September started with a day and a half road trip, driving through the remains of Hurricane Gustav. It rained steadily, and the wind was so strong we had to keep at 60 mph or less! Hallelujah! We made it to Floyd, Iowa, safe and sound. We were so soo sooo blessed to meet some great folks, our hosts, Paul and Vernabelle Mull. They so graciously put us up in their house for 3 nights, fed us well (lots of absolutely wonderful sweets, all fat-free of course….yeah right!), washed our clothes, provided some interesting and fun conversation and fellowship, shot pool with us,…basically took us in as three new sons. I, also, had my first ever hamburger with pudding as the dressing. I basically thought these little bowls of pudding/pie filling were mayonnaise and slapped it on both sides of my bread and peppered it real good. A couple minutes later, Steve smelled of it before he was going to use it…then asked, "Do you have any mayonnaise?" I thought…what!?! LOL! It didn't taste that bad!
Both Paul and Vernabelle are artists and amazing at that. Paul showed us some of his incredible woodwork and Vernabelle's absolutely beautiful paintings. These are very special new friends in each of our lives and we will look forward to being back with them in the future. Paul and Vernabelle…thank you so much for everything! We love you!
While we stayed with the Mulls, we were part of the Annual Floyd Gospel Sing. We met many great folks from Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and who knows where else. We shared the stage with many groups as well, such as our good buddies Forgiven Quartet ("pavement ends in 40 feet"), Master's Voice (riffraff to say the least…lol), Phil and Pam Morgan, and others. There was lots of fellowship and awesome food, including the traditional funnel cakes that were delish! We were rained out a bit on Friday night, but we just took it inside the community center and packed in like sardines to finish the night! Brian and I also got to cruise around Floyd a bit in a 1934 Pontiac Sedan…YES…we did look very cool, in case you were wondering…lol! A special thanks to Paul and Dixie Phillips for letting us share our ministry in Floyd and for such a great weekend. We closed our weekend in Iowa leading worship at Rockwell United Methodist Church. Now…heading east to Louisville to NQC.
My second year at the National Quartet Convention in Louisville, Kentucky was not as overwhelming as last year was, but equally as awesome! We were blessed to have our friends Pat and Cindy with us part of the week and our new friend Kris Hutchins with us the entire week. They helped us at our table throughout the week so we could be free to visit with other artists, songwriters, do TV and radio interviews, and other necessary "stuff." Thank you Pat, Cindy, and Kris! We love you so very much!
Speaking of Kris…man is that dude crazy! He sings with a group out of Tyler, Texas and is a young man of God. He took a little video camera around and did little interviews with lots of folks. We are going to put together a video and post it online. He got some great, genuinely kind words from lots of other artists and fans, as well as some down-right hilarious stuff…some we probably can't show you…lol! Kris was a big help in moving stuff, fetching stuff, eating stuff…lol…anything we asked, he helped us with! Thanks so much Kris! Be on the lookout for new pics from NQC '08 as well. They should be up soon! It was great to visit with so many of our friends from across the country. We always meet new friends, as well as those who have followed Shiloh for years. It is also always great to catch up with other groups, artists, and musicians that we don't get to see much or at all throughout the year.
After NQC, we had a couple of stops before heading back home. Sunday morning we worshipped with the good people at Stithon Baptist Church in Radcliff, Kentucky. They were so gracious to let us share our ministry at the last minute, due to another church having to cancel on us. Thank you so much! We look forward to being back with you in the future! From Radcliff, Kentucky, we headed south to my home town of Leoma, Tennessee. We stayed with Uncle Mark and Aunt Melody McKissack. We had a wonderful supper at Melody's mother's house, Ruby Newton, who was my very first piano teacher. We hung out with the whole Newton crew and sang a few songs for them (that was a requirement, to compensate for our supper…lol). We also heard some funny stories from Uncle Mark…the guys were crackin' up! The guys really enjoyed staying the night at Mark and Melody's. Brian kept saying we were on the "Little House on the Prairie" mixed with "Beverly Hillbillies"…lol. A big thanks to Rachel and Becca for giving up their rooms and their beds. Thanks for sharing your home! The next night we were at Loretto United Methodist with a church full of family and friends…mostly family. We had a great night…unfortunately I was still so nervous in front of all that family. Not so sure how to overcome that…lol…maybe I need to drink some of that Tennessee moonshine next time…(that's a joke…lol)! I busted out cryin' uncontrollably on the first verse of "When I Got Saved"…didn't see that coming! Anyway...something else for the guys to make fun of me. I guess it just hit so close to home. That song really is my testimony. I have some great, awesome family members who were and continue to be Godly examples for me! It was neat to be able to get my dad up on stage to sing bass with us on "Jesus Knows Who I Am." It was just awesome to see mom and dad, Mike and Janet, my little bro Lee, so many aunts, uncles, cousins, and so many others! Let's do it again soon! Too bad we couldn't stay a week or two!
After a couple days at home, (actually a day and a half), we took off again to Amarillo. On Thursday, we got to be a part of Larry and Jodi's Goodtime Gospel Jamboree at the Church at Quail Creek, sharing the stage with some good folks. Later that Sunday, we shared with the Church at Quail Creek family for their morning worship, then with the South Georgia Baptist family in Amarillo that night. Now…off to Glorieta, New Mexico.
We were honored to be a part of the Pastors' Masters Golf Conference, a three-day event with In His Grip Ministries and Lifeway. We led the worship each night and played golf each day. Now…most of you probably know already that I do not really have a golf game. I fetch balls… I fish for balls…. I absolutely stink!!! The first day was miserable for me, especially after the first 9 holes. However, I was so blessed to have some personal golf instruction from Scott Lehman, the President of In His Grip Ministries. Scott paired me with him for the 2nd day of golfing, but then decided to give me some instruction, starting with putting, to chipping, then pitching, and finally to the driving range. I felt like a sponge, taking it all in for a good 5 hours. Scott gave golf lessons prior to accepting Jesus and going into this ministry. He was awesome! Thankfully, I didn't have to pay for those lessons (they would have easily cost me 5 to 600 dollars). I can't thank Scott enough for all he did! Thanks BROTHER! The 3rd day of golf was much more enjoyable…I still stink, but I KNOW what I'm doing wrong and what I need to do to fix it. I connected with a few, baby! I'll tell you this, the scenery at each golf course (each course was about an hour or so surrounding Glorieta) would take your breath away. Absolutely beautiful! How can anyone say God didn't create that beautiful landscape? Impossible! A big thanks to Ron Pratt with Lifeway for letting us be a part of this event. When you get a chance, visit In His Grip Golf Association at www.inhisgripgolf.com . Scott uses golf as an outreach tool for churches, if any of you are interested.
We ended the month with a great night of worship at First Baptist Church in Round Rock, Texas. It's nice to be back close to home for a few weeks. Please continue to pray for us as we travel. Be on the lookout for more info on our new double CD of fan favorites. We are working hard now booking dates for the first part of 2009. If your church or another venue you know would like to have us, have them email me at jeremy@shilohnet.com and we'll go from there!
Love God and Love Each Other
Jeremy