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Friday, March 1, 2002

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH NANCY STAFFORD

By Ron Brackin
Special Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

Nashville, TN  (ANS) -- If the news service had assigned a woman to interview Nancy Stafford about her new book, this article would have turned out differently. As it was, ANS sent me.

Frankly, I never would have given a second thought to reading anything with soft pink roses and coral and carnelian accents on the cover – to say nothing of a title like “Beauty by the Book: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You” – a far cry from stereotypical male fare.

Had I not read it, however, I would have missed one of the most valuable Christian books to be published in decades. And I recommend that any man who cares a fig about Jesus walk shamelessly to the women’s section of the bookstore, remove a copy from the shelf, strut boldly up to the cashier, and declare: “This is for ME! Waddya want to make of it?”

“Beauty by the Book” is for every man who has lost his job and, with it, his identity. It’s for every woman whose identity and self worth are bound up in her looks. In short, it’s for anyone who defines himself, or allows herself to be defined by others, based upon appearance, talent, or achievements.

In the 220 pages of this book, Nancy Stafford – perhaps best known as the perky blue-eyed attorney on “Matlock” – becomes so transparent that she virtually becomes a window through which the reader can see the face of the Lord. And it just doesn’t get any better than that.

Looking at Nancy today or in any of her screen appearances, it is virtually impossible to imagine her as a homely little girl with the self-esteem of a slug. But she was. And the old ghosts still haunt her. Today, however, Nancy has a Lover who disperses old lying spirits like so much smoke in a whirlwind.

“Even five or six years ago,” she recalls, “I still allowed circumstances to influence how I felt about myself and about my life. If Hollywood affirmed me and if I felt approved and accepted, I felt good about myself. And if I didn’t, I didn’t. At that time, Hollywood was not affirming me. And I just felt ugly and fat and invisible, and I hated it, because I knew better. In my mind, I said, ‘Oh Lord, I’m tired of wrestling like this. I’m tired of struggling. Show me please, once and for all, who I am in you. Show me my real identity.’

“As He does often with me because I’m a visual person, He showed me a picture. In this picture, I was in a gorgeous, gilded ballroom. Jesus was standing across the ballroom from me and holding out a beautiful robe like royalty would wear. It was glowing and luminous like His face. And it was made of his own skin. Then, very slowly, He walked over to me and very purposefully and methodically and proudly, He wrapped me up in His skin. And it became my skin. It was His robe of righteousness, but it was Him more than just a robe. He held me tight for a real long time. Then He took my hand, and we danced. It was so freeing and so intimate!

“Then, the Lord gave me a Scripture. It was Psalm 18:19 that says, ‘He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.’ And for the first time, I actually felt that God delights in me.”

Those sweet words of encouragement from Jesus were a defining moment in Nancy’s life, but it was not the last such moment. As she grows in her confidence in His love, He comes to her again and again, like a Lover to His beloved.

“There was another time when I was failing in everything. I was overweight, getting older, not feeling disciplined about much of anything in my life, not successful. I said, ‘Lord, I can’t stand myself right now. How can you even like me, let alone love me?’

“That’s when I felt Him rush in again and say, ‘Now, when you are your most broken, you are the most beautiful to me. Now, there are empty places in you that I can come in and fill with my life and my love. It was too crowded before.’

“That was a profound realization for me. There was too much of me. Many of us are afraid to be broken before God. But He has taught me that, when I am at my most broken and my most vulnerable, that I am most like Jesus. And that’s when I understand what His life in me really means.”

In “Beauty by the Book,” Nancy Stafford invites us into her life – behind the scenes, behind the cameras, behind her public image – and risks being vulnerable for our sake, so that we, whether man or woman, may “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:18-19).

“Beauty by the Book: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You”
by Nancy Stafford
Multnomah Publishers
U.S. $12.99 Can $20.99
Paperback, 220 pp.
ISBN 1-57673-950-0
A former “Miss Florida,” Nancy starred in the ABC series “Sidekicks” and spent several years playing Joan Halloran on the Emmy Award-winning NBC series “St. Elsewhere.” Besides these roles and her five seasons on “Matlock,” she has also had guest starring roles on “Frasier,” “Babylon5,” “who’s the Boss?”, “Magnum P.I., and numerous other shows. She has starred in several TV movies, most recently NBC’s “Moment of Truth: A Child Too Many” and Fox’s “Deadly Invasion.” Nancy now hosts “Main Floor,” the network-syndicated TV series featuring the latest fashion, beauty, and lifestyle trends. Now in its seventh season, “Main Floor” airs in over 40 countries. Her monthly column “Nancy’s Notebook” on her website at: http://greatdayamerica.com/style/experts/index.shtml deals with beauty – inside and out.
Ron Brackin is a freelance writer in Little Elm, Texas. He has more than a quarter of a century of experience ranging from journalist and congressional press secretary to marketing and public relations. He is the author of several nonfiction and fiction books, including “Sweet Persecution” (Bethany House 1999) and is currently available for fulltime employment or freelance projects. Resume and writing samples available upon request. Contact him directly at ronbrackin1@msn.com or call 972-294-2509. (Pictured: Dan Wooding (left) and Ron Brackin (right) at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Dallas, Feb. 2001).>
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