Parker Smith used to joke about quitting his job to write kids’ books. But that joke took an unexpected turn toward realtiy when he felt God leading him to leave his comfortable 9-5 job in the medical 3D printing industry. Since then, he’s written two liturgical children’s books, launched two podcasts and co-founded a marketing startup. Join us as Parker shares the vulnerable details about following the Holy Spirit’s calling (even when it doesn’t make sense to the world), practicing God’s presence at work and his favorite resources in this season.

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?

My grandma is one of those “deep dish” Sicilians. We call her Nonna. Nonna cooks and bakes everything from memory and furnishes herbs from her garden, so she’s more likely to reverse engineer a recipe than to follow one herself. My mom, of course, emulated and refined her style, and I grew up with cannoli filling for breakfast, pasta for lunch and pizza for dinner. I hardly ate a vegetable until I was married (thanks to my wife, Brady), and carbs are definitely still my favorite food group.

Growing up Italian, we didn’t eat out a ton. But over time, I became acquainted with the diverse Dallas food scene, which is truly a melting pot. We’ve had world-class Lebanese food, a recurring Thai-day Friday, and of course, the local El Salvadorian Pupuseria. But even with the culinary diversity, I still found myself gravitating towards my true love: pizza.

Cane Rosso is a household name in Dallas, known for their quick-fire brick-oven pizza and the notorious Honey Bastard (hot soppressata and bacon marmalade pizza with habanero honey — yes it’s as good as it sounds), and I simply fell in love with the Neapolitan form factor. Cane Rosso has since franchised around the metroplex (which doesn’t bother me at all), but if you want to visit the former head pizza chef, there’s also Partenope downtown.

So of course, we’d frequent there when we could, but in 2020, we found ourselves homebound like the rest of the world and, while pizza joints hit the ground running with the subsequent food delivery surge, we opted for cultivating our own pizza tradition.

Every Saturday night for probably five years now, we’ve made homemade pizza. It started off in the oven when we lived downtown, and once we had a little space and a grill, we upped the ante, as they say. We’d been taught by some friends in Fort Worth how to make pizza on the grill, which gets you about halfway to Neapolitan, and we had the routine down with the parchment paper flip and everything. It was great, but still a bit challenging to make at scale.

So by then, it was obvious that I love pizza, and the whole family chipped in to get me one of those Ooni pizza ovens. After a few scorched pies refining my technique, we now add Neapolitan style to the mix. This came to fruition one night when we hosted friends and cousins for an impromptu rehearsal dinner of sorts and, with the string lights and folding tables, made 20 or so pizzas in one evening. I know that sounds stereotypically idyllic, but man, getting to love and serve the people around us with pizza was a gift that Nonna would be proud of.

Canoe paddle dripping water over a lake — Ian Keefe; Unsplash

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activity (or activities) do you love engaging in, which also help you find essential spiritual renewal?

Recently, Brady and I took the boys camping. Well, glamping. We had a cabin. But we had to bring our own sheets and stuff, so it was pretty bare bones.

There’s something about suburban/city life that feels like a treadmill keeping up with commitments and expectations. With running a startup, publishing a book, and producing a record, we’d been feeling that pretty heavily, and I think our kids were also pretty wound up by it all.

So we rather spontaneously booked a glamping trip midweek and decided to just go for it, and even with the work of transporting and entertaining small children, the overwhelming stillness and quiet of the east Texas pines was both clarity and balm to my racing mind. Clarity because I finally had the quiet to perceive my own thoughts, and balm because the beauty of sunrise around Daingerfield Lake and the rare moment of solitude was a gift. And in the scarcity of being away from creature comforts, I find it easier to notice God’s provision and “daily bread.” It’s hard to sense it until it’s all you have.

Plus, the sincere beauty of canoeing with my 3-year-old son through the lily pads in bloom and his enthusiasm for double-decker hammocking are among things I’ll never forget.

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you hide it?

My dad is the kind of guy who will drop everything and drive across town just to help you unclog a drain or patch some drywall. He says “I love you” by installing recessed lighting or helping with your taxes. He’s someone you might describe as “driven” and a “self-starter,” and I probably inherited a thing or two about working hard (though he has years of maturity on me in terms of selflessness).

On the other side of the coin, I’ve found myself committed to and idolizing career and performance sometimes at the expense of serving others. For example, working late, insisting on my opinion, or being preoccupied with thoughts of work even when I’m off the clock. The past several years have been an undoing of that always-on mindset, of shifting my career path towards calm, peace and interruptability. I don’t want to be on the grind anymore. It’s like one of those negative words that have been rebranded to mean something positive, like “impact” or “binge.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about hard work done effectively in its time. And honestly, I love getting into a flow and building a clever app, bringing music to life or illustrating something beautiful. But the grind — working endlessly at the expense of all else — is just silly.

