Podcast Summary: The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast

Episode Title: When Life Takes an Unwanted Turn – Ruth Chou Simons
Date: November 18, 2025
Host: Candace Cameron Bure
Guest: Ruth Chou Simons

Overview

This episode centers on how to navigate life when things don't go as planned—when unwanted turns, anxiety, and grief arise. Candace and her guest, author and artist Ruth Chou Simons, have a candid, faith-driven conversation about motherhood, unexpected trials (including Ruth’s son's traumatic accident), the experience of grief, and learning deep dependence on God through hardship. Notable for its warmth, vulnerability, laughter, and tears, the episode weaves together practical wisdom and spiritual encouragement for listeners facing their own roller coasters.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Beginning of Candace and Ruth's Friendship

[03:14 – 06:16]

• The two reminisce about meeting at a women’s ministry retreat—bonding over real life, work challenges, and ministry. Ruth highlights Candace’s down-to-earth nature and generosity in seeking her advice.
• They share stories about fashion, raising kids, and building businesses.

Notable Quote:
"I love that I can talk fashion with you and we can go from fashion to God's word, to ministry life to kids." — Ruth [05:54]

2. Motherhood as Sanctification

[06:16 – 09:35]

• Ruth, a mother of six boys, reflects on how motherhood was not what she expected ("I kind of thought of kids as accessories") and reveals that she coined the hashtag #MotherhoodToSanctifying, recognizing that motherhood matures and sanctifies you.
• Both women reflect on how parenting strips away pride and teaches humility.

Notable Quotes:
"Motherhood is training you." — Ruth [08:43]
"Motherhood matured me in ways I never knew." — Candace [08:57]

3. Anxiety, Fear, and Unwanted Turns

Ruth’s Real-Life Trauma: Her Son’s Injury

[09:35 – 14:40]

• Ruth recounts the traumatic accident of her son Judah, who suffered severe spinal injuries in 2024 just before her children’s book launch.
• She talks about the shock, her son’s resilience, and the challenge of trusting God through life-altering events.

Memorable Moment:
"I actually started painting for this book about fear, worry, and anxiety from the ICU." — Ruth [12:05]

[11:41]

• Ruth expresses the helplessness she felt ("There was nothing I could do but to sit there and wait") and the total dependency on God when she couldn't change her son’s condition.

Notable Quote:
"When I found myself in the ICU... I had to stop and say, okay, what have I thought rightly, when things were not this scary? And I had to tap back into that because life takes unexpected turns all the time." — Ruth [14:40]

4. How Preparation and Perspective Shape Our Response

[14:40 – 17:19]

• They discuss the importance of preparing their hearts for life's unwanted turns, not only through crisis but daily—by holding right beliefs about God’s character.

Notable Quote:
"We actually prepare our hearts every day for what our posture is going to be when life doesn’t go our way." — Ruth [14:40]

5. The Gift of Dependency and Identity Shifts

[17:19 – 23:59]

• Candace shares her own “unwanted turn”: her 10-year hiatus from acting and the fear that God might not use her talents again.
• Through this journey, she developed a deep dependence on God and a transformed understanding of the gospel.

Notable Quotes:
"While there was fear of the future, that's when God grew me... And I grew so much in my relationship with God over those 10 years." — Candace [21:50]
"I finally understood the gospel... I understood, to the depths of my soul, what God did for me. Before that, it was just like, “Oh, I’m a Christian.” That didn’t change my life... But when He lifted that veil..." — Candace [22:33–23:33]

6. Gospel Centrality and Grace

[23:59 – 32:11]

• Ruth and Candace explore how true peace, identity, and freedom from anxiety come by understanding the gospel and our dependency on Christ, not achievements.
• Ruth sums up the antidote to anxiety: Not self-reliance, but trust and rest in God’s work.

