Wildflowers & Worry: Finding Freedom from Anxiety with Ruth Chou Simons

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast

Episode: Wildflowers & Worry: Finding Freedom from Anxiety with Ruth Chou Simons
Date: November 11, 2025
Host: Candace Cameron Bure
Guest: Ruth Chou Simons

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Overview

In the opening of Season 12, Candace Cameron Bure sits down with Ruth Chou Simons—bestselling author, artist, and founder of GraceLaced—to discuss finding freedom from anxiety, wrestling with worry, and the grounding spiritual truths that help us through life's roller coaster moments. With warmth and vulnerability, both women share personal stories, biblical wisdom, and practical guidance for listeners struggling with anxiety or seeking peace in a fast-paced world.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Ruth’s Journey: Art, Ministry, and Merging Beauty with Faith

• Ruth recounts how her background intertwined ministry, family, and art ([05:02]):
  • She explains that she long believed women had to choose between enriching doctrine and outward beauty, but later saw how combining the two in her art and writing helped others slow down to meditate on God’s Word.
  • “Why do women have to choose between [doctrine and beauty]?” – Ruth ([05:10])
• Candace admires Ruth’s books, noting their unique beauty and simplicity as an alternative to practices like Bible journaling ([06:32]).

The Wildflower Analogy: Letting Go of Anxiety and Control

• Ruth explains the inspiration from wildflowers (and Jesus’ words in Luke 12:27) for her new book, “The Way of the Wildflower” ([09:20]):
  • Wildflowers thrive without being toiled over, a model for living without exhaustive worry and striving.
  • “There is no gardener but the master gardener. Nobody’s there…adding fertilizer or putting sprinklers on them.” – Ruth ([10:04])
  • Worry stems from a sense of lost control, something both Ruth and Candace relate to from personal experience.

The Roots of Worry: Seeking Control & Belonging

• Ruth shares about her immigrant background, childhood fears of belonging, and later anxieties as a new mom ([11:10]):
  • Even when much of her striving and fear lessened, small anxieties and worries persist.
  • “We all have areas of our lives where we’re like, I just don’t want this to turn out bad.” – Ruth ([15:59])
• Candace discusses her own mental spinning, overthinking conversations and decisions, and how she sometimes wakes from anxiety-driven dreams ([12:26]):
  • “I’m always spinning and toiling…I have a very hard time turning my mind off.” – Candace ([11:37])

Biblical Wisdom: Preaching Truth to Ourselves

• Both speakers unpack how the Psalms model honest struggle followed by declarations of God’s character and trust ([17:39]):
  • Candace highlights how David’s laments are always followed by hope—“but You are God…I put my hope in You” ([18:00]).
  • Ruth recommends “preaching truth to your own heart”—intentionally reminding yourself who God is when anxious.
  • “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases…” – Lamentations 3:21-23 ([26:33])

Practical Ways to Address Anxiety

• Replace worries with gratitude ([24:22]):
  • “Worry and gratitude can’t exist at the same time in the same heart.” – Ruth ([24:22])
• Stay rooted in scripture daily, not just during crisis ([26:33]):
  • Candace shares Philippians 4:6 and Matthew 6 as her go-to verses ([25:17])
  • Ruth encourages regular reading as a “deposit” for when hard times come.
• Be honest about the spectrum of anxiety ([30:41]):
  • Ruth differentiates between everyday worry, anxious thoughts, and clinically significant anxiety, noting the value of therapy, medical help, and self-compassion.
  • “Regardless of how much you struggle…all of us have to start by realigning our thoughts to the ways of God.” – Ruth ([33:19])

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Listener Q&A Highlights

Q: How do we stop the anxiety in our minds?

• Ruth: “The only way you can change the way you think is to replace the way you think with something better…It’s a daily realignment.” ([34:06])
• Candace: “When that anxious thought…comes into my mind, I literally stop it, and I’m like, whoop, you recognize it, you stop it.” ([34:44])

Q: What is a trick you have learned to help you on a bad day?

• Candace: “I practice a grateful mindset. Instead of thinking about the negativity or the things that are going wrong, I focus on the positive…Sometimes it’s as simple as, I’m alive, I’m breathing.” ([36:42])
• Ruth: “It’s hard to complain and be grateful at the same time…” ([36:56])

Q: What is one thing you do for your mental health every day?

