Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises
Take a trip with the Morning JoyRide®️as Candi and Melody discuss the humorous side of real issues facing families today.
Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises
Embrace Lent: Small Changes, Big Impact
Reflection and personal growth are at the heart of Lent. Listen as Melody speaks with Guilford vocalist Parker Webb about this transformative season and learn how to navigate life's chaos while deepening your connection with God.
Lent is a time to slow down and reflect on our lives. It shows us that fasting isn’t just about giving up food—it’s about letting go of distractions and negative thoughts. During this season, we learn to embrace gratitude and kindness instead of complaining and discover simple ways to add enriching habits to our daily routines.
If you enjoyed our discussion and want to continue the conversation, please consider subscribing, rating, and sharing the podcast!
Hi, I'm Melody and I'm Candy, and you're listening to Quirks, bumps and Bruises. So, on this episode of Quirks, bumps and Bruises, I have my good friend Parker Webb here along with me. Hey, hey, hey, girl, thank you for being here.
Speaker 2:Oh listen, it's always a pleasure.
Speaker 1:I know You're easy to talk to.
Speaker 2:Parker. Well, I hope so. Sometimes I feel like I'm so easy to talk to.
Speaker 1:I just talk to myself. Well, that's better than the wall.
Speaker 2:That's right, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1:Well, I want us to kind of dig in. We do a lot of fun topics you and I do when we're on the Morning Joyride, but I want to talk about something a little bit more serious, and that is Lent. And Lent is coming up on Wednesday March the 5th through Thursday April 17th, and Lent is a time to slow down, a time to reflect, a time to get your heart right before the Lord, before Easter happens, easter being a little bit later this year. So I guess what I want to talk about first is how do we slow down when life feels like you're on a Costco run every Saturday.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean? You're just go, go, go.
Speaker 1:And maybe, just maybe, it's not about doing less but inviting God into the craziness of our lives. You know, Proverbs 16, 3 says commit to the Lord whatever you do and he will establish your plan. So, even in the running and the driving, going through the drive-through, God is working through us all the time. That's right, and those are big things that we do as well as those mundane things that we do. So I know now, and you may know this, with your wife Melody, Her name's Melody.
Speaker 1:She probably feels like at times she's just juggling too much. Yeah, she can't like how am I going to do all this? Oh yeah, but you're doing better, I think, than you probably think you are.
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 1:Because you're shaping those little hearts. You have these two precious little boys. You're shaping those little hearts even when you're just making sure they have their shoes to go to their ball practice or when you're trying to fix that snack for them. You're making an impact even in the chaos and you had mentioned before that your house can be chaotic at times loud and maybe a mess.
Speaker 2:That's right, right, oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, it looks like Hurricane Hugo came through.
Speaker 1:So maybe, just maybe, that we're exactly where god needs us to be, even if it is in the drive-thru line that's right right.
Speaker 1:So here's to kind of wrap it up february, and then we're going to tackle march and hopefully do it, with grace, during this lent season. Now, parker, you and I were talking recently that we did not. We know what lent is, but you and I didn't really grow up doing a full-blown participation, right right, in lent, that's right, and so, uh, and it's not that we don't believe in it, it just we didn't maybe put as much as uh, an emphasis on it as churches that are maybe a little more liturgical, if that's the right word, right. So let's you and I talk about some practical, real life ways that we can approach lent, because I can say I'm gonna give up coffee, but I'm not right and is that really even doing anything, if my heart is not right, for sure with that?
Speaker 1:so what if we fasted from the things that drain us, not just dessert, not just I'm going to give up chocolate cake, but the things that drain us, because Lent, if I'm correct, is often about fasting it is. So it doesn't mean you have to give up chocolate, unless God's calling you to give up the chocolate. Now that's a whole different ballgame. So let's think about fasting from what actually pulls your heart away from Jesus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think it is twofold. I think, the first being whatever that is that might be in the idolatry form for me is all kinds of stuff. I love watches. I'm a watch guy, so I love looking at but I have found that I have spent more time just looking at watches, online or whatever, or instead of spending time thinking and praying to the Lord. That is a big thing in my life.
