Every year since I was in ninth grade I have been going on choir tours. The choir tours last seven days and those seven days are life changing every year. In those seven days we sing a musical and spread God's word to people in children's homes, retirement homes, and churches within the United States. We rent a giant bus (this year it had a Clemson design on it. Go Tigers!) and we drive to our main destination while stopping along the way to sing at various places. Our main destination this year was Amherst NY/Buffalo NY. We slept in gyms on air mattresses, hotels, and host homes. Host homes are when people open their homes to us and give us a bed to sleep in, a hot shower, and food to eat for a night.

These were two of my host homes this year:

My first host home was a lady who reminded me of my own grandmother and she welcomed us into her home with tons of ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate, and brownies. We stayed up watching Dirty Dancing and talking about our lives, and in the morning we woke up to a delicious breakfast.

My second host home was actually the pastor of the church we were singing at. He lived out in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful farm. When we got to his house he had built a fire and we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. We shared stories, played games, and talked about our faith. We also had the opportunity to watch a couple of people go skydiving over his farm! In the morning he and his wife had made us a breakfast of pancakes and eggs and they shared their wonderfully fun breakfast tradition with us. When they make pancakes, you have to catch your first one. We all thought they were joking, but they weren't, so we all took turns catching our pancakes as he threw them to us. I'd never had so much fun at breakfast before!

Since our destination was the Buffalo area this year, we got a chance to visit Niagara Falls! Visiting there had been on my bucket list for forever, and I was so excited! It was absolutely breathtaking, and I couldn't believe how big it was. We rode the Maid of the Mist boat tour and it brought us right up to the falls where we got soaked.

I can honestly say that this choir tour was one of my absolute favorites. I especially loved our musical this year because it showed how we as Christians can act day to day. We ended the musical by singing a song titled "I Want More" and a song called "Our God Saves". Each time we would sing those songs, you could see it effected our audience. Each time we sang those songs people's faces changed, not only our audience's, but also ours. Singing those two songs alone was a really moving experience, but along with the play, it was a great message.

If you ever get the opportunity to join a Christian youth choir, you should take it. There's not a single day that I regret joining Wings for the Lord. Joining that choir has been one of the greatest things I've ever done, and it has really helped point me in the right direction. It has helped me surround myself with good Christian friends, and has helped my faith grow.