August 18, 2025 • 20 mins
What if the pivotal moments in your life weren’t coincidences at all, but divine appointments?
Parker Webb shares how turning down what looked like a dream job—after moving his family and preparing for a new life—felt like “ministry suicide.” But in hindsight, he sees God’s hand protecting him from the wrong move at the wrong time.
Melody’s 21-year journey at Joy FM also came through God’s orchestration—from recording event calendars to joining the morning show full-time. Along the way, she received clear confirmations, including a church member’s prophetic encouragement and even the words “God loves you” written in the sky during a moment of anxiety.
These stories remind us that God speaks in many ways—through people, circumstances, and His still small voice—and that His timing is always perfect.
Have you looked back and seen God’s fingerprints on your story?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Melody and you're listening to Quirks,
Bumps and Bruises.
We're glad you're with us herefor this episode of Quirks,
Bumps and Bruises and ParkerWebb's sitting in here with me
as well.
And, Parker, I want to ask youthis has there ever been a time
in your life and you knewwithout a shadow of a doubt
(00:22):
there was absolutely no way thatit could have been any other
thing?
But, God, Is there one specificincidence that kind of stands
out for you?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Oh, absolutely, and it's very recent, along with, as
we've talked about, touringwith Guilford.
I'm a worship pastor, and so Ihave two full-time jobs.
I remember the days I'm sure, Iknow you do, and it is.
It's seven days a week.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And and even if it's part time in ministry, it's full
time it is.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
There's no ministry part time position, In fact some
of those by vocational, who dohave pastors, who have a secular
job, and I don't.
That's two full time jobsUnbelievable, unbelievable.
I don't know how they do it.
And so the church that I amworship pastor currently is my
home church.
I grew up at this church.
I love this church.
Well, I received a call, themost humbling call of my
(01:15):
personal ministry to be aworship leader at a very, very,
very large, high profile church,the Lord gave, and then you
mean to leave where you are now,to go there.
To leave where I am to gominister and to be full time at
this other church and more viewsonline than any other church in
the country.
Unbelievable opportunity.
Went down and spoke with thepastor and several staff.
(01:35):
There were zero red flags.
It felt like it was a clearmove, in fact, to the point
where my wife and I were lookingat homes.
We had already enrolled ourkids into a school down there.
I mean we had gone that far.
Well, one massive roadblock ata time started to pop up, to
where I would have to call andsay guys, I got to put this off
for a couple months, or thenthey would call there's some
(01:58):
things that have happened.
We're not saying no, we're justneeding to kick the can.
A couple months Until, finally,I could not see a path to be
down there at all.
It was the Lord just saying tomy heart just wait, just wait.
And finally I sent a declineemail to the senior pastor.
He immediately called me andsaid what have we done?
(02:18):
I said, brother, nothing.
You've made it extremelydifficult for me to even see the
Lord's hand in this.
You have made it so comfortablefor me to even see the Lord's
hand in this.
You have made it so comfortablefor me to accept your position.
But I need to stay in NorthCarolina at my current church,
melody every single week,sometimes daily.
I'm seeing the Lord's hand inwhy I needed to stay in High
(02:39):
Point.
It is undeniable that I neededto be here and so that's in my
ministry career life.
That's where he has me and I'mthankful.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
When you're in the middle of something you don't
really understand it.
But when you step out of it andthen you look back in, like
you're saying you see now howGod has choreographed everything
.
I'm a former dance teacher.
So I call him, the greatchoreographer of our lives.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And you look back in and you just see all the things
that he put in place to makesure that you could have easily
made the wrong decision anyway.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And if you had, you'd be miserable now.
Oh, I'd be so miserable and Isee that now.
You know, at the time I thoughtI was committing ministry
suicide by saying why am I notaccepting this incredible
position?
I'm at a large church,relatively speaking.
They pay me so well and I haveso many resources.
I have a full worship staffthat help me.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
And people that love you because they've known you
for years, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
And so to even think that I would even give that up
to go to the grass that seemedgreener on the other side.
It was all human, every bithuman, and all those flashy
things that we see as success inthis world.
No, it's far deeper.
The Lord was simply not donewith me in High Point, north
Carolina, and I'm grateful.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
And it doesn't mean that down the road he may move
you somewhere, and I'm open towhatever, but for the here and
now, and you obeyed, and when weobey Parker, the blessings are
always there it is hey, I'vedone it both ways.
Me too, I've done it both ways.
And when I say I'm going to dothis and he said don't do that,
and I still do that anyway, it'snever, it's never good.
(04:13):
Well, what about you?
Have there been experiences inyour life?
And we hear people say the wordcoincidence.
