Instruments of Worship
The Instruments of Worship Podcast, hosted by Casey Rinkenberger, is dedicated to encouraging and equipping classical musicians to lift high the name of Jesus with their instruments and their lives. Tune in every Monday for a new episode!
Instruments of Worship
A Story of Surrender: Playing For the King, No Longer the Applause with Mia Kelso | Ep. 26
As musicians, we can be so quick to forget our identity is found in being made in the image of God and being a child of the King. We opt to substitute something so magnificent for something so fleeting... finding worth in our music. Mia Kelso is an incredible violinist who has ventured from playing in the Dallas Symphony to fiddling at the Grand Ole Opry and beyond. I had the opportunity to hear from Mia about how the Lord captured her heart, lead her through uncertain times, and freed her from the fear of man and performing for praise. My conversation with Mia is honest, fun, encouraging, God glorifying and will surely build you up in your faith. You won't want to miss it!
Discussion Questions - Try discussing with a friend or in our Facebook Discussion Group
- Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?
- Do you relate at all to Mia’s story of loving the approval, praise, and acceptance being a violinist got her? Do you relate to her story of putting her self worth in the quality of her musical performances?
- What is your relationship with music like? Is it what God wanted you to have?
- Are there other genres of music or kinds of instruments that you are interested in learning that might be a good release from what you’re used to?
- Have you ever had a playing related injury that derailed your plans? How did you deal with that and how did God grow you through that?
- What does surrender mean to you? How can you surrender to God today?
- Have you ever thought about God smiling and being delighted watching you use the gifts He’s given you? How might that impact how you perform?
- May God be calling you towards something outside of the music world?
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Hi friends, my name is Casey Rinkenberger and I am so excited to welcome you to the Instruments of Worship podcast. This is a podcast dedicated to encouraging and equipping classical musicians to lift high the name of Jesus with their instruments, but also their lives. Today we have the privilege of talking to Mia Kelso. Mia is a violinist who I heard lots about when I went to Baylor. She had been there several years before me, but she left a lasting impression not only on the violin world at Baylor, but also her church. Mia attended the church that I also went to when I went to Baylor, and so we both got to play in the orchestra there under the direction of Gary Rhodes. He could not speak more highly of Mia and the impact she made during her time at Baylor. From substitute playing with the Dallas Symphony to fiddling at the Grand Ole Opry, Mia is a talented violinist, but is also currently working on staff at a church in Dallas. So I can't wait for us to hear all about how the Lord has worked in her life and in her musical journey. If you think you know someone who might be interested or encouraged in this podcast, please send it to them and make sure to download, follow, and subscribe wherever you are listening. And let's get into today's episode of the Instruments of Worship podcast and my conversation with Mia Kelso. Well, hi, Mia. Thank you so much for being willing to come on the show today. Thanks so
SPEAKER_01:much for having me.
SPEAKER_00:I really appreciate it. So excited to get to hear your story. So I'd love to just start if you could tell us who you are and what you do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So my name is Mia Kelso. And I'm a violinist. I was born and raised in Waco, Texas. And yeah, so I've been a violinist all my life. But now what keeps me busy during the day is I'm an executive assistant at Cross City Church in ULIS, Texas. And yeah, and by night, violinist and violin teacher.
SPEAKER_00:Wow, you must be so busy. So I'd love if you wouldn't mind taking us back and sharing a little bit of your story with us. Mostly I'd love to hear about your testimony, and we'll get into your musical journey kind of a little bit later. But we'd just love to hear where you came from and share a little bit of your testimony with us. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:So of course the musical side and the testimony are all kind of wrapped up one in another. I'll see if I don't jump ahead too much. But yeah, so I can honestly say I've really only been a Christian for about, goodness, maybe seven, eight years now. So I grew up in a home where I was taught all about Jesus. But my understanding of faith was very much shaped more by rules and traditions and allegiance to certain denominations rather than just a personal belief. relationship with Jesus. And, um, so, and, and kind of how music wraps into all this is, is just how, uh, my journey as a violinist just kind of went side by side and how I came to really truly know Jesus, um, in a, just a real sold out way and very personal way. And that's something I'll say a lot. It's just a very personal way and just making him the center of everything. Um, so from, you know, from, as, as with most of this violinists at a young age, we, we're really drawn to, you know, we're all really drawn to violin. I remember seeing a group of kids play and thinking, I want to do that. And I just, I feel like I'm meant to do that. And not long after I started playing, I discovered something even more intoxicating than violin itself. And that was approval, acceptance, the praise, you know, everything that comes along with being, you know, we all be, we're deep down. We all want to be violinists because we want to be in front of people and we You want to excel. And I say that because that's