The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey

“Am I willing to grow with this person and am I willing to love this person as they grow?”Happy Birthday to Complement! The marriage book we wrote together on the surprising beauty of choosing together over separate. My special guest is my favorite person in the world to not just record with but really to do anything with - Aaron Ivey! To celebrate Complement’s first birthday, we wanted to dive a bit more into the topic of marriage by having a fun Q&A session!We talk about overcoming the wrong ways that marriage was modeled for us, remembering pain without rehearsing pain, and what it looks like to love someone that is not the same person you said “I do” with at the alter. We hope this episode is as fun to listen to as it was for us to record!Connect with JamieFacebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTubeGET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

“Even in the hurt and the mess, it’s actually what makes great friendships.”My dear friend, Jennie Allen, hardly needs an introduction to The Happy Hour community but if you’re new around here, let me fill you in! Jennie Allen is the founder of IF:Gathering and author of so many great books, including her newest one Find Your People! We dive head first into this topic and this is a conversation you’re going to want to take notes on.Jennie shares that this was the hardest book for her to write because being vulnerable and saying the things that you’re afraid to say is something she is still working on in her life. We talk about the importance of conflict and that although it can feel scary and awkward, it is safe when you both are committed to the friendship. This message is not just about having 3-5 best friends, but about building a village of friendships where we can truly be there for one another.Connect with JamieFacebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTubeGET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

“Ask God to turn your fear into curiosity.” It’s been way too long since Trillia Newbell has been on The Happy Hour, but better late than never! Trillia Newbell is the author of several books including her newest children’s book The Big Wide Welcome. When she isn’t writing, she’s encouraging and supporting other writers as the Acquisitions Director at Moody Publishers.Trillia and I dove right in today and talked about the conversation of race within the church. Trillia shared that in a lot of ways, this topic became harder to address after she became a Christian. She says that one of the biggest problems is a lack of discipleship which often leads to apathy or fear. Fear keeps us from engaging and if Christ has given us nothing to fear, then what are we afraid of? Trillia shared so many thought-provoking statements and I’m so thankful for her heart.Connect with JamieFacebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTubeGET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

“When you’re honest about how desperately you wish that God had acted differently in your story and in your loss, and yet still go back to Him, that is the ultimate expression of faith.”Mattie Jackson Selecman is a podcaster and best-selling author of the book Lemons on Friday. Her father is Alan Jackson, so good storytelling has always been in her blood. Tragically, she lost her husband of less than a year, Ben, in September 2018 after he suffered a traumatic brain injury. Despite her grief, Mattie is pushing forward and has dedicated herself to helping others.In today’s show, we talk about how while she has wanted to be an author for a long time, this is the book she never wanted to write. Going through this kind of grief feels truly unbearable, and we don’t talk enough about the spiritual letdown when the miracles we want don’t happen. I really appreciated the honesty when Mattie shares that sometimes we hate what God does with our story, but we still need Him to walk with us through it.Connect with JamieFacebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTubeGET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

"We really aren't fighting anxiety. It's a God-given gift that Satan has twisted."That is such a powerful way to look at anxiety and something a lot of us should write on a post-it note so we can always remember. My guest today is Shawn Johnson who serves as lead pastor of Red Rocks Church in Denver, Colorado, a community he and a small group of people started in 2005. His newest book Attacking Anxiety just released yesterday and it is loaded with truth and encouragement for those struggling with anxiety or walking through it with a loved one.We talk about humility and having to be vulnerable with our pain to those around us. It’s not easy to be the person who feels like they are always the one battling, but God gives us community to help us get through moments we never imagined. God offers us freedom, and we can go get it. I also love Shawn’s reminder that we’re not going to get healthy but healthier because we will not be made perfect until we reach eternity. So thankful for Shawn’s vulnerability in this conversation.Connect with JamieFacebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTubeGET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

“Faith is not an eraser for our past. Faith gives us the ability to go into our past to rewrite it with God.”*Trigger warning: Mention of sexual assaultBonnie Gray is an author, an inspirational speaker, and podcast host of Breathe: The Stress Less Podcast. Bonnie touches thousands of lives using storytelling, soul care, and prayer. I’m so excited to have Bonnie here to talk about her most recent book, Sweet Like Jasmine.Bonnie grew up as a Chinese-American daughter of a mail-order bride and spent much of her childhood never feeling like she belonged. She talks about going on a journey to learn her own story and going through life with an emotionally abusive mother. There can be so much fear in both learning and sharing our stories because we don’t know what people will think of it. But our brokenness is what brings us closer to God and others. I am so thankful to Bonnie for choosing vulnerability in her story and encouraging us to do the same.Connect with JamieFacebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTubeGET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

“The enemy loves to keep us in shame because then we won’t think strategically.”Ben Stuart is the pastor of Passion City Church, Washington D.C, and author of Single, Dating, Engaged, Married and Rest & War: Rhythms of a Well-Fought Life. I am so grateful for Ben’s pastoral guidance and passion for leading people towards freedom.We talk about how the atmosphere has changed in our culture, churches and country in the last several years, and what it was like to pastor his congregation through January 6th, 2021. We also talk about how well the enemy knows us and our tendencies, and how God has given us an opportunity to be victorious. Sometimes the environment around us gets extreme, but God has given us everything we need to excel.Connect with JamieFacebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTubeGET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

“It’s not just the fact that God cares about Black people. He does, He cares about who we are. But He also cares about the rest of the world, too and He wants to create a family.”I truly could’ve talked to today’s guest for hours and I’m so excited for you to hear this conversation. Esau McCaulley, PhD is an assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. His book Reading While Black was released in 2020 and is such a beacon of hope - I highly recommend it!In today’s show, we chat about how important it is to sit, read, and listen to stories and experiences that may not affect us. We always have an easy way out of conversations that don’t directly impact our lives. But Jesus calls us to compassion and empathy and to love one another through joys and pains. I love the reminder from Esau that everything we need to love one another well is in scripture - what a blessing it is that we truly have the answer.Connect with JamieFacebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTubeGET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

“That is the facade of anxiety. It’s that it will tell you things that are not true or are partly true. But never the full truth.”A lot of us need that reminder. My dear friend Gloria Umanah is back on The Happy Hour and not only am I excited to share this conversation with you, but I’m so thrilled for Gloria to share the wonderful project she is working on.Gloria launched her most recent initiative, Hope Booth: A 3-minute interactive immersive experience that delivers poetic messages of hope in the form of remodeled phone booths strategically placed throughout our cities around the globe. We talk about how the idea for this wouldn’t have happened without the difficulty of the last several years. Gloria also shares that the average person living on the street goes 3-6 months without someone looking them in the eyes, and Hope Booth truly has the potential to change this by reminding people that they are seen and loved. I’m so proud of Gloria for launching this vision that God placed in her heart. Listen to her story and learn how we can come alongside her to make this happen!Connect with JamieFacebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTubeGET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE

It’s been four years since the release of my first book If You Only Knew, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. Back in 2018, we did a mini-series where I interviewed several people and asked them about their “If you only knew…”. An “if you only knew” is something in your life that you feel people would think less of you if they knew about it. We’ve all got one of those, I’m sure. BUT here’s the good news: there’s truth and forgiveness and freedom from shame through Jesus. He will use these things as part of our story. Heather Macfadyen and Lisa Whittle are amongst a few of the people who shared their stories so to celebrate the birthday of my first book, we are bringing back these two conversations and talking about being free from the shame of our past. Connect with Jamie Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // YouTube GET ALL THE LINKS FROM THE SHOW HERE