The Love Story that Launched Daystar
When I said, “Yes” to the Lord back in 1980, little did I realize it would set a domino effect into motion that would alter the course of my life and destiny. Breaking off my relationship was devastating on a certain level for that season of life. Revival had been going on all week at our church, the Tremont Ave Church of God, however I was so busy at work and trying to move on. My mom saw my bummed state and was like, "Honey, You should come to the revival tonight. It's been really great.” So, I went. It just so happened that there was a dynamic young evangelist out of Lee University who was speaking by the name of Marcus Lamb.
What you have to understand though, is when I went to church that night, I wasn’t thinking anything. I wasn’t going, “Wow. Look at this guy.” I was still grieving. Plus, our church had a regular attendance of about 1,000 and it was pretty full. I was just another girl in the congregation of many. I had no thoughts of anyone at that time. From the platform, Marcus spots me in the crowd, leans over to our music director, Mike, and asked, “Who’s That Girl?”
"That's Joni Trammell," he said.
After the service there were hot dogs and snacks in the dining hall and all these girls were flocked around him, crushing on him. He was handsome and seemed to have a fun personality. I was back in the kitchen, keeping my distance, not really interested. Really, I just wanted to go home and spend time with my pillow. Marcus, however, wanted to meet me, and my girlfriend insisted that I go meet him. I resisted until she finally drug me out there. Marcus introduced himself. It was a friendly exchange, and I went home. I came back the next night, and he was playing the piano at the end of the service. I was standing near the platform, and he leaned over, and asked me, "Hey, would you like to go get pizza with Mike and Cindy?" I was surprised but intrigued. I thought to myself, “I’ve never dated a preacher.”
To my surprise, Marcus was kind, a gentleman, funny, and refreshing. I had never gone out with someone so in love with the Lord. We held the same values, and I was comfortable and at ease in his presence. Marcus asked me out for every night of the revival. I met his parents and brother Gary. I loved his family and he fell in love with my family as well. Over time, we fell in love and on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1982, he proposed, and I said, “Yes.” Nearly six months later, on August 6, 1982, we were married at my home church.
It was a whirlwind first year as I was thrust into the evangelist ministry life, traveling with him for about two years. At first, I was primarily as a support role to my husband, but that role would soon grow and become more public. After that I began praying with people at the altar and singing before he preached.
In March 1983, seven months after our wedding, we were in the Holy Land. While there, the Lord spoke to Marcus on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem for us to get involved in Christian television. We would move to Montgomery, Alabama to help build the first Christian TV Station in the history of the state. It was a serious calling that would change the trajectory of our lives so for the next five months we prayed on it. In August 1983, on our one-year anniversary, instead of eating the top of our wedding cake like we had planned, we went on a three day fast to make doubly sure that God wanted us to move forward to help build a Christian TV station in Montgomery. The funny part of that story is that I had never done a three-day fast with no food, and was like, "Oh my goodness, I'm dying. I’m not going to make it.” I’d never gone through anything like that, but Marcus had done many fasts and he laughed at me because It was kind of funny. At the end of it, we both had an assurance that we were supposed to go to Alabama. God had said yes.
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