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October 27, 2025 13 mins

Throwback Episode: Karen Peck joins the Morning JoyRide for a heartfelt conversation about grief, hope, and faith. She shares the story behind Good Answers, inspired by her mother’s final words and the losses that shaped her music and walk with God. A powerful reminder that even in life’s hardest moments, God still gives good answers.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Good morning and welcome to Joy FM.
Welcome to the morning joyride.
It is Melody along with you asalways, and Candy's still gonna
be out a bit with that sweet newbaby, but I have someone that I
adore on the phone with metoday.
We actually have not talked inso long, and I just want to hug
her.
It's Karen Peck.
Hey Karen.

SPEAKER_01 (00:18):
Hey, my friend.
I you know what?
I'm hugging you through thephone.
I miss talking to y'all, but youknow what?
We have been friends for solong, and I just appreciate
y'all because you know we justhave so much in common with you
know our families andgrandbabies, and now Candy's got
a baby girl, and I'm so happyfor her, and I hope she's

(00:42):
listening.
And Candy, I love you, andcongratulations.
And wow, so much is going on,but God has been so good and
thankful.

SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
Fill us in on Karen Beck and New River.
What do y'all got going on?
I know it's always it'ssomething all the time, so go
ahead and just tell us what'shappening.

SPEAKER_01 (00:58):
Well, we have a new record that's coming out in May.
It's called Good Answers, andI'm very, very excited about
this.
It has um uh the the songs thatthat I know you've been playing,
Be Ready, and also That's whatFaith Looks Like.

SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
Both of those, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:13):
Thank you for playing those songs.
And uh so this is the longestwe've ever taken getting a new
record out, but our mom had beenvery sick last year, and then
she passed in July.
And two weeks before mamapassed, she said, I pray to God
and God gives good answers.
And but we put that in herobituary, and it stayed with me

(01:35):
for so long that I got withsongwriters Kenna West and Jimmy
Yeary, and we wrote the song GodGives Good Answers.
And it's the first song on thetrack, and so we decided to name
the album Good Answers.
And then, of course, um KellyNeeland and her her family
passed away, and um the nextweek, and so it was just the
week after mama had passed, andKelly was at the funeral of

(01:59):
Mamas, and it was just you know,it was a series of of just life,
just filling with grief anddevastation, and started writing
more songs that are on thisrecord as well.
So it's you know, it's been aprocess, but God's been good and
faithful to help us through it.

SPEAKER_00 (02:16):
Oh, I know so much happening, but I gotta stop you
right now because we haven'ttalked in so so long, and so I I
have to ask you first thingabout those grandbabies.

SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
Out of my mind.
I am completely, utterly smittenby those babies.

SPEAKER_00 (02:32):
Oh, I and I know I because we kind of followed suit
uh my family with yours, and soI've got the two two boys
though.
And uh how sweet one isblonde-haired and blue-eyed, and
the other one is black-hairedand black-eyed.
It's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 (02:49):
How sweet.
Oh, and you're never the same, Iknow.

SPEAKER_00 (02:53):
No.
You know, and you I think wewell, you and I have talked
about this before.
They tell you that uh, you know,before you have grandkids,
they'll say, You just can'texplain it.
You can't explain it, and youknow, you think, well, how
different could it be?
And it is.

SPEAKER_01 (03:06):
I know.
It is absolutely the mostglorious thing.
And yesterday I went to see themjust for a minute, and when I
walked in, they startedscreaming and running toward me.
And I went, This is heaven.
Uh-huh.
This is just a little pot ofheaven right here.

SPEAKER_00 (03:23):
And mine call me uh me mommy, and so when they say,
I love you, me mommy, I mean,they can have anything they
want.
Anything.

SPEAKER_01 (03:31):
Oh, anything.
Anything.
I mean, it's that's it.
They just melt your heart.

SPEAKER_00 (03:37):
Oh, they absolutely do.
There's just nothing like 'em,that's for sure.
Well, let's change topics alittle bit.
Aaron, your music touches somany hearts in so many different
kinds of ways.
I was talking to a listener t uha little bit ago, and they his
name is Randy, and he said,please tell her how much she has
meant to me in my life.

(03:58):
And uh so you and your familyhave certainly just made such a
a positive difference in so manylives.

SPEAKER_01 (04:04):
Tell Randy, I said thank you.