I just don't like that wordbecause as a believer, I know
that God orchestrates all thingsin my life as well as your life
.
So for me it has to do withbeing right here at Joy FM.
So about 21 years ago I wasjust going into Joy FM and doing
(04:34):
this here's another Joy FMevents calendar update and then
I would do like churches havingVBS, you know something like
that.
Wow, I remember that that wasjust nothing, you know.
I'd go in once a week and leave.
It was just no big deal.
And then they asked me to do aSaturday show and I did that
from two to six for about a year, had no clue what I was doing.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Well, you sure fooled all of us, Melody.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And then they called me in.
I thought I was getting introuble, because Daniel Britt
called me and said could youcome by the station, brian
Sanders, and I would like totalk to you.
I was like, oh no, what did Isay?
Because sometimes what pops inmy head comes out my mouth and
so I did, and they asked me tojoin.
if I, or if I would like to jointhe morning show, would I be
(05:20):
willing to do that?
And the first question was whattime I got to get up.
And so I had a few otherquestions, you know, and I was
like I've got to pray about this, guys.
My kids were in high school, sothey my daughter drove to
school with my son, so I didn'thave to worry about that.
They were older, sure.
I had been praying for a parttime position somewhere where I
(05:42):
could still go to all my son'sball games, absolutely, and my
daughter played volleyball and Iwanted to be very involved in
their school.
So this kind of came out ofnowhere, but I didn't, kind of,
like you said a while ago, Ididn't have a yes on my brain
but I didn't have a no, right, Ididn't feel either way, sure,
and so it went on for a coupleweeks until finally, they called
(06:03):
me and said you know, we don'twant to rush your prayer, but we
, you know, we need you to makea decision because we have to
move forward.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Well, I was like you know, if I don't have a solid
yes on this, I'm going to haveto say no, yeah, yeah, because I
just know by previousexperiences that if I do
something that I'm not supposedto be, but I'm like Lord, why
are you not telling me Right?
But I went to church.
It was on a Sunday.
I told them I would call themon Monday morning.
(06:31):
I was at church on Sunday and Ihad not told anybody about this
position except my family.
Yeah, and not even the kidsthat much.
But Gary, my husband knew aboutit.
We had talked about it, thekids that much.
But gary, my husband knew aboutit, we had talked about it, so
I'd not told anyone.
This sweet prayer warrior ofour church walked up to me after
church and said I don't knowwhat you're praying about right
(06:54):
now, but whatever it is, youneed to do it.
Oh, my goodness, yeah, praisethe lord yeah and so I called
them on monday and said I'll doit.
And here we are 21 years at JoyFM, but 18 years here on the
Morning Show Isn't that amazing?
Yeah, and I think about lookingback on the 18 years.
What If I Hadna, of course, andall the wonderful opportunities
(07:15):
, of course, and all the music,and just hearing the stories of
faithfulness that has happenedthrough what we do here at Joy
FM.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
So missing out on that, how about you?
Is there another?
I know you mentioned the job,both of us have had job
situations.
But can you think of anothersituation?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
where the most important thing outside of my
salvation is my relationshipwith my wife.
And there again, timing.
The Lord's timing is perfect.
It's incredible.
I'm about six, eight yearsolder than my wife and so, of
course, as any young man in hisearly 20s, I wanted to be
married.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I wanted to start a family.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
And I dated several girls and was even engaged to a
girl in my early 20s oh, Ididn't know that yes, and was
also from Alabama, so I wasdestined to marry somebody from
Alabama because Melody's fromAlabama.
But I was heartbroken when Ihad to make the decision,
knowing full well that girl Iwas engaged to was not the one.
(08:15):
She ended up, within about sixmonths to a year, was dating
another guy, a pastor, and gotmarried.
They've had a wonderfulministry together and so I just
stayed in that dating scene.
You know, as I traveled withour family and just all over
just saying, Lord, what in theworld is going on?
Well, sure enough, the weekthat my wife and I knew of my
(08:36):
wife, melody, because her momand dad have the conference
ministry, women of JoyCelebrators, our family I knew
her parents, melody's parents,very, very well.
We traveled all over the worldtogether, literally all over the
world, and there was even atime where I just sent a totally
platonic sent Melody a messageon Facebook and said hey, just
FYI, I love your mom and dad, Ijust absolutely love them and
(08:59):
they speak so highly of you andI just wanted to let you know
how much I love them.
She didn't even respond.
I don't know if she thought Iwas trying to send out a
whatever and we laugh about Ilaugh about that.
At this point she says no, Ijust didn't see it.
I was like, oh, yeah, yeah,yeah.
