Season 12
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Episode 3
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Run Time: 43:40
When a Wildflower Stops You in Your Tracks...
Sometimes it’s not a sermon, a song, or a conference that gets our attention.
Sometimes it’s a single wildflower on the side of the road.
In a recent episode of The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast, Candace sits down with artist and author Ruth Chou Simons to talk about wildflowers, sunflowers, and how God uses His creation to speak to anxious, burdened hearts—especially during the holidays.
Ruth’s latest book, The Way of the Wildflower, is filled with beautiful botanical art and gospel meditations for an anxious soul. But the stories behind those flowers are what really invite us to slow down and breathe.
Sunflowers and the Practice of Turning Toward the Son
On a hike near her home in the mountains, Ruth saw a whole stand of wild sunflowers—all of them turned toward the sun.
She remembered something we all learned once and forgot: sunflowers rotate throughout the day to face the sun.
That simple reality became a powerful picture:
- What if we turned our faces toward the Son of God that way?
- What if, at 11:00 a.m., in the middle of our emails and errands, we paused to ask, “Where is the Lord? How can I turn toward Him right now?”
- What if realignment with Jesus became a rhythm, not a one-time event?
For Candace, it changed the way she looks at the sunflowers she buys for her kitchen table. Each stem is a quiet reminder: Turn toward Jesus. Again. And again. And again.
Wildflower Freedom vs. Human Anxiety
Wildflowers are both ordinary and miraculous. They spring up:
- In rocky places
- Along driveways and country roads
- In mountain meadows where no one planted them on purpose
They don’t appear to be striving, comparing, or hustling to be more impressive than the flower next to them. They simply bloom where they’ve been planted, for as long as God gives them.
Meanwhile, most of us are busy wondering:
- Am I missing my purpose?
- Am I behind?
- Am I good enough, pretty enough, or successful enough?
Candace and Ruth talk about how this restless inner monologue keeps our anxiety spinning. Wildflowers invite us into another way—a posture of trust and dependence instead of control.
When Regret Haunts You (Even After God Forgives You)
The episode takes a vulnerable turn when Candace shares about regrets that still haunt her, even though she believes God has forgiven her.
She describes moments that replay in her mind—situations she wishes she could redo, relationships that were hurt, words she can’t pull back. Intellectually, she knows:
- She has confessed those sins.
- God has forgiven her through the blood of Jesus.
- Scripture says He casts our sins into the depths of the sea.
But emotionally, she still catches herself:
- Asking, “Is there something else I can do to fix this?”
- Struggling to fully forgive herself.
- Feeling tempted to confess the same thing “one more time” just in case.
Ruth connects this struggle to anxiety rooted in the past. Often, the fears that rise up in the present are tied to things we haven’t forgiven ourselves for.
She gently points to the Apostle Paul as an example: a man who persecuted Christians and stood by at the stoning of Stephen, yet could still say:
“Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead.” (Philippians 3:13–14)
Paul didn’t deny his past; he refused to be defined or paralyzed by it.
Living in the Tension When You Can’t Fix Everything
Forgiveness gets even more complicated when you’re dealing with things that are outside your control—especially when someone else’s decisions have changed your life.
Ruth shares a deeply personal story about a ministry and calling her husband had poured a decade of his life into. Through conflict and division, that ministry fell apart. They lost friends. They lost work. And they couldn’t fix it.
For years, there was no reconciliation.
During that long season of waiting, Ruth watched her husband grieve deeply and battle discouragement. She fought anxiety, wanting to “call a big meeting” and make everything right again.
But instead of quick resolution, God gave them something else:
- Space to grieve honestly
- A deeper dependence on Him
- The chance to see that He can write new chapters from broken places
Only years later did some of the phone calls, apologies, and “we misunderstood” conversations begin to come.
“Why Does God Allow This?” – A Mom’s Heartbreaking Question
Near the end of the episode, Candace reads a listener question from Swags:
“My 12-year-old son has been fighting cancer since he was seven years old. He beat it once, but this time it's winning. Why does God allow this to happen instead of just getting rid of the cancer?”
It’s the question so many of us carry when suffering hits home: Why, God?
Ruth doesn’t offer a neat answer. Instead, she gently walks through:
- The reality of a world broken by sin, where pain and disease are tragically real
- The hope of a Savior who entered into our suffering and conquered death
- The truth that God can have purpose in our pain, even when we can’t see it yet
She encourages listeners to be “on the lookout” for the ways God may put His kindness on display in the middle of the hardest stories—not to erase the pain, but to meet us in it.
For those who love Jesus, this isn’t the end of the story. There is a day coming when He will make all things new.
As the conversation ends, Candace brings it back to Christmas.
Advent is about the arrival of hope—a Savior who came into a world full of wildflowers and broken hearts, sunrises and hospital rooms, joy and grief.
If your heart feels heavy this season, you’re invited to:
- Slow down.
- Notice the wildflowers on your street or the flowers in your grocery store.
- Let a sunflower remind you to turn your face toward Jesus.
- Remember that He came for honest questions, anxious souls, and weary people who need a Savior, not a self-improvement plan.
Listen & Go Deeper
Listen to the full episode: Turn Like a Sunflower: Wildflower Faith in Anxious Seasons.
Download the free Advent guide inspired by Ruth’s 25-day devotional Emmanuel at Candace.com.
Join the Together Community inside the new app to discuss episodes, ask questions, and grow in faith alongside others: candace.com/together