1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:03,600 Speaker 1: Life Audio. 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 2: Hey Cammy, thanks for joining me. 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,640 Speaker 3: Well, thank you Michael for having me. I'm excited to 4 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:09,160 Speaker 3: be here. 5 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: Jimmy Joy as our guest speaker, singer and author of 6 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: the new book Beautifully Scarred, which shares your incredibly powerful 7 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,600 Speaker 1: story of being born in the mountains of Guatemala with 8 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,639 Speaker 1: a cleft lip and palette to finding a forever family. 9 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: Of course, the book reveals your faith journey as well. 10 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: Cany you describe your life as a story of being 11 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: chosen twice. For those who don't know your story, briefly 12 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: walk us through your journey from your earliest days in 13 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: Guatemala to how God redeemed you. 14 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 3: Well again, thank you Michael for having me. It is 15 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 3: an honor. So my story is full of miracles, and 16 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 3: I was. I was born in the mountains of Guatemala, 17 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 3: and I was born with a severe bilateral cleft lip 18 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 3: and cleft palate. That is where you're born without a 19 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 3: lip and the roof of your mouth you have a hole. 20 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 3: Because of this, I was unable to nurse, and so 21 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 3: my biological parents, Rita and Haesus, they tried desperately for 22 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,199 Speaker 3: three days to keep me alive. They would take breast milk, 23 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 3: put it on a rag and then drip it into 24 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 3: my mouth, but with little success. They knew that I 25 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 3: was going to die, and Sojesus cradled me in a 26 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,839 Speaker 3: blanket and he walked down the mountain to Guatemala City. 27 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 3: There when he reached the hospital, the doctors took one 28 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 3: look at me and they said, I'm sorry, sir, but 29 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 3: you don't have enough money, and even if you did, 30 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 3: we wouldn't even know how to perform the surgery. So 31 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 3: Hazus walked out of the hospital defeated. He knew I 32 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 3: was going to die. He sat on the stairs and 33 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 3: he began to cry over my life. He knew I 34 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 3: wasn't gonna make it, and two men out of nowhere 35 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 3: came up to him and said, sir, why are you crying? 36 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 3: And he couldn't even speak, but he lifted the blanket 37 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 3: from my face, and the two men saw the deformity 38 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 3: and they told him. They said there is hope, and 39 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 3: they led Haysus and I to an orphanage, and along 40 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 3: the way they gave us money and clothing. 41 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: Once we arrived. 42 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 3: At the orphanage, the owner well Hasus went to tell 43 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 3: the two men thank you, and they were nowhere to 44 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 3: be found, and the owner, Angie, said, y'all came alone. 45 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 3: There was no one with you, and I believe that 46 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 3: was a divine intervention over my life. 47 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: Angels, possibly angels, I believe. I believe. 48 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 2: Okay, so continue from there. I don't. I don't want 49 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 2: to ruin the book for those you haven't read it. 50 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: But your story continues from there, and you were you 51 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:53,119 Speaker 1: were eventually adopted though. 52 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 2: Yeah. 53 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 3: So I was at the orphanage for a couple of months. 54 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 3: There they were able to keep me alive, but I 55 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 3: had an opportunity to go to the United States to 56 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 3: live with a foster family named Ray and Judy Thompson. 57 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 3: They would keep me until my surgeries were complete and 58 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 3: then I would go back to Guatemala. But the thing 59 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 3: with the cleflip and clut palate is that the surgeries 60 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 3: are not one and done, their consecutive, you know, depending 61 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 3: on what stage of life you're in. And so at 62 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 3: the age of five, they went back to Guatemala to 63 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 3: ask Rita and Haysus if I could be adopted. And 64 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 3: it's just a miraculous story of love of sacrifice that 65 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 3: I was able to survive. 66 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: Were there moments, and maybe these were during your teen years. 67 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: Were there were there moments where you questioned why you 68 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: were even born? 69 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 3: You know, that is a really, really great question. And 70 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 3: thankfully I had such loving parents and a family the 71 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 3: Thompson family that they always spoke life into me and 72 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 3: over me, and even my doctors as I was older. 73 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 3: They were so gracious and gentle with me that I 74 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 3: don't think I ever said why was I born? But 75 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 3: I definitely had to walk through adoption and identity and 76 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 3: really who I am? 77 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: Aymen of that, What did it look like practically for 78 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: you to move from feeling different to feeling chosen and 79 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: believing you were you know, you were loved? 80 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 2: Was that? 81 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: Do you remember a time when you didn't feel like 82 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: you do now? 83 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 3: Hmm? You know, I've always known that I was loved, 84 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 3: so my parents at the age of five, when they 85 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 3: went to visit Guatemala, they always said, Pammy, can you 86 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 3: have another mommy and daddy who love you so so much? 87 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 3: And I remember I crawled up onto my mom's lap 88 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 3: and I grabbed her face and I said, no, no, mommy. 89 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: You're my mom. 90 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 3: So but I, like you had mentioned earlier, I was 91 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 3: chosen twice. I was chosen by God, who knew my 92 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:07,799 Speaker 3: story even before my story began. In Psalms one thirty nine, 93 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 3: verses thirteen through eighteen, it says that He knit me 94 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 3: together in my mother's womb, and so he knew my story. 