At just 23 years old, Jamie Grace is a Grammy nominated singer/songwriter, author, speaker and role-model for young women around the world. Jamie has taken her musical platform and extended it to a personal community for young women to discuss the challenges they are facing as teens. Armed with a fierce love for Jesus,

Jamie tours the country performing her music, leading the “GraceTalk” event for girls ages 10 & up, and also being a spokesperson for what it’s like living with Tourettes syndrome. Join us as we hear from Jamie about how God has used her music for His glory; what’s next in her career and ministry; and how we can impact the lives of the young women in our lives.

hey there welcome welcome I’m so glad

that you’re here

delighted to share this time with you

because we’re going to be having a

conversation that I hope you’ll enjoy

I am Priscilla and this is the chat I’m

so glad you’re joining me pull up a

chair

enjoy we’re going to be talking to a

personality whose ministry whose

songwriting whose music has gone

literally around the world she is a

delight to know I cannot wait to sit

down and chat for her and with you stay

tuned

I am so glad that you were joining me

because we’re getting to have an

opportunity to sit down with a young

lady that I just think is fantastic at

23 years old she is already a

grammy-nominated singer songwriter she

is an author she has a ministry to young

women in particular all over who she is

mobilizing and helping to helping to

remind about their value and their

significance and so I’m so excited to

sit down with her and just kind of pick

her brain a little bit just kind of get

into what makes her Jamie Grace will you

please welcome her to the program today

I’m so glad this is Jamie grace hi so

glad some of you know I want to make

sure you see my highlight

yeah little blue oh my goodness that you

and Priscilla inspired my hair that’s

why I have color in my own oh that is

not the way it went

that’s not the way when you happen to

just walk with clip-ins Mikey extra

clip-ins

extra tutus extra feather earrings extra

everything yeah I sent up her in the

back I said I want to wear a tutu and

she said I have a pink one and a white

one which color do you want

I keep like walks around with tutu and

clip-ins

just you never know why I have extra

cowboy boots anything you need that is

colorful and fancy I got it so well you

do have a very unique style that you’re

kind of known more and there and you

know what really it’s a good thing

because you really catch the eye of a

lot of young women who are kind of

watching you and seeing you and they’re

excited by what they see and you kind of

draw them into your experience and then

you point them to purity to holiness

what is your message what is it that you

hope to do and to bring to particularly

young women but yeah of all ages well

we’re the host style thing came from I

have to make sure that I credit that all

to my mother you know my dad’s a pastor

my mom was a stay-at-home homeschool mom

and our family lived off of 350 dollars

a month for my entire childhood my mom

shopped at the goodwill and got us

cowboy boots and cowboy hats and

volatize before they were in style so

that’s where this whole style thing came

from my mother

but you’ll wear a cowboy boot with

anything oh my sweatpants dresses

anything there’s probably one day a week

that I don’t wear boots like I have to

have my boots my bolas but my sister

always has a hat yeah all the time but

as far as my message you know I remember

when I was a kid I was going through a

lot of stuff and I just had a lot of

people that poured into my heart and

reminded me of my value in Christ and

that it wasn’t in what I looked like or

what my health was like or what my body

was like but it was how I really

understood that I was a child of the

King and so for me I realized that not a

lot of girls know that not every girl

knows that she’s a daughter of the king

some grown women weren’t told that by

their fathers and so I just really want

to continue to put that message out

there like you’re a child of the king

your father is a king so your prince

your father’s a king so your princess um

and just encourage people to walk that

out and live in that freedom that we are

I mean we’re not a big deal but our dad

is so yeah pretty cool right okay tell

us we want to know about your childhood

a little bit about you because we you

know we know your music we hear you on

the radio we kind of see you from afar

and see all these fantastic things that

have been happening you and your

headlights and your booty we want to

know where you came from where are you

can tell us about your growing up tell

us about your mom and your day I’m from

Stone Mountain Georgia just east of