I’ve modeled much of who I am as a worker after my Dad. I’m grateful for that, and I’m finding even more fruit by committing to Sabbath every Sunday with my family, setting ruthless boundaries with my phone and asking the Holy Spirit to change my heart. As an entrepreneur, it also helps to model my business ventures around a business Rule of Life. It’s like your standard mission, vision and objectives, but set specifically for stewarding your business for the kingdom of God. Praxis Labs has some great redemptive playbooks to that end, and for knowledge workers, I especially commend the book “It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work” by the guys at 37signals (not a Christian resource per se but wise nonetheless). It also helps to have an incredibly supportive and understanding wife who has yielded much of her preferences (and comfort!) as I’ve shifted my career over the past season.

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?

I used to joke about quitting my job to write children’s books.

Then I did it.

Seven years into my career in the medical 3D printing industry, I felt God inviting me to step into the unknown and quit my job — it’s a privilege to have the chance but scary nonetheless. In November 2021, I self-published my first children’s book “The King Is Coming: A Daily Prayer Storybook for Advent” as a way to create a shared liturgy for my kids that would supplement my own daily prayer routine in that busy season as a new dad.

Still needing to pay the bills and having a fascination with building software apps, I joined a small digital consultancy running projects in Linear and was invited to work on a Web3 startup. I quickly picked up Figma and helped dream up a platform that ended up getting acquired in early 2023. During that time, Brady and I had our second child and we set “The King Is Coming” to music, releasing the first Beginner’s Apprenticeship record with the help of David Belt and Ross Fishburn.

Again, I found myself at a crossroads. Do I commit fully to this Web3 company and stay on the grind? Or do I follow where I believe God called me? Relatively speaking, I was making way more money than I had previously in my career. But instead, I chose a delayed seventh-year sabbatical of sorts to focus on being a better dad and husband.

So in early 2023, I quit my job (again) and spent three months with my family, detoxing from the grind in the humility of being a stay-at-home dad. I’ve often been reminded of Psalm 131:1, which says, “LORD, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp” (NLT). As my friend Paul Demer says, “There’s joy in limitation,” and I found that to be true as I yielded my agenda for a time.

Slowly, I began to untangle the ideas of vocation and calling. Brady and I went to a weekend workshop at our church home All Saints Dallas. I wanted to discern what my next career step should be, and I kind of wanted it to include Beginner’s Apprenticeship. I began to realize that vocation can be part of your calling, but it isn’t your calling. Your calling is a slowly evolving realization of who God is inviting you to be, and vocation (or career) is an expression of that calling. As are your hobbies, lifestyle, and the way you spend your time. In realizing this difference, God’s calling all of a sudden became much bigger than any 9-5.

It’s rare that life circumstances line up so clearly with someone so like-minded, but that’s who I found in my friend Brandon Giella. We had prayerfully consulted one another as we navigated parallel complexity, and we found ourselves drawn to this idea of redemptive entrepreneurship. In other words, we wanted to faithfully follow Jesus in the way we work and wanted to explore ways that other people have stewarded their talents for the kingdom.

We started the “Working Theology” podcast as an exploration of the theology of work, the work of theology and the work of theology in our daily lives. So far, we’ve interviewed AI researchers, spiritual directors, aviation mechanics and SaaS entrepreneurs among others.

We quickly built content creation workflows with Linear, Make and Glide, and adopted a highly iterative approach. And as necessity is the mother of invention and finances were getting tighter, we started Snapmarket.co to help other people get their businesses and stories online. I couldn’t ask for a better business partner than Brandon, and we’ve shared much of the startup journey on the Snapmarket podcast.

In the margin of that time, I committed to finishing my second book, “Good Night, God: A Family Liturgy for Bedtime Examen.” I wrote and illustrated the book in Procreate and InDesign, and collaborated with some amazing local musicians to set the book to music. I decided to include additional resources to help grown-ups better facilitate the family liturgies, and so it became a triple release of book, music and podcast, all releasing on November 8, 2023.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors, or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?

Beginner’s Apprenticeship is entirely self-published. But if it were entirely self-motivated, it would’ve collapsed a long time ago.

There are times I wonder if this is worth it. To make something that people may not even be interested in. That entrepreneurial self-doubt is real: Should I just go back to a W2? It’s nice having benefits, easy insurance and swag. But it’s amazing how God shows his provision when his provision is all you have.

For example, the words of affirmation and encouragement from our friends and church community have been life-giving.