• Ruth: “I put away all devices and go for a walk every day…Be in awe of God, because it’ll help all your stress go away…” ([38:49])
• Candace: “Putting my devices away at night is so, so, so important…I can get it out [by] walking or exercising.” ([39:35])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Why do women have to choose between the two?” — Ruth Chou Simons ([05:10])
• “There is no gardener but the master gardener… I really understand now what Jesus was saying: consider how the wildflower grows. It doesn’t toil or spin.” — Ruth ([10:04])
• “I’m always spinning and toiling…I have a very hard time turning my mind off.” — Candace ([11:37])
• “What are you thinking about, and what’s causing you to… feel a little anxious?” — Ruth ([13:42])
• “Worry and gratitude can’t exist at the same time in the same heart.” — Ruth ([24:22])
• “You can trust your Savior, you can trust who God is and how he provides for you.” — Ruth ([19:01])
• “We default to what we practice the most.” — Ruth ([32:34])
• “Be grateful all day, every day.” — Candace (Closing message)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [05:02] Ruth on merging art and ministry
• [09:20] Wildflowers as a spiritual metaphor for rest and trust
• [11:10] Personal experiences with anxiety (both hosts)
• [17:39] The Psalms and “preaching truth” to your soul
• [24:17] The power of gratitude over anxiety
• [26:33] Building peace through daily scripture
• [30:41] Differentiating between worry, anxiety, and clinical needs
• [34:06] Listener Q&A: stopping anxious thoughts
• [36:42] Listener Q&A: shifting to a grateful mindset on bad days
• [38:49] Listener Q&A: daily practical mental health routines

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Tone and Language

The conversation is intimate, encouraging, and full of faith. Both Ruth and Candace speak with authenticity, using practical examples, gentle humor, and heartfelt wisdom rooted in scripture. The tone is supportive—less about having all the answers, more about walking together through life’s difficulties and pointing listeners toward lasting peace.

Transcript

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Hey, really quick. Before today's episode, I am going live on tour for the first time this fall. November 20th through the 23rd in four cities. We will have fun and games, audience questions, full house trivia, real talk about women's health and fitness and more. Get [e-mail] tour I will have dreams once in a while. Yeah, and those are usually panic dreams.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And I had one the other day. I wouldn't want to bore you.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

No, I. Are you running or flying? Sometimes I'm flapping my wings.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

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[Candace Cameron Bure]

The bell to be notified of new episodes. Welcome to the CCB podcast, Ruth.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

It's so fun to be here.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I'm so glad.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Thanks for having me. Oh, my goodness. You're welcome.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I feel like it's a long time coming. I think I always knew you were going to be on the podcast. Just didn't know what we were going to talk about or when it would be. But it, the time has arrived.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

It has finally come because we seem to squeeze in all sorts of conversations when we get to see each other. But now we're here for one whole season together.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I know, it's great. I'm very. And I've, I think I've told you also when I've been on your podcast, I love your voice so much.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

You're so.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Because it's so, it's just so like.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

A sleep app, you know, you should.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Have you ever done any of the.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

You know, I was like cracking up thinking, like, people tell me it's so soothing, I can kind of fall asleep to it. I go, okay, well noted.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

You might want to have another. Just add to the resume and be a voiceover artist.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Let me try.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Just, just add it, add it to it. But a voiceover artist. And then you could read books. That's good. And beyond. You know, the prayer app or the Calm app or whatever.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Okay, noted. I'm gonna, I'm gonna go apply now.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

You should, you should, Ruth, before, tell everyone about yourself because your art is so beautiful and obviously you're in ministry and written so many books and Bible studies, but tell me how you blended the two.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

For a long time I didn't know that those two things could come together. I thought, you know, you either read good books on good doctrine and you understand God's word, or you've got, you know, you love anthropology and you love pretty things. And I kind of was like, why do women have to choose between the two? And so for years, my husband and I were in ministry, local ministry in the local church. And there was a lot of counseling and encouragement and discipleship and Bible study. And those were the years that I was raising the boys and I wasn't writing and painting and running a company. But then years later, as the social media thing grew and there were opportunities to write and paint and show little bits of art along the way, I saw that people really needed to visually connect and just be able to experience beauty while they're understanding God's word. And so I was really, really thankful. My first book came out in 2017, and I think it was like, kind of a new genre then to like, pair watercolor art, hand painted art, with meditations or scriptural, like writings that helped us understand God's word. Like, to hear those two things together, I feel like is a really great way for us to slow down, you know?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I've. I have loved your books because they truly are so beautiful.

