Quirks, Bumps, and Bruises

When Heaven Feels Close: Karen Peck's Journey Through Loss

• The Morning JoyRide • Season 4 • Episode 9

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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.

SPEAKER_00:

Good morning and welcome to Joy FM. Welcome to the morning joyride. It is Melody along with you as always, and Candy's still gonna be out a bit with that sweet new baby, but I have someone that I adore on the phone with me today. We actually have not talked in so long, and I just want to hug her. It's Karen Peck. Hey Karen.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey, my friend. I you know what? I'm hugging you through the phone. I miss talking to y'all, but you know what? We have been friends for so long, and I just appreciate y'all because you know we just have so much in common with you know our families and grandbabies, and now Candy's got a baby girl, and I'm so happy for her, and I hope she's listening. And Candy, I love you, and congratulations. And wow, so much is going on, but God has been so good and thankful.

SPEAKER_00:

Fill us in on Karen Beck and New River. What do y'all got going on? I know it's always it's something all the time, so go ahead and just tell us what's happening.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we have a new record that's coming out in May. It's called Good Answers, and I'm very, very excited about this. It has um uh the the songs that that I know you've been playing, Be Ready, and also That's what Faith Looks Like.

SPEAKER_00:

Both of those, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for playing those songs. And uh so this is the longest we've ever taken getting a new record out, but our mom had been very sick last year, and then she passed in July. And two weeks before mama passed, she said, I pray to God and God gives good answers. And but we put that in her obituary, and it stayed with me for so long that I got with songwriters Kenna West and Jimmy Yeary, and we wrote the song God Gives Good Answers. And it's the first song on the track, and so we decided to name the album Good Answers. And then, of course, um Kelly Neeland and her her family passed away, and um the next week, and so it was just the week after mama had passed, and Kelly was at the funeral of Mamas, and it was just you know, it was a series of of just life, just filling with grief and devastation, and started writing more songs that are on this record as well. So it's you know, it's been a process, but God's been good and faithful to help us through it.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I know so much happening, but I gotta stop you right now because we haven't talked in so so long, and so I I have to ask you first thing about those grandbabies.

SPEAKER_01:

Out of my mind. I am completely, utterly smitten by those babies.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I and I know I because we kind of followed suit uh my family with yours, and so I've got the two two boys though. And uh how sweet one is blonde-haired and blue-eyed, and the other one is black-haired and black-eyed. It's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01:

How sweet. Oh, and you're never the same, I know.

SPEAKER_00:

No. You know, and you I think we well, 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't explain it. You can't explain it, and you know, you think, well, how different could it be? And it is.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. It is absolutely the most glorious thing. And yesterday I went to see them just for a minute, and when I walked in, they started screaming and running toward me. And I went, This is heaven. Uh-huh. This is just a little pot of heaven right here.

SPEAKER_00:

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:

Oh, anything. Anything. I mean, it's that's it. They just melt your heart.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, they absolutely do. There's just nothing like 'em, that's for sure. Well, let's change topics a little bit. Aaron, your music touches so many hearts in so many different kinds of ways. I was talking to a listener t uh a 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. And uh so you and your family have certainly just made such a a positive difference in so many lives.

SPEAKER_01:

Tell Randy, I said thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I I will, I will. Let me ask you this because I know that um grief can be such a hard thing, a very unique thing as well. And I know I lost my mom about six years ago, so I know what that feels like losing a mom. There is just something that you can't explain when you lose your mom. And uh and then you, of course, lost uh I guess Kelly, it was she your very best friend?

SPEAKER_01:

Kelly was she was absolutely that that friend that was a sister. We had a 43-year slash friendship sisterhood. And matter of fact, we were texting the day that that they were leaving and that we were both leaving. You know, we some of us artists were flying to Seattle, Washington to board a Bill and Gloria Gaither Alaska cruise. And so so we were just texting on the Thursday before we were leaving on Friday. We were texting, you know, you know, 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 right now and pack it. And and then the next morning I texted her and she loved my text, and then that afternoon is when their plane went down and so they all perished except for her one daughter, Autumn, which was flying commercial with her husband because she's expecting a baby. And uh, and but then Autumn she wound up having her baby on Kelly's birthday and on December 1st. So that was so sweet.

SPEAKER_00:

That was a that was a God moment there. That was that was a god moment.

SPEAKER_01:

