Practicing Perfection

"Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy." ~David

I've been trying to know a song well enough not to have to have the chords and the words in front of me. To play skillfully was my goal. I practiced and practiced the song "How Great Thou Art" for a memorial service that I sang at and only had to look at the words once. I practiced and practiced it some more for the Ladies Tea and just knew that I would bless the ladies with a perfect rendition of the ancient hymn. I would be able to really connect with them as I sang. I decided to go sheet less, face the fear and charge on.

The day of the tea, I sifted through my flip-flops to find the best pair that matched my dress. They were all woefully worn out and shabby so I donned a pair of high heels instead and wrapped a filmy scarf around my neck. I carefully tuned my guitar but packed the tuner in my purse so as to do it again once I got to the tea. I tiptoed across the wood floors to bid my husband goodbye and arrived at the church fifteen minutes early. My feet already hurt but that was okay. It was only for a couple of hours.

My time came to sing. Gracefully walking up to the podium, I picked up my guitar, adjusted the strap and fingered the chord. Oh, the beauty of the sound my guitar was making. I began to sing and the first verse flowed gloriously. I was horrified when my knees began to shake and my voice wavered during the second verse but I pulled it out by the chorus. Yes! Grinning, I launched into the next verse.

The third verse began and I got one sentence into it and the words fled from my head. "REALLY!?", my mind screamed, while casting fruitlessly for the verse. My guitar cheerfully played away as my fingers knew where to go. What could I do? It was just so silly, I laughed and told the ladies, "I just forgot the words!" The room erupted with giggles and began to vibrate with the humming of a roomful of voices. The buzzing continued through the third verse and the words returned for the fourth. Joyfully, I belted it out and asked the ladies to join me in the chorus. The room filled with the sound of multiple generations of women joining the choir of ages singing the centuries old song. Truly, my soul was singing. What a blessing all those women were to me that day. Truly, a joyful noise!

"Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him." ~David