Leading Hearts May 2017

EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK

CHONDA’S

“Enough” Encore

INTERVIEW

PREVIEW

CHONDA PIERCE:

ENOUGH

Because Life Requires Prescription Strength Laughs WITH LISA BURNS PROFILE CONTRIBUTOR ---------

A: It was such a patriotic moment for me. I’ve

been in countries where women are not allowed to vote, where women struggle greatly. So to be invited to attend and share during the ball .... Of course I was going to go! I did have a few surreal moments. First, I got to go to the private prayer service. Only a couple hundred people were there.

Many of the world’s evangelical leaders were in that little chapel service before the inauguration.

And then later in the day I was able to attend the inauguration, and do my little thing at the ball.

Q: Tell me more about your newest project Chonda Pierce: enough. Is this a documentary type film?

A: Yes, it is. “Laughing in the Dark” turned out

CHONDA PIERCE DISCUSSES HER RECENT PART IN CELEBRATING OUR NATION’S INAUGURAL PROCESS, TALKS ABOUT HER LATEST FILM, “CHONDA PIERCE: ENOUGH,” AND OPENS UP ABOUT HER ROLLER COASTER RIDE WITH GRIEF. Q: We have to talk about the opportunity you had to participate in the celebration of the presidential inauguration! I got to see a recording of you performing…

A: Oh yes! I will NEVER wear those shoes again!

What was I thinking?

Q: Being in DC during the inauguration itself, as well as the protests, had to be quite the experience. I understand not everyone was happy with your involvement in the inauguration. What was your take away from it all?

great! And so, this is kind of the follow-up to that.

We do a lot of interviews, a lot of traveling, following behind the scenes on the bus, with concert.

Q: We all love the Chonda method of bringing us truth packaged in laughter. Can you tell us what you hope people will walk away with when they experience the film?

A: You know, my prayer is that they take away ex-

actly what I’m learning. The movie is about what I have been—and still am—learning. We women are so stressed women these days. And then all of a sudden tragedy or empty nesting or menopause happens. Sometimes it isn’t even a bad thing that happens. But there comes a moment in many of our lives that we have to redefine ourselves. This happened to me. I became widowed.

I have these girlfriends who … and you know, this is a long answer to a very great question … as a birthday present to me last year, they signed me up with an online dating service. It will either end up being the saddest thing I’ve ever been through or the funniest material in the world! The thing was, when I sat down at the computer to rewrite the dating profile they had written for me, it really hit me. The girls had put these things on the profile to make me look all cute. And the joke was that I’ve never done those things! I’ve never done yoga! But the truth of the matter is the seriousness I found in that joke. I sat down there and looked at that computer screen that was asking me for a

-continued on p. 10-

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“I sat down there and looked at that computer screen that was asking me for a paragraph on who I am, and I didn’t know.”

—Chonda Pierce

to Leading Hearts mag

-continued from p. 9paragraph on who I am, and I didn’t know.

I can write down whose mother I am. I was a wife for 31 years. I’m a comic. These are all things I do, but who am I? I think women, and I’m just as ordinary as any woman out there, begin to conclude who we are from all the wrong places. We hear culturally that we’re supposed to be a size 2 and a CEO. We’re to love our families and stand up for a worthy cause. Many of us don’t know who we are anymore.

I’m learning that until you realize who you are, you’re going to struggle. I’m not finished with the struggle, but I’ve finally got the right foundation. The foundation is to concentrate completely on the Lord. I’m to concentrate on whose daughter I am. I am a child of the living God! When I concentrate on that and when I firm up that foundation inside of me, I really don’t need to squeeze into my Spanx anymore! Ya know what I mean?

Q: “Laughing in the Dark” chronicled your personal battle with depression.

How does Enough continue to move us along in our grief journey? Or does it?

A: I think it definitely does. When tragedy or

In our devastation, we can start medicating our pain in the wrong ways. That comes from not knowing who we are and how we feel about ourselves. When we don’t know who we are, the devil can use that against us. We must get our mindset stayed on Christ. Paul gave us a whole list of things to think on: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things” (Philippians 4:8, NIV). That tells me the fight is in our mind.

“Enough” chronicles the next step in my grief process. I was married 31 years and I dated for 7, so for almost 40 years this man was in my life. For almost 40 years I was Mrs. David Pierce. So now who am I? When is it okay to date? When do you not grieve? Will you always grieve? Will there be a day that you hear your favorite song on the radio, and you don’t fall apart? You see, that all comes with time. What I’m trying to do now is redirect my mind.

For instance, the other day I was in a hurry and had to go downtown. I pulled out and a red Jeep Wrangler pulled out behind me. There was a time that every time I saw a red Jeep Wrangler I would tear up because that’s what my husband drove.

But on this day, instead of falling apart, I decided to do something different. Now when I see a red Jeep Wrangler I choose to thank God that (1) I have that memory of my husband and his Wrangler, and (2) I’m just going to pretend that that’s a little angel following behind me to remind we not to drive so fast!

You see, it’s redirecting my thought process.

trauma comes along, pain will either direct you into great place—a learning place where you will fall to the foot of the cross—or you will become embittered. That’s why that foundation of who you are has to be firm. If the foundation is not based on all the right stuff, your grief Now, I tell people all the time, if your husband died process gets stuck. {10.} - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

5 weeks ago and you’re having a hard time laughing through this concert, your body is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do. But this is a good teaching too: if you’re here and your husband died 5 years ago and you still can’t hardly get out of the house, then you need to talk to somebody.

So, cut yourself some slack and grieve at the proper times. Allow yourself to grieve, but know there are moments you have to say, “I can’t afford to stop and fall apart on this today. I’m on the interstate!” You just have to reframe it a little bit.

Q: How do you personally deal with your feelings about self-worth?

A: Sometimes, what I do is so elementary! I

write words of positive reinforcement and Scripture on sticky notes and put them on my mirror. You know, it gets that practical. At times, it’s knowing where certain triggers are in my life and avoiding them. On occasion it might even be people. I saw a quote the other day that said, “Be careful who you put in your boat; they may be drilling holes behind you.” That is so true! I am the worst at that! You may have to set new healthy boundaries and stand up for yourself.

night! Since the Garden of Eden the devil has been in the business to strain us to the max. His intention is to interfere in any healthy relationship we have, including our relationship with the Lord.

Q: Let’s say that you need to escape, totally unplug. Where will we find you, and what will you be doing?

A: Fishing! I have a farm called the Funny Farm

where we have little cabins all in the woods. We host missionaries who need a time of vacation.

When I’m not doing what I do, I’m cleaning bathrooms and getting ready for the next pastor’s family. But I love to fish on that little lake out there. I stock it full of bass, and I sit on the little pier that my husband built years ago. I just love to fish! Isn’t it funny?!

To find out more about “Chonda Pierce: Enough,”visit www.chondamovie.com.

Below: Chonda receives the Advanced Writers and Speakers Lifetime Achievement Award (awsa.com).

Q: What is at the core of the battles we fight with self-worth and identity?

A: The women I know with a healthy self-confi-

dence are healthy because their confidence is in the Lord. I say “healthy” because of culture.

I’ll be 57 in a few weeks, and I hate to even talk about it. But it took 57 years for this damage to crop up in my life. It’s not going to unravel over-

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BE THERE FOR THE ENCORE!