I am a Wife….I am a Mother…. I am a singer/songwriter.
It has always been very easy for me to say the first two, but for some reason when I first started writing music, I found it hard to say that I was an actual songwriter.
 
Being a wife was clear, I had legal documentation, and the mother part- well, I have several stretch marks and stress wrinkles I can show you to prove that one. But, the songwriter title was a little harder to chew because I had no credentials, no college degree, no training and I wasn’t even sure if my songs were any good. All I knew is that I liked to make stuff up and sing it. The songwriter and singer in me was chomping at the bit and burning me up inside. I couldn’t stop it.
 
Over the next few years, God surrounded me with people that would encourage me and spur me on to write more, master my craft and find the freedom to name the pulsating passion in my heart….music!
 
I dont hesitate anymore to say that I am a singer/songwriter. I love what I do, I'm driven to sing, write (still have to work hard at it) and share music. It’s not just a title, it's my calling and the powerful vehicle God uses for me to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
You might wonder why I’m telling you this. Well, here’s the why. Maybe you have a passion that drives you, a desire that burns in your heart, but you're hesitant to name it out loud. Maybe the calling you're feeling is a bit scary and you feel completely unqualified. Maybe you think this “thing” you want to do, this title that you only dream of bearing, is way out of your league.
 
Today, I want to encourage you to dream big, to answer the call and the God-given desire that is running through your veins. I'm asking you to dare to respond to what and to where God is calling you with open arms, open hands and an open heart. You are a child of God and because of that, He has plans for you. 
 
I would love to hear the new thing God is doing in our life. Would you dare to share?

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 
'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' ' Jeremiah 29:11

​Love you in the Lord, Mia

Recently, I was assigned the task of going through over a hundred emails and links searching for a few artists in Arizona that would be a good fit for a music tour that the production company I work for needed filled. I love the work that I do and I appreciate the little bit that I can do in the music industry to point people to Christ and walk alongside others as they find their voice in this crazy music business ministry.

I remember the first time I was asked to open and sing with one of the artists that I had heard so many times on the radio. It was exciting and it was an open door that God used to allow me to lift HIS name high above the rest. So the thought of being able to do that for someone else was a job that I accepted wholeheartedly.

It can be very tedious going through the emails, listening to the sound samples, watching youtube videos and seeing beyond the sound and technical quality and into their hearts, giftings and talents. But through God's direction and guidance, He leads!

Through this process, here are a few things that have struck me.

1. There are companies (not the one I work for -THANK GOD!) that will take your money, using the name of Jesus Christ, and tell you that you have talent and a future in the business, instead of telling you the truth. The truth is, not everyone can sing well and that's ok. God didn't create all of us to have the same talents even though a person might want to be front and center on a stage holding a mic and singing their heart out. (rant over)

2. There are artists out there that have no clue how gifted they are and there is something very humbling when you see this. That naiveté pulls you in and makes you want to hear more. Because of their genuine humility, Jesus can be seen so much more clearly. Pride blocks my view of Jesus.

3. Name dropping, accolades, and awards don't impress me. Jesus in you impresses me.

4. And the most important and most ironic is this. What I think of you, doesn't matter. Even though I am put in a position where I have to go through and make judgements if people are a good fit for the tour, at the end of the day, I am one person, with a few slots to offer artists. What I think should not effect God's call on your life. Listen to God!

I know that if I had stopped doing what I do or got discouraged because someone thought I wasn't good enough or not a good fit, I would have been done years ago and never would have written many of the songs that I see God using to minister to his people. What God thinks, matters most!

Beyond the walls of the music industry, these truths can apply to us in many areas of our life. For myself, I want people around that speak truth to me. I want to be serving in the area where God has called me, not just in an area that I want to go.

I do not want to block peoples view of Jesus because of my pride, I want a heart of humility, a heart of love. And who cares what I have done in the past, who I have sung alongside of, what matters most is this "Am I singing for Christ, with Christ in me, making HIM known instead of being known on my own?"

May I seek to remember what God says about me above what others may think. God says I am chosen and redeemed, He says that I AM ENOUGH! Knowing that and believing that have been the biggest hurdles in my life. But when I know and believe that I am enough for what God is calling me to do...WATCH OUT!! It's a game changer.

