Decades after she shot to fame on the beloved sitcom “Full House,” capturing hearts as the wholesome and dependable D.J. Tanner, Candace Cameron Bure is embracing one of the most transformative seasons of her life.
In April, the actress and producer turned 50; two of her children are expecting babies, making her a grandmother for the first time, and after spending much of her life in front of television cameras, she’s inviting audiences into conversations about faith and purpose through a new devotional and a nationwide live tour.
“You think about all the accomplishments in life, your goals, what you want to achieve, what you have achieved,” Bure told The Christian Post. “Yet, as you get older, I know that turning 50 reminded me that the accomplishments and the goals aren’t what I consider successes in life.”
“I think about the legacy that I want to leave with my children, with my grandchildren, and publicly as a public person,” she added. “That is sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and sharing the love of God.”
That perspective forms the foundation of Wild Hope, her new 30-day devotional that encourages readers to rest in the goodness of God amid life’s uncertainties, disappointments and painful moments.
According to Bure, the devotional is the culmination of 50 years of experience, discovering that hope must be rooted in something deeper than circumstances.
“We all need hope,” she said. “Sometimes we need it in the big things, in the extraordinary things, and a lot of times we need to find it in the ordinary. … It’s the little disappointments that just add up. You can often lose hope that life isn’t going the way you expected or wanted or even prayed about.”
Throughout the devotional, Bure combines Scripture with personal stories and practical exercises designed to move readers from passive reflection to action. There are prompts to pray, journal, memorize Bible verses and encourage others.
“We can have faith and believe, but if we’re not doing something to participate in that, we’ll probably just forget about it and throw it out of our mind,” she said. “These prompts help meld the head knowledge to the heart knowledge.”
This fall, Bure will bring many of those themes directly to audiences through a live tour with Dr. Tabitha Barber, a functional medicine practitioner known for her work on women’s health and wellness. The tour, which will visit eight cities across the Midwest and South, grew out of a smaller experiment last year that Bure said became one of her favorite experiences.
“I love people,” she said. “As much as I get to entertain people, I’m on one side of the camera. Being able to meet people, talk to people, share stories in person is just very different.”
The family-friendly events will blend conversations about faith and encouragement with discussions about health, aging and the physical changes many women experience in midlife.
“If you’re my age, going through lots of changes within your body, that’s what we’re going to talk to Dr. Tabitha about,” she said. “And of course, it wouldn’t be a night with me without sharing faith, so lots of it is tied into faith and connecting with God in all different ways. I want people to feel hope and encouragement as they leave.”
For years, Bure was known primarily as an actress. Today, her audience increasingly turns to her for conversations about motherhood, marriage, faith and personal growth. The actress, who shares three children with her husband, former NHL player Valeri Bure, reflected on how her faith has grown since her years on “Full House.”
“You learn more about Him and His character and His promises and His faithfulness,” she said. “The process of sanctification is molding you into who God made you to be. I still get it wrong lots of days. But I love that God gives us a new day every day.”
Now, watching her children establish careers (her daughter, Natasha, is also an award-winning actress), choose spouses and prepare to raise families of their own has given her a front-row seat to the fruit of decades of parenting.
“When you see your children become adults, and they’ve decided who they want to be, and you see who they’ve become, and they choose a spouse, and they’re becoming parents themselves, it is this incredible reflection of the work that God has done,” she said.
“It’ll be interesting to see what they take away from their own childhood and what we did and what they want to keep, and then the things that they want to do differently,” she said.
As she enters this new chapter, Bure said she’s focused on people closest to her and the faith that has anchored her through decades in the spotlight. And as readers navigate difficult seasons of their own, she hopes Wild Hope serves as a reminder that despair doesn’t have the final word.
“My whole goal is that you would be reminded of how much God loves you,” she said. “When you have a perspective that looks toward God at who God is, and not just ourself and our circumstances, things then can start to change. There is beauty even in the ashes.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]
