I Surrender All ...

If you've ever sat in front of me at church, or have heard me sing, then you probably already know that I am tone deaf (whatever that means). Tone, pitch ... all of those music words mean nothing to me. They might as well be a different language.

A lot of the time I am hesitant to really praise God (through singing):
1. Because I'm self-conscious about my singing abilities (or lack there of). Or a better way to say it, I care about my image and don't want people to judge me or think poorly of me because of the way I sing.
2. I am sometimes trying to be considerate of the people around me. For the most part, I've learned that I just have to praise God, no matter who's listening, but I wonder if I should tone it down to not hinder those around me.

We all love hearing the people with great voices. There is one girl, Lay-ak, who really has the voice of an angel. I absolutely love when she leads worship! However, I really enjoy hearing people with not so angelic voices, praising God. (Side note: Why do we assume angels have amazing voices?)

Last Sunday, I was incredibly encouraged and humbled as I heard and praised alongside a fellow tone-deaf sister. It's well known that she doesn't have a beautiful singing voice (according to worldly standards), but she sings her heart out and truly worships our God ... with a joyful noise!

Here is "I Surrender All" in Khmer, that I recorded Sunday. You won't understand the words, but you know how it "should" sound. I think you'll be blessed if you listen. And if you were blessed with the ability to sing well, or have worked really hard for many years ... don't be discouraged by those around you who "can't sing."