music, and 1000 people ever become aware of it, only about 100, or less, will bother to check it out. Out of that group of 100 or less, that actually hear it, maybe 10 people will like it. Out of those 10 people, only one will share or comment on it... But that one person that shares it, may be one of those people that influences 10, 100, or 1000 people... I just leave it for the Lord, because that is how He works.

Here is the latest song that I have recorded:


You can listen to all of my songs, 15 so far, on audiomack.com.  They are all instrumental, at least from a keyboard.  The only vocal parts are courtesy of my cat, RC, accompanying in a song or two.

Please be that one person that shares this post.  I pray that you are that one person I influence. I pray that you are that person that influences a thousand people!