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[Candace Cameron Bure]

Was it the same time when like, Bible journaling became popular or did you kind of.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

I was never into Bible journaling. I think I can't handle, like, painting or drawing on my Bible. I'm just one of those people.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I. I'm the same. I don't want to do it.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

I can't do it.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

But that's why I like your books, because it's done for me and much more beautiful than I would ever do. But I didn't know if that kind of became popular around the same time.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

I think I was starting to. It was during a time when coloring was a big deal too. So people were starting to like, paint in color, scripture art, and I just never really got into that. I think I was really wanting to not just make things pretty, but to be like, how do we slow down and adorn the gospel? By reading God's word and thinking, okay, how do I slow down and think about God and write the scripture out? But if I write it out prettily, that's fine. But it was a way for me to meditate on God's word while the kids were having a nap. And I never thought it would turn into this, you know, this brand, this, this opportunity to ship beautiful artwork around the world or to publish and so super honored and grateful to get to do it, you know.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. Well, I think it's so unique, so I absolutely love it. And if you guys are listening to this and not looking at us or watching us on YouTube because I'm going to hold up her book, but you have to go check out all of her stuff because it's just. It's absolutely stunning. We're going to just. You can widen out that camera. I don't know what the Shot is. But you just have to see her artwork. And so many beautiful flowers, so many botanicals. Like, how would you describe your art?

[Ruth Jo Simons]

You know, I think my goal is to constantly, like, use my paintbrush to, like, kind of like John the Baptist. Like, look over there. Look. This is what is really beautiful. Because I'm not creating any. I'm not creating anything that wasn't created by the creator himself, you know? And so my goal is to always paint things in nature that cause us to slow down and say, if I just look up, I'll see how the stars really look, or I'll see how the sunset really are colors that I can't seem to create, or the flowers that are the tiny little flowers just at our feet. They all are so uniquely made. And so it's really a joy for me to capture some of that through my paintings.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. Well, I'm so happy that you're here, because we are talking about something that I get asked a lot about from my listeners and viewers and just people on social media. I tend to do a Q and A when I'm flying because it kills time. And if there's WI fi on the plane, I'm like, okay, Q and A time. And I'm always getting asked, how do you deal with anxiety? And I think because people also know I'm flying, they're like, I'm so scared to fly. How do you deal with that? And I. So we're going to talk about dealing with anxiety and worry today, and that's something that is pretty prevalent in your life, and that's what your new book, the Way of the Wildflower, is all about.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

The. The subtitle of the book is Gospel Meditations to unburden your Anxious Soul. I think sometimes we might think anxiety is this thing that is either, you know, like, big and clinical, or it's kind of like we just put it as a term over everything we're feeling, we're always anxious, But I think it really is something, whether we know it or not. We're all struggling at some level with some worry, some fear thoughts that go spinning in our minds. And I think it's gotten worse since 2020. I think our lives got shaken up, and then we were all trying to figure out, what does it look like to be in business? What does it look like to take care of our families? There's lots of unknowns. And I think for me, I've had a long history with anxious thoughts, fear, feeling like I don't know how to belong. I was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the US When I was young and learned a new language, tried to fit in. And I think that was the beginning of like, am I loved? Am I accepted? How do I belong here? And always kind of like measuring and trying to figure out where my worth comes from. And so I have a long history with that. But now, years later, having been freed from a lot of that kind of striving and a lot of that fear, I still see traces of fear and worry and anxiety. And I would say, you know, specifically, in case anybody's listening or watching, going, wait, what, what does that have to do with wildflowers? Well, I live in western Colorado, and when I get real worn out from either staring at my phone or being working online or getting caught up in some conversation online, I go to the hills a lot in this time of year. Well, you. Anytime between summer to fall, the flowers are a bloom in the hills. And there is no gardener but the master gardener. Nobody's there, you know, like, you know, adding fertilizer or putting sprinklers on em, you know. And I think I just realized, I really understand now what Jesus was saying in Luke 12:27 and that, you know, consider how the wildflower grows. It doesn't toil or spin. And I find a lot of my life toiling and spinning. Do you ever feel that way? Do you feel like there's this kind of spinning of thoughts? Yes.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Valley.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Do you notice it? Do you notice your mind spinning? Because sometimes we stay so busy we don't even notice that our minds are spinning. Right.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