So well, sure enough, the weekshe graduated from college, we
(09:20):
ended up meeting for the veryfirst time after knowing of each
other for 10, 15 years justthrough our parents.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
But you never met face to face, had never met face
to face.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
I'd met her sister, her older sister, who was
married but never met Melody.
I walked off the platform thelast day of a conference in my
suit and ties, as it was aformal, formal conference that
we were doing with Phil andDebbie, and Melody was sitting
right there in the entryway ofthat conference center with our
now niece and she just happenedto be there to look after our
(09:53):
niece and the timing of how theLord so she could get through
college and all that.
Well, if we had met 10 yearsprior, she'd have been in middle
school and it wouldn't haveworked.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You know it just could have, but you'd been in
middle school and it wouldn'thave worked.
You know, and it.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Just well it could have, but you'd been in jail,
it'd have been bad, yeah, it'dhave been bad and uh, yeah, so
the lord's timing, you know and,and I mean we were, we were
engaged within six months of ofdating, oh wow, married, and the
lord has just blessed, and Isaid it even as of last week, I
told my assistant at the churchum, I don't know why we got into
this morbid conversation.
(10:27):
If my spouse goes, I'm notremarrying.
I said I for sure am not goingto remarry because I am scared
to death of not having somebodyso custom made fit for me and I
hope I'm the same for her in thesense of we both grew up in
ministry families.
Her dad was an evangelist,speaker, author, and so they
were traveling as a family.
(10:47):
We were traveling as a family.
Her dad hyper involved inchurch, my dad has been interim
on a local church level, and sothere were so many connections.
Now we still have differentviews, even though we are so
tailored for each other, but itwould blow my mind to even think
that there was anybody more fitfor my life and hopefully the
(11:08):
same for me with her, becauseshe understands ministry.
She understands what I do, andwhat I do is different than even
most worship pastors.
Most worship pastors don't tour50 days a year.
They stay in the local church.
For sure, most touring artistsaren't worship pastors.
So it's amazing how the Lordjust has you right in the palm
of his hand even with thoserelationships.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I know and I hope that that will be a long, long,
long lasting marriage.
But I will tell you that if Godcan do it once, he can do it
again.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Absolutely can.
And now that I said that if theLord somehow takes either one
of us home, he'll providesomebody else, I'm sure I have a
situation.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
This is a little different talking about
marriages and talking about worksituations, but this was
probably about 20 years ago andI was just going through a very
overwhelmed time.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I was a mom I owned a business.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I was doing worship at church.
I was a mom, I was owned abusiness.
I was, you know, doing worshipat church.
I was just overwhelmed, sure,totally overwhelmed, so much so
that I got where I was even kindof breathing differently, and
and so my, our family decided totake a vacation and we went to
Florida, which is great.
(12:20):
We did all the things, went toFlorida and we stayed for a week
and we were packing up to comehome and I remember that week
just being carefree.
It was just like it was just abreath of fresh air to get away,
to be away from.
You know where I'm living.
I don't know about you, parker,but the best way to get rest
(12:40):
when you're in ministry is youhave to go away.
I do you have to go where theycan't find you.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
That's right, that's right you know I hate to say.
With this little slim thing wecarry around in our pockets it's
hard to get away, but you knowyou can't get to them like right
, you make it right, that'sright yeah, so, um, and you can
turn your phone off if you needto 100.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
But anyway, we were packing up to come home and I
remember getting that feelingagain, that overwhelming feeling
, and I just did not want to goback.
I did not want to go back homeand I was like Lord, please,
just you know, put this peace inmy heart, please show me that
you're here, that you're with me, that you care.
And all the time I'm packingand kind of praying this, and my
(13:23):
family don't know I'm doingthat, I'm just.
I hear a plane, there's a plane, but I don't think anything
about the plane, it's just aplane.
And we were in florida.
There's planes everywhere,there's the planes you get on
the tour and there's the airportin orlando.
So I didn't think anythingabout it.
And so we were getting ready toput the last suitcase in the
(13:43):
car and close the door, getready to head back, and I just
happened to glance up.
That plane was a plane thatwrote in the sky.
Do you know what I'm talkingabout?
Oh, yeah, yeah, with with thesmoke.
Oh, sure, yeah, that plane hadwrote out God loves you.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Oh, my goodness With goodness, with a heart yeah, I
have a picture of it at home,lord and it was just like sure
it was just like the baggage youknow, fell off of my shoulders.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I knew that he was there and I thought is that not
just like me, where I have tohave the lord write something in
the sky?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
yeah, for me to be able to get it.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Isn't that amazing, even though I know he's there,
even though I know he's faithful, he's never left me, he's never
forsaken me.
