Hearing this really touched my heart and I soon began to realize that this church was the church for me. Not only because of the people but because the church just felt real. I truly felt that I was in a church full of people that loved me and most importantly God. Inspired by this, I thought long on how I could contribute to the church more and get closer to God. Then, I saw the praise team and I saw that they were truly blessed and happy to praise God. So, I finally came up with the idea of joining the praise team. But being that I was a quiet person, I didn’t volunteer. Although I couldn’t play an instrument at the time, I was dying to get into praise team. I might not have acted like it but I really wanted to join.  Eventually I got the chance to learn the basics of the guitar, and that’s when I nearly lost it. I got so excited and I constantly thought to myself, “hey maybe I could do awesome guitar solos and amaze people or maybe I could become a famous Christian guitar player like Chris Tomlin.” After learning little about the guitar, felt that I was ready and able to join, but after a few months passed by, that passion slowly died out and I eventually stopped going to church on Fridays too. I was getting more and more away from God and I noticed it too, but I just couldn’t make myself come back to him and to church, even on Sundays whether it was because I was busy or because I was too lazy.

After several months of coming and not coming to church, an opportunity for me to join praise team came up, and the passion I once had for joining praise team and worshipping God sparked again and I was excited.  I thought that the praise team was just going to be all fun and playing instruments but once I had joined, I found out that praise team was very hard and serious. I learned that the praise team members had to come to church every Friday at five and practice until worship and bible study, which starts at eight and ends around ten thirty. It is very hard and time consuming, but at the same time I am thankful for it because it makes me come to church on Fridays and praise God, which is something I have wanted to do for a while. Although I have not been in the praise team long, I truly feel that God has called me to praise and worship him through the praise team. Even if that means that I have to learn a new instrument and sometimes embarrass myself in front of people. But to be honest, I am very thankful for receiving the blessing and opportunity to join the praise team and serve the congregation, and I hope that I can be a praise team member for a long time. Thank You!