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Laugh It Up! with Candace Payne + Giveaway

I remember getting a text from my friend and assistant Lindsey one day in May of last year. She wanted to know if I’d seen the Chewbacca mask lady who made a video in her car while in the Kohl’s parking lot. I had no idea what she was talking about. As of today, over 140 million people have viewed the video she was referring to of Candace Payne, aka Chewbacca Mom exhibiting pure joy with that Star Wars themed mask.

Today, Candace is a fellow author at my publisher Zondervan and she just released her book, Laugh It Up! Embrace Freedom and Experience Defiant Joy. She is spreading a little bit of her joy around by guest posting here and giving away five copies to my readers. Now, here is Candace!

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Laugh It Up by Candace Payne

I honestly believe the lessons I learned in the anonymous years of being a stay-at-home mom shaped the “suddenly” moment of becoming Chewbacca Mom.

I’ve never felt more pressure and stress than the night I walked the red carpet at the Country Music Television awards. And not by the kind you might naturally assume. I have one word to summarize it all. SPANX. I had no need of Spanx ever before in the thirty-seven years I’d spent on this planet.

That night was one of the most surreal moments of my life. I enjoyed the evening like it was my last, soaking in every conversation with celebrities and artists between commercial breaks. I didn’t want the night or the experience to end.

With my family at work and school, I flew home the next morning and walked into an empty house with lights off. However, I also walked into an unmistakable smell.

The culprit was throw up found in my ornery pug Opal’s dog crate.

So this was my grand welcome-back-to-reality party right on the heels of the most surreal night in the history of the life of Candace Payne.

Red carpet to dog vomit, y’all. Just like that.

It was then I asked myself the question most of us frequently ask ourselves: Who am I?

Isn’t it funny how often we find our identity in what we do or achieve in our greatest moments? When we describe ourselves, we report in snapshots of our best moments, hoping that the sum of them will become who we truly are.

Even when we don’t describe ourselves to anyone else, we tend to struggle internally with our identities being wrapped up with what we do instead of who we are. The problem with such thinking is that we begin to believe that we find our worth in what we do day to day instead of who we are at the core of our being. Effortlessly, this can and will more than likely lead to discontent or prideful thinking.

We forget that what we do with our days (glamorous or not) is already an extension of what we value.

I long to have integrity and a heart that chooses love over arguing, complaining, and blame. I try with every effort to cultivate the kind of character I aspire to and ground my worth in that, rather than letting my worth be defined by my opportunities.

Inward character trumps outward opportunity every time, and I want to cultivate the kind of character I can be proud of whether I’m backstage, center stage, or when no one is looking at all.

Joy knows this so well. She lives in every moment fully content. I am not suggesting Joy doesn’t aspire to great moments and highlights that would “ooh and awe” the crowds. I am suggesting, though, that she also aims to live in the moments that get thrown on the cutting room floor. Joy knows that the secret of being content is found in being fully satisfied with who you are when no one is looking, no matter what role you are living.

Whether you’re backstage, center stage, or whatevs, claim your identity and get comfortable in it, and let this lead you to Joy.

Giveaway

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. 

Congrats Michelle Vasquez, Dianna Vanhemert, Phyllis Wiley, Christina M. White, Robin (november 16, 2017 at 9:29 pm). You each won a copy of Candace’s book. Please check your email and reply with your mailing address and our publisher will get it to you asap.

Candace is giving away five copies of Laugh It Up! to my readers. Comment below and let us know what area of life you are looking to experience defiant joy in. U.S. Addresses only please. Winners will be announced here on Monday, November 20. **if you are reading this on email, click here to enter.

Laugh It Up by Candace Payne

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Candace Payne is a viral sensation whose Facebook Live video of trying on a Chewbacca Mask became the most-viewed Facebook Live video to date. Candace recently released her first book, Laugh It Up! telling the rest of the story behind the woman in the mask. Like most of us, Candace Payne has often felt overlooked, undervalued, and insignificant. But she has also discovered the secrets to unshakable joy that no circumstance can take away. Candace lives in Texas with her husband, two children, and ornery pug. Connect with Candace online at CandacePayne.me.