He promises me that in his word, I still had to have sky
writing.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Of course that is amazing, I know, wow, and he
does.
And sometimes it doesn't comewritten in the sky.
I haven't had that since thesky.
I haven't had that sense, ofcourse not.
But again, that's how the Lordworks.
It's those divine appointmentsand mine talking about the
church, that reached out askingif I would be the worship pastor
.
It was months, almost a year,and here's how the Lord spoke to
(14:56):
me, in that I was in on theelliptical, which is rare as
well.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
It's not as consistent as I thought.
That was a miracle.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
It was a hundred percent miracle that I was even
in that rope.
But, um, but there again.
Normally when I'm on theelliptical I'm listening to
music for the church.
That's my time away where I canlisten and plan.
And um, I was not listening toone thing, which I hate on the
elliptical.
I love it in the car so I cansit and pray and talk when I'm
on long drives, but on the theelliptical I've constantly got
noise and surprisinglyironically, on mute, the TV was
(15:32):
on and it was Dr Charles Stanleythat was up on the TV
ironically and I just heard theLord say just wait, just wait.
I just sat and just cried andthought Lord, on what?
Wait on what?
I am in my mid-30s, my familyis young, my boys the older they
get, the more they're going tobe involved in our school.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Very grounded in where they are with their
friends.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Absolutely, and my boys make friends everywhere
they go.
But my wife, who had neverlived outside of North Alabama,
had created a monstrouscommunity of friends, and in
fact she's more.
She knows more people and ismore involved relationally than
I am as the worship pastor withour church family, and so I
(16:15):
thought, Lord, the more you keepbelaboring this the harder it's
going to be a hundred percent.
He said just wait.
And there again, I look backnow in 2025 and think there's no
way we could have been there,we could have been at that
church, and so God is so good.
But his was not in the sky.
It was that, I don't know.
I can't even say it was anaudible voice.
It was not.
(16:37):
It was just the Holy Spiritgiving that phrase just wait so
he can speak in the sky, or hecan speak in a still small, tiny
, even non-audible voice.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Or through a person.
Through a person.
Or through a text messagethat's right, or through that
song that you hear on Joy FM.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
But you don't see that, melody, you don't?
I don't think you know.
There are a lot of people thatI know, because I know them
personally, that don't walk withthe Lord in his word.
They don't have prayer time,they don't have any of this, and
they're finding little thingsto validate how they approach
life or decisions.
No, the Lord doesn't speakthrough just what he speaks
(17:16):
through those little ways, thosefriends, those text messages,
those calls.
If you are rooted in his wordand if you are constantly
talking with him and becauseyou're going to miss it.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
That's right.
You will If you're not rootedin that I've missed things for
sure.
I've gone back and I have.
I have missed things for sure.
But you're right, you have tobe grounded in his word so that
you can hear, so that you cansee so that you can believe and
then so you can act on whateverhe says and do it with
(17:47):
confidence.
Amen, like you had to do, yeah,yeah, sometimes it's hard.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Most of the time it's hard.
I mean, yours was hard.
All these decisions are hard,yeah, and especially when you
have families and you have otherpeople that are involved that
you would die for and you wanttheir success there again.
You know, I look backgenerationally all the way to my
great great grandparents, andif they had not made the
decisions and followed theLord's prompting even working in
(18:12):
mills or being in the militaryor wherever they were, my
grandparents or my parents wouldnot have had the opportunities
they had to serve the Lord andto have the fulfillment of life
that God could give us.
So our decisions are crucial,but what's even more crucial is
if those decisions are madewithout the Lord and the Holy
(18:33):
Spirit's prompting, they'retotally obsolete, and not
obsolete in the sense that Godcan use anything, anybody, but
it's more crucial that we knowGod is leading us into every
single situation and we can onlydo that through his word and
the blessings follow.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Hundred percent the blessings follow.
You know, henry Blackaby saysthis, that in his Bible study
Experiencing God, yes that Godis at work all around us all the
time.
Right, we do miss it, but it'sour job to pay attention.
That's right, because thoseexperiences are there, those
things are there.
He is there, and we just are sobusy sometimes that we can't
(19:12):
hear.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Well, I've enjoyed talking about this and I hope
that this conversation hassparked times in your life that
you can go back to.
We don't ever want to forgetthat, because that kind of
builds on the next time there'sgoing to be another next time
where we have to have a decisionmade, that's right.
Kind of builds on the next timethere's going to be another
(19:36):
next time where we have to havea decision made or God tells us
to do this or that and we maynot want to do it but he still
says go.
So hopefully this will kind ofspark the times where God has
been faithful to you.