where my identity started really becoming wrapped up in music and being a violinist. It started to be such a core part of myself, and it became the place where I felt valuable and the place where I thought that I'm doing a good job. And I never considered doing anything else with my life. By the time I got to Baylor University, I was studying studying with a teacher I adored and I excelled in my program there. But, you know, as with most of us when we hit college, you know, I kind of saw the wider world of music and I realized that I wouldn't always be the best, you know, and the best way I can describe it is this fear started to creep into my life. This fear of failing musically and a fear of not measuring up, something we all have. And for me, my sense of worth was so tied to my performance that the thought of failure kind of felt like losing myself because I was so wrapped up in music. So looking back now, I can see that God was already just at that time was just planting seeds in my heart. And a big part of that was playing in the orchestra at First Baptist Woodway on Sundays. Yes. And even though I didn't quite yet totally understand the fullness of the gospel, I just remember the sense of joy being in that church every Sunday. And it stayed in my mind. And I can see just how it stood in contrast to everything I was feeling at that time. So when I began my master's degree at Indiana University, those cracks in my identity kind of starting to deepen and and the music world um just started to feel really intense and musically it was spiritually draining and you know i saw students being valued or dismissed based on performance and um music had had been a huge source of joy for me um but now there again just lots of fear and lots of doubt you know god i was i was going to church god was still in the front of my mind, but when I called out to God, he seemed so far away. But I didn't realize at the time, here again, looking back, I just see that God was allowing my false foundation to crumble so he could replace it with himself. So in 2017, this is where kind of the real test, you know, I always kind of have to give that backstory, but this is where the real testimony kind of begins. And that's in 2017. So there was kind of a series of events that that happened that really that really changed my life. And there was a very, very handsome bass player that I had admired for years. And although and although we had never actually talked before, I finally worked up the courage to ask him to come and help me, accompany me at my grandfather's nursing home. In the exact same moment, I sent him a message asking if he'd come help me out. A message came through from him, like they met in the air, like they crossed like this, and asking me to work on a project with him. And I just thought, this is interesting. And we agreed to meet and just talk and catch up at an upcoming fiddle contest in Texas. Texas, and the night before that particular contest, I went to a church service with my dad, because, you know, thanks to my parents, no matter what city we were in, no matter what we were doing, we always went to a church on Sunday, and so it was the night before that contest, and I was just still carrying the full weight of those fears, and, you know, I was scared, I was lost, and I was about to see someone I admired, who I just, they're Again, I just feared really quickly that he would discover how awkward and inadequate that I felt. And that particular night, I prayed something that I never had ever prayed before. And I just prayed. I said, God, are you even there? And I never quite let myself pray that before, but I just so overcome with fear. The next day, that same particularly handsome bass player, with no prompting, just handed me one of his favorite books called Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning. And on the plane ride home, I opened it, and I read a line that really, really, really kind of brought me to a halt, and that was... Jesus loves us so much that it's okay to doubt. And doubt, when brought into a relationship with him, can actually deepen trust. And I was so sure I was just going to be shot down out of the sky for even thinking, for even doubting God. But trust isn't the absence of doubt. It's just choosing to cling to god's goodness and his love even when our feelings and understanding wavers and i was so afraid that if i prayed that prayer of god are you there that would only disappoint him and it would only it would even anger god you know in that moment i felt as if god himself was answering me just saying yes i am here and i am closer than you think so there again just just seeds just wonderful seeds being planted and not long after that that that particular bass player who would later become my husband said that he would like for me a big be a bigger part of his life and we went on a first date and on that first date he shared his faith with me And he spoke about trust, and he spoke about joy and faithfulness, and most of all, the personal relationship that he had with Jesus Christ that was born not out of fear but out of love because of what Jesus had done for him. Everything in his life was done out of love and gratitude. And I just, listening to him, I just thought, that's what Jesus wants. That's what Jesus wants for me. That's what Jesus wants for me. And that's what I want to. And, you know, people often ask me, you know, when I came to accept Christ as my Lord and my Savior. And it definitely was during that season. But for me, it wasn't a single moment. It was a journey of life. you know, several months, a journey that began with a lot of doubt, but became the place where God showed me who I truly was in him, my identity in him. And, you know, shortly after I just poured myself into scripture and listening to sermons and podcasts and just read everything I could get my hands on, realizing that this God