“When I came back from that orphanage trip,” Heaton said, “I knelt down in this little back bedroom I was renting from my cousin’s girlfriend’s mother in L.A. and I said to God, ‘Ok, I’m going to put you in the center instead of the acting.’”
She told God, “I’d like to go back to Mexico and work in that orphanage, and I’ll do that if you want me to do it or, I’m getting auditions, so, if you want me to go in that direction, I’ll keep auditioning.”
“So, if you want me to go back to Mexico, shut down the auditions,” Heaton told God. “Otherwise I’m going to keep doing those, but I’ll go back to Mexico if you want me to.”
“And that’s the first time I think I ever really handed over the acting to God,” Heaton said. “I love God. I knew he loved me. And my job here was to become an actress—that was my thinking. And I realized, ‘Oh, I really need to fully, 100% give it to God and not have my own plan for myself.’”
Cavins wanted to know what it was about Heaton’s experience at the orphanage that gave the actor so much peace.
“It was just pure service,” she said. “It was pure service to people whose language I didn’t speak, and they didn’t speak mine. And the missionary that ran that orphanage was…really clear about [the fact that] we are to be serving the poor. The church needs to serve the poor.”
“So it was something that just kind of came over me while I was there doing it,” said Heaton. “I didn’t realize anything was happening.”
“In fact,” she said, “it was kind of a group of misfit people that were doing it. There were personalities there that I was like, ‘Oof, I don’t know about this guy,’ you know?”
Nevertheless, said Heaton, “by the end, when we were riding this rickety old bus back, it was like we were all best friends, and these were my brothers and sisters in Christ, and we just, something happened to us in being in communion and in service together.”
After Heaton prayed her prayer of surrender to God, she continued to get auditions and decided, “I guess this is the way I’m supposed to go.” It was after that point that she found success as an actor.
“‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ was my fourth sitcom,” she said. “So I had three before then. Flash forward 25 years, I’m in Rwanda and I realized then…you know, my prayer was either/or: Either make me a missionary or give me show business, but I was open to whatever the Lord wanted.”
“And of course,” said Heaton, “the Lord’s plan was, ‘Ok, you’re so limited. I am going to give you both on a scale that you cannot imagine.’”
“So I find myself raising millions of dollars and being in Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Jordan, refugee camps, and raising millions of dollars by going on talk shows back in the States,” said Heaton. “And also he gave me a career where it ends up being three Emmys, a star on the Walk of Fame, and two shows each running nine years that are excellent writing and super family-friendly that continue to gain audiences around the world.”
“That is how God operates,” she said. “I had a little tiny vision: either this little orphanage in Mexico or maybe, you know, a couple of commercials and a couple of roles on a TV show. And he exploded it.”
How Patricia Heaton Deals With Criticism
Cavins said that he asked a few people for their thoughts on Patricia Heaton’s witness, “and they all said the same thing. They said, ‘She’s not afraid.’”
“I mean you jump right into the fire,” he told her. “You jump right into the debate, whatever it might be. And you don’t seem to have the fear. But I have to ask you, does Patricia Heaton fear rejection? Do you fear people disliking you? Do you fear criticism?”
“And if you are criticized, how do you deal with that?” Cavins asked. “And how does your faith come into being criticized? A lot of people avoid that.”