You know that he has guided youthrough whatever situation,
circumstance, decision that youhad to make and you have
benefited from the blessingsfrom that.
So, parker, thank you forhanging out and talking about
that today.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
It's always a pleasure and I love talking
about what he's done in ourlives.
He has done great things andI'll talk about it any day of
the week.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I don't think there's a better topic.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Amen.
Hi, I'm Melody and you're listening to Quirks,
Bumps and Bruises.
We're glad you're with us herefor this episode of Quirks,
Bumps and Bruises and ParkerWebb's sitting in here with me
as well.
And, Parker, I want to ask youthis has there ever been a time
in your life and you knewwithout a shadow of a doubt
(00:22):
there was absolutely no way thatit could have been any other
thing?
But, God, Is there one specificincidence that kind of stands
out for you?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Oh, absolutely, and it's very recent, along with, as
we've talked about, touringwith Guilford.
I'm a worship pastor, and so Ihave two full-time jobs.
I remember the days I'm sure, Iknow you do, and it is.
It's seven days a week.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And and even if it's part time in ministry, it's full
time it is.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
There's no ministry part time position, In fact some
of those by vocational, who dohave pastors, who have a secular
job, and I don't.
That's two full time jobsUnbelievable, unbelievable.
I don't know how they do it.
And so the church that I amworship pastor currently is my
home church.
I grew up at this church.
I love this church.
Well, I received a call, themost humbling call of my
(01:15):
personal ministry to be aworship leader at a very, very,
very large, high profile church,the Lord gave, and then you
mean to leave where you are now,to go there.
To leave where I am to gominister and to be full time at
this other church and more viewsonline than any other church in
the country.
Unbelievable opportunity.
Went down and spoke with thepastor and several staff.
(01:35):
There were zero red flags.
It felt like it was a clearmove, in fact, to the point
where my wife and I were lookingat homes.
We had already enrolled ourkids into a school down there.
I mean we had gone that far.
Well, one massive roadblock ata time started to pop up, to
where I would have to call andsay guys, I got to put this off
for a couple months, or thenthey would call there's some
(01:58):
things that have happened.
We're not saying no, we're justneeding to kick the can.
A couple months Until, finally,I could not see a path to be
down there at all.
It was the Lord just saying tomy heart just wait, just wait.
And finally I sent a declineemail to the senior pastor.
He immediately called me andsaid what have we done?
(02:18):
I said, brother, nothing.
You've made it extremelydifficult for me to even see the
Lord's hand in this.
You have made it so comfortablefor me to even see the Lord's
hand in this.
You have made it so comfortablefor me to accept your position.
But I need to stay in NorthCarolina at my current church,
melody every single week,sometimes daily.
I'm seeing the Lord's hand inwhy I needed to stay in High
(02:39):
Point.
It is undeniable that I neededto be here and so that's in my
ministry career life.
That's where he has me and I'mthankful.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
When you're in the middle of something you don't
really understand it.
But when you step out of it andthen you look back in, like
you're saying you see now howGod has choreographed everything
.
I'm a former dance teacher.
So I call him, the greatchoreographer of our lives.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And you look back in and you just see all the things
that he put in place to makesure that you could have easily
made the wrong decision anyway.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And if you had, you'd be miserable now.
Oh, I'd be so miserable and Isee that now.
You know, at the time I thoughtI was committing ministry
suicide by saying why am I notaccepting this incredible
position?
I'm at a large church,relatively speaking.
They pay me so well and I haveso many resources.
I have a full worship staffthat help me.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
And people that love you because they've known you
for years, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
And so to even think that I would even give that up
to go to the grass that seemedgreener on the other side.
It was all human, every bithuman, and all those flashy
things that we see as success inthis world.
No, it's far deeper.
The Lord was simply not donewith me in High Point, north
Carolina, and I'm grateful.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
And it doesn't mean that down the road he may move
you somewhere, and I'm open towhatever, but for the here and
now, and you obeyed, and when weobey Parker, the blessings are
always there it is hey, I'vedone it both ways.
Me too, I've done it both ways.
And when I say I'm going to dothis and he said don't do that,
and I still do that anyway, it'snever, it's never good.
(04:13):
Well, what about you?
Have there been experiences inyour life?
And we hear people say the wordcoincidence.
I just don't like that wordbecause as a believer, I know
that God orchestrates all thingsin my life as well as your life
.
So for me it has to do withbeing right here at Joy FM.
So about 21 years ago I wasjust going into Joy FM and doing
(04:34):
this here's another Joy FMevents calendar update and then
I would do like churches havingVBS, you know something like
that.
Wow, I remember that that wasjust nothing, you know.