No, that I relate to a lot. I'm, I, I'm always spinning and toiling. I don't know that the words worry and anxiety would be like in front of that as much, but I feel like I have a very hard time turning my mind off.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And I'm just always thinking about what is the next step, what is the next move? And I'm also one of those people that will replay a scenario in my mind from that happened that day or the day before. And it's like, did I answer that the way I wanted to? Could I have said something differently? Should I have done it this way or that way? And so I overthink everything. And again, I guess, yes, there's a. Probably subconsciously it is coming from a place of worry. Did I say the right thing? Did I say enough? Did I stand up for myself?

[Ruth Jo Simons]

But do you think you don't call it worry because it feels like worrying is something we do when we're like, you Know, trying to borrow trouble from the future or anxiety feels like something that's, like, overtaking our lives. But really, fear, worry, anxiety are all the things that you and I just described kind of like thinking, what? How do I. How do I maneuver the situation? How do I not end up in a bad situation? How do I make sure that person doesn't misunderstand me? Like, we're constantly in this. Like, I think what Jesus is saying about toiling and spinning is everything from how do I control the scenario so that my life turns out perfect? How do I make sure that everybody likes me and nobody thinks the wrong thing about me? How do I protect my reputation? How do I make sure I don't run out of money and make sure everything is going okay in my life? And so whether, you know, I think sometimes we're like, I'm. I kind of go with the flow, but that's why I asked the question, like, does your mind spin? What is it thinking about? Because we can kind of take an inventory. Everybody who's listening can just stop and say, when I don't have anything going on, and I feel this, like, kind of, like, pressure on my heart, and I feel a little, like, stressed about something. What is. What are you thinking about? Is, Are you thinking about how you look? Are you thinking about your health? Are you thinking about your kids? Are you thinking about money? Are you thinking about whether you have friends or not, what you're thinking about and what's causing you to, like, catch your breath and feel a little anxious or. Let's not even call it anxious when we're feeling a little heaviness or a little, like, everything's not right with the world, what is it? And I think that helps us go. Yeah, I think I'm a little anxious about those things.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. No, it's very true. And as I listen to you talk, it really does stem down to control or feeling a lack of control.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

It really is. And I think that's why, I don't know. Do you ever struggle with in the middle of the night thoughts? Are you. Are you somebody that wakes up at three in the morning with anything like that?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Not often, but it's certainly happened.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Well, we're about the same age, and I think some of that is like our age too. Right? I mean, some of that happens, but I think what happens is during the day, and I know your life is busy. My life is super busy during the day. You don't always have time to go and analyze and try to fix problems. So I think what Happens is in the middle of the night at three in the morning, it's like suddenly. Suddenly you think of all the things and you want to like kind of fix it all and.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Do you do that? Not so much.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I'm a really heavy sleeper.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Oh my goodness.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I'm just like, I'm a heavy sleeper. So usually when I'm out, I'm out. However, I will have dreams once in a while.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And those are usually panic dreams.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And I had one the other day and I. It was, you know, I don't want to bore you.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

No, I was, are you running or flying? Sometimes I'm flapping my wings. It was neither, like running away from something. And it's because I'm stressed out. I'm like doing this in my dream, right?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

No, it was again, it was, it was a situation I couldn't control. And I got paired with a person that was supposed to direct my next movie, but I didn't know them and they never directed before. And so we're on the set on the first day and they said, that sounds really stressful. Yeah, I've never really directed, but I'm so excited to do this. And so I'm panicking so much subconscious. And then I was like, well, let me co direct this with you and we will do this together and I'll walk you through it. And so I woke up and I'm like, oh my goodness, I need to control everything because I was. I was with a helpless person and then had to take over. But I'm like, okay, what is going on in my life right now that I need to feel that I'm not in control of, which directly related to work stuff, you know?