Atlanta we moved there when I was 10 and

a half months old so I like to say I’m

from LA but I’m from Atlanta so I’ve

lived in Georgia my whole life my parent

my daddy started our church when I was 1

or 2 years old is he still a strict yeah

he’s still pastoring I’m the young adult

leader I preached to the 18 and up

ministry my sister’s married and she and

her husband are both in ministry our

mom’s the co-pastor with my dad we just

love Jesus and we just love serving and

we didn’t grow up with a lot but we grew

up like knowing that whatever you have

you’re supposed to use that to give to

other people and to love with other

people because that’s what Jesus would

do and so we like there was a time where

we had two cars but we gave one away to

a family in our church because they

didn’t have one and for us that wasn’t

like a look at our parents and how great

they are it was just a you know this

family needed a car and so that’s just

kind of how we grew up and just kind of

how our mentality always was and then as

we got to like high school our

grandfather started to bless us with

instruments that was one really cool

thing like that the Lord’s always done

is that people have always just really

like just been really gracious to us and

I’m just blessing us our family like a

vacation or blessing our family with

groceries and we were younger and so

that was a huge blessing for us and when

we were in high school our grandfather

blessed us with a drum set and a guitar

and we were the loudest like children

that you can possibly imagine any

siblings oh just two okay so just the

two of ya I mean we’re a pastor we’re

pastor so you know always kids in and

out of the house you know but yeah when

do I mean you’ve got me it sounds like

30 children in the house yeah

I was just so loud I didn’t know how to

play the drums but I didn’t care there’s

something you get hit on and so um we’re

always just making music and always

being loud and we were home schooled and

so just always just at home just yeah

together and what do you make though to

your eclectic style of music because the

reality is it’s not like you fit into

the gospel bubble you don’t necessarily

fit into the contemporary bubble you

have a mixture that kind of crosses all

these y’alls

and what do you attribute that to um our

mom did the very you know typical black

woman from Atlanta thing she sang

southern gospel that’s what all the

black ladies in Atlanta do oh yeah all

of them it’s so typical we listen to

Bill Gates and all the time we have the

secret Club about it um so our mom sings

southern gospel growing up and our dad

is all about t-bone like Christian

hip-hop and so like our yeah y’all I

don’t even know that is and so our dad

loves like Christian hip-hop and our mom

loves southern gospel and my very first

solo was Janet Pascal’s born again which

is a southern gospel song so we grew up

with a very eclectic like style of music

that we listen to and then Morgan my

sister now we’ve tried every style of

music you can imagine I mean we start it

with like like have like the playing

skillet type music and then it’s a super

chick and then Barlow girl then Kurt

Franklin and then all that kind of stuff

and it’s funny because every time Morgan

and I would show up to a church event to

sing people would always look at us and

they’d say Oh y’all gonna be the next

Mary Mary for got obvious reasons and so

and then I don’t know what why it’s

because um cuz they’re sisters and so

and so I’m in then I like pulling my

drumsticks out of my back pocket and be

like psych we’re gonna be skillet in

South that’s great so we just we just

listen to a whole lot of music I mean

from from Zoe girl to to showbread to

like every – out of Eden to Kirk

Franklin to Fred Hammond like we just

love we just loved all kinds of music

about Jesus and I think it just

somewhere along the way it just kind of

you do other music other than Christian

music though yeah Morgan my sister now

we have a country duo called Harper

still um I usually pull out the banjo

and she’s got our mandolin and we just

we love making it’s normal it’s donal

I’ve seen a black woman with a banjo you

know what I don’t know if I have you the

girl I don’t know if I have either I

just do love I love the way the banjo

sounds I love Needtobreathe

like my sister and I will love new

trickery yes what I’ll need to bring

Carol I gotta get you started you’re

gonna love it

they’re so good it’s a group yes and

these two brothers kind in some other

guys in the band but they’re not

important I’m just kidding they’re all

important they’re all great man and they

like that was my first band just a

little bit I learned and then I learned

some like a little big town stuff but I

just love playing the bass so all kinds

