Hey friends and welcome to the happy hour with Jamie Ivy podcast. 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.

New Sun. I'm no good. He said why that's easy to see. I am.

Hi friends and welcome to another episode of the happy hour with Jamie Ivy podcast. I'm your host Jamie and I'm really excited about today.

I mean, super excited because yesterday something really fun happened in my life and that is that my very first children's book released into the world.

If you've been listening for a while, you have for sure heard me talk about this book. It's called God made you to be you and

about a little cactus named Sammy and I think I have not been as proud of a project as I am with this project right here.

And I think the reason I'm so proud about this project is it feels like such a collaborative work. I have a co-writer, Tamah that helped me put so much great thought into this book.

The story came alive to me a couple of years ago and I've been fleshing this out with friends. The illustrator, oh, the illustrator, to be so in love with something that you had nothing to do with is one of the best feelings in the world.

And the illustrations in this book, they're beyond beautiful. They are inviting. It is so fun to see the animals come to life. David did a phenomenal job.

And so this group project feels very, very special going out into the world. The second reason I'm so excited about this project is because of the feedback that we've gotten.

We were able to host a party in my house about a month ago and we invited families with small children and we wanted to gift them the book.

We wanted to celebrate what God was going to do in this book through all their lives. And the feedback that we've gotten from those parents has been amazing.

In fact, at the beginning of the show, you heard my friends Colton and Lacey and their little son reading the book together.

And I hear that all the time. I hear my friends saying this book sticks with you. My kid wants to read it over and over again.

My kid has this book memorized and surprise. I'm going to read you the entire book at the end of this show. And you're going to see why it's so special because it's beautiful.

The words mean something to the kids. It's easy for them to jump into the story. And so I'm super excited to all of you guys that have already ordered the book.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My biggest prayer is that whoever gets this book that you ordered, whoever you sit down and read the book with,

that these kids will fall in love with these characters. But more importantly than that, they'll fall in love with the truth that God really did make them special, that God really did make them with a purpose, that our differences are not bad.

And that God made them to be them. Or as Sammy finds out, God made you to be you.

So this episode today is going to be a little different. It's just me and people ask me all the time, hey, would you ever do a solo podcast? And the answer is no, because I like to talk to people.

So I'm imagining right now that is your listing that you're literally sitting across my podcast desk with me. And then I'm talking to you about this story and how God brought this whole book to life.

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