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Well, and I think that's the thing is that we all have areas of our lives where we're like, I just don't want this to turn out bad.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, I don't want this film to turn out bad.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

He's never directed before. Let me, let me at this. You know. And I think some of this started in my life young when I was trying to control how I fit in into a community, when I didn't speak the English language and I was struggling with being new and like kind of the only Asian girl in my entire community and didn't look like everybody. And there was a lot of that there. But I think even fast forward, you know, two decades and I became a young mama. And I remember spinning literally out of control, worrying and trying to control maybe how my kids would turn out. And I remember I didn't even think I was being anxious. I was just, like, trying to be a responsible mom, but constantly going, what of this? What if that, what if? You know? And I just remember the first two. I was kind of going, what's that bump on their head? What is this? You know, little rash and constantly worrying. And, and my husband Troy would, He said, you know, I've been reading in Psalm 42, and the Psalmist says, why so downcast, oh, my soul? Put your hope in God. You know, like, think about him. And that was like, the beginning of us kind of talking about how I actually need to, like, address my own soul and say, stop spinning, stop freaking out, stop trying to control everything. And that's where I started. And I'm not the first person to say so I started reading some books about this, too. But that's when I first understood the concept of preaching truth to my own heart. Because the psalmist does that. He literally says, hey, soul, what's, what's going on? What, why so downcast? Put your hope in God. Like, tell your soul what to do.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

When you read those psalms. And I, I, I mean, they're, they're written by several people, but a lot of them, David has written them. And you think of how he's just pouring heart out and he's struggling, and God, why would you. How can I. Yeah.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

On the run.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And he's scared. But then he always follows it up with, but you are God.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

You are this, you are that, you are this. And I put my hope in you, and I put my trust. So I love that he pours out his desperation.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Absolutely.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And then he claims who God is. And you, you, you feel the soothing balm come over him.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Yeah. As he writes it out, Psalm 103 is, forget not his benefits. And then he's like, recounting everything that God's done for him. And I think about how, like, if we're spinning, whether we're freaked out about how our job's going to turn out, the, the, the director in your dreams and never had. That's never directed before, or we're just afraid of the choices our kids are making or whatever scenario we're in. I think even when there are things, the next step, sometimes there's next steps we can take. There are actual things we can do to fix the situation. But so much of it just starts with the heart. Starts with saying, what can I remember about who God is? God is faithful, and that's God is good, you know?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yes. So that is why you wrote this book. And it started a long time ago, for sure.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

But I think right now, this book now, yeah, it's that I've seen. You know, I get those kinds of questions too. You know, what do you do when you're disappointed at how your life turned out? What do you do when you want what you don't have? What do you do when grief is really fresh and it's painful? What do you do when it's not just a season? I wrote a book about seasons, but sometimes the pain is not just a season, and it's a lifelong thing you're going through. So I actually took 30 of those that people have asked about and said, okay, when. Whether we call it anxious thoughts or fears or worries, when there's a heaviness about what to do, like, I don't know what to do about these things in my life, and it's a burden. It feels heavy on our shoulders. What do we do to remember that God takes care of us like he takes care of the wildflowers? That's really the heart behind this. To address it by saying, the answer's not in myself. You know, the answer is in the character of God. And ultimately, when Jesus says, consider how the wildflower grows. They do not toil or spin. And he's doing this in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, saying, you can trust your Savior, you can trust who God is and how he provides for you. And we can do so, too, in every scenario.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

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[Candace Cameron Bure]

I think for for me, when.

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People do ask me, what do you.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Do about anxiousness and worry? And my first thoughts always go to Scripture. Yeah, and that's not to minimize people's anxiousness or worry. But I will often say I'm not a big worrier. I don't feel like I'm filled with anxiety often. But when I start to worry something Scripture comes to my mind so quickly. And I'm always thinking about Philippians 4:6 that says do not worry about anything, but in everything through prayer and petition, present your requests to God and He will give you the peace of God that passes all surpasses all understanding.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

And there's a phrase in there with Thanksgiving.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Sorry, no, I'm just remembering, I think.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

With Thanksgiving, remembering that the posture of our hearts is to say okay, the you kind of can't. I don't remember who said it first, but you can't worry and gratitude can't, I think it's embalanced. Worry and gratitude can't exist at the same time in the same heart. I mean, if you stop and think about that, you can't be like, what am I going to do? What's going to happen to me? Am I going to make it what it's about? What's going to happen with the future? You can't do that and like, be super grateful and praise God and count your blessings one by one. Kind of can't do that. At the same time, there's not capacity. So the posture of gratitude, I think Paul was really saying, okay, so don't be anxious about anything, but take that before the Lord with Thanksgiving. Yeah, I think, yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And those are the first things that, that come to my mind when I do start to worry about something. And it could be as much as, you know, oh, I have a doctor's come, I have a mammogram appointment coming up. Start thinking about it. And then I'm like, do you have.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Any go to verses?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

