Tuesday, February 9, 2010

lend yourself

dear emily,

my dear worship pastor, joseph, sends us a daily devotion,
and today's struck a chord in my heart.  i have always loved
king david for saying, "i am not going to sacrifice anything
that costs me nothing!"

i thought i would share with you something that costs me
dearly. occasionally, i am asked to sing at church services,
weddings, and funerals, which is a sweet honor.  the rub,
though, is that i am introverted, self conscious, and fearful.

i have never envied another's talent, but i can assure you
that i have turned green watching a singer just have the
time of her life expressing her gift.  what would that be
like to sing your heart out and enjoy every minute?  i
don't know.

the scripture joseph shared this morning is psalm 112:5,
"a good man deals graciously and lends..." it reminded
me that as long as i lend my talent graciously, though
it is costing me dearly, the Lord will use it.  that's all
that matters.

love,
lea

13 comments:

Vicki/Jake said...

Hope this one doesn't get kicked out...
Catching up on your blog today. Been down with ? something that's keeping me from going to work and spreading whatever it is I have. A far as your singing, I hope someday you just start singing your heart out...I know, easier said than done. But your time will happen.
I'll be back often to read all your sweetness.

Vicki/Jake said...

I just noticed on my blog list that it says your last post was 3 months ago...
That's why I was a little surprised you have posted the past few days. Just letting you know..

Vicki/Jake said...

See....

myletterstoemily
3 months ago

I went and copied this off my blog. But it's on this one..lifesoverhaul.blogspot.com

Maybe you should contact them??

Vicki/Jake said...

ok, last annoying comment from me today...
I have you on both of my blogs and they both say 3 months ago...
Hope you can get it straightened out. And knowing this, now I'll come look anyway..

Single and Sane said...

Over the last couple of years people who have heard you sing have commented to me on how beautiful your voice is. One of them works at your church and he told me your voice is as beautiful as you are.

Vee said...

No one has ever shared anything like this that I've ever heard. I sang once for a Christmas program. Folks said that I needed to do it all the time. I've never done it again and will not sing like that in this lifetime. You have chosen wisely and well.

myletterstoemily said...

margaret: you are very sweet.

vee: how 'bout a blogger's duet?

Elin said...

hi,
your blog are just lovely, and its so nice of you to leave such a nice comment behind... thank you... on my other blog mon unique butik you cant leave a comment, i have made so that nobody cant... its sad but it will be to much to follow up on. on that blog i just present the things that people can by om the swedish version of e-bay. many lovely thingt i have made or pickt out for a country home. But tou can always comment om my standard blog or e- mail me...

wish you a lovely week...
many warm hugs
Elin

Jenny said...

Hi! I love this comment and your introspection. Try singing somewhere with great acoustics (like your bathroom) and tape yourself. Maybe that would give you confidence. You'll sing when you're ready! Wait for yourself.

Anonymous said...

The real irony,(for those of you who have never had the pleasure of hearing Lea's amazing voice)
is that you dear Lea, and your incredible voice, are probably one of the reasons I am a worship leader today. I still remember the occasional times you would sing a special at church, and I would always think, "She sings better than Sandi Patty!" :) Yet another reason I aspired to be like you one day. The best thing was, although you had this phenomenal gift and talent, you were always so modest and unassuming about it.

If I may share this with you, what brings me the greatest joy in all my life is simply worshipping God. I have never been a performer, and in fact when I was not walking with the Lord and would sing at different places I would even have people tell me I got an "A" for my voice and an "F" for stage presence. I was a part of music teams and always felt not quite good enough. Then one day I went to an outreach service for the homeless and was asked to sing a song. That led to me being asked back every week. I took more pleasure in helping these destitute, hopeless men and women find hope in the Lord, and when they began to really worship God, I felt fulfilled like never before.
I led worhsip at that homeless ministry for 3 1/2 years before I ever led in a regular church service, but the freedom and the joy that I felt at the outreach, then carried over.
When we started our church, it was me, a microphone, a broken down sound board, and a cd player, but people would come to the church and say how different the worship was, how it was pure, and that it brought them straight into God's presence. I do not believe I am anywhere near the best singer or worship leader around, but I do believe that if you just worship God with everything you have, His presence will show up and take over. Now after 5 years, I am blessed with an incredible worship team and band, but my number one requirement is not talent level, it's the heart. (I'm thankful for the talent, but I'm even more thankful that every person has come in and seen something different about our music department and has strived to keep the purity) I still remember you always having a sweet spirit, and humble attitude even though you had more reason than anyone to be a little prideful about your talent, and that is one of the things I have carried with me and that has molded not only who I am, but many people you may never meet.

Sorry this was such a long comment!

myletterstoemily said...

liz, you astonish me with your maturity, depth, and incredible capacity
to encourage.

your church is VERY blessed! your children and husband are the luckiest
people in the world!!

whatever you give, will return to you, pressed down, shaken together,
overflowing...

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