Heart to Heart with Jamie Ivey

This month we were so excited to talk with Jamie Ivey. Jamie lives in Austin, TX with her husband Aaron,
a worship pastor, and her 4 children. Jamie is a speaker and writer and also the host of the podcast,
“The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey.”

1. We would love to hear a little about your testimony and how you came to know Christ.
I grew up in a Christian home. Both parents were believers and went to church every week. I grew up
knowing a lot about God and would have even said I was a Christian. When I got to high school, about
my sophomore year, I started finding other things that interested me more, like boys and alcohol. Then I got more in to the party scene when I started college. All of that time I would have said I was a
Christian. Looking back though I see there was no fruit in my life. There wasn’t a lot of conviction or
repentance. I don’t know that I actually was following Christ. At 21 I went to the Passion Conference in
Fort Worth and it was there that God really captured my heart and attention. It was from there that
God changed my life and I started following Him. A lot of outward things changed in my life but a lot of
inward things changed as well. I started to feel forgiven, a peace, and a hope in the midst of crazy
circumstances. I know Christ came in to my life at 21 because I had a lot of heart change.

2. Last month’s theme was Dear Younger Me. What would you tell your high school self?
If I could tell my high school self anything I would tell myself there is so much more to life than ninth
grade. Ninth grade is very important but decisions and friends we make can affect the rest of our life. I
think when we are younger we can only see what is right in front of us and I wish I could have known
that there is so much life ahead of you and what you do now can affect that. I would have also told
myself to really look for friendships that were encouraging and uplifting. I had some friendships in high
school that I wish I would have grabbed ahold of a little bit tighter but they weren’t flashy or the most
popular people in the school. I want to teach my kids to have a good perspective on things that they
seem to care about like clothes or a relationship but know there is so much more to life.

3. You have a daughter. What are some things you try to teach her about self-worth and identity?
We try to teach all of our kids that they are who they are for a reason. This is very important in our
family because three of our children came into our family through adoption. We want them to really
cling to the truth that God has always had a plan for their life. That sounds really awesome when you
come into a family the typical way but it adds something when they are added through adoption. We
want them to be able to stand on that truth in the good times and hard times that God has always
known them and has always had a plan for them. I just want our daughter to find her worth in God
alone and not in all the world has to offer. That is hard even at my age. I want my daughter, Story, to
know her worth comes from one place and one place alone and there is only one person that gives the worth that truly matters and that is God. Because all of the other values from the world are fleeting and the value from God never changes.

4. You and your son just got back from a trip with Compassion International to Kenya. Why is it
important to you to instill a world view in your children and how do you do this?

It is a big value with my husband and I. We want to give our children a bigger worldview than we were
given. There just wasn’t any accessibility to the outside world when we were growing up but now the
internet has changed that. We want our kids to know that the world they live in, in Austin, TX, is not the
norm. There are billions of people who live very different than us. There are hundreds of thousands of
people who do not have the access to food and water that we may have. We want our kids to know this exists and is a reality. Not in any way so they can feel better about what they have, but so that they can know that God is the same everywhere. We also want our kids to have a heart that beats for what
God’s heart beats for like injustice, the poor, orphans, and widows, and for them to know that God cares for these things. We expose our kids to this so that their heart can hopefully care for these things as well. Also, we don’t want to raise entitled children. We want our kids to understand that our house and food and having gas in our car is a huge blessing. Besides exposing our children to things in the world we also give. I just went on that trip with Compassion International because that is an organization our family has supported for over a decade. It was really special for me to show one of my kids that here’s why mom and dad give money every month and here is why it matters.

5. Could you finish with 3 fun facts about you?
1. I I could put mayonnaise on just about anything.
2. When I was in middle school I ran in the junior Olympics.
3. I do not like to go barefoot.