Shondolyn Young Richardson has been a Christian singer for
years, but she has now added the titles of songwriter and recording artist. During the spring of 2008, Shondolyn released her debut CD "If I Would Trust God".

"I remember when I was a child, I used to sit in my room writing poems and singing.  I would sometimes imagine myself singing professionally, but it never seemed like it could happen," said Shondolyn.

While growing up in Yazoo City, Mississippi,  Shondolyn was a very active member of the Lintonia Chapel Seventh-day Adventist Church.  She spent much of her time actively working with the youth and filling in wherever it was necessary.  Whenever Lintonia asked her to participate, Shondolyn always did her best to come through.  One day her obedience paid off in a way that she would have never imagine.

Back in October 2005, after singing for Lintonia's Annual Men's and Women's Day program, Shondolyn was approached by her brother and producer Freddie Young, about possibly making a recording.  For years, this had been a dream of hers, but by this time, it seemed like the possibility of ever recording had come and gone.  That little girl that used to sit and write songs and sing privately in her room was now a grown woman with real life responsibilities. In the summer of 2005, Shondolyn had graduated from Mississippi University for Women and received her Master of Education degree in Reading/Literacy.  She was also a full-time teacher, spouse, and mother. So finding time to add in this sort of project seemed highly unlikely.  That weekend, she went home and discussed things over with her husband, Michael.  They both agreed that the timing was odd, but this may be something worth seriously considering.  After a considerable amount of prayer, she decided to go ahead and pursue her life-long dream.

From the very beginning, Freddie suggested that Shondolyn should write her own material, but she felt as if that would be asking a bit too much.  She had never done a professional recording, never written a song, and she didn't have a musician.  It seemed as if the logical thing to do would be to simply perform a few cover songs and call it a day.  Feeling somewhat uncertain, Shondolyn spent the next few weeks gathering up her old performance tracks.  While seeking rights to a song, Shondolyn spoke to a man by the name of Phil Hawkins, an associate of Larnelle Harris.  During their conversation, Phil mentioned that she would need her own musician because she couldn't use Larnelle's particular version of the song.  When she informed Phil that she didn't have one, he referred her to Simeon Amburgey.