Elder Victoria Parker was born in Amarillo, Texas in 1965, where she was raised in a home with 4 other siblings. The Lord made an impression on her heart early in life, and Victoria became a Christian at 12 years of age. After playing basketball for Amarillo College in 1983, she left school and soon became a wife and homemaker.

When her three daughters became of age, Victoria returned to Amarillo College in 2005 and graduated with an associate's degree in Business Administration in 2007. Using her gift for administration, Victoria has been serving in ministry alongside her husband of 41 years, Pastor Kevin Parker. She also uses her administrative skills in the real estate world, is an excellent cook, and has a green thumb.

Welcome to 12-Minute Converse with Jesus Believers.

God chose first to have a conversation with us, his creation.

Our prayer is that this listening space brings growth and transforms your life forever.

Good evening Victoria, praise God for you.

Good evening.

It's a pleasure to connect with you.

What part of the world are you in today?

I am in Texas.

Tell me what's it been like being in ministry for as long as you have been?

Mostly rewarding.

It's trying it sometimes, but when you really are able to reach people and help them, it's rewarding.

Do you have many women reaching out for your advice on how you've actually been able to keep the family together for so long?

No, not right now.

Our ministry is super small, but I know that's coming.

Yeah, it's 41 years.

Yeah, definitely.

Does it feel like 41 years?

No, it went by really fast it seems like.

Tell me about that.

Tell me what it's like as a young man that's married for now 17 years, in terms of my expectations and possibly a tip or two, yeah, of what I should do and should not do.

Well, you should listen and do everything she tells you to do.

Check.

You already do that, don't you?

You better believe it.

But really the main thing you should be doing is always being considerate of each other.

Always thinking of the other before you consider yourself.

And I think if you can do that, you might get to 41 years too unless the Lord raptures you.

The rapture looks so good right now.

It does.

So moving from college and what looks like from your story being a super active basketball player, right?

And then deciding to be the stay-at-home mom, was that something that was influenced by what you saw with your parents or something that you didn't see with your parents?

I did not see that with my parents.

They both worked continually.

My mom was not a stay-at-home mom.

When I got to experience it, I loved it.

I absolutely loved it.

And I really had a whole attitude when it came time for me to go to work.

I did not appreciate it whatsoever.

It was a serious joy for me to be at home and be a keeper of the home and, you know, take care of my family that way.

I just enjoyed it immensely.

That's interesting.

So that was part of your purpose, undoubtedly, was it?

It was.

And although my mother was not a stay-at-home mom, she prepared me to be able to do it and enjoy it.

By not doing it?

Yes.

If you can understand that, if you knew my mother, and the way that she trained me, yeah, she trained me well.

And it wasn't, although she had to work, it wasn't something that she complained about.

She wasn't a complainer anyway, but she had to work.

And she did teach me the joys of being a wife and mother.

And so even though she didn't do it, I learned to love it.

Let's dial back to when you were 12.

You mentioned that you became a Christian at that tender age.

And did you continue in Christianity from that time to getting married?

No, I knew what I should be doing, but no, I was not living the lifestyle I should have.

And when did you come into that relationship with Jesus?

I would say I was probably 28 to 30, somewhere in there.

Do you remember what happened to ignite the relationship?

When you learn or when you are introduced to Christ at an early age, even though you don't do some of the things that you should do, you're not comfortable doing those things.

Some of the things that you learned as a child, it remains with you.

And so even though you're out there doing things that you shouldn't, you're really not comfortable doing it.

And so by the time my husband announced his calling, it was perfectly fine with me for us to stop doing the things that we were doing and begin to serve God wholeheartedly.

It sounds as though part of your life has been understanding who you are as a partner more than an individual.

Is that accurate?

That's accurate.

And that's been to your benefit.

You're not the person that's complaining saying, Oh, I wish I could be independent.

It's to my benefit in a way.

But on the other hand, you don't really seek God for what it is he wants you to do individually.

You get kind of comfortable being a support system and a help to your spouse.

And you kind of don't do the things that you should to get fulfilled God's will for your own life.

But then you went out back to school though.

So there was some nudging that got you back out there.

Was there?

Yeah, there was some nudging and a desire within myself to do it, to get it done, which I knew I could do it.

Raising our daughters and working and things like that.

It was something I just put on the back burner.

And so when I did go back to get my degree, I got an associate's degree.

I was perfectly fine stopping there.

It was difficult after, you know, being that age and still having the daughters that were busy in school and things like that.

It was difficult to do.

And my husband told me I didn't do it right that I should have taken smaller bites, you know, trying to get it done.

But I carried a full load each semester, which, yeah, I'm very glad I did it.

What is on the horizon for you?

I'm moving forward.

Wherever the ministry takes us, that's where we go.

Love it.

Victoria, this has been a great pleasure.

In closing, is there anything else you'd like to share?

No, I don't think so.

All right.

A pleasure.

I treasure.

Thank you for being on What is Inspired by 12 Mile Convos.