Stephanie Smith’s Blog

I’m not sure where to start. I want to share so much with you. Lets start on Thurs night, my friends Brock and Auny came over. Since we all travel for a living, we try to get together for “family nights” here and there to re-connect. Its a time where we share prayer requests and what God’s teaching us. Brock shared about stopping and listening to God, and how we can so easily miss what obedience is because we aren’t listening. This is also one reason so many churches are dead. 

Annnnyway, this week I’ve been blessed by people who have listened to God, and in return I have been challenged to listen. It becomes a cycle, and once again I see him bless me with other people who have listened to him… allow me to elaborate with an example:

A family friend, Eric, who has generously helped me (and my family) financially in the past came to our winterjam show in Knoxville. He took me and several others out to dinner (which was a blessing in itself because catering left much to be desired that night) and at the end of the evening he slipped me a very generous check because he wanted to make sure I met my merch goal for that evening. I was humbled and blessed, and felt like God told me to also be generous with that money. See, I wanted to put it right in the gas money pot because Gotee reached their limit for tour support and I’m on my own, but God was prompting my heart to bless my band with hotel rooms. Most nights we have had a place to lay our heads, even if its all night in the captains chairs of the van. But, I prayed and felt like was supposed to use part of that money to buy us hotel rooms for the night.  As soon as I pulled the trigger on that decision, I went to my table at the end of the show to sign autographs. A young lady named Emily came up to my table and explained that she needed to talk to me. She went on to say that she saw me perform in Chattanooga and has since been praying for me and following my blog. She read about some of our financial troubles with the van etc. and felt like God told her to raise some money for me. She had planned on coming to another winterjam show, but had not acted in obedience as far as raising the money, and it fell through for her to go to that show. She explained to me that as she was praying asking why she didn’t get to go to that show God responded by saying “you haven’t done what I asked you to do yet, raise money for Stephanie.” So here she was, a young girl, opening her wallet and handing me all the cash she could muster…. exactly what I needed to pay for one hotel room. I wanted to start crying, because just moments before I had agonized over whether I could splurge on hotel rooms or if I needed to save the money from Eric for gas…. 

Do you see the pattern? Because Eric listened, I was blessed with an opportunity to listen, then Emily listened and the cycle continues. The story gets crazier…  Like I said previously, Gotee (my record label) has given me tour support for the tour up until this point by paying my gas. This week they told me they had reached their budget and wouldn’t be able to pay any more towards gas. I was a little panicked because I don’t have the money for gas…. Well….. Eric’s money contributed, and then yesterday another band on tour with us, the After’s, broke down on the side of the road an hour from the venue. They called and asked if we could come pick them up and pull their trailer. It worked out for them to ride on Hawk Nelson’s bus, and they offered to pay us to pull their trailer for them for the rest of the tour…. guess what… it nearly covers my gas. 

I hope you followed all of that. Do you see how beyond a coincidence that is?! It is God’s faithfulness at work through his children who are bold enough to listen. So let me challenge you to listen. You never know who God wants you to bless and you may never know how God uses you in some sort of domino effect for His glory. 

So thank you those of you who have blessed and encouraged us along the way. I really couldn’t do this without your prayers, support and generosity. I am truly humbled by it and blessed immensely. 

I love you all!!!!

S

Hi! It’s been a while, I understand. So sorry! I have been busy on the road, working my tail off…. literally. I have lost about 5 lbs. It’s not catering, that’s been great… it’s that I don’t have any money A few bumps along the road have been a $2000 repair on the van, and I got so sick I wanted to hide from the world, but the show was going on with or without me!!!! 

God has been blessing us however and I am truly humbled by His provision. There have been several generous people who have given me money to help out, or who have opened their homes to let 3 smelly boys and 2 lovely ladies sleep in their beds etc. I honestly have no complaints. This has been one of the best experiences of my life. I’m actually dreading it being over. 

I’ve been challenged to keep my chin up though. I really believe some exciting things are right around the corner. For example, I have been writing for the next record! I am really excited about where this is going. While I was working on a song with Nathan he MADE me update my blog… so anyone who was anxiously awaiting the latest post can thank him

I hope you kids are staying outta trouble!!!

S

Today I am at the Family Arena in St Charles, MO for Winter Jam 2009. It’s a special day because not only did I go to college nearby in Greenville, IL, I came to Winterjam 2006 here and saw TobyMac and Hawk Nelson play when I first got signed to Gotee. I remember this catering area where I sit right now to write this, and I recall the excitement and anticipation I felt wondering when I would get to do a tour like this. Well, here I sit today- Part of Winter Jam 2009 with both TobyMac and Hawk Nelson.

I am home for a few days! The first run of WinterJam is over… in some ways I was so glad for the break so I could catch up on sleep and not be rolling around in a van trying to rest. But on the other hand, I was just starting to feel like we hit a groove. The first few days were long and stressful, and I had my first breakdown on the 3rd day! Is anyone surprised?! But I got some sleep and was refreshed for the 4th show in Charlotte, NC, and I have to say, I think it was our best show out of the 4.

While we were in downtown Charlotte, Nathan, Kadar, Francesca Battistelli and I walked a few blocks to a Starbucks. As we were walking, a protest passed us and I happened to catch some of it on video. It was a group of people protesting on behalf of Palestine against Israel. As we continued, we found the meeting place of the two disputing groups yelling at each other from across a city block. Check out the video, it was an interesting thing to stumble upon.

We leave again tomorrow night for the next run of 4 shows… Come on out and check out the show!  Here we come Augusta!

S

If you haven’t seen us yet, come say hi at a Winter Jam concert near you!  Click HERE to find tour dates and more information!  I also wanted to officially introduce you to my wonderful team that helps me make it happen on stage and on the road: