Thursday, March 12, 2009

Steph and The Band



Let me set up this crazy circumstance for you; whew...how far back should I go...? I guess it's important for you to understand that nearly a year ago to the date (Easter weekend) my dad had the beginning of his conversion experience when he attended church (probably the first time he had gone completely by his own will) with a friend he had met at work. This friend, Karen, has become a rather significant person in my dad's life...dare I say, his girlfriend! While Karen is a truly fantastic person with incredible qualities, I'm sure she wouldn't mind me putting the spotlight on her daughter Stephanie for the sake of this post.




Stephanie is a recording artist with Gotee Records who is touring with Toby Mac's WinterJam. A total thrill for her I'm sure, but I'm sure that the life on the road is all but glorious. In fact I know that she and her band spend many nights sleeping in their van. Monday evening I got a call from my dad with a last minute request. Steph and her band are traveling from Nashville (where they live) to Grand Rapids, MI where they would continue the tour on Thursday. Incidentally, they would be coming to play in Fort Wayne on Friday. The trip from Nashville to Grand Rapids is quite a hike and the band needed a place to crash to split the trip. That was the request by the way.


I love to serve and I have always wanted to use this house for hospitality. There was a stir in my heart that I needed to allow this happen, but my initial reaction was timid. I had never met Stephanie before, which didn't really matter to me except this did seem like an extraordiany circumstance given the above stated history. Not to mention that I was scheduled to work both Tuesday and Wednesday (3a-3p). Ignoring the stir in my heart, I hesitated enough when I spoke with my dad that the inital response was a sorted "no". I was worried more about how I would have my house ready and food for my guests etc...all things important to me. But not the most important thing.


A while later I got a text from my dad that said, "Steph really wants to stay there." Immediately, I said, "okay, we'll make it work!"


Later, I read on Steph's blog a post she'd written about Obedience. I thought, "Wow, this is so fitting." I had felt the stir immediately and at first I responded incorrectly. But God would not let this opportunity slip away and I'm so glad He didn't. What's more is that on my way to work in the middle of the night, I had prayed that God would open cause my afternoon to open up by allowing the final 4 hours of my day to be covered by a co-worker. I kid you not when I tell you that the very first person I asked that morning if she'd be willing to cover my last 4 hours the following day said, "yes"! I knew right away, God was at work.




The band rolled in about 11:15pm last night and I have to say that as soon as they arrived, all the timidity and hesitation I had felt just melted away. I had prayed that God would prepare our home for them and I believe He did.


With some healthy snacks to satiate after a long drive, we gathered in our cozy, little family room with our new "friends" and caught up on American Idol from this week. What a hoot to watch this kind of show with "music people"!




I can't leave this post without sharing my "moment" with Steph as I was showing the band the sleeping arrangment. We shared a quick embrace and made a connection. We agreed that our meeting under these circumstances was more significant than if we had met by our parent's accord. After all we are both adults and capable of a friendship aside from our parent's relationship...and so it is. A new friendship!

1 comment:

  1. what a neat story, erin! thanks for sharing;)
    -d

    ReplyDelete