Dancing Through Life: Steps of Courage and Conviction
By Candace Cameron Bure with Erin Davis
Release Date: August 1, 2015
Publisher: B&H Books
Genre: Memoir, Christian
ISBN: 978-1433686948
Source: Received ARC at BEA 2015
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Candace Cameron Bure has grown up before our eyes and we’ve watched as she’s balanced life in Hollywood with her faith for many years. But that all reached new heights when she was given the opportunity to join the cast of Dancing With the Stars. Being on the show was one of her dreams come true; and with that dream came the opportunity to display her Christian faith in front of millions of people, through an intense season of stretching beyond her limits, and to run the race God gave her with joy and perseverance.

Join Candace as she reflects on the self-discovery that came through leaping out of her comfort zone. Go behind the scenes and experience the highs and lows, the roadblocks, and the personal victories. Hear straight from her heart on tough lessons learned about grace, rejection, perfectionism, disappointment, accountability, dealing with criticism, and more. Through God’s strength, and with the help of endless support from her family and friends, see how Candace stayed true to herself and publicly lived out her faith in Christ all the way to the finale.

How do you stand with conviction in your world? Where does your courage come from when faced with challenges? How do you live out your faith on a daily basis despite opposition? Your stage probably isn’t in Hollywood and the challenges you are facing may not be on live television, but they are no less real. Come along with Candace as she shares how she found the courage to stand with conviction on one of the largest platforms of her life.

Having read and appreciated Candace’s previous books, I knew that I would take the time to read her latest, Dancing Through Life. I told myself when she was on Dancing With the Stars that I would watch every week, vote, and root for her. I say this every season for every star that I “love” with the most. Watching usually doesn’t last long as I watch a ton of scripted TV but she was always in my prayers and I continued to root for her and vote. So it was absolutely fascinating to read this memoir and get her take on the experience week by week. What a break down! I devoured this book in two sittings! Would have been one if I hadn’t started reading before work.

If you’re looking for juicy scoop in this book, look elsewhere. The behind the scenes action for Candace’s journey was truly a battle of the mind. This was a dancing competition but it’s just as much, if not more of a mental competition as well and the competition is between one self. I love how Candace shares this journey of conviction, this tug of war with fear and confidence and getting to the root of it all. Her candor, her humility is what I love so much about her books. She’s on this walk of life just like the rest of us and she uses her platform to show the grace that gets her through it all and that is beautiful.

It really was beautiful to read. It was refreshing to hear an actor candidly admit that they are used to hearing (and professionally speaking, crave) praise and how problematic that became as 1) a perfectionist and 2) a human being. It might be eye opening for some to hear about her being overwhelmed, switching from a taped TV set or closed movie set to a live show format but in that she talks about accepting the challenge and using this opportunity to let the Christ in her shine in front of millions like never before. I greatly appreciated how much she talked about the unhealthy and unrealistic standards many Christians hold each other and/or themselves up to and how damaging that is but that it is possible to rise above that nonsense. Candace touched beautifully on the beauty within and letting God’s beauty within us shine.

She talks about the fear of failure, about success, having the right attitude and choosing joy, the power of grace, and she gives an abundance of truth bombs if you will. I admit, I got teary eyed reading chapter ten. All I will say is, God is always there. He is always there. And that’s really the underlying theme throughout the book because the title says it all (Steps of Courage and Conviction) but it all comes down our being in Christ, Christ being in us, and shedding a light on that. Talk about an encouraging word.

I was truly amazed by this journey and blessed by the words in this book and would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good encouragement, no matter your faith or DWTS viewing habits. This is a quick read filled with so much goodness and I truly believe that there is a message in here for you that will take a weight off. It sure did for me.

Scriptures That Stood Out To Me:
Ephesians 4:29
I Corinthians 9:24-27

Dancing Through Life: Steps of Courage and Conviction by Candace Cameron Bure with Erin Davis releases August 1, 2015.