Alagba Barny this Sunday: Celebrating The Human Blessing That Jamie Grace is

Hello there! Happy Sunday!😃

(If this is your first time on this blog, you are highly welcome. You are very important to me and I hope not to ever waste your time. Please, come here often!😁)

You probably know more about US-based gospel music sensation Jamie Grace than I do and that’s okay.

Something I have learnt not too long ago is to always celebrate people. It does not matter if those people you celebrate see or hear it when you do. Other people will, their interests will be piqued and, in the end, they will celebrate you for introducing them to those people you had celebrated.

Over the ages, certain people have set themselves apart and have stood as springs of creativity and excellence, from which other people have been drawing ceaselessly. Quite a number of people have inspired me to do great things and maximize my potentials. To them, I am grateful. Some people have won the admiration of other people because they are giants in those other people’s places of interest or fields of endeavours. Jamie Grace has been this, for me.

Jamie Grace first struck me as a heroe through her soulful music. At a point in my life when I was down and with virtually nothing to hold on to, two of Jamie Grace’s songs kept faith and hope alive in me. I mean, nothing was really working for me. I was lonely, almost always broke and I suffered inferiority complex. On top of that, I was struggling with some sins. I was sinking deeper in depression and was becoming excessively reserved. (I had tried to hide all of these from people by appearing to be sociable but it soon began to prove futile). My relationship with people began to suffer. I picked unnecessary fights. I told myself over and again that I was really dumb, fueled by a confirmation of this by some important people in my life and, true to that, I made a series of bad decisions and dumb choices. Things were not funny. I thought about suicide many times but was too weak to carry on with it… Then I found two of Jamie Grace’s songs.

Come To Me.

Holding On.

(If you have never listened to these songs, please, please, get them and listen to them. If you have, listen to them again. They will bless you, I promise!)

Jamie Grace’s songs really brought me closer to Jesus Christ, who turned things around for me. Those two songs, especially Holding On, really helped me to express my sorrow and have moments of deep and sincere reflections. I cried with those songs, prayed with them and hoped with them. At this time, I had no idea who Jamie Grace was or what she looked like. I only knew from her voice that she was female and most likely wasn’t Nigerian. For a long while, those two songs were literally the only songs of hers I had and knew.

Later, when I was beginning to get better, I started on a mission to find out who she was. I followed her on Instagram and Twitter. I subscribed to her very, very interesting YouTube channel. (You should check it out and subscribe to it too. I’m sure you’ll thank me later.) I downloaded and listened to some more songs from her. I discovered she’s a black American and she has a sister who does soulful gospel music too. I discovered that she also struggled with what I struggled with — low self-esteem. I learnt that she was ‘underground’ for like 3 years before she came out and became this inspiration that she is.

I found out that Jamie has Tourette’s syndrome, something she has had since she was very young. It caused her to have several injuries and stopped her from going to a ‘normal’ school (she was home-schooled). I wondered how someone could have gone through these things and still love and sing about Jesus. Then I found out that it was this Jesus that helped her out of her low self-esteem. Jamie would say that her healing process started when she stopped deriving her identity from who or what she was but from whose she was. Now, that made me love her more!

Jamie also struggled with keeping herself chaste and how her relationships with boys never really lasted. She sang about this and her decision to wait on God for the right man. And guess what! She has met and is now married to that right man– Aaron Collins.

In one of her YouTube videos, Jamie addressed some criticisms against her music. Some people were of the opinion that her music was all girly, cheesy and mediocre. I was so maaad!!! I mean, two of her songs that I first came in contact with were anything but girly, cheesy or mediocre. They were straight-from-the-heart songs expressing deep faith and hope in Jesus. Jamie addressed it so intelligently and spoke of how her music evolved. Subscribe to her YouTube channel to find out how.😂

Jamie is married and is expecting her first child soon! It’s going to be a girl!!!! Jamie and Aaron got married after seeing each other for 3 months. I must be sincere, I was quite alarmed that Jamie ‘rushed’ in with Aaron. I was scared, thinking that she’d gotten tired of waiting and had only jumped on the first nice guy that took her on a third date. However, my frayed nerves were calmed when Jamie said it was God’s choice. I also thought about it and realized that God isn’t exactly predictable by human standards and when his time comes, it really comes, no questions asked.

What’s the point of this? I don’t know, but I think it’s not unconnected with the fact that I really feel indebted to God’s gift that Jamie Grace is, years after I came out of my struggles. So, thank you, Jamie Grace, for being God-sent to me. This post is for those of you who wonder what my deal with Jamie Grace is. It’s spiritual!😂

This post is for you who think that life is closing in on you. Please, don’t give up on life. It’s a cliché that, when there is life, there is hope but it is very true. Much more, when there is Jesus in a life, there is a sure bright future.

Jesus loves you. I do too!❤

Did you know Jamie Grace before you read this post? What can you say about her?

May you be celebrated this week!