But that's my go to. It's like, don't worry about anything. Yeah, don't worry. And through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, give it to God. And so I do. And then I remind myself too that he also says, I think it's in Matthew. He's like, what is worry gonna add one day to your life? Like, what is it going to add? Or one moment? So don't worry about your life and what you'll eat and what you'll drink. And he goes on to say, like, don't I provide for all the birds in the air?

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Right. It's that same passage. Ye.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So yeah, that's the passage you're talking about. But those are like the two go to verses that I know about worry. And I know them. I don't know them word for word, but I know them well enough that every time a little worried, worried thought comes to mind, I think on those things right away. And then I, and then I remind myself, why am I going to even give a moment to the worry? Because it's not going to add to my life. And God knows and sees everything that's going on. And God will walk through it with me. He may not take it away, but he's going to walk through it with me. And so I, I sit on that, I reflect on that. And I know how good God is. I know because I read the Bible and I read who he is and what his character looks like. And that gives me an instant peace.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

And that's such a good encouragement to not only be in the Word when things are falling apart, but be in the Word day by day, when things might even feel kind of easy right now, because you're putting a deposit of God's Word in your heart so that when life goes off the rails or you're in a scenario that you're like, I don't know how to handle this, that you are recalling things. And it made me think of. As you were talking, I was thinking about one of my favorite scriptures. You know, Lamentations is kind of like a lot of sad, you know, Lamentations, but in the middle of the book is chapter three. And we see it on prints at Hobby Lobby or at Grace Lace, you know, but right before our favorite verse, Lamentations 3. 22, he says, the prophet says he's, you know, he's talking about my soul continually remembers the sadness and is bowed down before me and is really struggling. And he says in verse 21, but this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. And in my Bible, there's a colon after the word hope. And then verse 22 is in. What he's calling to mind is the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion. Portion says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. So the prophet had to remind himself there. This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. And I think to anyone who's watching or listening today, I would just say, you know, if we're staring at our phones all day long, what will come to mind first and foremost will be the last thing we saw on a. You know, in a reel or whatever. And there's time and place for all that. But I want to be filled with the Word so that when I'm struggling, what I can call to mind is that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Like the character of God and how good he is. And I have to rehearse that.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, absolutely. And I think there's probably quite a few people that may be listening that think, I don't know the character of God. I haven't seen it, and my life feels like it's been a mess from childhood until now. So when you're reading that scripture and saying, you know, my hope is in the Lord, and it then grounds it with who he is. But. But if you don't know the character of God, that might not bring you comfort yet.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Yes.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Those words might not mean something to you yet, but I want to offer you more hope in that if you put the time in to read God's Word and to study the Bible and pray through it, that God would reveal those words to you in the scripture and what they mean and to show you his character through and through, you will see it. You might not see it today as you read that scripture, but you will see it as you continue to spend more and more time knowing who God is.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

So good. Candace, It's. And I would say I've seen that play out in my life, that, no, I don't. I don't know everything about God right this minute, but every hard thing I go through, I turn to him and say, teach me about who you are. And sooner or later, I learn about his sovereignty, that he is in control of all things and he is God, and I'm not. That's one of the one. One of the main things I would want somebody to get out of reading anything I'm writing is that God is God. You're not. You can let it. Let him, because he's. He's better than anything. You could come up with yourself and stuff. So those are learned little by little.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, it's growing in faith. It's just taking a step each and every day, one step to know Jesus better, to know God better, to know the Holy Spirit better, and to see them. And, you know, that's what this whole podcast is about. So we're here encouraging you, rooting you on to know God. And we're going to keep talking about anxiety and worry. I'm just so grateful for. For these conversations. And speaking of, can you describe the difference between worry and. Or thinking anxious thoughts.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Versus anxiety.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

