Recently, Carrie and I have been emailing about organizing a concert for her in the Calgary area, so I told her about Mom’s little song. Carrie replied, “Just the other day, I played a gig and was asking the audience if anyone knew the original nursery rhyme containing Merry Sunshine! Although my mom called me that, I have no recollection (nor does she) of where it came from! So thanks for that! Glad you finally got the song. :)”
Until today, I had never looked for it online, but apparently it's quite long with a couple of different tunes.
I found it here with two different midi tunes. The second midi file containes the tuneI'm familiar with, but it’s longer.
I found lyrics here, and a slightly different, but apparently official, set of lyrics here, with source citation. Who knew the song’s composer had a name? G. Ambrose.
How delightful to discover that the song is a dialogue between a child and the sun. And here I thought Mom's four-line lullaby was all about me!
Interestingly, my Mom's tune is very compatible with Carrie’s for a little medley. Carrie’s lyrics also reminds me of another song Mom used to sing to me and with me: "Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In". I remember entertaining groups with this song when I was about 4 years old ... and 40 ... and many ages in between. But I didn’t know Pebbles and Bamm Bamm had performed it!
I’ve been asked to sing “Child of My Heart” at The Word Guild Awards Gala in Mississauga, Ontario on June 16th. My parents are donating Aeroplan miles for the flight so I can share this song.
In January 2009, Dara and I sang it on our Minus 40 Tour. In May 2009, Lisa and I sang it for the Mother’s Day banquet at Arlington Beach Camp.
Last spring we won Award of Merit for song lyrics and this year I’ve been asked to sing it. I hope and pray that this song is used more and more widely for the glory of God and for the freedom of endless women and children!
For the month of May, “Child of My Heart” will be on IndieHeaven’s Fan Faves Chart. Click on www.indieheaven.com/fanfaves, select SONGWRITER in the dropdown box, the click the VIEW button. Add your vote by clicking on a star to rate the song.
Bryan Moyer Suderman rides the rails over 9,000 km to share songs from new CD\
What better way to celebrate the release of a new CD than to ride the rails for a month, covering over 9,000 km from Toronto to Vancouver and back, with plenty of singing stops in between?
That’s what Bryan Moyer Suderman is doing from September 15 to October 15, eager to share the songs from his new CD “A New Heart: songs of faith for small and tall.”
Moyer Suderman describes his newest CD, the 4th released on his SmallTall Music label, as the most “playful” and “ambitious” of any recording he’s done so far. With original songs that are evocative, engaging, and simple without being simplistic, Bryan sings from Genesis to the Gospels, Esther to Ephesians with a top-flight crew of backing musicians in styles ranging from folk and bluegrass to zydeco, bossa nova, and New Orleans jazz.
It’s easy to see why Moyer Suderman has become known for his unique gift of crafting songs and performances that draw from the deep wells of biblical vision and wisdom while being accessible and fun for young and old alike. Since the release of his first CD in 2002, Bryan’s “songs of faith for small and tall” have become favourites with families and churches across North America and beyond, and have been published in various hymnal, songbook, curriculum and other resources.
But why travel by train?
While travel and performing is an important part of Moyer Suderman’s work (he recently returned from Paraguay, where he was part of the song leading team at the Mennonite World Conference Assembly), he also struggles with how to carry out this vocation in a way that is sustainable economically and ecologically as well as sustainable in terms of healthy relationships with his family and local community (he attends Community Mennonite Church of Stouffville Ontario).
As a result, Moyer Suderman works to keep his long-distance travel schedule confined to a limited number of weeks per year, and then to “make hay while the sun shines” and perform as much as possible while he is on the road. The CanRail Pass offers a way to do that at a low cost and in a way that reduces the carbon emissions that would result from more “one-off” flights to long-distance engagements. Moyer Suderman completed a coast-to-coast USA railroad tour last spring, and has begun planning for the next one as well. “Besides,” Moyer Suderman says, “I love to travel by train!”
Another key component of Moyer Suderman’s long-term strategy is what he calls his “Community Supported Music” system. This is an innovative online delivery system for music that is patterned after the “Community Supported Agriculture” (CSA) approach, making regular “deliveries” of new songs that are “fresh, home-grown, and always in season.” Since pioneering this alternative business model for the arts which is entering its fourth year, Moyer Suderman has made 12 “deliveries” of new songs - complete with music notation, chords, thoughts and reflections, and activity ideas and tips for using the songs in home, school, and congregational settings. Various other artists have picked up on the idea as well, have been applying this model to their own work.
Moyer Suderman will be performing an all-ages concert at the Old United Church in Duval, SK on Sunday, October 4th. There will be a potluck at Newschool Arts (the old school) at 5:00 p.m. with concert to follow in the old United Church at 7:00 p.m.
W.O.A International – The Music Company releases compilation CD, brings together the best Independent artists from all over the world on one album promoting peace.
Goa, India –Aug 27, 2009 – W.O.A International proudly announces the launch of the first volume in the Independent No.1's CD collection. Comprising of 20 artists from the company's record label W.O.A Records, it's an eclectic double CD bringing together some of the very best artists in independent music today. Best of all, it's part of an extremely worthwhile cause at the same time.
"With this release, we're not only bringing original and exciting music to the public," says Wanda Alvares, Executive Vice President / Head of Marketing, "we're also giving back to a cause we believe passionately in. For every CD sold, we will give 10% of the sale to a charity that supports the fight against terrorism."
W.O.A International recognizes that this fight on terror is something that won't be changed overnight, but passionately believe that continued support in the fight against it will eventually win through.