of music yeah I just let all of that

informs the sound that you have now as

Jamie grace I just I just yeah I just we

grew our churches also you know very

diverse and you know a lot of people

from Jamaica and Guyana and you know

Mexico and say my mom Diana yes I think

that’s the coolest thing ever

like I just I think cultures so

fantastic when I was in college I told

my professor I was half Filipino but I

just like love your lives your professor

a lot I just was appreciating other

cultures

in my conversation and then he asked me

yes it was a cultural class and so he

was like Jimmy case could you speak to

the class on what it’s like to be an

asian-american you do it I was on black

site I don’t know nothing um but yeah I

just love culture so much so we grew up

around and I think that’s so important

for parents to raise their children

around families that don’t speak the

same languages and don’t eat the same

food I mean because when we get to

heaven everybody’s not gonna look like

us and so I think it’s important to be

around different cultures and food and

people and languages and music and

honestly I think that’s my parents

intentionally making sure that my doctor

was from Norway that my dentist was from

Africa that our church family was

diverse I think that’s what made me into

this because you know it is true that

it’s it’s very you have to be

intentional about doing that yeah cuz

you kind of live around a pocket of

people that probably look like you ever

you know all the kids of your kids

school yeah look like the kids you know

your kid so we kind of do that

unintentionally the church we go to you

don’t going to be a church that kind of

looks like you yeah and so if we’re not

intentional about making sure our

children and us that we’re around other

types of people sensitive to their needs

and their preferences then you’re right

it’ll kind of get lost in the shuffle of

things

Wow the list yeah pretty sure and like

you’re saying a lot of times it’s not

even intentional you just you know you

just don’t really really realize it and

so I know for me when I got to college

and I kind of spent time around like

even even more people from different

cultures and backgrounds it was really

awesome so I’m really glad that I grew

up that way and glad that now that it

flows into my music and in my ministry

as well so well you know one thing that

I appreciate you and we’ll talk about

this more after the break if we you know

if we make it back around to there’s so

many things to talk about one of the

things I appreciate about you Jamie

grace she came to visit my church she

was not singing or anything she was just

coming her and Morgan were coming to

Turkey it’s fantastic yes so we all sat

together in church and and that was our

second time meeting each other we don’t

we met one time before very briefly at

an event but then we came had church and

then afterwards we wanted to go eat and

you know dislike you know she’s Jamie

Grace she’s got a Grammy nomination I’m

thinking where do I took her to eat and

she said well we really would like you

know we love Mexican food and we’d love

to get some Mexican food the best

Mexican food

I know of in my neck of the woods is

this little hole

all place that’s attached to a gas

station so I was thinking to myself do I

brave taking Jamie grace to the gas

station for Mexican food and I knew once

I got you in there you would be so glad

he went to the gas station for Mexican

food but I was a little hesitant about

it at first but Jamie grace the Grammy

nominated Jamie Grace and her beautiful

beautiful sister Morgan and her husband

came with us to the gas station they are

so down-home and so regular that we sat

there in the gas station in Satan

guacamole and salsa Mon and that is when

I knew you were my people that is when I

dream of you I love it so we’re gonna

take a break we’ll be right back

hi I’m Priscilla and I wanted to take an

opportunity to invite you personally to

join me for a seventh session Bible

study on the armor of God will dive

deeply into what it means to be equipped

to stand firm against the schemes of the

enemy he is very real and he has been so

strategic and targeted in his attacks

against us why shouldn’t we be equally

strategic and targeted in standing firm

against him and you and I have an

opportunity to suit up to put on some

armor that works and to go to battle and

to see victory declared in our lives in

the lives of those people that we learn

this Bible study will be one that will

change our lives forever and will help

us to walk in victory so plan to join me

won’t you the armor of God

I am having so much fun we are having so

much fun because the very bubbly

gregarious outgoing to to wearing Jamie

Grace is at the house of us today we’re