Be sure to check out Candace’s Laugh It Up Illustrated Faith Bible Journaling kit.

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78 Comments

  1. At work! I work with an amazing team and so proud of all of what they have accomplished and teams that they have pulled together! When you open a new hospital, there are ups and downs, but when you have an amazing team, it makes me beam with radiant JOY!

  2. I do so so need to embrace the joy, I desire more joy in my life- I need to let the negative nelly in my head go and just laugh. So thinking the book is just what I need

  3. I try with every effort to cultivate the kind of character I aspire to and ground my worth in that, rather than letting my worth be defined by my opportunities…. oh I want to have defiant joy in the fact that my worth is defined by God, not what I do!

  4. I would like to experience that kind of joy in my work. We have no choice but to work if we want to eat and have a place to lay our heads so being able to really find that type of joy in my everyday job would be awesome!

  5. Hey, yall! I would like to find joy in the day-to-day because I am such a procrastinator, I have lists that never get accomplished and things I really WANT to get accomplished, but can’t seem to make it happen. I have such a wonderful life, a great husband of 37 years, 3 adult kids, I work at home, etc. It’s almost PERFECT, but I just can’t seem to be happy with ME!

  6. Just looking to find joy in every day Mundane moments… After all, that is what makes up our children’s childhood’s

  7. Wow! Candace’s debut book sounds amazing. Can’t wait to lead my women’s group in in reading and sharing. I can definitely use more joy in the area of being the sole caregiver for my mother. It’s been 5 years since her massive stroke and this labor of love sometimes gets us both down. A pick-me-up of laughter and light-heartedness is always in high demand at our house.

  8. I want to have joy in my family relationships. When things happen with your children that are not biblical sometimes it’s hard to have joy. Praying that God will give me the joy I need so that my light can shine brightly on others, especially my family.
    Also’need joy with several health issues among close family members and friends! God is able.

    1. Congrats – you won Candace’s book. Please check your email and reply with your mailing address and our publisher will get it to you asap.
      Enjoy! Kim (Karen Ehman Ministry Team)

  9. I would love to have defiant joy with my health. I have rheumatoid arthritis, and I’m exhausted and in pain and tired and slow… I adapt but would love to have joy not just adapt

  10. I want to have joy while I’m at work. I’m thankful for my job and I love my co-workers- but it seems I let the joy of the Lord remain in my vehicle when I get out to walk into work. I need to fully grasp, and put on the joy of the Lord and KEEP it on- even when I’m at work.

  11. I’m trying to find Joy in everyday life . Between family iusses and just life situations the past year I am determined to find it each day , I KNOW ITS THERE .

  12. I retired and now I’m taking care of my beautiful when you’re old granddaughter. I am looking to experience abundant Joy and caring for her. It’s a new experience for me having worked all my life. But I know it is God’s purpose for me right now.

  13. I am looking for DEFIANT JOY in my process to deal with life after my dear husband’s death. For the last 17 years he was my protector, finance manager and decision maker since my stroke. Now that he has graduated to the next life, I need to be careful in all my decisions such as where to live, what to purchase, and so on! This will be the first holiday season without him, but I know that God is with me, and Dave is with God! Glory Halleliua! Candace, it was shortly after Dave passed, that I happened upon the Chewbacca Mom video and I really needed those laughs! Thanks for that, it was a joyful break in my tension. Karen, thanks for the opportunity to win a copy!

  14. My defiant joy is being that fun grandmother aka ninnie! I get to embarrass my children and have a great time being “that” grandmother!

    1. Congrats – you won Candace’s book. Please check your email and reply with your mailing address and our publisher will get it to you asap.
      Enjoy! Kim (Karen Ehman Ministry Team)

  15. I LOVE THIS! I can understand the highs and lows of being a mom. It is sometimes hard to find the joy in the everyday, but it is there. It is in the little mundane and the big things of life. I want defiant joy in the mundane.

  16. I would like to experience more defiant joy as an elementary school teacher. Sometimes the joy is there, and sometimes I am just trying to make it through the day.

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