A Joyful Noise

One of the things I like to do as a new mom is sing to my daughter. Of course there’s lots of nursery rhymes and lullabies, but that’s not all. Sometimes I sing silly little songs that I make up along the way. Sometimes I’ll sing along with the radio or CD. What it is doesn’t seem to matter too much to her. She just likes it. I sing, we dance, she laughs. Life just doesn’t get much better than that!

I love to sing and I love music. All kinds of music. (I am an 80’s girl after all!) If you were to take a look at the playlists on my Ipod, you’d find a little bit of a lot of things. I get bored very easily if I stick to only one genre of music. And when my music is going, I’m usually singing along. Often times, I’m singing along LOUDLY. There’s only one problem. I don’t sing well and I don’t have a good voice. I guess that’s technically two problems, but I digress.

There’ve been many times that I’ve thought, “It’s not fair! Why do I love to sing so much if I’m not good at it?” I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that I’ll never be on the worship team at church and no matter how much I want to, I’ll never have a voice like Martina McBride. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who’s ever wanted (ok let’s be honest here, coveted) someone else’s gift or talent. For a long time, I just sort of dismissed any gift or talent that I had, like it was unimportant or irrelevant. For instance, I knew I could write, but so what? Lots of people can write and besides no one sees it but me. Or so I thought.

When I became a Christian, God started working on me. He had a lot to do. He not only had to help me change into a better version of the person I was, but He had to help me change the way I saw myself too. He showed me that He created me uniquely, with my own gifts and talents. He also showed me that those gifts and talents were not just for me, and that if I did not share them, as He intended, then I was in effect rejecting them. It was an amazing revelation for me! He created me, with specific gifts and talents, to become a wholly unique individual with an intended purpose that nobody but me could fulfill. Wow!

So now, here I am, writing for the glory of God. It is my hope and my prayer that the words I write will touch, encourage or otherwise help the reader. As I have begun this journey of writing publicly, I take very seriously the responsibility God has entrusted to me. I know that if I will stay out of His way, by not pushing my own agenda, I will fulfill the purpose He has set before me. To me, this is an act of worship and praise. And in writing, I know my voice is pretty good.

As far as singing goes, well I guess I’ll just keep doing what comes naturally. I will make a joyful noise and be comfortable in knowing that to God and to Reagan, that’s just fine.

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing! Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name! For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.” Psalm 100