The heroine in my current work is a woman who often stares at herself in a mirror and sees the weak and frightened little girl she once was, and yet, each time, as she searches the face in the mirror, she finds the woman God made her to be and she dons a public facade of strength and fortitude, an ever-present byproduct of her unwavering faith.

Sound familiar?

Are any of us really as confident as we try to appear?

At one point in my story, as my heroine falters, my hero tells her he admires her confidence and strong moral compass and his words lift her up, empower her, and help her to believe in herself.

Then her father-in-law compares her to the old violin in the poem The Master’s Hand and for the first time, she sees herself through the eyes of these two men, an instrument of God, a woman of courage and fortitude, a force to be reckoned with. This new perspective gives her courage. She dares to do something great, not just good—everyone can achieve “good”—but truly great. She steps out, beyond her fear, beyond her self-doubt, beyond her grief, to grasp a future bright with hope and faith and love, the things that make a life.

I hope you have people like this in your life, friends or family who bring forth your music and help you to discover your true worth. And I hope too, that you are a force in the lives of those around you.

You could be. We all should be.

Have you touched anyone lately?