was just so, you know, the term heavenly father meant something it meant something far different than it ever had you know and a person I very quickly grew attached to is Tim Keller and as he puts it you know I discovered just how sinful and flawed I was but just I was more loved and accepted you know something that I just look for as a kid in music and I was a accepted in jesus christ and um that jesus was just delighted in you know with me as he looked down on me and see what i was doing with my music like he was delighted and um my worth had nothing to do with music but everything to do with him so you know i say i don't want to skip too far ahead into the music um conversation i know here but you know it's just such a big part of my testimony music is what brought me and my husband together but most importantly music and my husband is what brought me to the Lord truly to accept him as my Lord and my Savior and so music is no longer my identity but but Jesus is and in him I found not just my purpose but my whole life so that's so that's my story and I'm so grateful to have one that entwines so closely with something that I love so much and something I've come back back to now in And it now has a place in my life that Jesus has ordained for it to have. But I'm just so grateful for what he's done in my life and the path that he's taken me on. And
SPEAKER_00:yeah, that's what's brought me here today. Yes. Well, thank you for sharing that. Wow. I love how you just described how as musicians we can want to fill the void with music and there's an emptiness that we think that we can fill with approval or a good performance or just so many different things that can come with the territory of music. But as you say, it is only Jesus who can satisfy. I love when he talks about in John how he is the bread of life. And when we come to him, we will never hunger and we will never thirst. And that's not physically, but it's spiritually. And just how all our needs are met in him. So thanks for describing that so beautifully and sharing your testimony. It's really beautiful to see how the Lord has intertwined music and just coming to know him in your life. So if you don't mind, I would love to go back again and then now trace your story more through a musical lens. First of all, what I find so fascinating about you, Mia, is I know that you have a background in fiddling. And so if you don't mind, could you just share how you started in that? Like, for, I don't know, I don't feel like, at least where I grew up, there was a ton of fiddle players. Maybe I would play fiddle tunes every once in a while, but to be a fiddle player, I so admire that. So could you share some of your journey with that? Of course.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Oh man, so fun. I'm so grateful for, yeah, just getting to be in a good state where there's a lot of good fiddle music going on. So, so yeah, so I grew up in Waco, Texas and, and I always say that I had the chance to become bilingual because in our house, my mom was really into classical music. My dad was really into fiddle music. And so they wanted me to, if I felt like it, they wanted me to really be able to play both of those types of music. So actually, so I have my dad to thank. So he, you know, when I got to be about 13 and was doing pretty well in the classical world, he looked up to see if there were any fiddle contests close. And there There's a very, very small town near Waco named Groesbeck. And so we loaded up and we went to a fiddle contest in Groesbeck. And, you know, it's just out in a park, nothing fancy. And, you know, they just got one mic, the fiddlers, standing around. But I just remember being 13 years old and sitting in that audience and the fiddle contest started. And I just realized, oh, my goodness, I have to do this. This is so fun. I can, you know, oh, my goodness, I just, I want to do it. exactly what they're doing. This music is just infectious and so toe tapping. Now, of course, in my naive brain, I thought like, oh, it's just different notes. No big deal. Just different notes. But I was so lucky in that I connected with great teachers right away. Fiddle teachers, that is. And they were really, really patient with me because although, yes, there's a lot of crossover between classical and fiddle, it's a whole different different style. Um, you know, and just knowing the timing, uh, the timing is probably the biggest part. Um, how you bow is, is, uh, the other really big aspect of that. Um, so it's pretty cool. So, you know, Texas has really big fiddling routes and, uh, believe it or not, if you go to the national fiddle contest, um, what you're competing with is Texas style fiddling. Um, so even though the national contest is held in Idaho, everybody there is playing a style that originated in Texas Um, so yeah, yeah, it's, um, there's a, you know, you kind of have to look for these pockets, but there's a big fiddle community and they're one of the most welcoming, um, just a sweet, encouraging communities you will ever find. Um, in fact, when I, when I won the national fiddle contest, one of my backup players, one of my guitar backup players was actually another competitor that I was competing against. And he would sit down his fiddle and pick up a guitar and come out and support me. me on guitar that's how supportive this community is so yeah super super fun Texas is a great place for it and I was just so lucky to be right in the middle of it and have that bilingual upbringing
SPEAKER_00:that my parents dreamed about yes would you say it was difficult to learn how to fiddle because in my brain that includes a lot of improv like growing up classical where you have every note written out now to okay I have to improv on this fiddle tune is that right understanding oh man that's such
