Welcome to the Simply Joyful Podcast

Episode #47 with Jamie Ivey

The Simply Joyful Podcast 1 Year Anniversary

Valentine's Day Giveaway!

Be sure to listen to Jamie's episode! — but don't forget to get signed-up for our amazing giveaway from our amazing season 4 sponsor!

* 4 Date Night Kits from Peach Dish*

The Importance of Being Real and Sharing Our God Story

It’s easy to feel like if people really knew you, they may not like what they see. So often the choices we made years ago still haunt us. Then there are those moments when we decide to open up with someone just to be hurt with rejection or judgement. Yet, it’s so important to stay real with each other. Hard, but important.

Well, my amazing guest today, Jamie Ivey, is known for her dazzling smile and encouraging podcast called, “The Happy Hour.” Jamie is releasing her first book in a few days called If You Only Knew. In her book, she openly shares about some deeply personal things that happened in her life. I’ll let her tell you more about it on the podcast. But what is so neat is that through all her mistakes and bad choices she could feel God chasing after her. She describes it as one of the scariest things in her life.

As I read her book, a song by Natalie Grant kept running through my head — “The Real Me.” If you haven’t heard it, then you should check it out. It’s a song about how God sees the “real me.”  He sees through all of our brokenness and loves us. It’s a perfect match for this book. Here I am again…pairing books with music. I seriously can’t help myself. I think in music sometimes.

It was so much fun to turn the tables on Jamie and have the chance to interview one of my favorite podcasters. I also loved learning about how she got her start. I didn’t know the backstory.

I can’t wait for you to listen into my conversation with the one and only, Jamie Ivey.

Get ready for a great interview — get your own Simply Joyful Podcast mug HERE!

Highlights from the Show

Here are a few fun quotes from this episode. Please feel free to “click to tweet” (below) or share the images below on social media. 

• We kick off the episode with Jamie telling a little bit of her story — and how she got started podcasting. It's a great story! 
• Jamie shares why she felt led to write a book and share her story on paper. She says that writing a book was super hard for her, and how it’s very story driven.
• It took her a long time to believe the redemption that God gave her.
• The Bible is filled with stories, and that’s so often how God teaches us things, too — through stories. I loved how Jamie talks about how we need to stop looking at our stories as failures and instead look at them as examples of God’s faithfulness.
• I asked Jamie to share a little more about why she thinks it is that people have such a hard time sharing their stories.
• I love Jamie's God-story! I also loved how she referred to God's pursuit of her as one of the scariest things in her life. (This was also my favorite chapter in the book.) 
• So many times we say “yes” to God, but then we change our minds about living fully for Him. I think so much of the time this is the thing that really confuses people, and makes them question whether they are really saved. I  loved reading in Jamie’s book about when she truly found true freedom and was able to walk in Him.
• I think everyone has that “one thing,” that something that they hold close and only share with just a few people. Jamie encourages people to get past that and to be real with each other.
• One of the things Jamie mentions in the book is the story of The Scarlett Letter and how, just like in the classic book, we pin letters to ourselves and walk around feeling like everyone knows. When we get used to wearing those labels and “letters” — they become our identities. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be! It all goes back to — “Who am I?” I love how Jamie shares that we are children of God and a daughter of the King. It doesn’t matter what we do in our day-to-day it doesn’t change our identity or our standing.
• As an absolute teaser (sorry), since we only mention it in the podcast, I told Jamie how much I loved her story in the book about her courtship with her husband — and there’s the particular scene where they are on a beach and…oh! *sigh* you really need to read the book. So, so beautiful.
• We had such a great reader question this week! Jamie shares about what her life looked like pre-podcast when she had littles running around!

'I was in the trenches of motherhood, I tried something, and it didn't work for my family.'Click To Tweet

'Are we finding our joys in out 'one-days', or are we finding join where God has us right now?Click To Tweet

Also Mentioned in this Episode:

• I shared about my new YouTube video up 5 Tips to Get Your New Year's Resolutions Back on Track! I hope it helps you get your goals back on track! 
• Don't forget about my Weight Loss Coaching program! Ha! Losing weight is typically the #1 New Year's goal…and this is around the time that people start slacking on those goals. . . Well, hopefully, you can keep powering through! You can see more about my Optavia program HERE (I give away a free eBook on weight loss).
•  I'm also working on putting together a business program, and if this is something you'd be interested in learning more, please fill out the form HERE. — I'd love to help you create the business of your dreams!

Books Mentioned…

…& don't forget to grab yourself a mug!

A Special Thanks to…

Rend Collective for allowing me to use their incredible song “The Joy of the Lord is My Strength.” This song has so much special meaning to me and it highlights the theme verse for my podcast — Nehemiah 8:10. Be sure to check out their music! They are such a fun band to listen to…and to see live.

Let's Connect!

**This post may contain a few affiliate links, both Amazon & others. Please see my disclosure page if you have any questions.