It was 1994 and was to be one of their most important performances to date, The Children’s Royal Variety Performance. In the prescence of Her Majesty Princess Margaret, and with several million television viewers watching at home were Noel Edmunds, Daren Day, Billy Pearce and a new all girl band, Eternal.

As they prepared to go on, another member of the cast knew that the waiting was the worst moment of all for many performers. Nightmare thoughts can often plague a you at this time. What will I do if I can`t hit the note?! What happens if I drop a lyric or slip over on stage and make a fool of myself!? For Eternal, any worries like this must now somehow be pushed aside as they prepare to go out and face the audience and cameras.

The other cast member sees them with heads bowed, huddled in the wings. He knows what they are doing, he`s done it himself many times before. He joins them and together they lift the whole show up in prayer. A rush of energy and determination, mixes with a sense of peace and calm, and now they are ready.

Since those early days of stardom, Eternal have stormed the music charts in every possible way. With more than fourteen consecutive hit singles, in the UK as well as hits in the USA, Australia and Japan, they are one of the most successful girl bands ever. Amazingly, they have reached the top fifteen with every single they have released to date.

It`s hard work though, and whilst the girls can enjoy some of the glamour that their popularity affords, there are many sacrifices to be made too, particularly in the area of family, friends and social life. There just isn`t time to establish any real friendships. They believe that working hard for a few years now in order to establish themselves, means that hopefully later they can slow down a little and think about other things than just showbusiness.

The old saying that two`s company, three`s a crowd is certainly not true in the case of Eternal. Easther and Vernie Bennett are sisters, Kelle was with them since the band was formed, and they all get on well together, even when forced to spend a lot of their time together.

All of them are committed Christians, and still make time to pray backstage before each performance. They feel it`s important to say `thankyou` for yet another opportunity to use the gifts that God has given them. In fact for Easther and Vernie their earliest memories of singing is in church, where their mother was a pastor.

They have never hidden their Christianity, and have realised that they have many opportunities to be open about their spirituality in front of the worlds media. Their albums and singles also often contain lyrics which unmistakably express the girls Christian faith. Its also important for them to show that a belief in God doesn`t mean you have to be boring, in fact quite the opposite.

They do believe that part of their success is their unwillingness to sell their records by using sexy images, however. Deliberately side-stepping the temptation to be a sexually based group, they feel that an image that sees them more in control, particularly through their complicated dance routines, is more attractive to their audience

As the girls themselves say, they are not wanting to be another `flash in the pan` band , but have set their minds on creating a solid working base that will sustain them for many years to come. They are obviously keen to live up to their name, `Eternal`. Their `Greatest Hits` album was released in 1997, and if the past years are anything to go by, there are many more of these albums just around the corner.

Easther`s favourite verse is:

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8 verse 28.

Easther says, "This is the verse that really seems to fill up my heart at the moment."

"The reason I believe that God makes `all things work for good` is because I feel that if it wasn`t for the Lord I wouldn’t be in such a successful group as Eternal. And I feel that if I keep on believing in Him and letting the Lord choose my path for good or for bad, it will always be the right one, for there`s a reason for everything in life."

Easther also realises that this is one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. Why? Because some people take it to mean that when we become Christians nothing bad will ever happen to us. This of course, is not true.

"We still live in a corrupt world, we only have to look at todays newspaper (the signs of the times) to see how prevalent evil is in our society " Easther explains. "However, God is bigger than all that, and shows us the way of repentence and that he really is the almighty."

The verse talks about `all things` too. So often we desperately want to see God at work in isolated incidents, but He is concerned with changing every circumstance into our long-range good. He is able to see things from a distance much easier than we can, and although it may seem at times that God isn`t sorting it out like you would like Him to, he really does know best.

What`s really great is that this verse is one of God`s personal promises. It`s not just for anybody though, it`s only for those who love Him, and who are part of his special family. As Easther says "I know that I must trust him and let him choose the path for my life, in the good times and the bad. I understand that it will always be the right path, because God will always be able to take all that life throws at me and eventually use it for good."

Prayer:

When I was young, I used to recite this Prayer. It was a way of saying that I was happy to trust God in everything and place my life totally in His hands.

When I lay me down to sleep

I pray dear Lord my soul to keep

If I should die before I wake