Notable Quotes:
"That peace comes from the Lord and it comes from peace with God... peace, regardless of whether you’re picking up Cheerios or you have a corner office." — Ruth [29:20]
"If you just stop and rehearse that truth again, you remember that there's nothing scary that God hasn't already conquered." — Ruth [31:30]

7. Honest Talk About Worry and Grief

[32:11 – 39:49]

• Ruth challenges Candace: even if she doesn’t call herself a worrier, the fears she describes are forms of anxiety.
• Conversation turns to grief, in its many forms—loss, diagnosis, relational breakdowns— and the importance of not going through it alone.
• Both reflect on the comfort God brings: through Scripture, through presence, through eternal perspective.

Notable Quote:
"The only way I can even deal with the grief that comes and goes and sometimes lingers is that we need to remember there’s eternal hope, unshakable, eternal hope, waiting for us when we’re in Christ..." — Ruth [33:03]

Memorable Moment:
Candace shares about the sacred power of having a friend simply sit with her in moments of deep grief; that presence matters more than words. [35:50]

8. Listener Questions: Faith in Crisis & Motivation During Despair

Q1: Keeping Faith with Cancer (Alicia)

[40:27 – 43:08]

• Candace and Ruth empathize deeply ("It's one day at a time") and stress clinging to faith and hope in Christ, who brings ultimate healing, even if not always in this life.

Notable Quotes:
"The faith component is the very thing that I cling to. It’s what gives me the most hope." — Candace [42:09]
"We can simultaneously pray for healing... but say, I’m not God. You are... So I’m going to trust you." — Ruth [42:31]

Q2: Finding Motivation When God Feels Distant (Tori)

[44:09 – 46:18]

• Ruth names the realness of spiritual darkness and encourages honest confession and community support.
• Practical advice: don’t do it alone, find trusted people, focus on small rhythms, and pursue Jesus not just "answers."

Notable Quotes:
"I would just say, start by confessing: ‘Lord, I feel unmotivated... I don’t even want to do anything. Are you listening?’ Be honest before the Lord... And you need people to encourage you." — Ruth [45:00]
"Sometimes when you’re so distraught, you want God to give you the answer, the way… but Jesus says, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’" — Ruth [44:30]

Notable Quotes – At a Glance

• "Motherhood is training you." — Ruth [08:43]
• "When I found myself in the ICU... I had to tap back into [my faith]." — Ruth [14:40]
• "I finally understood the gospel... to the depths of my soul." — Candace [22:33]
• "That peace comes from the Lord and it comes from peace with God." — Ruth [29:20]
• "The faith component is the very thing that I cling to. It’s what gives me the most hope." — Candace [42:09]
• "You’re not meant to save yourself... We can give thanks—it’s good to be reminded that you’re not the Savior." — Ruth [21:14]
• "We live in this world... So it’s holding that tension—of keeping our eyes fixed on eternity, but to actually steward right now." — Ruth [40:05]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:14 – How Candace & Ruth met, early friendship
• 06:16 – Motherhood talk, sanctification through children
• 09:35 – Ruth’s son’s accident, dealing with crisis as a parent
• 14:40 – Preparing for hardship, right beliefs in everyday life
• 17:19 – Candace’s career break; trusting God with purpose
• 21:50 – Learning the gospel deeply through hard seasons
• 32:11 – Real talk on worry, grief, and dependency
• 40:27 – Listener Q&A: faith amidst cancer
• 44:09 – Listener Q&A: motivation in despair

Final Encouragements

• The episode invites listeners to see unwanted turns as invitations to deeper faith.
• Ruth and Candace’s openness about their weakness and God's sufficiency offers solidarity to anyone struggling with anxiety, fear, or grief.
• The conversation is marked by hope—the sure hope that God’s presence, not control or self-striving, is our true comfort and joy.

For more resources, Advent guides, or to submit podcast questions, visit Candace.com.

Tone: Faithful, honest, warm, and practical, combining spiritual truths with lived experience.