"K-LOVE CHALLENGE" Day 4: I think Jamie Grace is pretty cool.

What's the K-LOVE CHALLENGE? Check out Day 1. Why is it...a bit of a challenge for me? Check out Day 2. And how about this sweet new blog design courtesy of Leigh Finnegan?

Last night the folks at K-LOVE had Jamie Grace on as a guest. Jamie Grace is a young (22 years old!) CCM singer-songwriter.

In between songs, the K-LOVE DJs would chat with Jamie about various things, including her music and her faith. One of the things that she talked about was living with Tourette Sydnrome, a neurological disorder marked by involuntary tics.

Here are some things I learned from Jamie Grace:

-- the thing that people most often refer to as "Tourette's," the involuntary shouting of words, is actually a very rare form of the syndrome, and it's problematic for people to say "I have Tourette's" when what they mean is, "I say stuff I don't mean" or "I curse when I shouldn't."
-- Jamie has often been bullied and made fun of for having Tourette Syndrome. She was often called a "retard," and advocates for people to not use that word as an insult or putdown.
-- Jamie has had to learn how to tell people about Tourette's. She shared that she used to sit people down right away and tell them everything, but that it would overwhelm them or freak them out, so she's had to learn how to build trust with people and share bit by bit some of her experience (I really identified with this--it's tough to know when/if to tell people about bipolar, what to tell them, how much to share, etc.)
-- Living with Tourette's has been tough with Jamie, but she also sees the ways that, in her words, "God uses the bad stuff for good." She talked about how it's really created a sense of empathy in her for people who are considered different or "strange."

I think you could definitely put Jamie's story in the category of "inspirational"--certainly fits K-LOVE's "positive, encouraging, vibe." But also, Jamie seemed really down-to-earth and insightful. She certainly is inspirational, and she definitely wasn't saccharine. She was real about the sucky parts and encouraging to others. And I also really liked how the DJ's interacted with her. It didn't feel like they were pushing an agenda--they seemed really curious about her life and grateful for her story.

I probably won't ever go see Jamie Grace in concert. But I am grateful to have heard her on K-LOVE.

Now playing on klove.com: "God of Wonders" by City On A Hill