Don’t Stop, Keep Singing

An experience at the Feast this year taught me a lesson about the power of encouragement and love. I’d like to share that lesson with you.

I was terrified. My throat was parched, and I knew the sound that would come out of my mouth would be terrible.

That was confirmed with my first note. I apologized to the audience and wanted to walk away from the microphone, but my feet would not move. So I sang. What followed next was not what I expected.

Have you ever felt the same way? Have you ever been in a position where you faced two choices: keep going, or walk away in defeat not knowing what could have been?

Here’s the rest of the story

Over the past 10 years, I have sung special music or performed at the fun show each year at the Feast of Tabernacles. This year in Tucson was no different. I signed up for the variety show, but I knew that my voice had been changing as a result of new retainers (or possibly age).

I had no problem singing a portion of the song for the music coordinator. As I took my morning walk on the day of the fun show, I sang and still had no problem. But as I awaited my time to sing that evening, the dry wind of the desert started to affect my voice.

I quickly drank water, but it didn’t help. I knew my voice was gone. I walked up to the microphone after I was introduced, and the music started. I sang the first three words, but knew it just wasn’t going to work. I stopped and apologized to the audience and started to walk off the stage.

That was, until I heard the encouragement from the crowd asking me to continue to sing.

I had no choice but to sing. Throughout the performance, I heard positive reactions, and finally, at the end, appreciative applause. As I walked to my seat, I was met by several people with words of encouragement that comforted me. During the remainder of the Feast, I continued to receive encouragement and compliments from the brethren.

What I learned

The voice that I presented to my family that evening was flawed, but the kind and gracious words they gave me were soothing to my soul. The love and concern my spiritual family showed me during that frightening time amplified the lessons I learned from the sermons during the Feast of Tabernacles.

I will forever remember this experience and fondly think of that loving audience sitting in the desert that evening, giving me the encouragement to keep singing.

For more insight on this topic, read our article on "How to Show Appreciation".