And the same goes for YOU! You are enough for what God is calling you to do. Believe it. Receive it. Live it!!

Can you imagine if all God's people believed this, believed that Christ in us was enough....more than enough? WATCH OUT WORLD!!

"To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27

I love you in the Lord, Mia

We are now on the fourth and final week of our journey with Mary. Feel free to catch up by reading the previous three entries, Part 1,  Part 2 & Part 3. They are pretty quick reads.

Last week we were given the encouragement and reminder that we are not alone in the tasks that God has for us. He is with us, Father , Son and Spirit. That's good news.

This week we wrap up with verse 38.  Just as a reminder, let's re-read the entire passage.

So these are a few of the titles that I carry, Worship Leader/Singer Songwriter/Public Speaker, and honestly I have very little clue about how to do any of them except that I know God has called me to glorify Him through these means.

My husband and I had a wonderful night sharing our testimony of God's healing in our marriage. I loved leading worship with my Celebrate Recovery family. I loved sharing a song of encouragement that I wrote and I loved standing next to my husband and telling our story. It all went well....really well....And I am always in shock when that happens. Let me explain that.....

As my husband and I talked on the way home, we both marveled at how there is really nothing that special about us, there is nothing extraordinary about my worship leading or our presentation when we give our testimony. Nothing, but the fact that we ask God to strip ourselves away and help us to present what we have without expectation and sit back and watch God's spirit move among His people.

As a worship leader and speaker there is, at times, a pressure to be on, having to be so spectacular and dynamic that you move people into an amazing experience of worship. What I KNOW to be true is that I have none of that.... all I have, by God's grace, is the ability to simply go before the Lord (with a microphone in hand and people watching me) and present what I have, as simple as it is, and leave it at that. Worship leading, singing, writing and speaking is simply an offering of being present, being honest, being transparent before the Lord SO THAT He can do what He does so perfectly.....Move the hearts of his people.

John the baptist had nothing great to offer physically (in fact, I'm sure people thought he was insane...and coincidentally there are times when people think I'm crazy too, but that's a different story), but He was present, submitting to the Father, testifying of the promise to come and the Spirit moved through him to prepare hearts.

The apostle Paul  was spoken of like this.."For some say, 'His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.'" To which the apostles Paul says "such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present." II Corinthians 10:10

There was nothing spectacular about the Apostle Paul, yet I don't think anyone will argue the impact He had on the world and spreading the gospel.....so that had to be the power of God working through a humbled man present to be used by God.

This is what was said of Jesus..."He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire him." Isaiah 53:2. Jesus was simply present in the most powerful way. He, the perfect example of being present and submitting to the Father's will.

My encouragement from Christ is this. I don't have to be concerned with being spectacular, having the worlds best set, a full band, wearing just the right outfit to speak or worship lead in or a fog machine with amazing lighting (ok, the fog machine does hide wrinkles, just sayin...but, I'm not concerned). My concern is that I am humbly present before God, worshiping Him alone, speaking boldly the truth that He shares in His Word, trusting that as I put out my best and honest worship, that HE WILL show up and move the hearts of His people, because I am not the Holy Spirit, nor do I want to be.

Friends, I am NOTHING and I am happy with that. My prayer this night was that God would strip away everything that I am and the only thing left was only what resembled Christ.

God is faithful, God is amazing and He is amazing in and through us. That's the only reason people can look at us and say we are amazing, because of who is in us. "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" I John 4:4

May you be encouraged that God can and will use you no matter what. Come before Him and lay it all out and watch what He does with your offering and sacrifice. Sometimes you may be blessed to witness it, other times you may be blessed trusting that God is doing something EVEN IF you don't get to see it on this side of heaven.

What vocation are you in? 
Jesus at His baptism entered the vocation of "Bearing away the sins of the World." 

May we be encouraged in our calling knowing that Christ has equipped us with all that we need because of the vocation that He filled flawlessly. 

Live the Life~Live it Loud

Share what God has called you to do and how He is equipping you.
I would love to hear!