gifted

my friend "jazzmomma" just wrote this great comment on an older post and i didn't want anyone to miss it. it's so beautiful to me when a woman can proclaim how blessed she is! we live in a world where women are taught that confidence means being aggressive, slutty, bitchy, and really, not feminine. we are also reprimanded for being happy with ourselves just as we are and taught that it is braggadocious to be vocal about our gifts. i grew up so worried that someone would think i was egotistical or showing off because of my gifts. i would downplay them by saying, "well, you should see me play sports!" but God gave the gift of music to me ~ i didn't do anything to receive them! i want to shout out to the world what i've been given, and this is what i hear in "jazzmomma". I LOVE IT!

here it is....

I am new to this blog but thank you for such a wonderful place to interact with likeminded women. I wanted to share an experience with you that I had this past Sunday. As you know, I'm singing jazz pretty much full time now. This does not mean in any way that I am neglecting my classical music calling. I am director of music at my church and sing three times a weekend and LOVE it. Sometimes I don't know if the things that I do there are really getting through but this last Sunday I have proof that they did. It is Advent season as you know, and I dedicated myself to singing one solo (that the congregation doesn't sing with me) during mass. I wanted to share my gift that God has given me this season and I wanted to touch some people out there. Well, I sang Come unto Him from the Messiah. I was thinking that it went pretty well, especially after singing for 4 hours Friday and Saturday night and I was singing this at an 8 am mass. After mass the PRIEST came up to me and told me that I was a gift. The PRIEST said this to me. Wow! You don't know how blessed I felt at that moment. That I was a gift to the church, to God, to the priest and to myself. That is one thing we have to remember, that we are using a gift that has been given to us. I don't look at it as a responcibility but as something that I am blessed with and I want to share it with someone else in order to make their life just even a little bit better. Even if it's just for that one momemt. So, singing jazz, opera, classical or church music...it doesn't matter. As long as I am not doing it for me ONLY. Yes, I still do it for me because I LOVE to sing. I am BLESSED this Advent/Christmas season to have a loving husband, a beautiful healthy daughter (who is almost one), wonderful friends and family, and a gift that God gave to ME! How WONDERFUL is that - His Name IS WONDERFUL!