Friday, September 2, 2011

God-given talents

Yesterday, as I was driving down the road, I was reflecting on how far I've come with my music.
Several years ago, I wouldn't sing in front of anybody, then in high school, I finally got to where I would sing in front of my friends in private.
Then two years ago, during my first year at Averett, the Christian Students Union (CSU) was hosting a talent show and everyone kept telling me that I should sign up. I hesitated at first, then I finally signed up.
It was going to be my first public debut so I was a little nervous! I had some of my closest friends come to support me which meant a lot!
Not many people were there in attendance but I still considered it my debut. I sang "American Honey" by Lady Antebellum. I was going to sing the song with my guitar but I wasn't comfortable with my guitar skills at that moment.
I sang the song and I received a good response and won the talent show (granted only 3 people performed.. but I still won lol).
I was so excited that I finally had bit the bullet and performed "live."
Another aspect of this story is my guitar playing. Like I mentioned, I was scared to play my guitar in public because I felt that I wasn't good enough at it because I had only been playing since March 2009.
The night that brought both my singing and guitar playing out of the box was when I first participated in an open mic at Buffalo Wild Wings in Danville in February or March 2011 (I can't remember).
That open mic was a success and my guitar playing was decent and my singing was on point I thought.
Since I gained that confidence that night, I have been playing at open mics ever since!
Lastnight's open mic at Kick Back Jacks in Danville (yes! new venue!), I had one of my best crowd reactions ever!
I sang "Anyway" by Martina McBride acapella and I dedicated it to the victims of Hurricane Irene.
I surprised myself when I hit every note perfectly and the crowd gave me a huge applause afterward.
People were coming up to me afterward and telling me how great I did on that song. It felt great!
I realize from all of this that God truly has blessed me with a musical talent and I want to continue spreading it! Especially when I dedicated that song, I felt that God was working through me to deliver the powerful message of that song. :)