“We get so busy with good things we forget to stop and say, ‘God, the One I love the most is You”
– Steve Hurst

On Monday I was up before my alarm clock went off!  Excited would be a good word to describe what I was feeling in spite of losing an hour’s sleep due to time change!  Nevertheless, I could hear other doors in the hall way opening and closing at the same early hour – so I could say that I was not alone in my excitement!  Chapel began with the congregation singing There’s Something About That Name.  Steve shared how he keeps up with the groups during the year on YouTube!  One such group is from Huntsville, AL.  Steve heard them sing this song on YouTube, when he found out they were coming to school, he wanted everyone to hear them sing it!  The song was He Still Speaks, and that trio was one of the many groups that would share the spotlight in Chapel services during the week.  When they concluded their song and walked off stage, Steve led everyone in singing In The Garden.

There were two wonderful testimonies given on Monday morning, one was from Rachel Meyers Yoder and the other from John Rowsey.

Rachel has been coming to SHS for 17 years, and Steve brought her up on stage to share the miracle that happened to her last year at school.  Rachel began telling that six months prior to school last year, something happened that she was no longer had hearing in her left ear.  (For a singer, that is not good)!  She visited the doctor, who gave her a prescription that would help.  When time rolled around for school, her medicine was getting low and she knew it needed refilled, but her schedule wouldn’t allow her to do it in time to have the meds for SHS.  So on Monday, last year, she went up to Steve and explained what had happened.  He brought her up on stage and had students come and pray for her healing.  Rachel said, “I never took another dose of that medicine!  I am completely healed and can hear better in that ear than in the other one!”  She claimed Psalm 34:17 as the verse the Lord laid on her heart and quoted it from memory.

John Rowsey, a vocal teacher performed a song he wrote called Let The Healing Begin.  John wrote that song for his wife.  Mrs. Rowsey grew up in a pastor’s home with wonderful parents, but was abused by a relative from the age of 3 to 12.  He said that he has heard her give her testimony and see it change lives.  Steve had everyone sing the chorus a couple of times, and talked about letting things go of the things in our lives that keep us from being healed.  The Spirit was moving, so he took a moment and let everyone pray silently to themselves.  During that time of prayer he said, “If anyone has something they need to let go of, please stand.”  Everyone stood up without hesitation.  The presence of the Lord was very evident.

Steve went on to tell of how the Rowsey’s took in three little children, now ages 3, 7 and 9.  When one of them had a check-up at the doctor’s office and the doctor listened to their heart with the stethoscope, the child asked, “Doctor?  Do you hear Jesus in there?”  (Because John and his wife teach the kids that Jesus lives in their hearts!)  Isn’t that just precious?

Steve gave us one challenge for the day:How long are you going to hang on to the things that are keeping you from “healing?”

Group Piano Class –  The piano school was held in the Curtsinger Building, and is affectionately nicknamed “the cell block” by Steve.  This first class was an introduction of the teachers, students and what we would be doing this week with the piano.  Stephen Butler was the one to lead this first session, he had the teachers who were there introduce themselves, then the students did the same,  giving their name, where they were from and what they do with the piano.  Not all of the teachers were there, but the ones who were there were: Stephen Butler, Larry Buchanan, Andrew Ishee, Matthew Holt, (Josh Singletary, Jeff Stice, Eric Ollis, and Channing Eleton were still on the road trying to get there!).  When all the students introduced themselves, about half were returning students and the other half new students to the piano class or school altogether.  Well, little did I know that right there in that very classroom were two people who read this blog!  Later on, I would get to meet and enjoy hanging out with them during the week!  One of those readers is Linda from Texas.  A few months ago, when I saw Tribute Quartet, she posted a comment on the concert review.  So, when she introduced herself and I recognized her name and I thought, “What are the chances that this is the same Linda who posted on my blog?”  Well, later I introduced myself and found out that she was!  What a coincidence!  Later on that week,  a gentleman from the piano class, Larry, came up to me and asked if I was the one who blogged about Tribute Quartet when they sang at the Blackwater Baptist Church!  I said yes!  I was so happy and surprised to meet another reader!  Larry is from Washington (state – not D. C.) – and is the pianist for his church.  It was really fun to get to be in the same class as him all week, compare notes on what groups we get to see in concert, and find out that we are both going to be at NQC this year!  Whahoo!  I anticipate even more fun ahead!  LOL!

Songwriting Session – From the piano class I was able to cross over to the Songwriting Session at 10:30 am.  Stephen Nix taught all the classes for Songwriting…he makes you think!  The theme for the class was The Creative Process.  When he dismissed us for lunch he gave us some “homework.”  The first thing he wanted us to do was this:  When someone asked you how classes were this morning, you had to answer with only one word and it had to begin with an “S!”  The second thing we had to do was rewrite the phrase “the joy of the Lord,” looking at it from a different angle.
So, in the cafeteria, when everyone was getting their trays, Steven asked one of his students how their classes were!  I can’t remember the ladies’ response, but it had something to do with “straining” the brain.  I was proud of her!  She didn’t hesitate and answered very quickly!

Private Songwriting Lesson – My first private songwriting lesson was with Jared Meyers.  I had him for a teacher last year, and was very glad to have him again!  Having a teacher that you are familiar with helps break the ice on the first day and get all the jitters out!  This year, I was “smart” and brought my guitar with me so when I showed him my song, he could actually hear the melody!  LOL!

