Hi guys my name is Olivia Foust and I am heavily passionate about my faith in Jesus, music, and contributing to others in a positive way. Although I may know some things, I know I will never be perfect in any shape or form. I believe the only perfect being is Jesus himself and the Word, not only in the Bible, but also reflected in my life shows that. My faith in Jesus has been the shaper of my life. When I was twelve years old I attended church but I did not believe in God or the Trinity. All I cared about was the next boy group I would obsess over. After a while, I began to idolize them and it not only became my personality, but it was affecting my life negatively. That all changed when I was saved in my room at three o’clock in the morning. I was watching my favorite boyband’s concert on my smart TV when I was scrolling through Reddit. I found this article on how they were an ex fan of the same thing I was obsessing over and how what I was doing was idolizing. At first I was offended, but I decided to finally open my Bible my dad had gotten me. Reading over Exodus 20, I saw, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This verse touched me and I could not explain the way I had felt. I believe that was my first encounter with the Holy Spirit. Right then and there I realized what I did was wrong and I was ashamed of what I had done. That night I ripped all of my posters off of my wall, I deleted all of my fan accounts, and I gave away all of the merchandise I had bought with my parent’s stimulus check money. Now that I am over it, I am thankful for that random person on reddit for showing me in the right way boldly instead of leading me into the wrong way softly. As it mentions in John 8:32, “ And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” These days I work on improving myself and doing what God has called me to do instead of my own selfish desires. Sometimes I struggle, but the only thing that matters is if I keep my faith and keep on fighting the good fight. Music is my calling. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved to sing and make beats with random objects around my room. I have participated in multiple music groups including choir for four years, band for two years, and Victory Church in Camden’s youth group worship team my senior year which took a lot of courage and time for me to join due to the fact that I am naturally an introvert. The reason I enjoy music so much is because I can use it to express my emotions and hone my creative skills. For me, I feel the Holy Spirit when I am singing for my worship team more than anything else. It would be so amazing if I could use this same very thing to touch others’ hearts and speak to others in a way that their entire life could be changed just like my life has.

Mawmaw has been a great influence in my life as a minister. She has ministered in many different ways which includes singing for the church worship team, preaching at prisons, praying for random people, and just being a strong woman of God. She inspires me and I have began to follow her ministry in music and leading as well. She has been singing for the worship team at my church for a while now. Everyone admires her boldness and her genuine love for the Lord. There is barely ever a time Mawmaw has her eyes open during worship. She is too busy focusing her attention towards the Lord. That is what I love about her. This has inspired me to close my eyes and spend time with the Lord when I am singing for my youth group. I notice I feel like I do not have any burdens whenever I give my attention towards the Lord. My problems go away during the moment whenever I am doing that. My grandma is so strong. There was a time when she would always go to prisons to minister to them due to the fact that they are low on ministers. She was not soft-spoken when she did that either. She was as bold as she could be. Many prisoners came to become curious about the Lord and could have possibly given their lives to the Lord when she was preaching to them. We do not know where they are with the Lord, but she definitely planted a seed in their hearts. I may not be this bold, but this has made me want to preach to nonbelievers online telling them about the Lord and how much he actually loves us. Mawmaw is a prayer warrior. When I say that I am not being overly dramatic. There is not a day I do not hear her praying and when she prays it is in the spirit. When she prays, she prays in tongues. Whenever someone is down and going through things, she makes sure to pray for them no matter how she is feeling. It does not matter who the person is, she will pray for them. That is a testament for her love towards the Lord. I have gotten to where I can pray for others, but I aspire to be able to pray like she can some day. Lastly, she is very strong in the Lord and that is a ministry in itself. People can look at her and see the light that she radiates. We are called to be a light so I know that must be the the Lord in her. It mentions in Matthew 5:14-16 in the KJV, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." She is an example of that. I have followed in her footsteps with this. At first I did not get the concept of being the light of the world, but now I do. It is being exactly what the world does not want you to be. It is knowing that you will never ever be perfect and having the fruits of the spirit which are love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Music and Why it Inspires Me Music has affected me positively my high school years. I joined choir freshman year, band my junior year, and the worship team my senior year. Music has become my passion because it helps me reflect my emotions, relaxes my mind when I am feeling overwhelmed, makes me feel like I can inspire others, and I believe it is my true calling in life. My freshman year of high school I joined choir. This was a huge transition in my life because I did not know how to sing very loud. My choir director from my first high school Highland and my choir director from my most recent high school Hampton have been amazing teachers and they have helped me improve not just the volume of my voice, but they showed me how to harmonize with others in a group. I am thankful for all four years of choir because I have learned plenty of life lessons within this group. My junior year of high school I joined band. People would wonder why I was joining this group so late. The reason was I had the goal of playing the clarinet. At first, one of my friends was encouraging me not to join because I would not be good enough. Well, I did not listen to that person. When I got into band it was not as easy as I had thought it would be. Instead of starting out with the clarinet like I wanted, I started playing the cymbals. My band director wanted me to master this instrument before I could play the one I wanted. I ended up doing good with the symbols and October of that year I began to practice the clarinet. I then actually started playing the clarinet in December. Since then, I have learned the fingerings, how to not squawk, to play on tempo, and I have learned to march. It is good not to listen to others. One verse this reminds me of is Exodus 15:2 which says, "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him." My senior year was the year I finally decided to join the worship team. At first, since I am naturally introverted I did not want to stand in front of thirty to fifty people and sing about the Lord. My youth pastor and friends encouraged me to go up there, but I was still hesitant. It was until I opened my Bible and the page I had opened said, "Sing unto the Lord a new song," that I decided to get on stage and start doing what God has called me to do. Now, singing in front of others is not so stressful and is actually fun because I faced my giant which was anxiety. So, music is basically my life. It's my passion and I believe my life would be empty without it. I am thankful for all of the training I endured all four years of high school. Music is my passion and it is what God has called me to do. I am confident I will do whatever it takes to inspire others through my music.

Music and Why it Inspires Me Music has interested me my whole entire life whether it was listening to a playlist, learning to play an intriguing song on my clarinet, or writing music. This is why I joined choir my freshman year, band my junior year, and the worship team my senior year. Music is my passion because it helps me reflect my emotions, relaxes my mind when I am feeling overwhelmed, makes me feel like I can inspire others, and I believe it is my true calling in life. Music indeed helps me to reflect how I’m feeling. If I am sad I listen to a sad song to empathize with the writer of that song. If I am energized, I listen to energetic EDM or Brazilian Phonk. If I’m studying, I listen to calming music to get me through studying whether that’s classical or lo-fi. This helps me regulate my emotions. Most importantly, I can not emphasize more the fact that my day is not the best without me listening to my worship music in the morning. Whenever I’m playing music or performing, I feel relaxed. Something about performing calms me down. I guess it's the fact that I know music is not going to judge me like the world around me does. So, I write songs in my notebook, learn new fingerings or notes on my clarinet, or create random tunes on the piano. Sometimes my mom comes into the living-room and plays the piano with me. I enjoy inspiring others through my music. Whether it’s through worshiping at my church, playing my B flat clarinet in my school band, or singing a new hymn in choir first period, it helps me to know I can use my gift to lift others up. I am the most happy with myself when I am singing for my worship team because I know it is not just for myself, but it is also for God. If I could achieve anything in the world it would be touching and inspiring others souls with my music. I believe musical performance is my calling in life because it's what God wants me to do. My reasoning for this is I keep getting taken back to Psalms 98: 1 of the KJV, where it says, “Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.” From this verse I can conclude music is a powerful force. So, music is basically my life. It's my passion and I believe life would be empty without this masterpiece of life. What would happen to the world without music? Would there be happiness? Would there be parties? I believe none of this would be without the amazing art of a voice, a pencil, and instruments.

Hello, my name is Olivia Foust and I am heavily passionate about my faith in Jesus, music, and contributing to others in a positive way. Although I may know some things, I know I will never be perfect in any shape or form. I believe the only perfect being is Jesus himself and the Word, not only in the Bible, but also reflected in my life shows that. My faith in Jesus has shaped my life. When I was twelve years old I attended church but I did not believe in God or the Trinity. All I cared for was the next kpop group I would obsess over. After, a while I began to idolize them blindly. It not only became my personality, but it affected my life negatively. That all changed when I was saved in my room at three o'clock in the morning. I was watching my favorite boyband's concert when I was scrolling through Reddit. I found this article from an ex kpop fan on how being obsessed with something is idolization. At first those words offended me, but I decided to finally open my Bible. Reading over Exodus 20, I saw the words,"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This verse touched me and I could not explain the way I had felt. I believe that was my first encounter with the Holy Spirit. Right then and there I realized what I was doing wrong and I got rid of everything that had to do with kpop from my life. Now that I am over it, I am thankful for that random person on reddit for showing me the right way boldly instead of leading me the wrong way softly. As it mentions in John 8:32,"And ye shall know the truth and the truth will set you free." These days I work on improving my relationship with God. Sometimes I struggle, but the only thing that matters is if I keep my faith and keep on fighting the good fight. Music is my calling. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved to sing and create beats with random objects around my room. I have participated in multiple music groups including choir, band, and my church's worship team. It took me a lot of time and courage to join the worship team due to being naturally introverted. The reason I enjoy music so much is because I use it to express my emotions and hone my creative skills. For me, I feel the Holy Spirit more when I am singing for my youth group more than anything else. It would be amazing if I could touch others' hearts and change their lives the way Jesus did mine. There is something about helping others that makes me feel confident about myself. I enjoy volunteering at my local food bank for Beta Club, watching and signing in kids at my church, and I enjoy making others smile. If I am not leading others to Christ or if I transgress I not only feel discouraged, but I become ashamed of myself. I guess that is why God gave us the Ten Commandments. Sinning is not only disobeying but it also dims your light. It mentions in Matthew 5:16,"Let your like shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father in Heaven."