Speaker 3:That's a big thing, yeah.
Speaker 2:So the fasting of something like that is taking the place of time where you could be spending with the Lord. Not to negate things of pleasure, that is totally. It's not a sin or anything like that. It's not bad. But you do have to balance. Now, on the flip side, um, let it be something where, when you have that urge to eat that piece of chocolate or you have that urge to, uh, look on social media, whatever your interests are, stop and think upon the Lord and pray or stop. And everybody's got, hopefully got a Bible app on their phone. Instead of going to Instagram, jump over to the Bible app and I want to talk about that social media.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, parker, but it can be draining. It's exhausting, and take a break from it For sure. I think social media would be a wonderful thing to fast from.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Because it is just a constant negativity most of the time. That's right. You know, when social media first started, you were connecting with people and you saw their kids and grandkids' pictures and recipes. Yeah, now it's just a lot of backbiting and fighting and polarizing things that are on there. So that's a way that we can fast from something that drains us. Social media is the devil's playground anyway.
Speaker 2:For sure, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:What about complaining? Have you noticed? We live in a culture of whinies, whinies, I call them whinies, right.
Speaker 2:Right, right, right, right. What if we replaced our complaining with gratitude? Oh, just think if we did that for a day, if all Americans let's just take the United States quit our complaining and I would say 99% of our complaining are first world problems. Yes, they are not items that our dear brothers and sisters in third world Africa, mm, hmm would complain about. Right, they would probably look at us and say, oh, my word, y'all have lost it. Think about other countries and what they're going through.
Speaker 1:So I spent some time in Haiti, yeah, and I came home and I thought you know, the very worst in America is a palace to Haiti. That's right, and so, yes, complaining has become like a pastime. It seems like, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1:Going back to social media, just scroll a little bit and you'll see that. So replacing that with gratitude. I know you and I talked recently, when you were co-hosting with me on the show, about your house. Can be loud at times and a mess at times, right, but you're thankful for it, not complaining about it.
Speaker 2:But thankful for it. And maybe it is my age, maybe it is the hard times that have made me, but I did. I sat in my living room the other night and just thinking Lord, thank you for this house that you provided Right. He provided that for me.
Speaker 2:Anything we have is because of him Everything that we have, he provided and he allowed us to have. But even more so, melody, even if he didn't, even if it's something that to this world, the folks in Haiti that you were talking about, if it was just our salvation, if that was all that we could brag on that.
Speaker 2:God, it's more than enough. It's more than enough. So you know, we constantly look at the material side of things. That's just modern day US, that's how we, that's how we think. But the blessings? The blessing is that salvation. But then thank him for just the material stuff, or the family relationships, or the, the, our kids, our spouses, our parents, whoever. Oh think of how this world would be so much different, Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So a little a little thing for young moms with kids, like your wife, melody, because moms really have a constant guilt, I think, going on at times they do, and busy, and you even have guilt if you go through the drive-thru, right? So here's a little suggestion Try just a simple meal night, yeah, no pressure, just something simple Tacos. Something simple, right, and take away, like like fast yourself away from that guilt, yeah, you know, if at all possible, all right. Another, uh, area of talking about lent instead of only giving something up, what if lent was about adding something that brings you closer to god? So, instead of giving up, let's think about adding.
Speaker 1:What if you read one psalm a day? That's something maybe you don't do, that's something I try to do every day, just to remind you of God's goodness, because he's good. Even in the times that are not so good for us, god is still good. That's right, that's right. So, reading a psalm a day, what about and I hate to even say this, but what about? Turning off the radio for five minutes, yeah, and while you're driving to work and just praying, spending time with the Lord there?