I'd go in once a week and leave.
It was just no big deal.
And then they asked me to do aSaturday show and I did that
from two to six for about a year, had no clue what I was doing.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Well, you sure fooled all of us, Melody.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And then they called me in.
I thought I was getting introuble, because Daniel Britt
called me and said could youcome by the station, brian
Sanders, and I would like totalk to you.
I was like, oh no, what did Isay?
Because sometimes what pops inmy head comes out my mouth and
so I did, and they asked me tojoin.
if I, or if I would like to jointhe morning show, would I be
(05:20):
willing to do that?
And the first question was whattime I got to get up.
And so I had a few otherquestions, you know, and I was
like I've got to pray about this, guys.
My kids were in high school, sothey my daughter drove to
school with my son, so I didn'thave to worry about that.
They were older, sure.
I had been praying for a parttime position somewhere where I
(05:42):
could still go to all my son'sball games, absolutely, and my
daughter played volleyball and Iwanted to be very involved in
their school.
So this kind of came out ofnowhere, but I didn't, kind of,
like you said a while ago, Ididn't have a yes on my brain
but I didn't have a no, right, Ididn't feel either way, sure,
and so it went on for a coupleweeks until finally, they called
(06:03):
me and said you know, we don'twant to rush your prayer, but we
, you know, we need you to makea decision because we have to
move forward.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Well, I was like you know, if I don't have a solid
yes on this, I'm going to haveto say no, yeah, yeah, because I
just know by previousexperiences that if I do
something that I'm not supposedto be, but I'm like Lord, why
are you not telling me Right?
But I went to church.
It was on a Sunday.
I told them I would call themon Monday morning.
(06:31):
I was at church on Sunday and Ihad not told anybody about this
position except my family.
Yeah, and not even the kidsthat much.
But Gary, my husband knew aboutit.
We had talked about it, thekids that much.
But gary, my husband knew aboutit, we had talked about it, so
I'd not told anyone.
This sweet prayer warrior ofour church walked up to me after
church and said I don't knowwhat you're praying about right
(06:54):
now, but whatever it is, youneed to do it.
Oh, my goodness, yeah, praisethe lord yeah and so I called
them on monday and said I'll doit.
And here we are 21 years at JoyFM, but 18 years here on the
Morning Show Isn't that amazing?
Yeah, and I think about lookingback on the 18 years.
What If I Hadna, of course, andall the wonderful opportunities
(07:15):
, of course, and all the music,and just hearing the stories of
faithfulness that has happenedthrough what we do here at Joy
FM.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
So missing out on that, how about you?
Is there another?
I know you mentioned the job,both of us have had job
situations.
But can you think of anothersituation?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
where the most important thing outside of my
salvation is my relationshipwith my wife.
And there again, timing.
The Lord's timing is perfect.
It's incredible.
I'm about six, eight yearsolder than my wife and so, of
course, as any young man in hisearly 20s, I wanted to be
married.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I wanted to start a family.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
And I dated several girls and was even engaged to a
girl in my early 20s oh, Ididn't know that yes, and was
also from Alabama, so I wasdestined to marry somebody from
Alabama because Melody's fromAlabama.
But I was heartbroken when Ihad to make the decision,
knowing full well that girl Iwas engaged to was not the one.
(08:15):
She ended up, within about sixmonths to a year, was dating
another guy, a pastor, and gotmarried.
They've had a wonderfulministry together and so I just
stayed in that dating scene.
You know, as I traveled withour family and just all over
just saying, Lord, what in theworld is going on?
Well, sure enough, the weekthat my wife and I knew of my
(08:36):
wife, melody, because her momand dad have the conference
ministry, women of JoyCelebrators, our family I knew
her parents, melody's parents,very, very well.
We traveled all over the worldtogether, literally all over the
world, and there was even atime where I just sent a totally
platonic sent Melody a messageon Facebook and said hey, just
FYI, I love your mom and dad, Ijust absolutely love them and
(08:59):
they speak so highly of you andI just wanted to let you know
how much I love them.
She didn't even respond.
I don't know if she thought Iwas trying to send out a
whatever and we laugh about Ilaugh about that.
At this point she says no, Ijust didn't see it.
I was like, oh, yeah, yeah,yeah.
So well, sure enough, the weekshe graduated from college, we
(09:20):
ended up meeting for the veryfirst time after knowing of each
other for 10, 15 years justthrough our parents.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
But you never met face to face, had never met face
to face.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
I'd met her sister, her older sister, who was
married but never met Melody.
