The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey

Our new series “Encounter” is all about how Jesus can change lives. Today’s guest is Pastor Joshua Broome, and his story reminds us that no one is too far gone from the Love of God. After years of pursuing different ways to find self validation, Joshua found himself deep into the adult movie industry, living a life of shame and isolation. Until one day, a complete stranger asked him a question tha...

“It is impossible to say that we love God without a growing awareness of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves because God first loved us.” Today’s conversation is with Pastor Derwin Gray, and we are talking about what it truly means to love your neighbor as yourself. Not just the ones who are part of our everyday lives, but also those whom we may disagree with, those who look different than u...

Friends, today’s episode is all about loving God with our mind. Do you ever find yourself desiring to learn more about Jesus and His word but not knowing where or how to start? Do you ever read the Bible and find it overwhelming or confusing to understand? You are not alone! A lot of us feel this way. Today’s guest is Kristie Anyabwile, and she beautifully explains and helps us understand how ALL...

Do you find yourself wondering what it looks like to love God with your body? Does loving God with your body mean finding time to work out more or implementing a diet to be a certain weight?  Today’s guest is Alisa Keeton. She is such a voice of encouragement to me. In this conversation, we talk about what it truly means to love God with our body and how you don’t need to do a certain number of “j...

“Sometimes we lose sight of the value of actually working on the hard things” Today’s guest is “soul expert” Trina McNeilly, author of “ Unclutter Your Soul: Overcoming What Overwhelms You ” and founder of the popular La La Lovely blog. We will be talking about how we can love God with our Soul- your mind, your will, and your emotions.  Trina shares wisdom and insight on how choosing vulnerability...

It takes a lot of courage to love God with all that we have. How can we truly love Him with ALL of our heart, when our heart is occupied with so many other things that we love?  Today, we are kicking off the first episode of our new five-part Summer series “Love The Lord” . This series is inspired by the passage in Luke 10:27 , and we got some super fun shirts to go with it too. You are going to l...

Hey Friends! Welcome to the 500th episode party! It is the big 500. Wow! What an incredible milestone.  Today, we are bringing you an amazing, surprise filled, celebratory episode. You will get to hear from some very special guests (some familiar voices, some new) as we share memories and incredible stories with you. We are throwing it all the way back to the very first episode all the way to a HU...

Friend of The Happy Hour, Dustin Nickerson is back and he brought his super kind wife, Melissa. This conversation is all about their story, what life has been like being married to one another, as they have learned how to best care for one another, know one another, and serve one another, all while raising kids and building a career in Stand-Up Comedy.  This is one of my favorite happy hours, ther...

Summer is here, our oldest son is graduating High School tonight, and we are days away from an epic family vacation adventure!! There was no one better to sit down with me for the second Tell Me About conversation than my favorite person, Aaron Ivey. Aaron is my husband, co-creator of Ivey Media, Pastor, worship leader, and my best friend.  This episode is all about SUMMER. Tell me about childhood...

“When God allows us to walk [in] these hard seasons, it gives us so much compassion.” Yes and Amen to that! I am so excited for today’s conversation with my guest, Angela Perritt. Angela Perritt is the founder and director of Love God Greatly, a nonprofit online women's Bible study ministry aimed at fighting Biblical illiteracy around the world in over 40 languages. Angela is passionate about God'...

Have you ever gone through seasons where you want to believe that God is good, but your circumstances are telling you that He’s not? This conversation is for you. My guest for today’s episode is Alexandra Hoover. Alexandra is a sought-out speaker, Bible teacher, and Author of "Eyes Up" How To Trust God's Heart by Tracing His Hand. She's passionate about communicating the gospel's beauty and hope,...

What a word from today’s guest, Rev. Dr. Angela Williams Gorrell. Angela Gorrell is a speaker and writer about Christian spirituality, joy, meaning, and the interconnected nature of mental and spiritual health. She is Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at Baylor University and author of The Gravity of Joy: A Story of Being Lost and Found. Shortly after being hired by Yale University to stud...

9 years ago, Whitney placed her son for adoption Raised in a Christian home, she was adopted herself She fell away from her faith, dated someone in college for several years, after they broke up they had one more fling and she got pregnant She wanted her son to have all of the things that she had and more, and she did not have the skillset or resources to provide that We talk about how a lot of ti...

