My guest for The Happy Hour #413 is Kara Powell. Kara speaks regularly at parenting and leadership conferences, and is the co-author of a number of books including 3 Big Questions that Change Every Teenager, which just released yesterday! In this episode, Kara talks about how teens often feel that being heard and being loved are the same, and how important it is to have empathy in order to ask the right questions. Kara also shares details about the 3 big questions and what it looks like to pursu...
Aug 04, 2021•44 min
Y’all - how much have you loved our Flashback Friday episodes?! It’s been so fun bringing back some of my favorite conversations over the years. We’re closing it out with a fan favorite - Tara-Leigh Cobble! Tara has been on The Happy Hour several times and it’s always such a joy having her. Tara was actually in Israel when we caught up, and I get to join her there this fall! We talked about how much The Bible Recap has grown and people’s lives being changed through scripture coming alive. It’s s...
Jul 30, 2021•1 hr 6 min
My guest for today’s Encounter episode is Matt Krieg. In this show, Matt shares his story of growing up in a Christian home, but realizing at 29 years old that he didn’t really know Jesus - he only knew about Jesus. Matt talks about his struggle with comparison to his brother, worth and value. At 11 years old, he was introduced to pornography and fell into a secret addiction for nearly two decades. Matt dealt with so much self-loathing that he truly wanted to take this secret to the grave. One d...
Jul 28, 2021•27 min
Today’s Flashback Friday guest is the one and only, Jackie Hill Perry! Since 2018, Jackie started a podcast with her husband, wrote several books, and went from a family of 3 to an (almost) family of 6! While Jackie is so thankful for the opportunities to share the Gospel, she continues to ask God that her giftings would not triumph over character. In her 2018 episode, Jackie and I covered some challenging topics like homosexuality, racial injustice and how our indifference to the things Jesus c...
Jul 23, 2021•1 hr 8 min
My guest for today’s episode is Chris Terry. Chris is a strength and conditioning coach for football and Women’s swimming at Rice University. He also played four years of football for the Texas Longhorns! In this episode, Chris shares about his background growing up in a Catholic home. He considered it much more about earning love, which caused him to struggle deeply with affirmation. After several years of fighting to know his purpose, using alcohol and sex to try and find his identity, he came...
Jul 21, 2021•35 min
Today’s Flashback Friday guest is none other than Ellie Holcomb! Y’all, four years later and I still have people tell me how much that episode impacted them. It was truly one of the most vulnerable episodes we’ve ever done. Before jumping into Ellie’s Happy Hour episode #162, we caught up for a bit on what’s happened since 2017, her advocacy for counseling, and the importance of lament. We covered so much in our chat! In her 2017 episode, Ellie and I talked about going through tough seasons in m...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 4 min
My guest for this episode is Mo Isom Aiken. Mo Isom Aiken is a wife, a mom of 4, a New York Times bestselling author, a nationally sought-after speaker and a teacher of the Word. She’s also a former All-American goalkeeper for LSU’s women’s soccer team. In today’s show, Mo shares with us that cultural Christianity was the stamp of her younger years, just something that was part of a routine. While feeling like nothing in her life was going as planned, Mo eventually developed a severe eating diso...
Jul 14, 2021•36 min
Welcome back to another episode of Flashback Friday, where we bring back some of our favorite Happy Hour episodes from the past, invite the guest back on, and catch up on what’s happened since we last chatted! Today’s flashback guest is Bianca Olthoff, and today is her FOURTH time on the podcast. The episode we’re flashbacking today is #103, which was originally released in August of 2016. In her episode, we talked about her life as a stepmom, meeting her husband on eHarmony, and working with A2...
Jul 09, 2021•1 hr 5 min
My guest for this episode is Erin Weidemann. Erin is the founder of Truth Becomes Her, which equips moms and women to step into unique leadership roles. She is also the author of 12 books, and a 5-time cancer survivor! In this episode, Erin shares about a period in her life from ages 16-26 where she completely rejected God. She considered herself an atheist, and led a life of making any and every decision that she wanted. After a deadly cancer diagnosis, being forced to move out of the home she ...
Jul 07, 2021•36 min
Welcome to Flashback Friday! A new series where we bring back some of our favorite Happy Hour episodes from the past, invite the guest back on, and catch up on what’s happened since we last chatted! Today’s flashback guest is Jami Nato, whose show originally aired in January of 2016! In her episode, Jami dove into an extramarital affair that rocked her world 7 years ago and how it deeply changed her perspective on suffering and God’s love for her. Today’s show starts off with Jami looking back o...
