Sing

It's not really a coincidence that my name is Melody. For my whole life I have been in love with music. At a very young age, singing became a huge part of who I am. My dad's whole family is very musical- my grandfather spent his life building and tuning pianos, directing the church choir, and teaching all 6 of his kids how to carry a tune. It wasn't until much later in life that I realized not every one sings Happy Birthday in 4-part harmony. My dad wrote little songs for each of my siblings and me when we were born, and I distinctly remember climbing into bed as a little girl, begging my dad to sing us some hymns before we fell asleep.

I have always loved to sing, but for the most part I was too shy to ever let anyone know that I could. It's not that I am a shy person, because if you know me at all you are probably aware that I have few reservations when it comes to social situations. But there was something that totally scared me about letting someone hear me sing. I was terrified to let something so integral to my being out in the open- vulnerable to negativity, and sarcasm, and condescension. So what did I do? I wrapped it up, nice and tight, in the dark and quite fabric of fear and selfishness- protected from the elements and any opportunity for growth. I sang quietly.

I still enjoyed it though, for what it was worth. As I grew older into high school and college, my desire to know and be musical did anything but shrink. And then I met Tim Fritson. A musical guy himself, he started to carefully unwrap all of those nasty fabrics I had so intentionally covered over my voice. One of the first times we hung out happened to be at Grand River Chapel on a local college campus. He brought his guitar and we sang and played the piano for hours. I was still in my cautious stage, so occasionally he would give me one of those "you're seriously going to just squeak out a mouse-like version of that chorus?" looks. I started to realize that purposefully hiding something that I love this much is more embarrassing than the possibility of falling short in someone else's eyes.

So I guess you could say I've gone through a re-upholstering of sorts. I'm not afraid to sing. I don't selfishly lock away my songs from The Creator who deserves to hear them the most. And Tim's most recent description of my singing?

"Fortissimo" - [fȯr-ˈti-sə-ˌmō] adj. 1. very loud

And it's true! I belt it out. And it's something that I will never apologize for. I have a reason to sing. I turn the music up as far as it goes. (Ask Tim how much he loves to get into my car after I've been jamming and the volume is still maxed out...) Just this weekend I blew out the speakers on our computer! And the very next day, I was getting so into my piano playing that I stomped the damper pedal right onto the floor! But I've learned that when you are doing something that brings you joy and gives glory to God, you'll never regret it. So sing!