<turbo-stream action="update" target="blog_feature_552550"><template>
      
<div class="blog-wrapper" id="blog_186593-wrapper">
  <div class="blog summary clearfix" id="blog_186593-blog">
      <div class="tiled-sizer"></div>
      <div class="gutter-sizer"></div>

      <article class="post blog-article summary-item post-summary" data-controller="zoogle-video" data-action="message@window-&gt;zoogle-video#handleVimeoPostMessage">
    
<h2 class="heading-blog heading-secondary alt-font">
  <a href="/stories/blog/6860773/track-9-we-will-see">We Will See ~ Sunshine for Rainy Days</a>&nbsp;<span class='reset-font'>&nbsp;<span class="podcast"><img src="//assets-app-production-pubnet.bndzgl.com/assets/usersites/podcast-ff0f451d9e650aa49c1c887f1b4eab6655e151de0aba4c11a992f6637163c058.png" /></span></span>
</h2>

<div class="post">
  <div class="message"><p><strong>Dugort, Achill Island &nbsp;| &nbsp;Ireland</strong></p>
<p>I’ve always thought of misty, shadowy West of Ireland weather as gloomy or mysterious. It wasn’t until I read CS Lewis on the difference between half light (Nordic) &amp; full light (Mediterranean) beauty that I broadened my perspective. He compares a northern landscape &amp; light to water colours, bright southern light to oil paintings. One vivid &amp; exuberant, the other subtle &amp; nuanced. Ambivalent.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>Minaun cliffs and Keel surf, Achill, Co Mayo. © 2019 Sarah Whitcroft</em></p>
<p>Different…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/stories/blog/6860773/track-9-we-will-see">Read more</a></span></div>
</div>

<footer class="meta blog-footer clearfix">
    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2019-07-18T02:38:05+01:00" title="July 18, 2019 02:38">07/18/2019</span></p>

  <p class="post-info">in <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50304">Struggle</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50305">Resurrection</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50306">Loss</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50307">Humility</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50339">Irish Music</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50343">Mourning</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50344">Lament</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50345">Irish Folk</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50346">Achill Island</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50347">Dugort</a></p>
</footer>

</article>  <article class="post blog-article summary-item post-summary" data-controller="zoogle-video" data-action="message@window-&gt;zoogle-video#handleVimeoPostMessage">
    
<h2 class="heading-blog heading-secondary alt-font">
  <a href="/stories/blog/6860774/track-8-pentecost">Pentecost! ~ Sunshine for Rainy Days</a>&nbsp;
</h2>

<div class="post">
  <div class="message"><p><strong>Orangefield, Belfast | N.Ireland</strong></p>
<p>Probably the most fun part of my church life has been doing youth work. I love kids’ work, but youth work was my primary degree &amp; first paid job. So, when I stepped away from that to look after family interests, I got a real kick out of being a youth leader, and eventually ended of keeping an eye on all the youth work for our church in East Belfast.&nbsp;</p>
<p>There’s a lot going on. I think we estimated we were dealing with 550 children &amp; teens on an average week, or maybe that was…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/stories/blog/6860774/track-8-pentecost">Read more</a></span></div>
</div>

<footer class="meta blog-footer clearfix">
    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2019-07-17T18:12:51+01:00" title="July 17, 2019 18:12">07/17/2019</span></p>

  <p class="post-info">in <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50309">Hymn</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50327">Bible Story Song</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50328">Fun song</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50330">Sunday school</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50331">All age worship</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50334">Salvation</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50348">Latin Music</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50349">Pentecost</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50350">Acts 2</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50351">Santana</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50352">brass section</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50353">lead guitar</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50354">piano mutandos</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50355">call and response</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50356">gospel choir</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50357">mission</a></p>
</footer>

</article>  <article class="post blog-article summary-item post-summary" data-controller="zoogle-video" data-action="message@window-&gt;zoogle-video#handleVimeoPostMessage">
    
<h2 class="heading-blog heading-secondary alt-font">
  <a href="/stories/blog/6860775/track-7-christmas-on-the-beach">Christmas on the Beach ~ Sunshine For Rainy Days</a>&nbsp;<span class='reset-font'>&nbsp;<span class="podcast"><img src="//assets-app-production-pubnet.bndzgl.com/assets/usersites/podcast-ff0f451d9e650aa49c1c887f1b4eab6655e151de0aba4c11a992f6637163c058.png" /></span></span>
</h2>