So I would say, you know, and maybe we could have shared this right at the top, too. But just a reminder that the reality is we live in a broken world. We are not. We're. We're not gonna. Because of sin and because of the brokenness of sin and death in this world, we're not gonna think the right thoughts. We're not gonna always think the way God designed us to think. We're not gonna always have the right posture because we are the side of heaven. We don't have the mind of Christ yet, you know, and so every anxious worry, every. Every anxious thought, every worry, every fear starts from a place of. I'm not sure. I don't know if I'm going to be taken care of. I don't know if I'm going to Be loved. So regardless of where in the spectrum we're talking about, it all begins with how we think. It starts with how we think. Worry is a little bit more like, it's not even happened yet, and I'm already thinking about, like, oh, it's not going to turn out okay. What do we do? What do we do? Anxious thoughts is so often like. Like you said, rethinking, replaying the conversation over and over again, kind of working yourself into a tizzy of being afraid or anticipating and those kinds of things. And I think there's also the side of it where anxiety is something that sometimes is debilitating in people's lives and they're not sleeping and they are genuinely probably in danger. And I think we want to be careful and make sure that we're acknowledging as we have these conversations that you're not a doctor, I'm not a doctor, we're not therapists. We're not here to try to say, hey, if you read this verse, everything's gonna be okay. Yes, do seek medical help, do speak to a counselor, all those things. And I think they will help, you know, like, what your. Where your health's at, what you need to be doing. But I think regardless of whether. Whatever angle we're coming at it, today's conversation, and this whole season, the conversation is about starting with what you can do, which is trusting God, turning your thoughts from thoughts about self and thoughts about how everything's going to go wrong to thoughts about who God is and how he will take care of you. And, you know, I often say we default to what we practice the most. And so, if anything, I think this season is us talking about how we can practice, put into practice, thinking rightly and aligned with God's word, about who God is and why we don't need to fear. And so regardless of how much you struggle or you think you don't struggle with it, Candace, I'm gonna make sure, you know, you actually struggle with this. I'm sure, at some level. But regardless of whether you think you do or not, all of us have to start by realigning our thoughts to the ways of God so that we will default to the way he wants us to trust in Him. Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So we're gonna be talking about renewing our minds.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

I know we will.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

We hear that phrase all the time, so we'll flesh that out for you. Well, this is so great. I can't wait to continue talking about this. And of course, we're gonna take some. Some listener questions, and then of Course, you can always write your question into candice.com and people often say that this is really one of their favorite parts of the podcast and it can be very helpful. And people get excited to hear their question. And if you don't want your name said in a question, you can write anonymous, you don't have to, or let us know. But I think people get excited hearing their name too. So this first question is from Christine, and she asks, how do we stop the anxiety in our minds?

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Well, if I'm taking it biblically, Paul says, with the renewing of our minds by changing the way we think. And the only way you can change the way you think is to replace the way you think with something better. And I've not known any other way to curb anxious thoughts than to moment by moment, not treat it like it's a one time. Like, I'm gonna do this three week program and everything's gonna be fine. I'm gonna read this book and it's all gonna be fine. It's a daily realignment and saying, okay, I feel anxious now. I'm gonna stop the cycle and stop the spinning, and I'm gonna choose to replace the current thought with a truthful thought. I'm gonna stop the lie and replace it with truth. That's the only way I know to do it.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, it's. That is. Is the book called Taking Every Thought Captive? Is there a book called. Or that's just a phrase we often use. Anyway, either way, it's taking every thought captive. And so when that anxious thought or worry thought comes into my mind, I literally stop it. And I'm like, whoop, you recognize it, you stop it.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

And Paul who said take every thought captive is also the Paul who says, set your mind on things above. And he gives a whole list of, you know, things that are pure and.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Lovely and good and true and all.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Sorts of things we can think about instead of the thing you're really worried and fearful about.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Exactly. So that's. That's how we're going to stop the anxiety in our minds. Okay. Do you want to read the next question?