SPEAKER_01:a good question so you know it varies from style to style in Texas fiddle playing there is maybe maybe a little bit of improv but actually for the most part it's all planned out yeah you said you can if you want to change a little something in the moment of course you can but for the most part people are really planning out versions they've studied the masters they've come up with their own version it's practiced it's ready I would say where you see a lot of improv is going to be more in the bluegrass world. Bluegrass world definitely is going to have some more improv in it. And then things, of course, like once you get into jazz, then definitely a lot of improv. But that's something that actually people assume about me a lot. They assume that I can improv and I have to say, I am so sorry, I cannot do that. You give me an hour, I'll be ready. But so I was very pleased to learn that. But there is a lot of learning by ear. And that for me was probably the biggest, the biggest thing, the biggest mountain for me to
SPEAKER_00:overcome. Yeah. So would you just take a recording and just listen, listen, listen? Would you slow it down? Like what would that process be like? Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Much like that. So the tradition of Texas fiddling is that you learn tunes, what they call knee to knee, meaning you sit down across from another fiddle player and they'll play a lick and you play it back and you just do that until you know the tune. And that's still done quite a bit. And I have students come in and they'll say, hey, I learned a tune from so-and-so. And they just went to a contest and, you know, a sweet old guy came up and said, hey, let me teach you a tune. And they just would, you know, learn it right there on the spot. But for me, I always struggled a little bit. My eyes were always better than my ears. I could read music super fast, but the ear part was a little tricky. So I had a really patient teacher who he would just, I would take my video camera and he would just very slowly play through it and I would go home and just learn it by ear there kind of having all the time that I needed to do that but the cool thing was is that the more I did that the faster I got so I was so encouraged to see that even though it was something I wasn't strong in with enough repetition it became second nature
SPEAKER_00:that is so cool so you even I heard from Gary that you were recognized as national football player of the year is that right
SPEAKER_01:yeah pretty much yeah so in um when 2012 long time ago yeah 2012 i was national national fiddle champion um so that was uh i think i was 19 at the time um and uh especially that was a big day for ladies because i'm very proud to say i was the youngest female to ever ever take that title so i'm very very proud to wear that
SPEAKER_00:yeah that's so sweet and then you also played at the grand ole opry so how how did you get there yes
SPEAKER_01:oh man so fun um yes So there's a big competition in Nashville called the Grandmaster Fiddle Competition. And while the prize money is great, the biggest prize is that you get to play on the Opry. So, yeah, so I won that competition. And actually, it takes a whole year. You come back the next year to play on the Opry. You get the hype, has a whole year to grow. Oh, goodness. They'll bring you back, and you get to take some guitar players with you, and they take you out center stage, and you get to play on the Opry and stand in the circle, as they say. Yeah. Oh, just absolutely magical. And I will never, ever forget that experience.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I'm sure. Well, that's that's so impressive. But I'm also curious, as a classical musician, was it a nice release for you to be able to have that other, you know, type of way to play your instrument, but wasn't so maybe and I don't want to assume here, but it's just not the same sort of rigor, not the same sort of like perfectionism, I guess.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, you're 100% right. Yeah. So, I mean, while there's still a lot of things, very highly valued tone and intonation, you're exactly right. There's a lot less, you know, you're not playing up in the high positions. You're not playing a whole bunch of different bow strokes. It's much more simple. The demands are of a different nature. But you're exactly right. You know, when I had a day where I was just exhausted from playing octave scales, you know, going to fiddling where I could just tap my foot. and and just really get into the rhythm the the demand being more just the groove and the rhythm it was a huge um yeah it was a nice little i hesitate to say escape because there's nothing bad about classical music right but uh it was just a good release and and um i uh my my favorite place to practice fiddle actually was sitting on my bathroom counter and i would i would knock my foot against the cabinets to make a really big beat oh um i now looking back on it my parents were very kind to let me do that but um but you know so it's just fun i just hop up on the bathroom counter and get my big old metronome going so absolutely it was um i think it was something that really kept me from from burnout i think i really think it was um i i'm yeah so grateful for that
SPEAKER_00:yeah i i don't doubt that so i just last question about the fiddle world i what would you tell a classical musician who maybe wanted to start learning fiddle i know that i've even thought for myself oh i feel like that's something you have to start when you're really young and grow up in that world but for somebody who maybe is a classical player but maybe wants to dip their toe in or experiment with the fiddle world how might you encourage them