“I surrender and trust what I desire, and walk with the Lord in what He’s calling me to do.” What would it look like if we all lived life this way? We’re continuing our series on Foster Care with the lovely, PaToya Hall. PaToya Hall is a writer, speaker, new mom and devoted follower of Jesus. She currently lives in Waco, Texas with her daughter Adelline.  PaToya shares with us what her life began...

“I want people to see that their identities can be rewritten no matter what they’ve done or no matter what’s been done to them.” We have another great episode for you in our Foster Care Series! Ever since I found out about today’s guest, I cannot stop learning more from her, about her, and diving into her story. Tori Hope Petersen is a lover of Jesus training to be a lover of people. She spent yea...

“[Foster care] is not just about bringing a child into your home. It’s about bringing your family into another family.” I could not think of a better way to say it than Jamie Finn’s words. Friends, we are kicking off a 4-part series for National Foster Care Month and I am beyond excited to welcome Jamie Finn of Foster The Family on The Happy Hour. Jamie C. Finn is the author of Foster the Family a...

Did you know that over 400,000 kids are in foster care in the United States? That means there are hundreds of thousands of personal stories. Hundreds of thousands of children are without a place to call home permanently. This need is ginormous, and I subscribe to the idea that we all play a part.  I don’t subscribe to the idea that all families should adopt. However, I believe we should all care f...

Have you ever wondered “Can God handle my mess?”  If your answer is yes, or you know someone whose answer is yes, you’re in for a treat today. My guests for this episode are Walker Hayes and Craig Cooper. Walker Hayes is a pop-country singer who went viral for his song “Fancy-like” which has a fun little dance to it! Craig Cooper is a gifted storyteller and Bible teacher. In today’s episode, we ge...

Isn’t it crazy how in the midst of grief and tragedy, God can call us towards our purpose? This is exactly the story of today’s guest, Anne Wilson. For much of her life, Anne had plans and dreams to become an astronaut, making moves to pursue opportunities with NASA. But in 2017, her life shifted after the unexpected passing of her older brother. The lyrics of Hillsong Worship’s “What A Beautiful...

How do we commit to community as a part of looking more like Jesus? Y’all, I am so excited to share this conversation with you! Today’s guest is Joel Smallbone, one-half of the Australian Christian duo For King and Country. I had the opportunity to speak with his lovely wife, Moriah, and sister, Rebecca St. James on recent happy hour episodes and I am just the biggest fan of this whole family! In...

Do you ever feel like you live as though only half of the Gospel is true? If the answer is yes, this conversation is for you.  Today’s guest is Pastor Joby Martin of Church of 1122 in Jacksonville, Florida. His book If The Tomb Is Empty talks all about why anything is possible because of the resurrection of Jesus. In our conversation, Joby breaks down why the resurrection is the entire foundation...

“Before we can get to what’s good about the cross, I think we have to deal rightly and honestly with the horror and the tragedy and the defeat of what the cross would’ve meant for the people of Israel.” Y’all. This is one of the most helpful and educational conversations on Good Friday and I am so dang excited to share it with you. Dr. Joel Muddamalle serves as Director of Theology and Research at...

“Us sharing stories of what Jesus has done is so powerful.” The Happy Hour podcast is slowly becoming the official sponsor of The Smallbone Family! Today’s guest is Christian singer-songwriter, Rebecca St. James. We absolutely loved having her sister-in-law Moriah Smallbone on back in November, and will have her brother Joel on in just a few weeks! I am so excited to have Rebecca here to talk abou...

“Tears of joy and tears of sorrow, they all taste the same.” What powerful words by today’s guest, Pastor John O. John O is the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Atlanta, and the author of We Go On. He also runs a coffee business called Portrait Coffee based out of the West End of Atlanta! Friend, this is such a profound conversation about holding joy and sorrow together and I am always so blown awa...

We’ve got such a fun episode today, friends. It’s all about Children’s books! I think one of the reasons why even adults love children’s books is because they are oftentimes packed with messages and reminders that we need as adults. Children’s books help us dream, but also help invite kids to deeper words and thoughts.  Our guests for today’s show include Jena Holliday, Sally Lloyd Jones, Esau McC...