Singer Jaci Velasquez Blessed through Trusting God

FROM PHENOM TO PROUD MOM
Jaci Velasquez has loved music since before she could walk or talk. When she was a baby in a crib, her parents realized she had rhythm as she snapped her fingers in time to the music playing in another room. One Sunday, a powerful voice was heard belting out “Our God Reigns,” and it turned out to be Jaci, then 2, in the nursery. At 16, Jaci had a hit Christian album called, “Heavenly Place.” Over the next several years, Jaci became an international phenomenon. She has racked up 16 #1 hits, written 3 books, acted in 9 films and appeared on 50 magazine covers. She has even launched a non-profit clothing line.

Throughout her time as a music star, she has also developed as a wife and mother. Jaci says her faith has been shaped and strengthened by motherhood with the added challenges of being mom to a special needs child. “We started noticing when Zealand was 2, but the official diagnosis came in the second grade,” she says. “When they told us it was autism, I went through a time of mourning the death of the dreams I had for him.” It took some time, but she began to dream new dreams for her son, “harvesting the gifts I could see in him.” Today, Zealand excels in music, in both singing and piano. “His ear is even better than mine,” his proud mom says.

TRUST
On Jaci’s new album, Trust, and its Spanish language counterpart, Confío, she shares how her faith has been strengthened through difficult times that led her to depend on God completely. “It took a while to lay it all down, to trust God with my sons, to trust God with my marriage, walking that out as a child of God, as a wife and a mom, trusting Him to make all things possible, to move the mountains in our lives….” It’s the underlying theme of this record, she says, but more than that, “it’s everything.”

One of the most poignant songs on the album is “God who Moves the Mountains.” The song is personal her to her, as she found herself comforting her youngest son, Soren, 7, in the middle of the night, after a bad dream. She sang, “ The rocks are falling, the broken calling to the God who moves the mountains/ The earth is shaking, the weary waken to the God who moves the mountains…”

She told Soren, “When you’re scared and don’t know what to do, I want you to remember this.” Then she played the song. Standing in his room, she closed her eyes and, as the words washed over mom and son, she raised her hands. When the song was over, they both had tears in their eyes. “Our lives were changed in that moment because God met us there in a song,” she says. “Music is powerful and healing.”

She hopes the album will inspire others to trust God more. “Everybody has faith in something,” says Jaci. “But at the end of the day, if you’re looking to yourself to keep everything under control, God isn’t part of the equation. That’s where trust comes in.”

A NEW MOVIE
The new movie A QUESTION OF FAITH (Pure Flix) is about three families who are affected by tragedy.  It stars Richard T. Jones, Kim Fields, TC Stallings, John Danielson, Mary Danielson, Gregory Alan Williams, Jaci Velasquez, Amber Thompson, Karen Valero, and Donna Biscoe.   Pastor David Newman (Richard T. Jones) is a loving husband and father who is set to take over his father’s church while neglecting promises he made to his 12-year-old son, Eric.  Jaci plays Kate Hernandez who is a spiritually driven single parent and owner of a local restaurant.  Her daughter Maria is a free-spirited teenager aspiring to be the first in her family to go to college.  C. Thomas Howell (John Danielson) owns a failing construction company with hopes of his daughter’s fledgling singing career is a way out of financial trouble.   The lives of these strangers collide when two twists of fate strike back-to-back.  First:  While texting and driving in her car, Maria accidentally hits Eric which lands her in jail & Eric’s family in an unthinkable dilemma.  Second: while auditioning for a major record label, Michelle collapses which leads to a discovery about her health & rocks the foundation of her Dad’s dream.  All three families find themselves at a crossroads, questioning their faith.  As each family deals with their issues their worlds start to intertwine.  When tragedy strikes three families, their destiny forces them on a converging path to discover God's love, grace and mercy as the challenges of their fate could also resurrect their beliefs.    The movie releases in US on SEP 29.