The first time I visited the EBC youth group was for the 2019 Christmas party.  Laura Gartner invited me, but I got there 10 minutes before she did.  I didn’t know anyone, so I sat off by myself to wait for her.  Rosemary Costner and some other girls noticed me sitting by myself watching everyone else hang out.  They came up to me and invited me to hang out with them.  I sat and talked with Rosemary and Chris while the other girls played Chinese Ping-Pong.  They were all so kind and inclusive to me that night.  I was having a hard time fitting in at my youth group that I had been at for a while.  So, when my parents suggested changing churches, I wanted to go to Elizabeth to be with them.
When we came to Elizabeth that first Sunday to visit the youth group it was like coming home.  I finally felt like people cared about me and wanted to be friends with me.  The Coburns invited us to go to their house later that week to hang out.  I was shocked and thrilled because pretty much no one at our old church ever invited us over except for one new family.  I felt like the people here at Elizabeth actually wanted me to be here and enjoyed hanging out with me.  As we kept coming to Elizabeth, we made more close friends like Paige and Carter.  We moved here from Waxhaw six years ago, and I felt like I would never again fit into a youth group until I came to Elizabeth.  I am so thankful for this church, and I hope new visitors will feel as included as I did.