<div class="post">
  <div class="message"><p><strong>Victoria Falls, Zambia &nbsp;| &nbsp;Lisnabreeny, Belfast</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She: Why are all your songs so serious? Couldn’t you just write something fun for a change? <em>(If you’re happily married after 25 years, you can have a level of candour that would have caused a major domestic in the first decade!)</em></p>
<p>Me: All serious! I think that unfair! What about all the kids songs, and youth songs, they’re fun?</p>
<p>She: Well ok, but do they ALL have to be about church? Why can’t you write a hit that we can retire on – something just for fun…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/stories/blog/6860775/track-7-christmas-on-the-beach">Read more</a></span></div>
</div>

<footer class="meta blog-footer clearfix">
    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2019-07-11T00:18:49+01:00" title="July 11, 2019 00:18">07/11/2019</span></p>

  <p class="post-info">in <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50341">singer-songwriter</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50358">Christmas song</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50359">Jack Johnson</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50360">Christmas on the beach</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50361">Southern Hemisphere Christmas</a></p>
</footer>

</article>  <article class="post blog-article summary-item post-summary" data-controller="zoogle-video" data-action="message@window-&gt;zoogle-video#handleVimeoPostMessage">
    
<h2 class="heading-blog heading-secondary alt-font">
  <a href="/stories/blog/6860777/track-5-laughing-crying">Laughing &amp; Crying ~ Sunshine for Rainy Days</a>&nbsp;<span class='reset-font'>&nbsp;<span class="podcast"><img src="//assets-app-production-pubnet.bndzgl.com/assets/usersites/podcast-ff0f451d9e650aa49c1c887f1b4eab6655e151de0aba4c11a992f6637163c058.png" /></span></span>
</h2>

<div class="post">
  <div class="message"><p><strong>Newry, Co. Down | N.Ireland</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p></p>
Writing songs starts here….<br>&nbsp;
<h2><em>Sunshine for rainy days</em></h2>
<p>I’ve been songwriting since I was 15, maybe earlier. My mum used to say I was singing complete songs before my second birthday, before I could structure full sentences! So I rolled out in a pushchair to sing for adults as a novelty act. It’s probably not as rare as it seemed to them. Music touches the depths of us in a special way doesn’t it? I'm sure when our eyes have faded, and our short term memory mists over, it’s music…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/stories/blog/6860777/track-5-laughing-crying">Read more</a></span></div>
</div>

<footer class="meta blog-footer clearfix">
    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2019-07-08T15:47:34+01:00" title="July 08, 2019 15:47">07/08/2019</span></p>

  <p class="post-info">in <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50341">singer-songwriter</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50344">Lament</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50365">addiction</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50366">domestic violence</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50367">brain injury</a></p>
</footer>

</article>  <article class="post blog-article summary-item post-summary" data-controller="zoogle-video" data-action="message@window-&gt;zoogle-video#handleVimeoPostMessage">
    
<h2 class="heading-blog heading-secondary alt-font">
  <a href="/stories/blog/6860778/track-4-jacob-s-ladder">Jacob’s Ladder ~ Sunshine For Rainy Days</a>&nbsp;<span class='reset-font'>&nbsp;<span class="podcast"><img src="//assets-app-production-pubnet.bndzgl.com/assets/usersites/podcast-ff0f451d9e650aa49c1c887f1b4eab6655e151de0aba4c11a992f6637163c058.png" /></span></span>
</h2>

<div class="post">
  <div class="message"><p><strong>Orangefield, Belfast | N.Ireland</strong></p>
<p>Most musicians have a tune they unconsciously turn to if they’re bored waiting for a practice to start. Or maybe they’re a bit nervous and need to auto pilot to reassure themselves they can still play. You know, like something you catch yourself singing in the shower, or humming when you walk the dog?</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>John Hegarty, Lead Guitarist</em></p>
<p><strong>We're allowed to have fun, right?</strong></p>
<p>For a while, my ‘unthinking twiddle tune’ was the main riff for this song. It’s combines 9th’s &amp; 7th’s with a…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/stories/blog/6860778/track-4-jacob-s-ladder">Read more</a></span></div>
</div>

<footer class="meta blog-footer clearfix">
    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2019-07-05T17:30:54+01:00" title="July 05, 2019 17:30">07/05/2019</span></p>

  <p class="post-info">in <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50327">Bible Story Song</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50328">Fun song</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50334">Salvation</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50337">Heaven</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50352">brass section</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50353">lead guitar</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50355">call and response</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50356">gospel choir</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50368">assurance of salvation</a></p>
</footer>

</article>  <article class="post blog-article summary-item post-summary" data-controller="zoogle-video" data-action="message@window-&gt;zoogle-video#handleVimeoPostMessage">
    