Speaker 2:It's a wonderful time. I lived in Alabama, north Alabama. Melody and I were there for the first four years of our marriage and I would drive every weekend to meet my family's bus here in North Carolina, or I would fly, but a lot of the times I was driving and I had a very economical little vehicle that would. There were times where I would drive that eight to nine hours with nothing on in the car. I wouldn't make any phone calls. A lot of times it was at night. I was driving through the night back or early in the morning and so, oh, those times were amazing. My wife said that sounds horrific, that sounds awful to drive that far, but I had some of the best thinking some of the best prayer, some of the best worship.
Speaker 2:You know I would sit and I know the people driving beside me would look over and say, oh, that guy's crazy. He's crying in his car by himself. What is wrong with that guy? But it is. It's a precious time and in the car is a very it's a good spot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, worship time is in my car. Amen, it's the only time I'm alone. I know what about memorizing? Just you don't have to be a long passage, even if it's just a short verse, and taping it to your refrigerator at home, so good, just to kind of remember. So adding that to your life, right? So those are some things that I think about adding something that's going to bring you closer to God, instead of thinking it in terms of I've got to take this away For sure.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to eat chocolate today which I'm not doing that I'm sorry, that will not be mine.
Speaker 2:Too much.
Speaker 1:What about this one, Parker? Make simple, intentional acts of kindness.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1:Jesus was always interruptible right.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:He stopped to talk to people, he stopped to heal people, he stopped to love people. So maybe, just maybe, lent could be about choosing to pause P-A-U-S-E and be more like that. Yeah, what about encouraging somebody? Oh, texting a friend, compliment a stranger, leave a kind note to somebody, right? How about putting your phone down during meals, mm?
Speaker 2:Is that a big one? Don't even bring it to the table, just put it in the bedroom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just put it in the bedroom.
Speaker 2:Don't even bring it into the kitchen, just giving your family full attention, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I go out to dinner sometimes and I look over at a young family and all four are on their phones.
Speaker 2:Right Out to dinner Out to dinner, which should be a special time together that you're paying for Paying a lot to go out to dinner together nowadays.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can sit on your phone at home. Right, spend that time with your family.
Speaker 2:Jesus shared meals with people all the time and he wasn't on his phone. Oh, and I think sometimes the best ministry can happen over a meal, Over a meal, yep.
Speaker 1:How about serving someone in a small way, whether it's bringing coffee to a co-worker, which I should have done for you today?
Speaker 2:Oh, I've I've got my coffee here in my red solo cup that I I leave my my coffee cups everywhere I do. Yeah, so I leave my coffee cups everywhere I go, but especially my office. I'll have four or five sitting in my sink in my office. So I thought, well, if I put it in a solo cup, I can throw it away and I don't have to worry about it. Is it hot? No, no, it's cold. I'm a cold brew guy.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, well, I was like, wouldn't that melt the cup?
Speaker 2:And it's not for the taste or anything, it's for the caffeine only. That's the only reason I drink it. I get that.
Speaker 1:I get that. A couple more things to think about during Lent. What about slowing down, remembering this Jesus was never in a hurry, that's right. He was never in a hurry. So again, that reminds us to step out of all the chaos of our lives and it can get chaotic, that's right.
Speaker 1:And just focus on what truly matters. Life can be. I don't know, and, parker, I know you too. Me too, life is really really busy. It is, and Parker, I know you too. Me too, life is really really busy. It is Like I get up at four and I don't stop until I go to bed.
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 1:The calendar. I was looking at my. I don't have it with me here. I'd show it to you and prove it, but my calendar is just packed. Of course, every day, every day, every day, is this something going on? But Jesus never. It is. He prayed, he walked.