95 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 2: He chose me. 96 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,679 Speaker 3: My birth parents chose me because they could have given 97 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 3: me up. They could have been like, this is a 98 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 3: curse upon us, or. 99 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: What are we going to do? 100 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 3: But instead they fought for me. They chose me, and 101 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 3: then of course my adopted family they chose me. They 102 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 3: spoke life into me. 103 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: Was there a particular turning point in your story or 104 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,160 Speaker 1: do you remember this being a continual scene of love 105 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: in your life? 106 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, I really would say that I've kind of it's 107 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 3: been continual, like I've just kind of always known that 108 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 3: I'm loved. Now, not to say that I always I 109 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 3: sometimes questioned, like, Hey, God, why did you allow this? 110 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 3: But I think that it's at the end of the story, 111 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 3: especially now, like looking back and all the pain, all 112 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 3: the trials, all the tribulations that I've gone through, I 113 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 3: can see God's hand in different places that I was like, wait, God, 114 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 3: you were there when I thought you weren't, or you 115 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 3: were setting this up so that I can have a 116 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 3: wonderful life, a husband and children. 117 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 1: And then of that, you said your dream for a 118 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: Beautifully Scarred is to become a film. What would you 119 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:43,600 Speaker 1: want that film to accomplish? 120 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 3: You know, I am like God, You open up the 121 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 3: doors and I will walk. The way that I started 122 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 3: writing this book was that I had a day vision, 123 00:06:55,440 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 3: a dream that I could see my story up on 124 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 3: a movie screen and I could hear myself narrating in 125 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 3: the background, and the words did not come from me, 126 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 3: because when I woke up, they were so eloquent and 127 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 3: it made sense, and I wrote it down. And that 128 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 3: is how this book got started. Is I just begin writing. 129 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 2: But yeah, I. 130 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 3: Would love for people to see that their wounds can 131 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 3: be scars, that there is healing, that there is beauty 132 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 3: in the scars. So my encouragement was that people can 133 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 3: see my story and be encouraged that their story is 134 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 3: not over, that God is still working, There's still more 135 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 3: to be done. 136 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 2: No, no, never. 137 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: It was National Adoption Month, I believe, but we celebrated 138 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: the adoptions across our country. Let me ask you about adoption, 139 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,239 Speaker 1: because you said adoption as layered that it's about joining 140 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: in child's story and their past, not just bringing them 141 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: into a new home. Can you elaborate on that a 142 00:07:57,680 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: bit and what you mean by that and how maybe 143 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: maybe you can also kind of brush away some myths 144 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: that people have about adoptions. 145 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 3: Well, every adoption story is different, and like you said, 146 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 3: and like I've said, is that it's both beautiful. It's 147 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 3: beautiful and it's layered because a lot of times when 148 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 3: we think of adoption, we're like, hey, I'm going to 149 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 3: adopt a child and they're going to become a part 150 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 3: of my family. But the truth is is that yes, 151 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 3: you do have to adopt the child. You have to 152 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 3: come into their hurts, their pain, their history, but that 153 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 3: child also has to adopt that family. They have to 154 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 3: really know that that is who was chosen for them, 155 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 3: that they are a part of a family. And so 156 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 3: you're entering into each other's story. And I love how 157 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:58,839 Speaker 3: it really is a beautiful picture of God's love for 158 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 3: us and how well we as believers are adopted into 159 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,079 Speaker 3: God's family. But we have to be willing to choose 160 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 3: that adoption, like, hey, God, I want for you to 161 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 3: be my father. And in terms of like some myths 162 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 3: with adoption is you know, a lot of times it's 163 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 3: scary to say yes. But I believe that when you 164 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 3: give God your yes, that he will meet you where 165 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:30,440 Speaker 3: you're at, and that he will just highlight each step 166 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 3: of the way, each step you take, He'll be right there. 167 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 3: And it's not always easy, but it's the greatest gift 168 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 3: that you can give someone and receive. 169 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 2: Jambye. 170 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: You also have a five day You Version devotional. 171 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 2: What do you want our audience to know about that? 172 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: Yes? 173 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 3: So the You Version devotional is a companion to my 174 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 3: book and the main thing is that I want people 175 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 3: to go to the Lord, to the Bible so it 176 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 3: can next scriptures for that person, for the individual to 177 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 3: reflect on what God's doing, and so you can look 178 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 3: at beauty and pain, courage and fear and healing in 179 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 3: your brokenness because we all have a story and your 180 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 3: story is beautiful. 181 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 4: If you like today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 182 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 4: five star review. That's how we help more people just 183 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 4: like you find the show. A big thanks to the 184 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 4: team at life. 185 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. 186 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 4: If you go to lifeaudio dot com, you will find 187 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 4: dozens of other faith centered podcasts in their network. 188 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 2: See you next time.