<h2 class="heading-blog heading-secondary alt-font">
  <a href="/stories/blog/6860779/track-3-sun-rain">Sun &amp; Rain ~ Sunshine for Rainy Days</a>&nbsp;<span class='reset-font'>&nbsp;<span class="podcast"><img src="//assets-app-production-pubnet.bndzgl.com/assets/usersites/podcast-ff0f451d9e650aa49c1c887f1b4eab6655e151de0aba4c11a992f6637163c058.png" /></span></span>
</h2>

<div class="post">
  <div class="message"><p><strong>Le Pas Opton, Vendee | France</strong></p><p>I L-O-V-E summer in France, they really are a blessed nation.</p><p>They’ve got the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Pyrenees, the Alps, great rivers, varied countryside, magnificent villages &amp; chateaux, rich street music, style, speciality foods, sun ripened fruit &amp; veg, and of course, the language of love.</p><p>Our own special wee place there has been the Spring Harvest Christian campsite, Le Pas Opton, near St Gilles Croix de Vie, in the Vendee ( between Nantes &amp; Bordeaux).</p><p>Christian…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/stories/blog/6860779/track-3-sun-rain">Read more</a></span></div>
</div>

<footer class="meta blog-footer clearfix">
    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2019-07-04T01:54:31+01:00" title="July 04, 2019 01:54">07/04/2019</span></p>

  <p class="post-info">in <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50337">Heaven</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50359">Jack Johnson</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50369">blessing</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50370">universal grace</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50371">forgiveness </a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50372">pain</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50373">love</a></p>
</footer>

</article>  <article class="post blog-article summary-item post-summary" data-controller="zoogle-video" data-action="message@window-&gt;zoogle-video#handleVimeoPostMessage">
    
<h2 class="heading-blog heading-secondary alt-font">
  <a href="/stories/blog/6860780/track-2-still-only-one-way">Still Only One Way ~ Sunshine for Rainy days</a>&nbsp;<span class='reset-font'>&nbsp;<span class="podcast"><img src="//assets-app-production-pubnet.bndzgl.com/assets/usersites/podcast-ff0f451d9e650aa49c1c887f1b4eab6655e151de0aba4c11a992f6637163c058.png" /></span></span>
</h2>

<div class="post">
  <div class="message">Track 2: ‘Sunshine for Rainy Days’, Our debut album cover,<br>from an anonymous encourager on a Glasgow street wall.
<p>Life is great, BUT, there are a few things about the cultural momentum in ‘The West’ that irritate me, one or two that scare me, and several that fill me with bottled rage. I think this says more about me gaining perspective as I get older, than this snapshot in time being particularly worse.</p>
<p><strong>It's just another fashion honest!</strong></p>
<p>For instance, fashion was really bad in the 70’s when I was a kid. My…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/stories/blog/6860780/track-2-still-only-one-way">Read more</a></span></div>
</div>

<footer class="meta blog-footer clearfix">
    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2019-06-29T09:53:36+01:00" title="June 29, 2019 09:53">06/29/2019</span></p>

  <p class="post-info">in <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50309">Hymn</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50345">Irish Folk</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50373">love</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50374">The Way</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50375">The Truth</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50376">The Life</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50377">poverty</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50378">disability</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50379">lies</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50380">false teachers</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50381">only one life</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50382">healing</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50383">freedom</a>, <a href="/the-grace/blog/blog_categories/50384">hope</a></p>
</footer>

</article>

</div></div>
    <nav class="pagination">
    <span class="first">
  <a data-remote="true" href="/stories/features/load/blog_feature_552550.turbo_stream?p=1"><span class='pagination-decoration icon icon-first'></span>First</a>
</span>

    <span class="prev">
  <a rel="prev" data-remote="true" href="/stories/features/load/blog_feature_552550.turbo_stream?p=5"><span class='pagination-decoration icon icon-previous'></span>Prev</a>
</span>
        <span class="page">
  <a data-remote="true" href="/stories/features/load/blog_feature_552550.turbo_stream?p=1">1</a>
</span>

        <span class="page gap">…</span>

        <span class="page">
  <a rel="prev" data-remote="true" href="/stories/features/load/blog_feature_552550.turbo_stream?p=5">5</a>
</span>

        <span class="page current">
  6
</span>

      <span class="next hidden">
  Next<span class='pagination-decoration icon icon-next'></span>
</span>
      <span class="last">
  Last<span class='pagination-decoration icon icon-last'></span>
</span>

  </nav>





</template></turbo-stream>