About Pony and Her Family
About Pony
I grew up in a Christian family, and when I turned sixteen years old, I began my dream career as a racehorse jockey. During the next four years, I slowly but surely began to walk away from what I knew to be true. When I turned twenty, the Lord got a hold of my life, and I surrendered my racing silks and began to write songs instead. My parents gave me a guitar for Christmas that year, and when I asked my mom why, she said, "The Lord told me you would be needing it." Wow! Was she and the Lord ever right!
Writing music became one of God's greatest tools in helping me to grow in my understanding of who He is and how much He loves me, and is one of the major ways that I hear His voice. It helped me to have an avenue of response to His promptings. To this day, when I feel a song coming on, I grab my guitar, sit down, and the Lord and I have a conversation.
When I first started writing music and sharing it with others, people began asking me if I could just sing the song into a tape recorder (yes, I did say TAPE RECORDER- lol!) so that they could have a copy. I recorded my first album with a good friend in his basement studio. Soon after that I married, and my husband Tim encouraged me to record more albums so that we would have something to share with people when we gave concerts. That is how "Calling My Name'" and "Open a Door," my next two albums, came to be.
“One day, someday, someone’s going to reach out and everything will change.”
Pony's Family
Well... are you ready for this? Tim and I have ten children. No, really! Ten! And they all have had parts to play when we go out on concert. We thought it was important to stick together and minister as a family, so depending on each one's availability, they perform with us in as many venues as they can. We have been homeschooling since 1993, and that has really helped us have the flexibility we needed to do the traveling that is required.
All the children have trained (and some are still being trained) in dance through Restored To Glory Dance Ministry School of Worship in Bay City, Michigan. So when we do concerts, the children dance, sing, and some play instruments. Tim runs our sound board and drives our fifteen passenger van with all the equipment, and of course, us!
Inspiration
I love to transfer truth. Like most writers, I write about things I am learning and experiencing. I know there have to be others out there who are struggling with the same things I struggle with, or who need to learn something that the Lord is teaching me. I know it's sometimes easier for me to grasp certain concepts when they are sung about than when they are simply spoken. Who can forget the truth about dads spending time with their children after hearing the 1974 song by Harry Chapin "Cats In the Cradle"? One might forget Harry's name, but never the truth of which he sang.
Many times I sit with my guitar and pray and think before I begin to write. Other times the song comes pouring out and I have to grab scraps of paper or napkins- whatever is handy- in order to capture it quickly! I've had the opportunity to write with Leonard Ahlstrom (of Newsong fame), Dennis Dearing, and a wonderful friend David Morel. What a privilege to be able to work with other brothers in the Lord who are masters of their own God given crafts! But mostly, it is the Lord himself that makes me want to write and sing. Should I write a million songs, it wouldn't scratch the surface of all there is to say about how amazing He is!