Reshaping It All (24 page)

I'm blessed when it comes to lunch at work because I have a lot of choices. A catering truck comes to the studio lot and provides breakfast and lunch at specified times. There is always a buffet with hot food including different types of vegetables, rice, pasta, and meat. Some days they might grill chicken breasts, beef burgers, or crab cakes. Other times they have a pasta bar with grilled shrimp, sausages, and other toppings. It changes daily, and I'll often just eat there since it's easy and free. I can sit in my dressing room, eat my lunch, and relax.

I know we are called to be content with what we're given, but I also know that there's a flip side to that when wisdom and boundaries need to kick in. I once did a movie called
No One Would Tell.
An assistant on set was so sweet to me that she kept preparing a tray of food from the craft service table and putting it in my room every morning. I would walk in there each day and find doughnuts, muffins, cookies, and soda pop, which is all horribly fattening and sugary food. I didn't want to throw them out, but I didn't want to eat it either.

I finally had to come out and say, "Thank you so much for thinking of me, but I really don't want to eat this type of food, especially since I avoid the snack table."

That was fifteen years ago, right before I got married. People still watch that movie, and they are still showing it in schools. As for me, I'm still avoiding the snack table, and I can still fit into my wedding dress!

All this to say that regardless of where you are or what you are given, you have the option to make good choices for your health. I have eaten everywhere including church basements, airplanes, fast-food joints, and fine dining establishments, and in each case I do my best to honor my body by giving it the best option I can. I encourage you to do the same. If you're concerned about an upcoming night out because you know that you'll be eating in a restaurant, seize the opportunity to make a good choice for a change—without complaint. If you can stop looking at dining out as an entitlement to pamper your passion, you'll discover a new way of living that doesn't stop when you leave your front door.

The Pantry

CHOCKED-FULL OF FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Main Ingredient

Eating well shouldn't stop when you leave the house. In fact restaurants offer us the perfect opportunity to make a good choice. We are so used to pampering our passion instead of looking at food as fuel that we make the wrong choice time and again. If we start training ourselves to be content with the food we require, whether that food is a salad or a steak, we begin to grow into healthy, mature eaters.

A Slice of Advice

Dear Candace,

I remember watching you on
Full House
and learning so much from each episode as a kid. Not only have you been a role model, but there have been so many things that you went through on the show that I've been through in real life. At one point I even had a struggle with eating and thinking the same things that DJ did. Recently I found out that you were a Christian, and your testimony just really touched my heart.

I am in college and hoping to get into the entertainment industry for set design. At the same time I'm so afraid that I will not be able to stand my ground in what I believe and do what I need both career-wise and spiritually. Can you give me some tips that have helped keep you firm and strong in your career?

God bless,

—Leslie

Dear Leslie,

I hope school is going well for you. I loved your question: how can you stand firm in your faith while working in the entertainment industry?

It's simple. There's no difference between the entertainment industry and any other job you might have! You'll always run into people who don't share the same point of view, who don't believe in God, who believe in other gods, and who will think you're silly for loving Jesus. I realized when I went back to work that no matter where you are, what career you have, whether you're a student or a mom of five, that as a Christian you have a wonderful opportunity to be a light in this world to others. Simply do your job well with a joyful heart, doing your work for the Lord. Be kind to your coworkers and boss so that they see a difference in you and want to know what it is. That's part of what being a Christian is all about. Take the time to share your faith with others, and if they aren't open to the discussion, allow Jesus to shine through you in your efforts at work.

My new show isn't a "Christian" show, but it doesn't mean I'm not doing the work and will of my Father every day I'm there.

My tips are to start your day off in prayer, inviting the Holy Spirit in each morning and putting on the armor of God as found in Ephesians 6:10–18.

—Candace

A Pinch of Practicality

If you've lost weight or you want to maintain, make sure your clothing fits well, and alter any clothing that doesn't. Don't hang on to large sizes because it only gives you an excuse to put the lost weight back on. It's one thing to have a few comfy sweatpants for days you feel bloated, but don't keep a pair of oversized jeans.

If you dropped a few sizes, there isn't any reason the size twelves should still be hanging around unless you expect to return to that size. Clean out the old clothes and believe that this change is for good. Give them to your favorite charity, or send them off to a friend, but get them out of your sight.

If the big clothes are gone and your pants start to fill snug, you won't have anything to fall back on. The only choice you'll have is to buckle down on bad habits again.

Maintaining is a lot easier than letting ten pounds creep up and having to go at it all over again.

Food for Thought

A recap of Scripture to meditate on:

• For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Phil. 4:11–12)

• A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough. (1 Tim. 6:6–8
The Message
)

• When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. (Matt. 6:16)

The Candy Dish

Restaurants with peppermills the size of fire extinguishers and big red menus with the entries spelled with F's instead of S's are always expensive. —Miss Piggy,
Miss Piggy's Guide to Life

From My Stove to Yours

French Toast

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 large eggs

¼ cup crushed pineapple

4 to 6 slices of cinnamon raisin bread (or whole wheat)

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Cooking spray

Cottage cheese or berry jam

Directions

Whisk the eggs and stir in pineapple and cinnamon. Add the bread slices and turn them in the mixture to soak for about thirty seconds per side.

Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium to high heat.

Once the pan is hot, add the bread slices and cook until golden brown (about two to three minutes per side).

Serve warm with syrup or cottage cheese and berry jam.

FIFTEEN

A House Swept Clean

It had been several years since the bad habits were put to rest. I was making good choices, controlling my portions, and attending to the needs of my health.

Finally my spiritual life was right on track. I was getting stronger as a Christian, and together as a family we were learning about the Lord. We had moved to the east coast, where Val was playing hockey with the Florida Panthers, and we had settled in to a place we called home. Val had started attending church with us, and I was digging into the Word. I was studying the Bible, learning who God is, and listening to His voice in my life. Things were going strong for me spiritually.

But for whatever reason unknown to me at the time, I was back in a desert of testing. The lure of the pantry was calling my name while Val was on the road, and I returned to the food to find comfort. I found myself stuffed, and with that stuffed feeling also came the feeling of shame. I had done so well for so many years, and again I was gripped by an appetite that was ruling my head.

The cycle of sneaking late-night snacks was back and consumed my thoughts in a matter of days. I knew it wasn't good for my body, but passion trumped wisdom time and again. After a while it didn't matter if I was filling some sort of a void or not, I just found comfort in food. I didn't really want Val to know I had fallen off track so I'd usually pull out the snacks when he wasn't around.

There was no logical reason I did it, other than the fact that it had a grip on me. Why was this returning? And why was it worse than it had been for years?

When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, "I will return to the house I left." When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation. (Matt. 12:43–45)

The above parable illustrates the difference between a moral reformation and a spiritual transformation. I had been living a moral life for as long as I could remember. I had put my bad habits away. But it wasn't until I realized my behavior was nothing less than sin that I finally saw gluttony in its true light. My house was swept clean and put in order, bad habits were put away, but a spiritual battle was yet to be won.

God was requiring more of me. Being good wasn't good enough. If I was to really be transformed by the Spirit as I was seeking to be, He wanted every area of my life to be handled in a spiritual way. I was learning the important lesson that morality is weak, but the Spirit is strong.

I was struggling with something that I couldn't manage on my own. I didn't feel right, but regardless of that I continued to do it. I didn't want to do it; I had to do it. I hated being that person I saw in the mirror. Sneaking around, losing control, gaining what I thought was control. . . . Sound familiar?

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Rom. 7:15)

Satan clearly knew my weakness, and God allowed Him to explore that weakness and tempt me with it. I was a mess, hiding snacks and sneaking sweets late at night. Here I was striving to learn about God, loving my new relationship with Him, and my passion was in a battle for control of my spirit. Ice cream was in supply, and I was in bondage to food.

I wanted to get back on track. I saw how great Val was with self-control, and I couldn't understand why I was faced with a struggle that came so easy to him. I hadn't talked in great detail with him about it. Being that he was an athlete, I didn't know if he could really understand. He excelled in self-discipline, and I lacked self-control.

It came to a halt one Sunday when Val was on the road playing a hockey game, and I was at church with the kids. They were in Sunday school while I listened to our pastor speak. I don't recall what the sermon was about, but I do remember that by the end of it, I had started to cry—hard. It was the kind of sermon that grabbed hold of my heart, and I knew it was time to listen. God was speaking to me. I couldn't help myself, but He was willing and able to help.

Minutes later I was standing in front of our pastor with tears streaming down my face.

"Candace, what's the matter? Do you want to talk?" he asked.

"Yes I do," I replied, "I need help."

I felt that this stronghold was hindering my growth. I didn't know why it was happening or where it had come from, but I knew I couldn't find freedom on my own.

We talked, and I listened while he explained. What I was doing was physical, yes, but my spiritual battle needed to be handled in a spiritual way. I was a blossoming Christian bringing our family to church. Five people in my house were learning to serve the Lord, and Satan wasn't about to let that pass without a struggle.

"Now that you're walking in faith," he said, "Satan is using your weakness to discourage you—to pull you away and destroy your testimony."

I did feel discouraged. I had been doing so well for so long, but somehow I had gotten off track. Getting off track seemed easy, but getting back on was a war I couldn't win on my own.

Our pastor suggested I talk to a friend of theirs who had once battled the same struggle. Stacy and I had lunch, compared stories, and shared our faith. It felt great to talk to someone who went through it too and had conquered it with Jesus.

"Candace, I know in your heart you love the Lord," she said, "but do you know that what you are doing is sin?"

Her words gave me a new perspective on things. I had always viewed my appetite and the struggles it caused as being a moral issue, having never understood the spiritual battle I faced. What I was doing was sin. My house was swept clean, but there was still plenty of dirt hiding under the rug. Now that I was living and walking in the Spirit, God knew that weakness was still present. He knew that the battle had not been won. Satan took that opportunity to sift me like wheat, and God allowed it so that the victory would be His.

I knew that abusing my body with food was a bad habit for me, but since I wasn't hurting anyone else, I hadn't seen it as sin. I finally understood. He created me. My body is a temple to be used by Him and for Him. He desires that we seek a spiritual transformation, not merely a
moral
one.

That talk hit me as nothing before had done. I wanted nothing to do with sin that is willfully and knowingly wrong. That was it.