Private Piano Lesson – One of the biggest challenges I had this week was with my private lessons that were back to back (and required running half way across the campus to get from one to the other in 100 degree heat!)  Okay, that was a little exaggerated!  I certainly did not run … LOL!  This was one of those times when I had to go from building to building.  Steve Hurst kept reiterating to “pace yourself in the heat and don’t worry if you are a little late to class.”  So, you could say that I was late a lot this year!  Anyway, my private lesson was with Channing Eleton!  We worked on improvising with hymns that I could play in church.  The song I picked to practice on was What A Friend We Have In Jesus.  He showed me some little tricks that I could use in making the music different from the hymn book, but still sing-able in a congregational setting.   I was so happy for the practical application.

Group  Piano Class –Now that the introductions were out of the way, our group classes were taught by one teacher on a topic of their choice.  The title for this class was “Double Vision,” and our teacher wasLarry Buchanan.  Larry has been teaching at this school since its beginning.  (He taught vocal back then).   In fact, Larry was the one who approached Steve with the idea of including a piano course in the school!  He taught some cool chords in the class and talked about some music theory stuff that can be helpful in our playing.  Larry ended the class in prayer, and we dispersed to dinner.

Dixon Hall Evening Performances:
While everyone was coming into the auditorium and getting their seats, Andrew Ishee entertained us with the piano.  I recognized The Hallelujah Chorus, and I think he played chords and progressions softly in the background after that.  Three groups from the “group school” sang a song:  The Cameron’s, The Chapleheirs, and another group.  Stephen Nix and his “band” led us in some Praise and Worship also.  When Steve came back on stage, Joyce and Laura bounced out on stage with something special to give him for the school’s 20th Anniversary.  This first gift was a letter of recognition from the GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA!  Steve was so tickled!  All he could say was, “Mom!  Come down here and look at this!”

After the excitement of the letter, Steve shared the conversation he had with Mark Trammell that afternoon.  The Mark Trammell Quartet was on an Alaska Cruise that week with Charles Stanley, so MTQ wasn’t able to be at school this year.  Mark told Steve, “I am sitting on the deck of a cruise ship in the most beautiful port (Juno, Alaska) looking out on God’s beautiful creation and I’m so depressed because I’m missing school!”

The audience was eating that up with laughter when Joyce and Laura came on stage exclaiming, “Surprise Solo!”  Another new thing they were doing this year was pulling a soloist’s name from a basket every morning and evening, surprising someone and letting them sing a solo of their choice.  You would never believe whose name came out of that box!  Rachel Yoder!  Steve said that it was from God.  What are the chances that she would give a testimony of what the Lord did for her that very morning, and be picked to sing that same night?  She sang a beautiful ballad; I think the name goes something like, My Verdict-Not Guilty.  Next, Steve had a teacher named Matt come out and sing.  This was Matt’s first year to teach at school.

Jim Brady sang a few songs solo and officially opened  the concert that night.  His first song was one from Declaration called I See Grace.  I was very impressed with his ability to sing all the parts on these songs that are meant for a trio and/or quartet.  He did a super job!  Jim sang another  upbeat number from that recording – All Over The World – the BB’s “samba” song.  Faithful One and a new song that Jim wrote for the Booth Brothers’ next recording, Let It Be Heard, closed his set.

Sing Academy took the stage with Sheri Thrower and brought the house down with their amazing vocals!  Steve said that,“Young people can touch anybody,”  and that is surely the case with these talented kids from Ringgold, GA.  This choir has opened for artists like Vince Gill and Josh Turner.  They’ve been to Washington D.C.  and even went on America’s Got Talent!  Steve shared that it is Sheri’s greatest desire that all of the kids and teens in her choir come to know the Lord through this ministry.  That’s a wonderful goal!  Their opening song was What A Wonderful Child – it reminded me of a Blues style song.  Several of her students were featured in solo’s, one of which was, in Sheri’s words, “a little Catholic boy who sings Pentecostal.”  Her daughter, Avery, also sings with the choir and has an amazing voice!  Amen, was another great song that had the audience on their feet!  It was next to impossible to count the standing ovations that Sing Academy received!  They were thoroughly enjoyable and the audience just loved them!

After Sing academy, Tribute Quartet came out and did four songs for us, two being from their new project, The Waiting Is Over.  Here Comes the Joy was one of those new ones, and being a snappy quartet song, was received well instantly.  The familiar strains of Sweeter As the Days Go By followed, featuring Josh Singletary.  Riley took the lead on another new ballad called Homecoming Day.  Heaven was the theme of the lyrics and was written in such a way that really touched the audience, Tribute received a strong standing ovation.  I know that in concert etiquette, it’s not smart to sing three ballads in a row…well, I have to tell you, not only did Tribute break the rules, but excelled at it too!  The closing songs were both slow, yet oh so powerful.  Save My Family, Save My Friends and I Am Healed set up for the Spirit to move in such a way that almost everybody in the auditorium was down at the altar praying!When these boys sing, the Holy Spirit works through them.  The Lord was doing a lot of things that night, and it was almost midnight before we left Dixon – yet, nobody cared.  They didn’t want to leave, that’s how strong the presence of God was!