SPEAKER_00 (04:06):
Well, I I will, I will.
Let me ask you this because Iknow that um grief can be such a
hard thing, a very unique thingas well.
And I know I lost my mom aboutsix years ago, so I know what
that feels like losing a mom.
There is just something that youcan't explain when you lose your
mom.

(04:26):
And uh and then you, of course,lost uh I guess Kelly, it was
she your very best friend?

SPEAKER_01 (04:32):
Kelly was she was absolutely that that friend that
was a sister.
We had a 43-year slashfriendship sisterhood.
And matter of fact, we weretexting the day that that they
were leaving and that we wereboth leaving.
You know, we some of us artistswere flying to Seattle,
Washington to board a Bill andGloria Gaither Alaska cruise.

(04:55):
And so so we were just textingon the Thursday before we were
leaving on Friday.
We were texting, you know, youknow, what are we gonna wear?
You know, uh better take a coat.
It's gonna be cold up there,just those kind of things.
Right.
And I I don't know what to pack,you know, and she said, Well,
I'm gonna go get my coat rightnow and pack it.
And and then the next morning Itexted her and she loved my

(05:17):
text, and then that afternoon iswhen their plane went down and
so they all perished except forher one daughter, Autumn, which
was flying commercial with herhusband because she's expecting
a baby.
And uh, and but then Autumn shewound up having her baby on
Kelly's birthday and on December1st.
So that was so sweet.

SPEAKER_00 (05:38):
That was a that was a God moment there.
That was that was a god moment.

SPEAKER_01 (05:43):
It was.
And you know, and I can see howthe Lord is helping her.
I mean, there's so many familiesthat are affected.
I mean, Amber would have been 36years old last month, and her
husband Nathan, I mean, hisfamily, you know, they get
they're they're good families,you know, and and you know, and
all of these people, and andMelody that was um, you know,

(06:05):
she was from North Carolinaactually, but she was a friend,
you know, to all of us, and sheworked so hard with Kelly and
their family as their assistant.
So it was just there was just alot going on.
And um, but uh one thing that Ilearned about grief, um, and oh,
and about your mom, I will saythis, I don't think I've ever
experienced anything as soheartbreaking as losing a

(06:28):
mother.
There's just you know, with thatbecause your mom is part of you
and it's like part of my hearthas gone with her.
And then with Kelly, with youknow, with seeing, you know, one
of my dearest friends and youknow, gone so so suddenly, it
was just devastating.
But one thing that I'vediscovered about grief is that

(06:48):
God did not create us carryburdens.
And that's why he says to castour cares upon him because he
cares for us.
And that we're never to bearthese burdens alone.
And so that's why, you know,it's it w it's really been a
process, but God has been sofaithful.
I honestly it's just a dailything of just praying and

(07:10):
staying connected with him andknowing that if he allows it to
happen, he will get you throughit.

SPEAKER_00 (07:16):
Yes, and just knowing that, oh, we will one
day see them again.
It keeps uh everything kind ofin perspective as well.
Uh, we have Karen, a lot of ourlisteners here have have gone
through grief uh with losingspouses and and family members.
We just recently finished ourfundraiser, and so many call in
and give in memory of someone orin honor of someone, and I I'm

(07:37):
just astounded at how manyparents were giving in memory of
their children and because it'snot supposed to happen that way.
Uh and and they tell us thatthey're they just struggle with
with grief.
And I know and I don't know ifyou have gone through this or
not, but grief can kind of hityou out of nowhere.
You'll be having just a normalday, and you're just trying to
do your thing and get all alldone that is required of that

(08:01):
day, and then I will smell apound cake.
And my mother was known for forher pound cakes.
Or I will see someone with abeautiful handwriting.
My mother was known for that.
But something will just triggera moment, a smell, a song, and
it will just wash over you.
I don't know if you'veexperienced that yet.

(08:22):
It does.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (08:23):
It does.
I mean, it's it's would be inwaves.

SPEAKER_00 (08:27):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
And you know, it was like, oh my goodness.
But you know, I had finally gotover the last few days, f uh
last maybe three weeks, that umI wasn't crying every day.
Yeah.
And then just lo and behold,this week I was driving through
uh where my hometown and I washeaded for an appointment and

(08:48):
went by where mama was staying.
And oh man, I just it justeverything just flooded it
washes you.

SPEAKER_00 (08:56):
It just washes over you.

SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
It washes over you.
That's a good way to to put it.
And it was like, my goodness, itwas um it you know, it was hard.
So this past week I've had areally hard week this week, just
missing, missing mama so, somuch.

SPEAKER_00 (09:13):
And I think I think during the times of holidays
too, with uh cr getting throughChristmas and now Easter's
coming up, and the the holidayswere and Thanksgiving were huge
parts of our family, and my momwas the center of that.
You know, she was the uh she waskind of the one that you know
planned the meals and theget-togethers and cooked a lot
of it as well.

(09:33):
And so it was mama.

SPEAKER_01 (09:35):
And one thing is mama had a a an azalea bush that
is in her front yard, and it wasjust it actually turned into a
tree.
It was so beautiful, and everyyear it has these vibrant pink
colors.
And she would always, everyyear, say, My tree's blooming.
And so we'd always take picturesof it or have pictures outside
with her in front of her trees.

(09:55):
And our sister Sandra textedSusan and me uh last week and
said, Mama's tree's blooming.
And so, and sent a picture ofit, and it was like, and I'm
thinking, Mama loves flowers somuch, but I wonder what the
flowers smell like in heaven.
And I wrote a song about itafter Mama Pass called Mama
Knows.
And um it's really sweet.

(10:16):
I mean, it's just you know,because I wonder what the manna
tastes like.
Because it would in heaven wecannot even comprehend how
wonderful heaven is.
No, and but you know, one daywe'll we'll know, but Mama
knows, and heaven is so closebecause she's there and Kelly's
there and her family's there.
I mean it's heaven, it justfeels very close.

SPEAKER_00 (10:37):
Yes, yes.
I I agree.
And uh again, that's uh just uhmaybe some encouraging words to
those that are listening todayhere on Joy FM, if you're going
through that time that uh Ican't say that it gets easier
because I don't know that itdoes, but time does tend to heal
some of those really deepwounds.

(10:57):
But uh thank goodness we haveone you had a wonderful mother.
I did not uh ever get theopportunity to meet her, but the
way you would write about herand uh you know, social media
and that kind of thing, I wasable to just and she was
beautiful by the way.
What a beautiful lady.

SPEAKER_01 (11:11):
I loved her.
You would have loved her.
She was so funny and I mean justso much fun.
And her laugh, I mean, we wouldget hysterical in places we
weren't supposed to be laughing.
And it was just uh it was great.
But one thing I want to say forthose that are listening, just
remember that God has adifferent perspective on death
than we do.

(11:32):
Because when a believer, when abeliever passes over, when they
cross over, it's just abeginning of life.
So really the the way I mean wesee we feel like it's an ending,
and it may be an ending on thisearth, but it's just a beginning
of eternal life.
And it's so important that thatwe all are sure that we are

(11:54):
saved, that we are secure withthe Lord.
And that's why the station'shere to play songs of faith and
hope and salvation and to remindyou that the the scripture says
the only way we get to heaven isthrough the blood of Jesus, that
if we accept Jesus as our Lordand Savior, then then we have a
place in heaven.
So I just want to encourage anyof you that if you're

(12:16):
questioning, you know, I don'tknow if I'm saved or not, well
then just you know, talk to theLord and just and or get with a
preacher or get with someonethat you know praise and can
help lead you to the Lord.
And but you can do it rightwhere you are.
You can just pray, Lord, I youknow, I realize I'm a sinner and
I can't save myself, and but Iknow you can.
And please come into my heartand forgive me of my sin and

(12:40):
save me and you know, and beLord of my life, and then live
for Him and get in a goodBible-based church and learn
more about Jesus.
But I just wanted to throw thisout there because that is really
why we do what we do.
That's why Joy FM is doing whatthey do, and that's why Karen
Pekamy River and all of theseother ministries are out here

(13:01):
telling people about the Lordbecause time is running out, and
we never know.
You never know when you're gonnatake your last breath.

SPEAKER_00 (13:08):
And what a beautiful season of the year to do just
that, to invite him into yourlife, this Easter season, where
we as Christians, this is uhthis is our time where we
celebrate the risen Savior.
And I can't think of a morebeautiful time than this season,
particularly as we are into HolyWeek, to be able to say, I know

(13:29):
with certainty that I will spendeternity with God.
Amen.
Karen, thank you.
I pray that all good things uhhappen for you and your family
and for Karen Peck and NewRiver.
You are absolutely one of ourfavorites.
We adore you.
Thank you.
I adore y'all.
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