Jul 02, 2021•1 hr 22 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #403 is Rebecca McLaughlin. Rebecca McLaughlin holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge University and a theology degree from Oak Hill College. Her first book, "Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion" was named Christianity Today's 2020 Book of the Year! In this episode, we talk a lot about her book Confronting Christianity and how some parts of it wrestle with difficult history and topics. Rebecca also dives into conversations about LGBTQ+, ...
Jun 30, 2021•56 min
My guest for this Encounter episode is Liz Curtis Higgs. Liz Curtis Higgs loves the Lord, loves His Word, and loves His people. In this show, Liz shares about growing up attending church as more of a small town ritual, but when she turned sixteen she chose to live her life as she wanted. Liz got caught up in the “sex, drugs and rock n’ roll” lifestyle for years, until meeting a couple who were new believers and consistently reminded Liz of Christ’s love for her. That was the beginning of Liz eve...
Jun 25, 2021•35 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #401 is Jess Connolly. Jess Connolly is a woman who wants to leave her generation more in awe of God than she found it. She is passionate about family, God's Word, and seeing women take their place in the kingdom. She's an author, a church leader, and a coach. Jess’ book, Breaking Free from Body Shame, just released yesterday and it is such an important message - so thankful we’re talking about it today! In this show, Jess dives into what inspired her to write this ne...
Jun 23, 2021•42 min
Today is a BIG day - it’s episode #400 of The Happy Hour!!! Can you believe it?! I never would have imagined that when I sat down with a friend 7 years ago, it would turn into this. I feel so blessed that God entrusted me with this platform to share stories that matter, and I want to thank each and every one of you for listening! Today’s episode is a fun one! We recap how far we’ve come since 2014, some of our all-time favorite episodes, and even took listener questions and stories. Make sure to...
Jun 18, 2021•31 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #399 is Alyssa Bethke! Alyssa and her husband, Jeff are an incredible duo who are passionate about Jesus, family, and scripture. Alyssa released her first solo book just yesterday called Satisfied and it is a MUST read. I’m so excited to have Alyssa on the show today, and feel so honored to celebrate her first book release! In today’s show, Alyssa dives into what inspired her book and her journey of fighting for contentment within the mundane. If we learned anything d...
Jun 16, 2021•46 min
My guest for this Encounter episode is Dr. Derwin Gray. Dr. Derwin Gray is the pastor of the multiethnic, multigenerational church Transformation Church in South Carolina. In this show, Derwin tells us about his childhood growing up around violence and trauma, and how he used football as an escape from the things around him. While playing in the professional league, a teammate of his (nicknamed “The Naked Preacher”) shared the Gospel with him in the locker room. It was at that point that the whe...
Jun 11, 2021•38 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #397 is my dear friend, Christine Caine! Christine Caine is a sought-after international speaker, author and activist. Known for her ability to effectively communicate a message of hope, Christine has a heart for reaching the lost, strengthening leadership, and championing the cause of justice. Together with her husband, Nick, she founded the anti-human trafficking organization, The A21 Campaign. I always love getting to chat with my friend and I’m so happy she’s join...
Jun 09, 2021•47 min
Today is our very first episode of our summer series, Encounter! We have so many fun guests coming up this summer and I can’t wait for you to hear these stories. In this episode, I actually share some of my story with you of how I encountered Jesus. I read a bit from my first book, If You Only Knew which talks about how I came to Christ after a life of living for myself. I also got to talk with an incredible young woman, Sidney Runeburg. Sidney is a student at the University of Texas, and the fi...
Jun 04, 2021•50 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #395 is Dane Ortlund! Dane C. Ortlund is the author of Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers and Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners. Dane and his wife, Stacey, have five children. In today’s show, Dane dives into the message of his book, and how much God moves towards us rather than fleeing from our grossness and sin - something that no one else does for us so perfectly. It was so powerful when Dane said “All you have to do is collapse to g...
Jun 02, 2021•43 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #394 is Michael W. Smith! Michael W. Smith is a multi-platinum recording artist, has won 3 Grammy Awards, 45 Dove Awards, an American Music Award, and has sold more than 15 million albums. He has also given back to the global community in so many ways, including through Compassion International! He recently released his first book on fatherhood, The Way of the Father! Y’all, I feel like such a fangirl having Michael W. Smith on the podcast and I’m not mad about it. In...