I was talking to a friend about how I was discouraged after a publisher rejected my book, and if I should continue. She told me, “Of course you should. Without you, it will never happen!” Oh yeah, good point.

And talking with my mother-in-law about how overwhelming things seemed with getting the book, music and podcast across the finish line, she started dreaming about how lovely it is to have a physical book out in the world that generations of children may encounter as libraries get passed down. I’d never thought of that.

The same applies to Snapmarket. Brandon and I have talked with dream clients and lost the deal. We’ve built without knowing exactly if we’d succeed. We’ve swung and missed at times.

But then something clicks, and we get enough revenue to cover our expenses. We meet amazing people who open doors for us. We resolve our own conflicts with confession, repentance and grace.

I’m not talking prosperity gospel — we have the bank accounts to prove it. Instead, I’m talking about what Brother Lawrence called “practicing the presence of God.” I think there’s a false barrier between work and life that says we have to reduce our life in the Spirit to generic platitudes and simply setting an example. I’m exploring what it would look like if that divide had a bridge.

It’s kind of a rush talking about Jesus on LinkedIn and in client calls. I don’t want to over-spiritualize things, but people are hungry for good news. And I think the cream rises to the top.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you right now?

In a season with young children, I’m leaning on liturgy. My mind is often so full I prefer not to add another podcast or sermon, so I prioritize the day’s Psalms or Gospel from the daily office in the “Book of Common Prayer.”

It may sound funny, but it took me a long time to be okay with reading my Bible at night. As far as I knew, “quiet time” was for the early hours that young parents dread to see. But now, on my best days, I turn my phone off, go to bed at a decent time and read. And some nights, I’ll share this practice with my kids via the family liturgies I’ve written for them.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed the game and changed your heart?

As parents, Brady and I have loved Ellie Holcomb’s “Sing” series. The songs are so accessible, lively and rich, and our kids love dancing to them on repeat. They’ve also been inspiring to me as an artist.

As a disciple of Jesus, I’ve greatly appreciated John Mark Comer’s “Practicing The Way” resource for helping churches and small groups integrate spiritual disciplines. And of course, it’s natural to pair orthopraxy with orthodoxy in “the Bible Project.”

As an entrepreneur (hey, wait, that’s 4 things!), I again recommend Praxis Labs and their various redemptive playbooks for businesses, nonprofits and entrepreneurs. They also have a global community of folks wanting to serve God with their work.

We all have things we cling to to survive (or even thrive) in tough times — times like these! Name one resource you’re savoring and/or finding indispensable in this current season, and tell us what it’s doing for you.

In this work-heavy season, the Porter’s Gate album “Worship for Workers” has been a gift.

“Oh, Good Shepherd, oh, good friend, slow me down, slow me down.”

And Jon Guerra’s album “Ordinary Ways.” His song “The Lord Will Provide” has helped me be open-handed with my various ventures and timing. It’s also one of the best-crafted albums as a whole that I’ve encountered this year.

QUESTION #8: dream

God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

There are several irons in the fire, and I’m hopeful for the potential of each while being as open-handed with the future as I can.

For Beginner’s Apprenticeship, I’m hoping to make these resources as helpful as possible. In 2022, we had an Advent concert featuring the music from “The King Is Coming,” and this year I’m sharing the slides with some musician friends to host their own version of “The King Is Coming” for their children’s ministry.

The dream is to extend the family liturgy resources into a congregational setting as a simple one-night youth-led event that could mark the changing of liturgical seasons and equip young Christians in leadership and life together with their church.

Beyond that, I’m continuing the family liturgy series!

For the “Working Theology” podcast, the dream is to continue interviewing a diverse (and global!) cohort of Jesus followers exploring how they weave together work and faith, and potentially co-write a book with Brandon.

For Snapmarket, we’re simply hoping to grow a sustainable business while empowering our clients to effectively tell their stories online.

Ultimately, I’m a husband, father and friend with a calling to equip and encourage people in doing the good work God has called them to in the season they’re in. And as that calling evolves, I hope to be responsive with my time, talent and treasure, and ultimately long for a generation raised and saturated in prayerful communion with God.

It’s a running joke — maybe you’ve heard it. A pastor asks his congregation if they think the church should have a children’s ministry. Everyone raises their hands.

“Great! Now, who feels called to help with the children’s ministry?” the pastor asks.

All hands go down. *crickets*

Kids’ ministry can indeed be messy, exhausting, and downright difficult. But the truth is, teaching little ones about Jesus is one of the most important ministries there is.

Whether we work with kids or have children of our own, may we take Jesus’ words to heart: “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children” (Mark 10:14, NLT).

Parker Smith