SPEAKER_01:oh i love this question so much yeah so probably the first thing i would say is you know we're i think as as violinists we are we take a lot of pride in just how much we work on intonation and tone and our capabilities. But the people who really, really know fiddle playing the best and can teach you the most about it and these very subtle stylistic differences may not have that. So probably the best advice I can give is make sure you kind of check your pride at the door a little bit, be willing to sit across from someone who might have a scratchy sound and might play a little bit out of tune, but really just try to listen to the nuances. Because, you know, it's, it's pretty funny. I've seen a lot of classical players show up at a fiddle contest, and they will play, I mean, perfectly, perfectly, but they stand out in a very specific way in a way that's not true to the tradition, right? So, you know, we are the classical world is so much about, yeah, accuracy and perfection. And in the feel like a word that we use a ton is groove how good is your groove you know and we don't quite ever say that as classical violinists yes um so yeah just be willing to learn from someone that may not have the same capabilities as you and really just kind of be willing to hear what they have to say and really try to listen with um a fresh mind and i know something that was really tough for me is i really tried to get the two styles to marry at first you know kind of keep my classical nature, but then just go a little bit this way. But I really had to fully separate the two and think, kind of flip a switch and say, okay, now I'm a fiddle player. And then I kind of had to switch back. Now I'm a violinist again and really, because they're so different. So yeah, yeah, just be so ready to learn and try something different. Come to it with a really, really fresh mind and be very teachable. Be very, very teachable. I love that. I love
SPEAKER_00:it. Thank you for sharing. Did you always know that you wanted to pursue music like after high school? And how did you eventually land at Baylor? Yeah, so,
SPEAKER_01:man, I think I can name the moment where I knew I wanted to pursue music. And I always loved music, you know, from the time I was four or five in the violin, especially. But I remember sitting in a summer music camp, Baylor, the Baylor Orchestra High School camp. and playing I think it was a Copland piece and I just remember I very specifically remember thinking I want to do this for the rest of my life and but I just had such big ties to Baylor I grew up in Waco and I had lessons with some of the teachers there Dr. Eka I had lessons with her before and I knew Stephen Hyde really really well they were just such big supporters already and of my musical development and And and at that at that point, going to a school that was Christian, some aspect was was important to me that that especially for a homeschooler, you know, he would step out into an environment that, you know, is going to be supportive. And so, yeah, no, just knew knew from an early age that that's what I wanted to do. And Baylor just just seemed right. I did audition at a couple other schools, but at the end of the day, God very, very. um, strategically pointed me at Baylor and I just loved my time there.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Oh, it's, it's the best. I love it too. Yeah. I would love if you would share about just a little bit more of your experience there. Like how did the Lord grow and teach you, um, during your time there? But I also know that first would wave after this was a huge part of that. So how did you get connected there too? Absolutely. Um,
SPEAKER_01:yeah. So with first Baptist would weigh, I mean a total, total accident. I say that, but we know that God God was behind it all. No, I just kind of heard that there was a church in the area that was looking for, yeah, some Baylor music students to come and fill their orchestra. They had an amazing matching scholarship program going on. And so I reached out to Gary Rhodes and I realized that I was asking and I wasn't really being asked. So I was a little nervous, but I just reached out and I said, man, I heard you might be looking for violinists to fill your orchestra. Is there any chance I can come play? And that was really the first time I had stepped foot in a church that was, you know, what I can just describe is just really, really good biblical teaching sold out for Jesus. Joy, just feeling joy. And I felt that from the people, from the music. And of course, Gary Rhodes went on to become a huge part of my life, a great mentor, and ended up officiating my wedding. But yeah, I would say, you know, kind of along those lines of of, you know, being in first time experiences, you know, at Baylor, there were a lot of man first time experiences there. You know, first of all, just being in a school because I had never been in a school until I stepped foot at Baylor because I was homeschooled all the way through. But I do remember, you know, what Baylor was so good at was was making sure I knew what I didn't know. You know, I think we all know that as music students stepping into college for the first time, we think we know what it's going to be like, we think we know what we're headed for. We think what we know the life after school is going to be like but you know it really is a huge world that we're stepping into and Baylor is very very good at making us aware very quickly of this is what you need to have to succeed in the music world and we're going to help you get there so yeah so I was I was so excited to you know be playing in a huge symphony every week which I had never done before and playing chamber music and I didn't even know what excerpts were until I stepped foot at Baylor Um, practically, but, um, but yeah, just the education there is so good. They really think about what's next for these musicians. And so, um, I was so grateful to have so many kind teachers who love the Lord to walk me through that and, um, show me how much more I had to learn, but I loved it. I loved learning what I needed to, to know and continue to pursue.