so glad you’re here Jamie

okay so what keeps you grounded because

you are down to earth you did eat

Mexican food with me in a gas yes yes

and yet you are grammy-nominated your

songs are heard over the radio you know

you’re cutting in high demand and yet

you are so regular how do you keep

yourself granted uh well I do want to

make sure that everybody knows that you

were associated about the Mexican

restaurant thing myself and my sister

and her husband we were the ones going

we’re going to church with Brazil like

we were stressing out cuz my dad’s a

pastor and thinks your dad is just such

a great great pastor as well so I just

want to point out that it was definitely

mutual if not even more on our and we

were so nervous to go to church with you

to the point where when you when he sat

down and he said do I want to sit next

to my sister and she she looks at me she

doesn’t know I’m sitting next to

Priscilla

except for Silla sat in the middle of us

at church cuz we couldn’t decide you got

to sit with you um just want to make

sure you know that’s why you’re in the

middle but now I mean I feel so blessed

to have the family that I have honestly

um when I was when I when I graduated

from university I moved out just total

independence I bought the house next

door to my mom and dad and I just I just

wanted to do my own thing I would young

were you in the music thing started long

terms of you doing it for a like like

yeah I was 19 when this started as a

living and then 20 when I graduated him

and moved out okay which 20 was I mean I

mean I get that like living next door to

my parents doesn’t seem like a huge deal

but it was kind of my way of I trying to

gain a little bit of independence but

the last couple of years if I’m just

being totally honest I started to just

see things in my character that I wasn’t

all about like I wasn’t like becoming

like some cruel human or anything but I

noticed that I was like becoming like

way bratty er I was becoming way too

excited about the fact that people get

excited about Jamie Grace and so I just

kind of went to my parents and it was

like can I move back in for a year and

just be under your covering again

because I just I want it to see what it

felt like again for my parents to walk

by my room and say you need to clean

that up and I just I feel like I needed

this outlet yeah I’m 23

so you’re 23 years old and this is the

wisdom that bubbles up in your life you

would be humbled and you want to move

back home with your parent all you’re a

23 year old single woman yes what does

dating what does all that look like for

you how do you handle that area of your

life let’s go there it is this struggle

I’m on that struggle bus no I’m just

kidding um I think a lot of times cuz I

talk about being single a lot and I sing

about it and probably 90% of my songs

and I think I think people the one in

people hear me talk about being single

it a lot of times comes across as I’m

single because I have to be like I’m

single because I’m just so sad and alone

but honestly it’s just a choice because

I realize that God’s plans are so much

greater and then my own are you saying

you don’t want to be married or no I

totally want to be married I just I feel

like I can’t I can’t rush it you know I

don’t I’m not a casual dater at all I’m

a very intentional person and so um I on

dating or courting am count

old-fashioned or courting with the with

the intention of marriage yeah so I’m I

my heart is just in this place of

waiting for whoever God has that’s going

to be intentional you know I don’t do

that hey girl you know let me text you

for a couple months and then we’ll go to

Starbucks now if you want to go out with

me you should just say I’m interested in

you you know let’s go out so I’m

honestly just waiting for whoever the

Lord has has sent that it’s going to be

like intentional and that knows what

what the plan is because I’m I’m not

planning on just kind of just dating

just to be dating I think our hearts are

too precious and too sacred to just

spend them just for no reason at all um

my parents have been there the opposite

of what you see happening in the culture

that oh my goodness here is it hard for

you to make that kind of a stand you

know for sure I mean even even in an

unromantic sense most of the guys that I

hang out with like my guy friends even

when I’m talking to them they’re like oh

why just I don’t know I’m not trying to

get married I’m just trying to you know

date for a while and so it’s a it’s very

odd I don’t

many people that are you know better my

age that that are that are like

marriage-minded I guess that’s the right

word so I’ve tried ChristianMingle much

I’m just kidding but now he’s getting em

so he’s pleased by my hair extensions on

