Stefanick

What a weekend! Friday afternoon we met at DSM (behind Kroger in Franklin) and worked feverishly (in the 90 degree heat) to fit – 7 guitars, 3 pedal boards, 3 amps, cymbals, snare, merch and overnight bags for 5 people into our Honda Odyssey. An hour later we were pulling out with Matt in the driver’s seat, Christen Cole riding shotgun, Seth Teegarden and Nathan Seyler in the middle row, and Levi and I in the back seat with a bunch of gear.  We headed up I-24 through Kentucky before we went off the beaten path in Illinois and drove some back roads to get us to Cape Girardeau, MO. As the sun was setting we were cruising over rolling hills with farmland on either side and the bright orange sun casting a lovely glow over the whole scene. We crossed the Mississippi River and in no time were pulling into the parking lot at Rock of Cape. Load in and sound check went great and before we had left the building, Christen had already sold her first CD to a complete stranger who heard us practicing.
To get some rest for the evening we were taken to “Grammy Ruth’s” house…to me it was more like a bed and breakfast. It was this wonderful house with tons of bedrooms, eclectic interior and an African granite countertop in the kitchen. The latter I must mention because it was the most amazing countertop I have ever seen…and if God ever saw fit to bless me with one, I would be more than grateful. 🙂 Anyway, some great tasting cantaloupe and watermelon were sliced and waiting on us when we arrived and after the midnight snack we headed to our rooms. We got an excellent night’s sleep had breakfast and left for sound check around 8:00am.

After a video we kicked off the morning with worship, starting with “Shout it Out” – a great song that Christen wrote. We worshiped for about half an hour and then Andrew Mellies the youth pastor for FYM gave the first message about Transformation. The day was full of different speakers all teaching on the theme of transformation – Lucas Cherry ,Greg Strange and Rachel Mellies. As a side note – Greg Strange (Comedian/Musician) is also from the Nashville area and goes to church at The Gate, just down the road from us. We had never met before this weekend, but I’m sure we’ll see more of him in the future.

We loved working with everyone there. Thanks a bunch to Ronnie the sound man and all the others who took such good care of us and showed us such hospitality.
The youth get a big huge SHOUT OUT!!! They were so receptive and willing to participate. We pray that everyone involved, especially the youth, are transformed daily by the renewing of their minds and that they always run after God.

-Aimee