'Fixer Upper' stars Chip & Joanna Gaines on Christian faith – 'I was made for a reason'
LOS ANGELES (Christian Examiner) – Chip and Joanna Gaines are best known as the stars of HGTV's highest-rated program Fixer Upper, but in a new video they reveal a side that may be new to some fans – their walk with Christ.
The married couple are featured in a video by I Am Second, the non-profit organization that was launched in 2008 and features more than 100 people from every walk of life telling their life and faith stories. Many of the people in the videos are well-known.
The most recent season of Fixer Upper drew more than 25 million viewers.
In the video – which was posted Oct. 18 on YouTube – the Gaines talk separately in white chairs before being brought together.
Joanna Gaines said that while she is naturally a cautious person, her relationship with Chip and her faith have changed her perspective.
"I was made for a reason, and I need to let whatever God has created me for -- that needs to be known," Joanna Gaines said. "I don't need to stay hidden."
The video was posted on YouTube the same week that their first book, The Magnolia Story, was released by Christian publisher Thomas Nelson.
"My walk with God when I was little and all the way up until my 20s was always 'play by the rules, you'll be blessed,'" Joanna Gaines said in the video. "But then I met Chip and I feel like now it's when you take a step out in faith, when it makes absolutely no sense, I think that's where the greater reward is. There's no telling where that will take you."
The Gaines, who attended Baylor University, explained that Chip is the risk-taker in the relationship.
"I have learned so much about order and structure and processes through my wife," Chip said. "And God is all of those things to me now."
Long before they became TV stars, they were owners of a successful home renovation business. Their business became a TV show at the prodding of Chip.
"God had a funny way of bringing me Chip, to almost have this reality of what it's like to follow Christ, which is a lot of the things are going to push you to a place of discomfort," she said.