Hey friends and welcome to the happy hour with Jamie Ivy podcasts. I'm your host Jamie and I'm so glad you're here.

Each week on this show, I invite a friend to join me and we chat about the big things in life, the little things in life, and everything in between.

Hey there friends, I hope that wherever you're listening today that you're doing all right and that you're remembering that God is near. No matter the burdens that you carry. My guest today has great wisdom for us in discovering and knowing that God is near.

To know that he is the healer and he is the restore of life. La Cray is our guest today and I have honestly scored major cool points with my kids for having La Cray on the happy hour. I want to tell you this recently. He posted on Instagram and he said healthy trees don't grow overnight. Neither do healthy people.

Invest in yourself you guys the Cray in this interview shares about how his personal life spun into chaos and how he was forced to face the varied impact of the unhilled wounds of sexual abuse, physical trauma, addiction, and depression that threatened to tear it all apart.

He talks about this in his newest book, I am restored how I lost my religion but found my faith and it comes out on October 13th but you can pre-order it now. Along the way he realized the wounds we all carry have the potential to be unlikely guides to healing and freedom for ourselves and others.

With vulnerable honesty he and I look at the personal and public spaces that sadly hurt us so often those spaces could be culture politics family church personal failure in the Cray reminds us that learning to let go and forgive is the birthplace for the life of creativity and freedom God has for us.

Guys I'm not sure if you've heard but I now host another podcast with my husband Aaron our new show is called on the other side the feedback we've gotten has been so incredibly encouraging to us and we cannot wait to keep bringing.

We believe stories change the world I say that all the time we really believe it and we want to share them so that our lives as listeners as hears of stories might all be changed.

If you want to learn more about this new endeavor that we have of the on the other side podcasts and you want to subscribe to the show you can text O T O S stands for on the other side to five five four four four and you'll get all the details sent directly to your phone.

Yes it's that easy just text O T O S to five five four four four okay friends here is my conversation with the Cray.

Hey look Ray welcome to the happy hour glad to be here I am glad to be here I do need to let you know that I have scored some major major mom points just by the fact that I'm going to take a picture and be like kids look who I was chatting with today

I have three boys who love your music so it's an honor to be here with you.

I'm always glad to make parents cooler thank you so much I told you before the show that I'm first a direct minor a friend of yours and when he was on the show I became cool or automatically to my kids.

So if I can just keep having having like all of you and your friends on my I'm going to be the coolest mom in town.

That's what we live for that's what we live for you know what I mean.

Well I'm glad to be chatting with you today you have a book called I am restored that comes out in about a month from when the show airs and am I correct this is your second book.

Second book.

Second book all right you live in Atlanta if anyone does not know who you are will you just introduce yourself real quick for the two people that don't know who La Cray is.

No no not at all yeah so La Cray that's that's what I go by I am a musical artist I am an actor I'm an activist I run independent label.

I'm an independent label called reach records would be doing that for like 15 years and I'm just a communicator and whether it's music whether it's film whether it's books.

I want to communicate and man in lighting people and use my voice to be a catalyst for change and and kingdom values wherever I go.

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