About a month ago, God revealed that I am supposed to do something with music when I return to the States. Something in addition to worship leading.
When I first heard this, I was hesitant. I wasn’t confident in my singing ability or my guitar playing ability. I knew there were better singers out in the world who could produce far better songs. To put it simply, I didn’t believe in the voice God had given me.
After a week of being in Uganda, my translator Fred told me that he had produced two albums and was working on a third. He then asked me, “Will you record one of my songs with me in the studio?” I thought he was joking. He had only heard me sing a few lines that came out of my mouth when we were walking house to house to evangelize.
I answered, “Sure!” thinking that it would never actually happen.
The next day Fred wrote down the lyrics of the song and taught me the melody line. I sang through it several times to practice. Even after learning the song, I still didn’t believe we would go to the studio to record it.
A few days later, my team and I arrived at the church to do evangelism ministry. Fred approached me and asked if that night would work for me to go to the studio.
That evening, Fred and I walked about 15 minutes away from my team’s guesthouse to the recording studio. We walked into a tiny square room that felt like a sauna. There were no windows, and the one fan that was in the room couldn’t be turned on because it would interfere with the sound when recording. 
The 20 year old producer introduced himself and then immediately started playing the accompaniment and told me to sing the melody line into the microphone. He had me repeat it several times to get it to his liking. Then as I listened to myself sing the melody line in the headphones, he asked me to sing a harmony part. This may or may not have been a dream come true for me! I was loving it so far.
Once the chorus and verses were finished, the producer asked me to sing a descant overtop of the melody. He told me to sing “runs” however I was feeling in the moment. I gave him a surprised, doubtful look and admitted, “Umm, I’m sorry but I don’t do that.” He looked at me and said, “You are so good. Believe in yourself! Why don’t you believe in yourself?”
It was at that moment that I realized he was right. I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t think I was talented enough to sing runs and descants.
I attempted to sing some runs for him, and we quickly finished recording all the parts of the song. As we walked out of the studio, I realized how much joy singing had just brought me.
A week later, I was sitting in church after the Sunday morning service and I watched Fred put a CD in the CD player. The song we recorded started playing over the speakers. My teammates began lavishing me with encouraging words, making me momentarily feel like an artist.
While it was weird to hear myself singing, this was the first time I’ve ever listened to myself sing without cringing. This was the first time that I didn’t critique myself by pointing out every detail that was wrong with my voice. This was the first time I was actually pleased with the sound of my voice.
As I was reflecting on my recording studio opportunity, I heard God say, “I did that so you would recognize how good you are.” My instant reply was, “Isn’t that prideful?” God responded, “No. I want you to accept and claim the gift I have given you, Amy.” 
I can honestly say that for the first time in my life, I have claimed the gift God has given me. It’s not my ability, and there’s nothing I have done to deserve it. But God has graciously and lovingly given me the ability to sing, and I finally believe in myself.
I finally believe in the voice God has given me because I fully believe in the Giver of all gifts.
