“Maybe
you have to lose everything you really want, to find out what you really need.
Maybe a song can change the world...or at least a small corner of it. Maybe
life really is more beautiful than any of us could ever imagine, and in rare
moments, God pulls back the curtain and whispers in your ear, ‘See...It’s all
going to be ok...’” —Regie Hamm
Normally, I would not use this venue so
specifically for the promotion of a product, service, organization or person.
But, today I’m making an exception for some dear friends and a project I
believe God is already using for very important purposes on many levels.
I’m so excited to tell you about One More Song and the Regie and Yolanda
Hamm family. Believe it or not, it is
highly probable that you already know Regie’s work even if you don’t recognize
his name. Regie Hamm is a songwriter
with more than twenty #1 hits. He is also an extraordinary recording artist, producer and
author. Regie has been named SESAC’s Songwriter of the Year four times and has
had over 400 songs recorded by various artists. That more-than-impressive list
includes Clay Aiken, Kenny Loggins, Maxi Priest, Bob Carlisle, Jaci Valeasquez,
Clay Crosse, Russ Taff, Mark Schultz, Point of Grace, MercyMe and the Backstreet
Boys. He has been nominated three times for Dove Awards.
But one of Regie’s most recognized career
moments came in 2008 when David Cook won American Idol and sang Regie’s song Time of My Life. An instant smash hit,
Time of My Life rose to #1 and became the longest running Billboard Adult
Contemporary chart topper of all time.
The song Time of My Life also galvanized the AngelmanSyndrome community. I will never forget the night of the 2008 American Idol
finale. It was a beautiful evening and I was sitting in a lawn chair watching
our daughter Alex play soccer with my cell phone pressed up to my ear. Just a few
days earlier, we had learned that the winner would sing Regie’s song that night.
I waited anxiously to hear it live over my cell phone as our daughter Erin held our house
phone up to the TV for me. Tears streamed down my face while soccer fans cheered
obliviously around me.
In that moment, and even more in the weeks and
years to come, it was a song that represented deep things for our family. First
it established a public kinship between us and families like ours who were
wrestling mightily with something few had ever heard of—a rare disorder called Angelman Syndrome. Regie was inspired
to write the song out of his experiences raising his daughter Bella who has
Angelman Syndrome like our daughter Carly. It wasn’t long after hearing that
song when Larry and I first met the Regie and his wife, Yolanda. That friendship is today
among the most precious relationships Larry and I enjoy. This is a family we
highly respect, resonate deeply with, pray often with, have a lot of fun with,
change diapers with, cry with, dream with and learn more than we ever thought
we could learn with.
Two weeks ago, a Kick Starter campaign was launched to raise some additional funds
for the documentary One More Song that Regie and Devin Pense are producing. (Devin’s
experience includes work with the Discovery Channel and serving as Director of
Production for the Oprah Winfrey Network.)
As Regie has described, the film chronicles his
family’s journey “from the precipice of super stardom in the music world,
through the adoption of a Chinese orphan with a rare genetic disorder, into the
low lands of dealing with her disorder and the loss of a career; from the
re-invention of a marriage to the heights of winning an arbitrary song contest
and having that song become an almost Divine source of redemption for a beleaguered
family, as well as it becoming a focal point for many other families around the
world. The story—as stories go—is a really good one. I couldn't have
written it. I wouldn't have written it. Instead, I was chosen (in some weird
way) to live it.” (Read Regie’s full blog post.)
Few people have the kind of compelling story,
artistic genius and networking resources to create a project like this
documentary will be. Even fewer have the funding resources to do it. With all
of those connections and successes, you might wonder why these people need
backers like you and me. Well, I’ve hinted at that in other blog posts (see my "Movie Nights with Purpose" post if you want an example) and it’s a complex answer. The plain and simple of it
is that this project, like any new venture, needs investors to spur it on with
physical, emotional and spiritual resources.
Larry and I are coming alongside this project in prayer, finances,
encouragement and promotional support. We hope you will too.
Listen to Regie’s heart as he describes the
vision for this film:
“We want to present a compelling story on screen
that takes people on a journey of emotion and leaves them feeling connected to
the triumph of the human spirit and closer to the mystery of (dare I say) God.
This story is about music and drama and dreams lost and new ones revealed and
love re-born and worlds colliding and geopolitical monoliths intertwining and
the depths of the human condition and the recesses of the human genome. It's
about TV shows and emergency rooms and whiskey and Jesus. It's about Chinese
orphans and American rock stars. It's about one-level houses and the opening
ceremonies of the Olympic games. It takes you around the world and makes you
look unflinchingly into the eyes of love ...and it has a happy ending (of
sorts). Through that story, we also want people to walk away knowing what
Angelman Syndrome is.”
The broader vision for this project is actually
a feature film. And there are folks in some wonderful places (like Ryan
Seacrest Productions) who are anxiously hoping for that project to fall into
place. But a project of that scope requires massive amounts of money. So until
all those “moving parts” are in place, it has been suggested that the story
first be introduced as a documentary. Regie could have waited it out and bided
his time for a full feature. But this is a man
who knows that every day he waits is another day when a child goes undiagnosed
and a family struggles for hope and help.
Regie believes (and I agree) that beginning with
the One More Song documentary “helps us (folks promoting Angelman
Syndrome awareness) stay on the radar. It’s my opinion that awareness is the
most important thing we can achieve in the quest for cures and therapies. Until
the masses know about this syndrome and have some compelling reason to get
behind it, we will continue to be relegated to the fringes.”
AngelmanSyndrome is the severe genetic disorder. Regie and
Yolanda’s daughter, Bella, has it. Our daughter Carly has it. Over half of
children who have it are wrongly diagnosed before they finally learn the truth
and are able to access the specific medical care and therapies they need.
There are only two weeks left before the Kick Starter
deadline and I’m praying with passion that this story will reach a large
audience and soon! Two weeks, friends. That’s what we have to help make this
happen. Every contributor gets something too, depending on your level of
investment — signed books or DVDs, digital downloads, tickets for the premier
in Franklin, Tennessee. Beyond the “giveaways” though, all of us coming
alongside the producers of this project will get to experience the joy and
satisfaction of knowing we’ve been part of telling a powerful Glory Story (a
contemporary encounter with the ever-present, ageless God who is always near,
compassionate, powerful and purposeful in His ways). It’s an easy gift to give
when you know it has God’s hand all over it and you’re giving something back to
the world that you couldn’t give all by yourself!
Please follow this link to make a contribution
of any size and to read more about this very exciting project!
And if you want see more of the heart and beauty
of this family, just watch how they said “thank you” last week to everyone who
has joined them on this journey so far:
Thank you so much for reading all the way to the
end! I know it’s a lot to expect that you would give me your attention for
this. Your willingness to follow this story and consider backing the project is
a precious gift and very encouraging—to the Hamms and to the Jamiesons. I hope
you will also pray for the project and tell others about it (and talk about
Angelman Syndrome). Even as we all enjoy the entertainment this great story
will be, God will be working to change lives—with one more song and one big
dream.