my website so I can afford matcom that’d

be great but I just I I don’t meet many

young people that are that are marriage

minded and I think that that I just

think it’s I think it makes more sense

to go that route my parents have been

married for 28 years and my sister has

been married for five years yeah and I I

was not there when my parents met but I

was there obviously but I was I was in

college with my sister when she met her

husband who also went to college with us

Point University and so I I got to see

this beautiful like friendship happen

and then it turned into him being

intentional and it’s starting something

more and then him just really pursuing

her heart in a godly way how do you deal

with loneliness how do you deal with

that I hear a lot of and and so your

life is so full of people they’re all

around you whether you’re in a comment

or whether there’s a strong desire for

me to be married so exactly new to me so

how do you how do you deal with that

when you’re in those segments of time

we’re yeah well in the house hello yeah

ever how do you just get over the hurdle

honestly before I even get over the

hurdle like I’m not gonna lie there’s

lots of crying there’s lots of really

sappy songs that I probably shouldn’t

play because they make me even more sad

a lot of Nicholas Sparks movies um and a

whole lot of jets pizza I hope I get an

endorsement out of this um that’s just

that’s what happens like pre hurdle um

but like getting over that it’s it’s

truly just just just realizing that like

the Lord is the greatest thing that I

need I yeah I have a song on on my last

record called my first love and it was

actually written out of a night I

watched the notebook and I was eating an

entire buffalo chicken like eight square

pizza from jets pizza whoo glory that’s

so good

I just wanted claps aria but I had I was

eating that and I was just having one of

those sappy nights it was my parents

wedding anniversary and my sister and

her husband their wedding anniversaries

are five days apart so I was all by

myself and I was just feeling so alone

like like that no one was there for me

and it was almost as

like three times my life for the Lord

has spoken audibly to me like I know it

was his voice and it was if he spoke to

me and he said Jamie grace am I not

enough for you and it was just this

reality that even though like I would I

would planned on being married at 19 or

20 years old it was a plan that was

totally my plan like I’ve been praying

for my husband since I was 14 the

journal and everything like the peer do

you mean like that that’s me I’m that

typical preacher’s kid from south of the

mason-dixon that has been praying for

her husband or her whole life but the

Lord was like joke’s on you and so and

but that’s okay because I’m realizing

that through this I’m able to have these

experiences with the Lord that I might

not have if I were married or have these

experiences with the girls that I

mentored that I wouldn’t have if I were

marry and have these experiences with my

goddaughter that I might not have a

far-out married right now so I just

choose to just appreciate what poo the

Lord is to me and what he’s given me and

just just keep waiting and if you guys

have any sons between the ages of 22 and

31 needles give me a call 7 7 0 I’m just

kidding

so not above 31 that’s just too much you

know there comes a time where you can’t

be picking so we’ll see any any race you

know yeah any race you know any

ethnicity just basically by list for

like a husband is like breathing no that

is not your we are not gonna we are not

gonna let her get away with that lift

right there no that’s not gonna work for

me yeah I’m just I’m really picky when

it comes to other stuff I’m picky about

like door like opened the door to the

car and like pay for dinner I’m so

old-fashioned yeah so I think I think

that’s a yeah I think that’s why hard

for me cuz I’m I’m 90 years old when it

comes to my my standards I guess so good

for you

good for you you should be stay 90 thank

you but just keep wearing the extensions

in here okay girl I got you

yeah thank you thank you thank you – um

okay so I do want to ask you about this

because this is something I don’t think

a lot of people know about you you have

had a struggle is it your whole life

yeah since well since I was nine is when

it really started yeah okay

so just tell us what the struggle is cuz

I don’t think a lot of people know that

you deal with it how do you deal with it

yeah I was diagnosed with Tourette’s

syndrome when I was 11 years old and

also OCD ADHD and anxiety and Tourette’s

syndrome is a neurobiological meaning

brain condition that causes you to make

movements and sounds called tics that

you can’t control

so from ages 9 to 15 my Tourette was so

