My name is Eryka Daniels and I am sixteen years old. I have been following Christ since I was thirteen. These past three years have been great and I am looking forward to the many years to come. My walk with Christ hasn’t been perfect, but I am looking forward to shaping myself in His image. But how did I get here?

When I was younger, I came to church, but it didn’t have a lot of meaning in my life. I began coming to my current church when I was in second grade. I hated it because I thought they were treating me like a baby and I wanted to be treated like I was older. I was distant from not only God but from others around me. I stopped going to church for a long time and didn’t come back until I was thirteen and entering eighth grade.

When I returned, I didn’t know what to expect. I came and sat with my mom, not talking to anyone and keeping myself away from others. Then, the message flashed onto the screen for all students from 6th grade to 15 to go downstairs. I followed reluctantly and sat on the couch with strangers. After the lesson, the youth pastor came up to me and invited me to youth group. That Wednesday I went and was hooked. I came every Wednesday and learned about the truth.

Today I still attend youth group and serve my church in many other ways. I am a part of the youth worship collective team and I am a youth leader. I also serve the church as a greeter on Sunday mornings. One of my favorite bible verses to date is Ephesians 2:8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one may boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” This reminds me that no matter what I do, it’s God’s plan that will prevail. I am grateful for how much I have grown and for how much I will grow in the future.