I walked off the platform thelast day of a conference in my
suit and ties, as it was aformal, formal conference that
we were doing with Phil andDebbie, and Melody was sitting
right there in the entryway ofthat conference center with our
now niece and she just happenedto be there to look after our
(09:53):
niece and the timing of how theLord so she could get through
college and all that.
Well, if we had met 10 yearsprior, she'd have been in middle
school and it wouldn't haveworked.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
You know it just could have, but you'd been in
middle school and it wouldn'thave worked.
You know, and it.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Just well it could have, but you'd been in jail,
it'd have been bad, yeah, it'dhave been bad and uh, yeah, so
the lord's timing, you know and,and I mean we were, we were
engaged within six months of ofdating, oh wow, married, and the
lord has just blessed, and Isaid it even as of last week, I
told my assistant at the churchum, I don't know why we got into
this morbid conversation.
(10:27):
If my spouse goes, I'm notremarrying.
I said I for sure am not goingto remarry because I am scared
to death of not having somebodyso custom made fit for me and I
hope I'm the same for her in thesense of we both grew up in
ministry families.
Her dad was an evangelist,speaker, author, and so they
were traveling as a family.
(10:47):
We were traveling as a family.
Her dad hyper involved inchurch, my dad has been interim
on a local church level, and sothere were so many connections.
Now we still have differentviews, even though we are so
tailored for each other, but itwould blow my mind to even think
that there was anybody more fitfor my life and hopefully the
(11:08):
same for me with her, becauseshe understands ministry.
She understands what I do, andwhat I do is different than even
most worship pastors.
Most worship pastors don't tour50 days a year.
They stay in the local church.
For sure, most touring artistsaren't worship pastors.
So it's amazing how the Lordjust has you right in the palm
of his hand even with thoserelationships.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I know and I hope that that will be a long, long,
long lasting marriage.
But I will tell you that if Godcan do it once, he can do it
again.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Absolutely can.
And now that I said that if theLord somehow takes either one
of us home, he'll providesomebody else, I'm sure I have a
situation.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
This is a little different talking about
marriages and talking about worksituations, but this was
probably about 20 years ago andI was just going through a very
overwhelmed time.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
I was a mom I owned a business.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I was doing worship at church.
I was a mom, I was owned abusiness.
I was, you know, doing worshipat church.
I was just overwhelmed, sure,totally overwhelmed, so much so
that I got where I was even kindof breathing differently, and
and so my, our family decided totake a vacation and we went to
Florida, which is great.
(12:20):
We did all the things, went toFlorida and we stayed for a week
and we were packing up to comehome and I remember that week
just being carefree.
It was just like it was just abreath of fresh air to get away,
to be away from.
You know where I'm living.
I don't know about you, parker,but the best way to get rest
(12:40):
when you're in ministry is youhave to go away.
I do you have to go where theycan't find you.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
That's right, that's right you know I hate to say.
With this little slim thing wecarry around in our pockets it's
hard to get away, but you knowyou can't get to them like right
, you make it right, that'sright yeah, so, um, and you can
turn your phone off if you needto 100.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
But anyway, we were packing up to come home and I
remember getting that feelingagain, that overwhelming feeling
, and I just did not want to goback.
I did not want to go back homeand I was like Lord, please,
just you know, put this peace inmy heart, please show me that
you're here, that you're with me, that you care.
And all the time I'm packingand kind of praying this, and my
(13:23):
family don't know I'm doingthat, I'm just.
I hear a plane, there's a plane, but I don't think anything
about the plane, it's just aplane.
And we were in florida.
There's planes everywhere,there's the planes you get on
the tour and there's the airportin orlando.
So I didn't think anythingabout it.
And so we were getting ready toput the last suitcase in the
(13:43):
car and close the door, getready to head back, and I just
happened to glance up.
That plane was a plane thatwrote in the sky.
Do you know what I'm talkingabout?
Oh, yeah, yeah, with with thesmoke.
Oh, sure, yeah, that plane hadwrote out God loves you.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Oh, my goodness With goodness, with a heart yeah, I
have a picture of it at home,lord and it was just like sure
it was just like the baggage youknow, fell off of my shoulders.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I knew that he was there and I thought is that not
just like me, where I have tohave the lord write something in
the sky?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
yeah, for me to be able to get it.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Isn't that amazing, even though I know he's there,
even though I know he's faithful, he's never left me, he's never
forsaken me.
He promises me that in his word, I still had to have sky
writing.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Of course that is amazing, I know, wow, and he
does.
And sometimes it doesn't comewritten in the sky.
I haven't had that since thesky.
I haven't had that sense, ofcourse not.
But again, that's how the Lordworks.
It's those divine appointmentsand mine talking about the
church, that reached out askingif I would be the worship pastor
.
