Candy Pfeifer | Getting it Right

September 15, 2009

Dr. Kent: Welcome to Sound Authors. There’s four guests on the show today, three authors and one musician, as always. Among the authors on the show are going to be Candy Pfeifer, the author of Getting It Right. And that’s about an author’s struggle to be in the spotlight. The second guest on the show is Paul and Tracey McManus, the authors of The 7 Great Prayers: For a Lifetime of Hope and Blessings. The third guest on the show is one of the contributors to the new novel Amplified, Cam King will be with us. And then John and James Abrams are the Abrams Brothers, they’re an incredible act. And they’re going to be with us at the end of the show with their unique brand of music. So without further ado, I’d like to speak with my first guest. She’s the author of Getting It Right, Candy Pfeifer. Welcome to the show.

Candy Pfeifer: Thank you, Dr. Kent.

Dr. Kent: Well, and tell me about this book a little bit. Give me a nutshell.

Candy Pfeifer: In a nutshell, it’s a book about people with, that deal and struggle with insecurities rooted in fear. I’m of the belief that most insecurities that we deal with, low self esteem, feeling like failures, that all of that is rooted in fear. And I pretty strongly believe that that’s a spiritual issue that can be taken care of.

Dr. Kent: Well, and one really interesting thing, when you talk about that very specifically, is the life of Michael Jackson. What are your thoughts about, here’s this very soft spoken guy that had all of these, all of these issues. Well, he was in the limelight since he was 3.

Candy Pfeifer: Right. My belief on that is that people are not made to be worshipped, and when people are worshipped then ultimately they can’t really handle it. It’s a high that people love and enjoy, but then when that starts to go away, then it’s just like a drug that they can’t get enough of, and I just, for the most part as I listen to the biographies of people at that height of popularity, that it’s always the same story. Cause God’s made to be worshipped, not people, and we can’t handle it.

Dr. Kent: That’s fascinating. That’s a really wonderful summary of it. Well, you’ve got an amazing family and you are well known for your music, and then of course for this book. Tell me about the importance these days of gospel music in the world. You know, most of us when we listen to the radio, we don’t hear the gospel music. I’m a big fan of bluegrass and I do hear gospel when I listen to the bluegrass channel. But talk about gospel music these days

Candy Pfeifer: Well I think probably the most popular form of gospel music these days would be what is tagged praise and worship, which there are so many mega churches in our country right now, and they have incredible praise and worship bands. But yes, I feel like the music in itself is something that will literally lead us into the presence of God. There’s a story in the Old Testament that talks about when Saul had evil spirits that would mess with his mind he would call for a musician that played well. And that was David. And David had rehearsed, as he was tending sheep, and he was a very, very good and accomplished musician. And when he would come into Saul’s presence and play, the Bible says that those evil spirits would have to leave. And I feel like that’s what gospel music does.

Dr. Kent: Yeah. And how about, so in your life story, how did you end up where you are today? Of course, you are a pastor’s kid, a PK as they call them. Talk about growing up.

Candy Pfeifer: Well when I was growing up my family, yes, my dad was a pastor, and my family, we loved music. We were the kind of family that would sit on the porch with guitars and sing at dusk, and we had, there was a lot of music in our church and studded singers in our choir loft. It was guitar players and horn players and drums and the whole deal like that. So we grew up surrounded by a lot of music, and it just kind of developed. My life developed into what it is today. It’s what I always wanted to do. We were also very involved in sports, but the thing I wanted to do all of my life was to be able to play music, and to be able to play gospel music for a living, and I’ve been really blessed to be able to do that. It’s been wonderful. I don’t have any complaints at all.

Dr. Kent: So now there’s this book, which is a devotional, and it’s called Getting It Right. And it’s about you, but it’s also a devotional. Talk about the book, how it’s been to write it, how it came about, how you came to writing it, and all of that.

Candy Pfeifer: Ok. Well, I had journaled from 1992 to 2002. And at the end of that period I felt like I was growing, you know, maturing spiritually, and I looked back on those journal entries and I thought you know, those entries are very dark. That was a dark period of my life, when I didn’t seem to think straight in many instances. And so I just started to sit down and with each journal entry I would go to the Bible and try to find verses that would apply to that. And then after that I wrote a “for you” section, “For you today.” So what I did was, I just used those journal entries as life learning experiences, and what the Word says about those, and then what God had taught me about that now. And that’s kind of the way the book’s laid out and how it all came about. Cause I felt like that people, most people go through the same things, especially women, emotionally. We all seem to pretty much think the same way, and men as well.

Dr. Kent: Now what kind of response have you gotten?

Candy Pfeifer: Well, it’s been, it’s really been good. People that have read the book, they will email me or call me and talk about how they really feel like that things have been revealed to them in their life through the book that can help them to live a better life. More of a life of freedom and joy. So it’s, yeah, it’s been a good response, and I’m thankful.

Dr. Kent: What did it teach you, cause that’s the other interesting thing. I mean most authors, especially with a book like this, it’s very personally revealing. How did you change in the writing and release of this book?

Candy Pfeifer: Well, as I would read those journal entries, I would really see the truth of the matter. I know I keep referring back to the Bible, but that’s what I base my whole life on. And Satan is a great deceiver, and he tries to tear us down. The Word says he is out to kill, steal and destroy, and what I learned from it is a lot of what I’ve dealt with emotionally was just a lie. It was just all of hell itself trying to destroy me, and I learned a lot of truth about what our position is in Jesus Christ, and how we can live free of bondages. The bondage of fear, the bondage of low self esteem. It’s a prison. It’s a terrible, terrible mindset to be in, to feel like you’re a failure and nobody loves you and you have no self worth or any purpose in life. That’s just like a prison of our own building. And we can be free of that. And so, for me in my life it was just, it was a freeing experience, and how we can mature and grow up and see things the way they really are.

Dr. Kent: And that’s kind of what all of the music that your family does, that’s what the music is about, that’s what the book is about, is overcoming that.

Candy Pfeifer: Right. That’s right. We can live a good life, I mean, God has made available to us everything that he is. The Bible says that we have the mind of Christ, and that he’s give us everything that pertains to life and godliness. And I work on it every day, as long as I’m here on this earth and in this body I will have to continue to try to get it right. So every day I try to renew my mind in the truth of things, because I have not arrived, and I never will, but I’m a lot farther along right now than I was in 1992.

Dr. Kent: Well, it’s been a real honor chatting with you, we could talk all day. The website for the Pfeifer’s music is www.pfeifers.com. What else can we find on there?

Candy Pfeifer: All the events that we’re involved in. We do a cruise to Alaska with Dr. Charles Stanley, that’s coming up. We have a homecoming every year here in our hometown with a lot of great gospel music and artists and just all kinds of things like that. There are pictures, tons of pictures showing what we do and that sort of thing.

Dr. Kent: Well and of course then there’s also the book, which is also called Getting It Right. Go out and pick up your copy. It’s a really touching memoir and a book that can help you get through it as well, it’s a devotional. So thank you so much for being on the show, Candy Pfeifer.

Candy Pfeifer: Thank you, Dr. Kent.

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