[Ruth Jo Simons]

The next question is from Jacqueline. I love that you always quote, find the positive and grateful mindset. What is a trick you have learned to help you on a bad day? Oh.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yes. I'm not always positive.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

You seem pretty positive to me.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I am a very positive person, but I don't always have positive days. And. But I do practice a grateful mindset, and I think that's the exact same as renewing our mind. I practice a grateful mindset. Instead of thinking about the negativity or the things that are going wrong, I focus on the positive. And I can look around and see who I am around the people that I'm around, and I can be grateful for them. Or if I'm. If I'm at a mall and having a terrible day, I can say, well, I have a car that drove me here, or I had. You know, you just. Whatever it is, sometimes it changes the posture. Changes your posture, and you just start, well, what do I have? Yeah, that is great right now. And sometimes it's like, I'm alive, I'm breathing. I have a cute outfit on. I'm having a good hair day. I mean, sometimes it's the same silly as being superficial, but when you. You start with something, you start with something.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

It's like that quote I was mentioning earlier. It's like, it's hard to complain and be grateful at the same time. It's like complaining about your life while you're saying, I love all these things about my life that. That can't happen at the same time. So, yeah, if you start with, like, giving praise and giving thanks, that really.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. So that really is the trick. When I'm having a bad day or one that's not going my way, I. I often like to stop and be alone with by myself. I sometimes give myself a parenting talk. I give myself the mom talk, and I'm like, candace, let's take a deep breath.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

I love it.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Let's calm down. And I will. I will inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

And.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Go like, this is circumstantial right now, or, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and my mood might not change until I wake up tomorrow morning. But we. We're gonna just kind of change the mindset, and we're gonna. We're gonna. We're gonna come at it with a different attitude. So when I walk out of this room.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Yes.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Even if I have to fake it for a little bit, we're gonna put a smile on my face, and we're gonna think about the good things. So I really do stop and pause when I'm having a bad day. And just like a parent, like I would do as a parent to my children, I talk myself through, hey, we're.

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Going to change this.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

We're going to turn our day around.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

You know, I used to think that the whole take a deep breath was just like a little shtick, but there's, like, scientific proof that you actually have to like, really take a deep breath for however many seconds, you know? But then also the other thing is, like, giving a really long hug or getting a really long hug.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Oh, yeah.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

I find that really calms my entire nervous system down.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yes. We learned that, too, from Josh. And Christy Straub did a parenting season with us, and she was telling us that when you do self hugs, and I think she even had placement of maybe under your armpits or something, but I hug myself. But that it really did relax and calm you, and it really does work.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

I mean, seriously, we. We need some of these tips on the go. I know.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay. This is from Julie. She asks, what is one thing you do for your mental health every day?

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Well, I would say I put away all devices and go for a walk every day. I have to. And you don't have to live in Colorado or in the mountains or anything. You can walk anywhere where you can see God's creation. I promise you, if you just go outside, you will. And if you put away your devices, you'll be like, pay attention. Oh, I heard a bird chirp. Oh, wait, the sun's setting. I always say we all have access to a sunrise and sunset, and if you need to just reset things, just go take a moment and see. Like, be in awe of God, because it'll help all your stress go away a little bit to realize, like, I had nothing to do with that. Like, I literally did not make the sun come up. I'm not putting it to bed. The stars are not mine to do anything with, you know, so it really helps.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

It really does. I always talk about taking a walk and getting outside.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

You exercise a ton.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I do, and that helps.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

That's really a mental health.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I often listen. I don't put my device away on my walk because if I'm alone, then I like to listen to the Bible.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So. But putting my devices away at night is so, so, so important. And I would also say, what do I do for my mental health every day? I mean, I think I was gonna say outside and walking, but that part's really important for me too.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Do you feel like your thoughts get jumbled if you don't get a workout in? My husband talks like that.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I do.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Okay.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Very much.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

I'm starting to that a little bit myself.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

My relief. I know that I really can get it out whether I'm walking or actually.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Because you stay really consistent, and I know you even make time for it when you're traveling. And so I think, you know, I'm starting to realize that I don't need to let the stress bottle up. I just need to go do some Pilates. And it's true, it'll help.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I think it's super helpful. Okay, well, we're gonna be back next week and we're gonna keep talking about anxiety and worry and we're going to all work through this together.

[Ruth Jo Simons]

Can't wait.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

We also have a free Advent guide for you this season because the holidays are upon us and it is from Ruth's gorgeous Advent Devotional Emanuel. Just go to Candice.com to find the link and it's also in our show Notes. You'll also find a [e-mail] to ask questions for future episodes. And if you want to join a private podcast discussion group, I invite you to become a part of the Together community. Download the app and learn how to become a monthly [e-mail] together until next time.

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