SPEAKER_00:If that makes sense. Totally. Totally. Totally. Did you have good, like, Christian community when you were there? And I just want to commend you, too, also just finding a church to get plugged into. You know, sometimes it's hard for college students to take that next step and make their faith their own when they go to college and to really dive deep and plug into a local church body. So did you feel like you had that community? I did,
SPEAKER_01:absolutely. And I was at a little bit of an advantage being in my hometown that I, you there really well, but I did try to plug into the churches that were very much geared for students. That's another thing that just Baylor does really, really well. They try to make sure their students know about what churches are close and really encourage students to go and find a place to plug in. Now, being a music student, I will say I wish I would have plugged in more, but considering how I felt at the time just about my music, you could find me probably about eight hours a day in a practice room room yeah not as much um connecting probably with the people that I needed to connect with um so looking back I wish I had um valued that a little bit more but I will say actually really want to just commend um a friend of mine and that is when I went to uh Indiana um to pursue my master's um that's much less a Christian environment up there and a friend of mine started what she called the Jacob's Christian Fellowship. And all she did is she just tried to identify Christians in the School of Music, which it's one of the biggest schools of music in the nation. And she would invite them to meet once a week or once every other week and we would get together and do a short scripture reading. And there again, even though I would say I was a part of that, you know, I still hadn't yet really come to know Jesus in a big big way but it planted there again the biggest seeds in me and i'm so grateful to her for for doing that and she would she would cook a meal and lead the bible study and boy if i can just encourage anyone out there is that if you are having trouble getting plugged into a community try to create your own you could be the catalyst for and you know for something like that and it's just such a huge blessing to to music students who oftentimes if you're a christian and music student, you're most often a minority and it's hard to find your people. So I am so grateful to her for taking that initiative. And we had a huge group, I think, by the time I graduated. And so that community I was really, really grateful for.
SPEAKER_00:For sure. Oh, that's wonderful. So what was your experience at Indiana then like? Yeah. So Indiana was
SPEAKER_01:a, boy, big difference from Baylor, you know. It's a much more secular school, of course. But wow, it's just huge. It's just huge. You can't get to know everybody. But man, the professors there were just amazing. Actually, my professor there had taught my previous teacher at Baylor. So he's kind of my grand teacher in a way. But there again, it was so wonderful to step into this school that was much bigger. I mean, there were students there that were just so talented and kind of be hit with that realization of, wow, okay, I don't know everything. But this school is going to make sure I figure it out pretty soon. But I do say Indiana is really where I discovered a love for teaching. So Mimi Zweig teaches the pedagogy program there, and she was Joshua Bell's teacher. She nurtured him when he was a small boy. And, um, and so I got to study under her and take pedagogy from her and she really got me plugged into the string Academy there. And, um, man, just, she really, really, um, just woke up that, that love of teaching and just that excitement of seeing kids just fall in love with their instrument and Excel. So that was one of the biggest blessings I, I found there. Um, but yeah, yeah, just different experience with it. Just the, the sheer size of it all. Um, you've find your small communities because much like I did with the Jacobs Christian Fellowship, simply because you can't know everybody. But the level of playing there is just astounding. Great professors, different vibe from Baylor for sure, but really excellent music instruction there. And pedagogy, wow. So fun.
SPEAKER_00:Good, good. So I heard from Gary and Correct me if this is true. Did you ever struggle with injuries while you were doing music? Yes. Yeah, I
SPEAKER_01:think most people would say they would. Yes, yes. But I had a particularly scary injury. Just my arm started going numb, which can mean a couple, you know, many different things. But I had cubital tunnel, which is much like carpal tunnel, but it's in your elbow. So I would be playing and just the whole arm would go numb. And this all started happening just a couple months before my master's recital. And at Indiana, you only give one recital for your master's degree. But I will say that, you know, that injury did kind of coincide with some of the events I was speaking of in 2017 with discovering the Lord and that trust. And so I was so grateful that for the timing of that. God's timing is always perfect and he will never cease to amaze me with how he, um, designs, uh, you know, these things in our lives, but it was just another, it was just another test of trust, you know? And, um, yeah, so I came to know the Lord about the same time that was happening and I just, and I just felt that, you know, this is, this is God asking me to surrender. And that was, that's a big word that I, I carry with me a lot and have to remind myself of is surrender. And, and trust. And I felt like that's what I did with that injury. I just kind of surrendered that. And, and I very distinctly remember, you know, preparing for that, preparing for that particular recital, and then playing that recital. I remember just having this picture of, you know, when I walked out on stage or through that preparation of just seeing God smile. And, you know, someone who struggled with feeling inadequate. wanting to measure up. It was amazing how through that, and especially through that injury, I worried less and less about what my arm was gonna do or how the music was gonna sound. But I just focused on, this is what God is doing. He's smiling when he sees me prepare, when he sees me play. And I walked out on stage and I just remember feeling no fear and just thinking that God is just so delighted with what I'm doing today because I have surrendered. I've put my full trust in him. And to this day with that injury, I played a whole master's recital with that injury. And I would say today it's the best recital I've ever given. And I was so, so grateful for that. But yeah, I did end up having that arm worked on shortly after and it was just fine. And I had a kind of a similar thing happen in 2022. 2022, I was preparing for for a solo appearance with the Waco Symphony, and I had tendonitis in the same arm. Oh, goodness. So I'm just the picture of tension, it would seem. Oh, no. But there again, it was just such a, you know, again, through that process, I had to limit myself to just about 45 minutes of practice a day, and that was torture.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, man.