Speaker 1:You know he stopped. And so what about just starting five minutes of every morning with silence before you do another thing? Honestly, before you even jump in your Bible if you do your devotions, what about just stopping Because I know I don't know about you? I will be honest here and say sometimes the first thing I do is reach for this phone. Oh, I know that's what I do, looking for text and emails and things that I need to do, my reminder thing on my phone and all the things that's going on.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, so you know. One story about Jesus in the Bible that sticks out to me is when he was walking through the crowd, and I mean there was a mob of people clamoring to be with him and to follow him, but all of a sudden he stops and he looks at the disciples and says who touched me? He was that in tune.
Speaker 2:Of course he's fully God, but he's fully man. He stopped who touched me? And they said, master, there's hundreds of people around here that have been touching you. He said, oh no, somebody just touched me and it wasn't even physically his body, but just the hem of his garment. And he turned around and that lady who had the issues of blood, and that, to me, is just are we that in tune with reality? Now, obviously we're not going to have that sense that God has, but when we're going through the grocery line and you see on the face of that little girl that's probably checking you out, that has had a terrible home life or whatnot, and you can just tell by looking at any of these individuals, stop and just make a kind comment that lets them know they're loved and it might lead to another comment that would that you can share your faith and share what Jesus has done in your life, but just saying you are so efficient with how you have sorted my groceries today, yeah, you are great at your job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that little tiny comment could make the difference in life or death with somebody.
Speaker 1:Because if you go through that line and you are just not Christ-like in any way, I know the story and this is a true story of a pastor who was going into a town for a revival or something and was speaking at a particular church and he went up to the hotel desk and I don't know any other way to put it, but he showed himself in not a good way, sure, not a good way at all. Yeah, he was upset at this and that and just was berating the staff of this hotel. And that night he went to preach at this particular church and who was in that congregation? Oh, my goodness, one of the staff people. Oh, my goodness, that he had berated just only a few hours earlier. Right, that he had berated just only a few hours earlier.
Speaker 1:So that stopping and being kind is going to benefit you in the end, because you never know who's watching you, you never know where you're going to see them again. That's right, and so I agree with you so much. Just stopping and being kind goes such a long way. And then giving yourself some grace, even in the rushing and we've said it before the chaos, y'all we know we get it. But give yourself some grace, because God knows our hearts.
Speaker 2:He's with us.
Speaker 1:And then, lastly, let Lent be a reminder to all of us that we're not doing this thing alone. We're not doing it alone. At the end of the day, I feel like Lent and I don't. I am not a professor of Lent, I don't. I can't sit here and say I know all the ins and outs of Lent, but I do know that Lent isn't about perfection. It's about drawing closer to Jesus in whatever way makes sense for your life. So what you, parker, may do during a Lent season may not be what I do, but even if we mess up during the Lent season, even if life gets out of hand and unfocused for us, I think God does see our heart. He knows we're trying. But we just wanted to give you a few ideas to make Lent.
Speaker 2:maybe not always about giving something up, but adding something to For sure, and I think, again, it's an incredible practice. But adding something to For sure, and I think it's, again it's an incredible practice If you're practicing Lent, for simply the religious methodology of doing Lent, I say, don't even bother. But if you are practicing Lent and these 40 days you are focusing on taking all the distractions out of your life that keep you from focusing on Jesus, and you are focusing on Jesus, I would challenge everybody that's listening to this podcast Please focus in and take Lent to heart. I know I am and, being Southern Baptist, again, we've not made a huge emphasis on Lent. I am going to make a commitment to weed out some of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, kind of talking through all this makes me realize how important it really is and maybe we haven't dug deep into that as much as we should have. So if you are like us and you have not, maybe done that as well, this could be the season to do that and who knows, by the time you get to easter sunday, your heart is going to be just in a beautiful place to be able to celebrate the resurrection of our lord and savior parker. Thank you for being with me on the Quirks Bumps and Bruises.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is always fun there's quirks, and there's bumps and there's bruises.
Speaker 3:That's life, that's life.
Speaker 2:God do it.
Speaker 3:Thanks for listening to the Quirks, bumps and Bruises podcast with Candy and Melody. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and share the podcast you can.