It was months, almost a year,and here's how the Lord spoke to
(14:56):
me, in that I was in on theelliptical, which is rare as
well.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
It's not as consistent as I thought.
That was a miracle.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
It was a hundred percent miracle that I was even
in that rope.
But, um, but there again.
Normally when I'm on theelliptical I'm listening to
music for the church.
That's my time away where I canlisten and plan.
And um, I was not listening toone thing, which I hate on the
elliptical.
I love it in the car so I cansit and pray and talk when I'm
on long drives, but on the theelliptical I've constantly got
noise and surprisinglyironically, on mute, the TV was
(15:32):
on and it was Dr Charles Stanleythat was up on the TV
ironically and I just heard theLord say just wait, just wait.
I just sat and just cried andthought Lord, on what?
Wait on what?
I am in my mid-30s, my familyis young, my boys the older they
get, the more they're going tobe involved in our school.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Very grounded in where they are with their
friends.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Absolutely, and my boys make friends everywhere
they go.
But my wife, who had neverlived outside of North Alabama,
had created a monstrouscommunity of friends, and in
fact she's more.
She knows more people and ismore involved relationally than
I am as the worship pastor withour church family, and so I
(16:15):
thought, Lord, the more you keepbelaboring this the harder it's
going to be a hundred percent.
He said just wait.
And there again, I look backnow in 2025 and think there's no
way we could have been there,we could have been at that
church, and so God is so good.
But his was not in the sky.
It was that, I don't know.
I can't even say it was anaudible voice.
It was not.
(16:37):
It was just the Holy Spiritgiving that phrase just wait so
he can speak in the sky, or hecan speak in a still small, tiny
, even non-audible voice.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Or through a person.
Through a person.
Or through a text messagethat's right, or through that
song that you hear on Joy FM.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
But you don't see that, melody, you don't?
I don't think you know.
There are a lot of people thatI know, because I know them
personally, that don't walk withthe Lord in his word.
They don't have prayer time,they don't have any of this, and
they're finding little thingsto validate how they approach
life or decisions.
No, the Lord doesn't speakthrough just what he speaks
(17:16):
through those little ways, thosefriends, those text messages,
those calls.
If you are rooted in his wordand if you are constantly
talking with him and becauseyou're going to miss it.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
That's right.
You will If you're not rootedin that I've missed things for
sure.
I've gone back and I have.
I have missed things for sure.
But you're right, you have tobe grounded in his word so that
you can hear, so that you cansee so that you can believe and
then so you can act on whateverhe says and do it with
(17:47):
confidence.
Amen, like you had to do, yeah,yeah, sometimes it's hard.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Most of the time it's hard.
I mean, yours was hard.
All these decisions are hard,yeah, and especially when you
have families and you have otherpeople that are involved that
you would die for and you wanttheir success there again.
You know, I look backgenerationally all the way to my
great great grandparents, andif they had not made the
decisions and followed theLord's prompting even working in
(18:12):
mills or being in the militaryor wherever they were, my
grandparents or my parents wouldnot have had the opportunities
they had to serve the Lord andto have the fulfillment of life
that God could give us.
So our decisions are crucial,but what's even more crucial is
if those decisions are madewithout the Lord and the Holy
(18:33):
Spirit's prompting, they'retotally obsolete, and not
obsolete in the sense that Godcan use anything, anybody, but
it's more crucial that we knowGod is leading us into every
single situation and we can onlydo that through his word and
the blessings follow.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Hundred percent the blessings follow.
You know, henry Blackaby saysthis, that in his Bible study
Experiencing God, yes that Godis at work all around us all the
time.
Right, we do miss it, but it'sour job to pay attention.
That's right, because thoseexperiences are there, those
things are there.
He is there, and we just are sobusy sometimes that we can't
(19:12):
hear.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Well, I've enjoyed talking about this and I hope
that this conversation hassparked times in your life that
you can go back to.
We don't ever want to forgetthat, because that kind of
builds on the next time there'sgoing to be another next time
where we have to have a decisionmade, that's right.
Kind of builds on the next timethere's going to be another
(19:36):
next time where we have to havea decision made or God tells us
to do this or that and we maynot want to do it but he still
says go.
So hopefully this will kind ofspark the times where God has
been faithful to you.
You know that he has guided youthrough whatever situation,
circumstance, decision that youhad to make and you have
benefited from the blessingsfrom that.
So, parker, thank you forhanging out and talking about
that today.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
It's always a pleasure and I love talking
about what he's done in ourlives.
He has done great things andI'll talk about it any day of
the week.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I don't think there's a better topic.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Amen.
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