severe that literally from walking to

the end of that couch to the end of this

couch I would fall on the floor from

just twitching so much my limbs going

everywhere and I used to wear gloves on

my hands because I would accidentally

punch things and I would get my knuckles

bruised and my mom actually has scars on

her legs from when she would walk behind

me in the grocery store because my legs

would kick so that I wouldn’t hurt my

legs on a shelf she would walk behind me

and take the hit for me and I just I

went through a lot of that physically

and a lot of medication a lot of that

kind of thing when I was 16 I stopped

medication because I wanted to try

college without medicine and now I don’t

I don’t take medicine I have a

mouthpiece that actually helps with my

tics it’s a really crazy nerve kind of

thing that it does but um it was there

all the time I don’t I don’t have it in

now um I I don’t wear it at work so and

when I eat because that would be a

strike I ate too much to try to wear

mouth peas at the same time taco bell

chicken food guess girl you know you

know um so but it was really difficult

for me and I dealt with I mean being

sick and then also you know not having a

lot of friends I was called all

the time which I’m a huge person against

the word if you’re picking up

like that’s not okay um and I struggle

with my faith I didn’t understand how my

daddy was the preacher man like my daddy

was the one that prayed with people and

stuff happened you know my daddy was the

one that counseled couples and they

renewed their vows like like you know

what’s going on here God oh yeah like

why won’t you fix me and I went through

this entire period honestly from like

nine to 15 years old where I just really

lost trust in God and I just really lost

my hope in him um I didn’t lose faith in

God but I just lost the ability to

understand that he loved me and

somewhere in high school I really just

got reconnected with my favorite

scripture and it’s Psalms 30 verse 5 and

it says a weeping may endure for a night

but joy comes in the morning and it was

just this realization that even though

like I mean yeah like I’m twitching now

like because I don’t have a mouthpiece

but even though like I you know I face

things in my life that I can’t control

like I’m not the only person that faces

things that they can’t control we all

have things whether it’s with your your

health or your family or your children

or your school or

you know work whatever it is but the

beauty in it is that weeping may endure

for a night weeping may endure for

second-grade weeping may endure for

highschool weeping may endure for that

seventh year of your marriage weeping

may endure for a night but God’s joy it

ain’t never lasted ain’t about to start

like his joy will come in the morning

and I like to think of that as the mo

you are the mourning his joy will be

there in the morning and so and my life

is far from perfect you know my sister

and I were where our mom is really sick

and we’re battling through that as well

right now but we just understand that

God’s joy is still there his peace is

still there and you know I might not

know what happens tomorrow we might not

know what happens in the coming weeks

the coming years but we know what

happened 2,000 years ago and we know

that we were given a king that loves us

more than we can imagine so I say it and

sometimes is easier said then to believe

it and to walk it out but that’s where a

lot of my means it comes from and that’s

for a lot of my my messages come from

right you know speaking stuff is that

God’s joy has not left us and you have

to choose choose to walk in it like you

get used to be a brat about it which I

do along like I love to close myself in

my room and play sad music or I can

choose to go to my father choose to go

to the people that he’s put in my life

he’s gone and she used to walk in his

peace that’s good innit that’s good you

are a beautiful home delightful

fantastic young woman you need to know

we are for you we are for you we were

excited about everything that’s

happening in your life I’m so glad that

she has joined us today and she’s talked

a lot about the sister of hers name

Morgan and so listen you need to know

this is just part one of a conversation

we’re going to keep having we are going

to come back when we do come back it’ll

be a part two conversation you’re going

to want to make sure that you come back

and join us for that because we’re going

to join Morgan to this conversation talk

to her a little bit about what’s going

on her music and in her life and how the

two connect on a regular basis then

we’re going to have them sing for us as

well which I think

so thank you so much for joining us you

guys helped me to thank Jamie gray

you