The Independent no.1's Vol. 1 CD is the first release in a planned annual collection of the very best music W.O.A Records has on its roster. Bringing together the best that W.O.A International has to offer, it includes the likes of Danny Hooper, Osh10, Mark Hvilsted, Resin Dogs, Pedro Menendez from the W.O.A Records roster and other Independent Music stars all signed to W.O.A International – The Music Company.
Such has the pre-release interest been in the first volume after the preview on the weekly W.O.A Radio show that W.O.A International has decided to bring several of these artists to India on tour to promote the album and to be a part of the W.O.A Music Festival this year.
With the Independent No.1's Volume 1 compilation CD set to be a huge success for both artists and the chosen charity, and Vol.2 already in the planning stage, 2009 looks set to be a milestone year yet again for W.O.A International. Download the CD today or listen in to the weekly W.O.A Radio Show also available as a podcast on itunes and find out what all the noise is about.
I started speaking on Monday evening, August 17th. Tuesday through Friday I spoke 3 times a day: briefly in the morning at staff devotions, later in the morning I would tell a story from the book of Daniel, then in the evening we talked about God's work in our own lives. The kids were very responsive, and I had fun getting them involved through acting out the story or chanting or just asking review questions. They were amazingly attentive and some of the cabin groups went back and read more! One cabin leader said his boys had become "Bible addicts." Fun!
On Thursday I spoke from Ephesians 2:10 about being God's Masterpiece. It fit with the week's theme of being ALIVE in Christ and that we couldn't have done that for ourselves. It also fit with something we were learning from Daniel: that God is the one who gives wisdom and greatness, and if we think we're good and powerful and self-made, we might enjoy ourselves temporarily but we're in for a big surprise later!
To explain God's Masterpiece, I used a series of pictures of the pottery process from my brother Jeffrey's website. There is absolutely nothing that clay can do to help itself become something wonderful. And it takes time and a lot of pushing and pulling and spinning for the clay to be shaped into some thing beautiful and/or useful. After shaping it sits on a shelf and dries for several days (or weeks, as with teapots). Then it needs extreme heat... twice! Along the way there's decoration, that doesn't look like much, but the potter knows! Finally, after a long, intense process, you have beautiful plates and platters, big and small and medium bowls, mugs and goblets, cream and sugars, pitchers and teapots, vases and candle-holders, casseroles and cookie jars, and more!!! Jeffrey has even done sculptures and space ships with stained glass windows!
On Friday evening, I did a mini-concert and talked about how each of us has a story and God is writing it. One of the cabin leaders asked if he could sing Fingerprints of God by Steven Curtis Chapman. It fit perfectly, so at the end of the chapel service he sang and I joined with some harmony on the choruses. It was a perfect ending. For cabin devotions after chapel, I challenged the cabin leaders to go around their whole cabins and tell each child one thing they've noticed about God's fingerprints on that child. The next morning in staff meeting many cabin leaders shared how well that went over. In one cabin it became an encouragement fest, with all the guys sharing good things about each other. In another cabin, after the leader was done the girls wanted to tell the leader about God's fingerprints on her! Sometimes we can be faithful to our calling and not get to see the fruit of what we do, but that was such a treat to hear about all that sharing.
At Saturday morning's closing rally, I recapped the week for the parents, explaining the Daniel stories and the masterpiece and fingerprints of God. Just 5 minutes. Amazing how I had to pray harder about those 5 minutes than the longer ones! The less time you have, the more it counts. Hmmmm.
The most challenging part of the day was climbing the big hill 3 times a day to the dining hall. I think my favourite part of the day was worship. During staff meetings we all agreed that this was our favourite--the energetic and heartfelt worship of 9-11 year olds. I loved seeing this one little guy in the aisle with his hand raised up.
My friend Kathleen McMillan has been a speaker at Manitou twice before, so I asked her for some advice. Here's what she told me:
If I remember correctly lots of farm kids at that camp, first nations too? Tell stories. sing to them. be who you are. The best advice I can give is keep it simple and be there as much as you possibly can to talk to them, hang out, be a real person. It is not so much what you say but how much you care that will stick with them.
Build on each day using small bits and repeating them as the week progresses. I did one once using a skateboard to represent the steps to spiritual growth the board was salvation and the wheels each represented prayer, bible reading good friends attending church we put it together and used it to crash a counselor through a wall of garbage cans with a bucket of water on the top.
Have a contest. My first time speaking for camps I had 2 baby bunnies with me and I had a contest to name the bunnies. If a child came to me with a name I would give them a candy and put their name and their suggestion in the draw. At the end of the week we chose a name.
Once I had a "guess the Professor's name contest" another time I told them that if they came to me, introduced themselves, and told me a story about themselves or something interesting about their summer I would give them a candy. It was very interesting and they responded well to it. Almost every kid came to me at one point or an other. I had to encourage some of the shyer ones but it was worth it. Everyone wants to be listened to.
Love and small kindnesses is all we really have to offer. Sing "My Grandmother's House" at night before bed. Or "Prairie Soul." I think singing quiet meaningful songs to them when they are tired will be effective. Funny songs in the morning. Tell them your stories. Talk about what is important to you, what you are passionate about is your best message.
"I keep wondering what role of ministry I should be in here, and yet God is leading me to do 'ministry' without the official title, I am reminded that we live our faith. Don't have to be structuring it for a certain night of the week."
~ Dara Hallett on her recent move to Buffalo Narrows
