LOOKING back, Ann-Marie will be forever grateful to her friend who entered her in the 2010 gospel song finals as she was initially reluctant to commit herself to the task of ministering through music on a national scale. Her entry was so powerful in its reach that on Sunday, July 25, she copped the National Gospel Song winner title.

I Can Trust God was the winning entry, and according to Laing the song was inspired by two sermons she heard earlier this year. "I was actually thinking of entering another song and I wrestled with the decision for about two hours and then went into my living room and the entire song just rolled out effortlessly."

A Christian for the past thirteen years, Laing has been involved with the Baptist church though she grew up in the Holiness Christian Church in Brighton, St Elizabeth. A teacher at Balaclava High School, her job ensures that she enriches the lives of her students through music.

This is something dear to her which is why one of her highlights of the entire experience on the road during the competition period was going into a girls' home in St Ann and a children's home in Mandeville.

"Those two visits were big for me. I have been working with children for eight years as a teacher but I've never been at places where you see children without a family unit, and that for me was moving as I lost my mother at fifteen and my dad at just seven months. I know what it feels like to be an orphan so to have the opportunity to minister to them made a difference to me."

Since winning her life, she confessed has been a powerful rollercoaster. "It has been crazy. I have been living on the phone so I haven't been able to rest much. The travelling for the road shows has made me very tired but I am so grateful. It is also overwhelming with everyone calling to say congratulations but the most touching calls are the ones from persons saying how the song has ministered to them.

Her win, she stressed, is an opportunity to share the gospel on a wider scale. "I will certainly be sharing the gospel's message of peace and trust. I have always gone to the various schools and churches in my community to aid them in whatever way I can. I want to continue this and encourage talented persons to excel and make their talent known."

As all 10 finalists grew close over the three-month period they were together, they have committed themselves to doing at least one song together. That is high of Laing's things to do next along with a few singles and an album later on.

As to the coveted purse money, she has already remembered to give her tithes at church with the rest set aside to spend on her album as she intend to be prepared when the appropriate time comes.

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