Hello. My name is Monica and I have a blog.

When I contemplated starting a blog, I was scared. I wrestled with the idea that God would really want to use me in such a way as to have me put words on the Internet where there are so many words already. And then, well, you have to name it—the blog, I mean. And learn how to get the words from your head to a page to a blog on the Internet. It seemed daunting. And I tend to run behind the pack when it comes to technology. (Yes, I still have a DVD player AND a VHS player in my house.)

Praying about my fears one morning, I was reminded of one of my all-time favorite poems: “The Touch of the Master’s Hand” by Myra Brooks Welch. I committed the poem to memory in the third grade for UIL competition and never forgot it. I loved the image of an old violin, up for auction, passed over by all the bidders suddenly brought to new life when a violin master takes it up and plays a beautiful yet powerful melody. The value of the violin, known all along to the master, is suddenly made known to the world. Only the master knows how to draw such beauty from something so battered and worn.

In sharing my random thoughts about God and the lessons He teaches me, I realize I am like that worn violin. I don’t always recognize my value or abilities. I prefer to share my “music” in the company of the Master and a small, intimate audience. It feels safe and cozy. I can play boldly in such an environment. But now I feel the pull to allow the music God plays in my life to be heard on a grander scale, as if He is choosing to display His glory—using my battered old violin—in the chasm of a vast hall. And my heart shudders at the terror and thrill of the possibility that He could use my words to reach so far. I am much more used to sitting in a hall, enjoying the music the other instruments make, maybe chiming in a note or two.

As I prayed about this idea of my words being put on display for a large audience to access, I realized a simple truth. I speak these words to glorify God, and only Him. If the One who inspires my words is the only one who reads them as well, I am content. Walking in obedience to Him and pleasing

His love gives me courage.

my Heavenly Father is all that should matter to my little heart. If ten people arrive to see what God is up to in my life, glory be. If ten thousand should show up, maybe I won’t notice and be terrified. Maybe I’ll just look directly at the Master and sing for Him. His love gives me courage.

And so I am confident to start this blog because I believe it is an act of obedience to use a gift God has given me for His glory. It is not my responsibility to fill up a small room or a grand hall. I will testify of God’s goodness and grace and love for me because I love Him and because He hears. I will put this testimony in a place where others can read it too and praise my good God because I know when I submit to the Master’s hand and let Him work in my life, I can rest. I am in His hands and not my own. I am subject to His will and His love and His limitless capacity. It is not about me at all.

As for my blog’s purpose, I am delighted at what God can do and what I am learning from Him and so I want to tell you about it, if you’d like to hear. I am but one instrument in a symphony called the Church and I want to play my part. I am here to do the work of the Master as He is constantly at work in me. And maybe one day, being transformed by His hands, my otherwise worn and lackluster vessel can help make such music as to unite the divided, to soften the hearts of the hard, to dignify the forgotten, to bring hope to the weary, to glorify my God.