SPEAKER_01:But there again, just such a wonderful, it was a blessing. It was an absolute blessing from the Lord. I learned new ways to practice. I learned to enjoy the practice. I learned to be grateful for the practice. And I came out on the other side of that a better violinist. And I wouldn't change a thing. I would hate to go back through that and not have tendonitis because it taught me so much about my relationship with Christ and just about being a better violinist. So that's, I can honestly say that the injuries that I have had have shaped me as a musician a almost more than anything else. Wow. They've just, yeah, absolutely transformed how I think about music and how I think about my relationship with Christ and how I perform. So, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I love that because you already typically for a classical musician have the fear of man when you perform. And then when you add on top of that the fear of an injury, that would be so, so much. And so I just can only imagine how it would bring you to your knees. And I'm so thankful for your example in that that It's just another opportunity to trust the Lord. But a lot of musicians go through some sort of physical struggle or injury. And so thanks for your example and how to walk that open handed, though. And actually, I would have played in the orchestra behind you with the Waco Symphony when you play. Wasn't it the introduction to Rondo and Capriccioso? It was. It absolutely was. Yes. Yep. So cool. Yeah, it was a great performance. It was great. I would have never known that you were struggling with that so oh thank you yes yes so after indiana what did what did your music look like after that oh what
SPEAKER_01:a great question you know after after um kind of having those couple months where, you know, I made that big shift in my relationship with Christ. I actually, I came back to Waco and I actually had a very important conversation with Mr. Gary Rhodes. You know, I realized at that point that my career in music had been based off of something that was not what God wanted for me. And so I started trying to figure out, you know, what do I want to do with my life now that Jesus is at the center of it and I'm not feeling like music may be what I'm meant to do right now but my mind just immediately went to every teacher who's ever poured into me my parents who paid for every music lesson my grandparents who helped pay for music lessons and I just started thinking man I can't not do music because so many people have invested in me and some people had been very vocal with me about, you know, don't get swept up by some man and just quit playing music. You know, everyone was so afraid that I would go. Everyone was afraid I was going to go a different path. And here I was considering that. But I sat down with Gary and Karen and I realized I just needed someone who was so in touch with the Lord to look me in the eye and say, Mia, it's okay. It's okay if you want to do something else. If you want to just play make music what you want it to be and go find something find another path that that's gonna that's gonna follow the path the lord is leading you down that's never the wrong one that's never the wrong one if you hear him calling you have to answer you have to step out of the boat i was just so grateful and he and his wife just spoke into me so much in that conversation and so i uh so i graduated from indiana and i i didn't know what i was gonna do but i just packed up and i came back to texas because I love Texas. Yes. of started feeling uh after a few years started feeling a prompting from the lord of um you know i just that he wanted me to to be doing something else because the beautiful thing about uh musicians is oftentimes the the skills that we cultivate as musicians are so applicable to other things you know and a lot of times we're very organized we're very perfectionistic we're very um accurate and we love a good to-do list you know and those kind of things um Um, so, you know, I just started having some conversations with my husband and just saying like, I feel like I might, I feel like God might be calling me to do something else, but I just, I don't know what. And I remember my husband asking me, he said, well, Mia, just let me just ask you this question. If you could do absolutely anything in the world, um, what would you want to do? And I'm not even sure I had thought about it before, but what I said was, I said, I would love to be some kind of like, administrative assistant that just sounds like fun to me I love the thought of being in an office and this being around people getting to like form really good relationships and you know just office culture and that just sounds really really fun I love anticipating needs and I would love to do that for someone else and at the time my husband was on staff at a church at our church he was the music director there and I had often found myself just thinking man that would just be amazing to just work in a place where you're surrounded by believers and all your work is just, um, is very much in pursuit of bringing people to Christ. And, um, so through, through my husband, I got into, um, really form great connections with a lot of the staff members at church. And man, I want to say it was maybe a couple of weeks after I had that conversation with my husband, um, the pastor at our church, he called me up. Aww. Aww. And I don't think I'd ever spoken any word of that thought to anyone, but he had just kind of seen what I like to do and saw my, well, actually we use a, I volunteered at our church and we use a certain kind of strengths finder thing. And he just had taken a look at that and thought, man, Mia really looks like a perfect fit. So, and that brings me to today. So I am for almost five years now, four or five years now, I've been executive assistant at Cross City Church to the lead pastor, Pastor John Medder. And it is absolutely fit me like a glove. I love the work there. And although a lot of what I do is administrative, I get to oversee some amazing ministries. I oversee the foster and adoption ministry, which I love, and our widow's ministry, and really get to do a lot of appreciation events. I mean, it's just wonderful And I love the people there. I love what I'm doing every day. You know, I was so worried about in departing music. I felt like I was going to let people down, but I really see that everything that anyone ever poured into me is just being poured out at my church now. Every single skill, every single thing that they taught me is just being used for the glory of God in his house. And I love it. I love it. I don't see myself ever leaving or doing anything different.