It was. And you know, and I can see how the Lord is helping her. I mean, there's so many families that are affected. I mean, Amber would have been 36 years old last month, and her husband Nathan, I mean, his family, you know, they get they're they're good families, you know, and and you know, and all of these people, and and Melody that was um, you know, she was from North Carolina actually, but she was a friend, you know, to all of us, and she worked so hard with Kelly and their family as their assistant. So it was just there was just a lot going on. And um, but uh one thing that I learned about grief, um, and oh, and about your mom, I will say this, I don't think I've ever experienced anything as so heartbreaking as losing a mother. There's just you know, with that because your mom is part of you and it's like part of my heart has gone with her. And then with Kelly, with you know, with seeing, you know, one of my dearest friends and you know, gone so so suddenly, it was just devastating. But one thing that I've discovered about grief is that God did not create us carry burdens. And that's why he says to cast our cares upon him because he cares for us. And that we're never to bear these burdens alone. And so that's why, you know, it's it w it's really been a process, but God has been so faithful. I honestly it's just a daily thing of just praying and staying connected with him and knowing that if he allows it to happen, he will get you through it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, and just knowing that, oh, we will one day see them again. It keeps uh everything kind of in perspective as well. Uh, we have Karen, a lot of our listeners here have have gone through grief uh with losing spouses and and family members. We just recently finished our fundraiser, and so many call in and give in memory of someone or in honor of someone, and I I'm just astounded at how many parents were giving in memory of their children and because it's not supposed to happen that way. Uh and and they tell us that they're they just struggle with with grief. And I know and I don't know if you have gone through this or not, but grief can kind of hit you out of nowhere. You'll be having just a normal day, and you're just trying to do your thing and get all all done that is required of that day, and then I will smell a pound cake. And my mother was known for for her pound cakes. Or I will see someone with a beautiful handwriting. My mother was known for that. But something will just trigger a moment, a smell, a song, and it will just wash over you. I don't know if you've experienced that yet. It does. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It does. I mean, it's it's would be in waves.

SPEAKER_00:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01:

And you know, it was like, oh my goodness. But you know, I had finally got over the last few days, f uh last maybe three weeks, that um I wasn't crying every day. Yeah. And then just lo and behold, this week I was driving through uh where my hometown and I was headed for an appointment and went by where mama was staying. And oh man, I just it just everything just flooded it washes you.

SPEAKER_00:

It just washes over you.

SPEAKER_01:

It washes over you. That's a good way to to put it. And it was like, my goodness, it was um it you know, it was hard. So this past week I've had a really hard week this week, just missing, missing mama so, so much.

SPEAKER_00:

And I think I think during the times of holidays too, with uh cr getting through Christmas and now Easter's coming up, and the the holidays were and Thanksgiving were huge parts of our family, and my mom was the center of that. You know, she was the uh she was kind of the one that you know planned the meals and the get-togethers and cooked a lot of it as well. And so it was mama.

SPEAKER_01:

And one thing is mama had a a an azalea bush that is in her front yard, and it was just it actually turned into a tree. It was so beautiful, and every year it has these vibrant pink colors. And she would always, every year, say, My tree's blooming. And so we'd always take pictures of it or have pictures outside with her in front of her trees. And our sister Sandra texted Susan and me uh last week and said, Mama's tree's blooming. And so, and sent a picture of it, and it was like, and I'm thinking, Mama loves flowers so much, but I wonder what the flowers smell like in heaven. And I wrote a song about it after Mama Pass called Mama Knows. And um it's really sweet. I mean, it's just you know, because I wonder what the manna tastes like. Because it would in heaven we cannot even comprehend how wonderful heaven is. No, and but you know, one day we'll we'll know, but Mama knows, and heaven is so close because she's there and Kelly's there and her family's there. I mean it's heaven, it just feels very close.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yes. I I agree. And uh again, that's uh just uh maybe some encouraging words to those that are listening today here on Joy FM, if you're going through that time that uh I can't say that it gets easier because I don't know that it does, but time does tend to heal some of those really deep wounds. But uh thank goodness we have one you had a wonderful mother. I did not uh ever get the opportunity to meet her, but the way you would write about her and uh you know, social media and that kind of thing, I was able to just and she was beautiful by the way. What a beautiful lady.

SPEAKER_01:

I loved her. You would have loved her. She was so funny and I mean just so much fun. And her laugh, I mean, we would get 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 for those that are listening, just remember that God has a different perspective on death than we do. Because when a believer, when a believer passes over, when they cross over, it's just a beginning of life. So really the the way I mean we see we feel like it's an ending, and it may be an ending on this earth, but it's just a beginning of eternal life. And it's so important that that we all are sure that we are saved, that we are secure with the Lord. And that's why the station's here to play songs of faith and hope and salvation and to remind you that the the scripture says the only way we get to heaven is through the blood of Jesus, that if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then then we have a place in heaven. So I just want to encourage any of you that if you're questioning, you know, I don't know if I'm saved or not, well then just you know, talk to the Lord and just and or get with a preacher or get with someone that you know praise and can help lead you to the Lord. And but you can do it right where you are. You can just pray, Lord, I you know, I realize I'm a sinner and I can't save myself, and but I know you can. And please come into my heart and forgive me of my sin and save me and you know, and be Lord of my life, and then live for Him and get in a good Bible-based church and learn more about Jesus. But I just wanted to throw this out there because that is really why we do what we do. That's why Joy FM is doing what they do, and that's why Karen Pekamy River and all of these other ministries are out here telling people about the Lord because time is running out, and we never know. You never know when you're gonna take your last breath.

SPEAKER_00:

And what a beautiful season of the year to do just that, to invite him into your life, this Easter season, where we as Christians, this is uh this is our time where we celebrate the risen Savior. And I can't think of a more beautiful time than this season, particularly as we are into Holy Week, to be able to say, I know with certainty that I will spend eternity with God. Amen. Karen, thank you. I pray that all good things uh happen for you and your family and for Karen Peck and New River. You are absolutely one of our favorites. We adore you. Thank you. I adore y'all.

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