The joy of musical challenges

During the global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, virtual musical performances have fascinated me. I've been blessed by many of the creative compilations that have been shared on social media.

Mid-November, I received an email from Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church about a virtual Christmas choir that I could join. I immediately knew I wanted to do it. But would I? Could I?

I shared the email with others I thought might be interested. Then I tried to prepare myself mentally for the hurdles I would inevitably face to accomplish this possibility. 

I knew there would be technological challenges. 

I was surprised to discover there also were linguistic challenges, as two verses of "Silent Night" were not to be sung in my native tongue. Could I learn to sing those words in German and Spanish? It helped to realize there would be enough people singing that I didn't have to be perfect. It also helped that I would have a vocalist singing along with the accompaniment coming through my earbuds.

The biggest challenge ended up being finding a place to record. Even though I often am involved in Zoom meetings, I don't have a good background for video. Even with this, I finally concluded the images for the virtual Christmas choir would be so small it wouldn't really matter. 

So, this morning, less than an hour before the deadline, I uploaded my recording of "Christmas Medley." 

 

And just minutes before the noon deadline, the upload was completed of my recording of "Silent Night." 

I look forward to seeing how it all comes together. I feel certain it will be a great way to share the joy of Christmas. I'm glad I didn't let the challenges keep me from adding my voice to the virtual Christmas choir.