SPEAKER_00:Wow. Oh, that is so cool. I love that. Yeah, it's funny how you say that because a musician's life is typically so, it's not a nine to five. It is very all over the place. And sometimes that appeals to people, but when you've done it for so long, it almost sounds appealing. Like, wow, to sit in an office and, you know, be surrounded by those people. I can totally see that. So that is awesome. Do you still play though, even though you have this different job? Yeah,
SPEAKER_01:so I absolutely do. I absolutely do. Philharmonic, and I do a ton of freelance work. So in short, I still play a lot of music, but I just, I play it for the joy of it. I just, I take the jobs that look like fun, and I'm just like, oh, I've got some friends who are playing over here. Oh, Pirates of Penzance, let's do it. So just take the jobs that bring me joy, and yeah, and even now, just today before we hopped on, I was just practicing sing for an audition for a small regional symphony that i thought might be fun because i've got some friends over there so music um i would has never i feel like has never been a bigger part of my life than it is right now but it's just i just have such a it's it's what god wanted i have the relationship with it that god wanted me to have and that's just a joyful a joyful joyful relationship i just i love practicing there's no fear there's only joy and even i'm this past weekend I had an opportunity to play at a birthday party for a very dear friend of mine who is turning 80 years old and I played some hymns and even just in that I mean I think to a classical musician I think we might kind of look on that as ugh I got this gig for you know over here and playing simple stuff but that just it just brought me so much joy and I had so much fun man just felt I feel the presence of the Lord so strongly in those moments that may not look so glamorous like we picture musicians always always having those glamorous moments but for me that's where I really feel the presence of the Lord is in those small ones where it's not about how I look or how I sound but just about what my music is bringing and I hope in all things that I play now that it really points to the glory of God and it really encourages people to follow the sun being up to the sun and see or where these beautiful notes, beautiful sound come from. The music now just holds such a special place in my heart, and that comes directly from Jesus. He has given me that gift of music for His glory. And that's... just changed everything
SPEAKER_00:just changed everything yeah wow well you've shared so much great wisdom with us today but my last question for you would just be how would you want to encourage someone who's a Christian navigating the classical music world how might you encourage them today
SPEAKER_01:oh I love that man I the biggest way I could encourage you is just by saying um it's important to know your your why why are you why are you playing music and I think sometimes we just get so especially in college we get so set on what's the next thing what's the next thing it's a master's audition it's a master's recital it's this audition is know your why and stay very true to it and hopefully that why is the glory of God but really try to hold tight to the joy the joy of music know your why and and also just know that if you are listening to the Lord through scripture and prayer, he will lead you the right direction. If you have surrendered, you have put your full, full trust in him to guide your steps. He will only take you his direction and that's the right direction. I know, I know for me, I mean, many, many sleepless nights of over which school, which piece do I play, which, what's the right, the right thing. But at the end of the day, sometimes the, biggest act of praise the lord is just saying like you know what i'm just gonna i'm just gonna decide on this one and trust and trust the lord i'm gonna decide i'm gonna decide on the mozart instead of the broms and i'm just gonna trust the lord with it you know and um and so just be be as connected with the lord as you can be and trust that he will guide your steps and i know especially as a boy i know as a 20 year old that is hard to do that is really really hard even as a 30 year old now it's still tough but looking back I wish I could encourage young me with that just knowing that if you place your trust in the Lord he will take you down his path and it's always right and I'm so grateful we don't get to choose our own path you know whenever we if we were able to choose we would never choose well but the Lord would choose perfectly and he knows how he wants to guide our steps so surrender and trust know why you're playing music and uh and just try to keep that joy keep that joy
SPEAKER_02:oh
SPEAKER_00:my goodness so good well thank you so much mia for being willing to spend some of your day with us and just to share how the lord has worked in your life it's so beautiful oh thank you so much for
SPEAKER_01:having me it's so good to see you and um Man, I just love what you're doing here with this podcast. It's absolutely amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Well, thank you so much for spending part of your day with me today. Please check out the description to find discussion questions that you can reflect on by yourself or with a group. We actually have a Facebook page now that you can join where we talk about these discussion questions. We answer them and we encourage and equip one another as we walk this road of being a Christian in the classical world together. So please feel free to leave a five-star review if you like this episode and I will see you next month. Monday.