May 28, 2021•35 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #393 is Mark Clark. Mark Clark is the founding pastor of Village Church in Canada and its passion is to reach skeptics and challenge Christians. He is the author of The Problem of Jesus and The Problem of God, both wonderful books that I would highly recommend! In today’s show, we talk about things like deconstruction and North American Christianity. Mark also really dives into the problem of people using Jesus as a label to stroll through life with. But Mark shared s...
May 26, 2021•41 min
My guest for The Happy Hour today is Pastor Louie Giglio. Louie Giglio is Pastor of Passion City Church and the original visionary of the Passion movement, which exists to call a generation to leverage their lives for the fame of Jesus. He is also the national-bestselling author of over a dozen books including his newest release, Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table! In this show, Louie talks a bit about Passion being entirely God’s idea and vision, and I share with him how both Aaron and I...
May 21, 2021•38 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #391 is Natalia Kohn Rivera. Natalia Kohn Rivera is an Argentine Armenian American, born in Argentina and raised in Los Angeles, California. She's a Bible teacher, writer, speaker, teacher, and coach. Natalia also released a book back in 2019 called Hermanas, a beautiful book written for Latina women to deepen their identity. This interview has been a long time coming and I’m so thankful we could finally make it happen! In today’s episode, Natalia dives into ethnic id...
May 19, 2021•41 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #390 is Jon Acuff. Jon Acuff is a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including his newest release, Soundtracks : The Surprising Solution to Overthinking. He lives just outside of Nashville with his wife and two teenage daughters. This conversation was such an encouragement to me and I hope it will be the same for you! In today’s show, Jon talks about growing up as a pastor’s kid and how often we can obsess about overthinking. He also dives into the topi...
May 14, 2021•48 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #389 is Elizabeth Passarella. Elizabeth Passarella is the author of the essay collection Good Apple: Tales of a Southern Evangelical in New York. She has been a magazine writer and editor in New York for more than 20 years. She grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and now lives with her husband and three kids in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. So many people told me to read Elizabeth’s book and I’ll admit - I was nervous when I read the subtitle but I’m so glad I went...
May 12, 2021•51 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #388 is the wonderful Toni Collier! Toni Collier is the founder of an international women’s ministry called Broken Crayons Still Color, which helps women process through brokenness and get to hope. She serves alongside her husband Sam who is the Lead Pastor of Hillsong Atlanta. She is a speaker, host, and is teaching people all over the globe that you can be broken and worthy and unqualified and still called to do great things. Building a friendship with Toni was prob...
May 07, 2021•48 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #387 is Debra Fileta. Debra is a Licensed Professional Counselor, national speaker, relationship expert, and author of several books including Choosing Marriage, True Love Dates, and Are You Really OK? which comes out on the 18th! May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Debra is the perfect person to have this conversation with. In today’s show, Debra gets vulnerable about a traumatic loss she experienced and the grieving process she walked through. She also dives i...
May 05, 2021•41 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #386 is Sam Allberry. Sam Allberry is a pastor, apologist, and author of books such as Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With? and 7 Myths About Singleness. He is from the UK and is in the process of moving to Nashville and serves at Immanuel Church Nashville! I’ve been wanting to chat with Sam for a while and I’m so glad we finally made it happen! In this episode, Sam really dives into some of the myths of singleness. Y’all, let me tell you. If you’re married, you may th...
Apr 30, 2021•39 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #385 is Amanda Bible Williams. Amanda is the author and cofounder/CCO of She Reads Truth! From She Reads Truth Bibles and studies to Kids Read Truth Bibles and podcasts, Amanda is passionate about building a community of women who read God's word every day together! In today’s episode, Amanda talks about She Reads Truth turning 10 years old soon, and the Faithful Project, which is a wonderful collaboration of ministry partners including a book, album, and tour of live...
Apr 28, 2021•42 min
My guest for The Happy Hour #384 is Ginny Owens. Ginny has had an award-winning career that includes two decades as a singer/songwriter, recording artist, author and speaker. During that time, Ginny has released 10 albums, five EPs and two Christmas projects! Ginny currently lives in New York City and is in her final year of a Master of Biblical Studies at seminary! I’ve been listening to Ginny’s music for years so I’m thrilled to have her on today! In this episode, we talk about her background ...
Apr 23, 2021•40 min
