By India McCarty
Viral star “Chewbacca Mom” is looking back on her moment in the spotlight, something she calls a “divine setup of God.”
“It wasn’t an idea of this hitting the masses. This [was] actually, ‘Hey, I’m in the moment [and] I’ve got about five minutes before I have to adult and pick up my kids from school,’” “Chewbacca Mom” — a.k.a. Candace Payne — told PEOPLE.
The video, posted in 2016, shows Payne trying on a mask of the popular STAR WARS character and cracking up. It ended up being the most-watched Facebook Live video of the year.
Speaking to NPR about the video at the time, Payne said, “I didn’t expect to laugh that hard!”
“I’ve had some people — they’ve sent me private messages, and they’ll just say stuff like, ‘Man, I’ve been battling depression. So-and-so passed away, and I hadn’t laughed since they died and this video made me laugh again,’” she continued. “I couldn’t ask for more. It’s just awesome.”
In her interview with PEOPLE, Payne continued, “This was the beginning of us trying to be social with social media and having a live kind of integration [and] it felt foreign. It was just this divine setup of God saying, ‘I’m going to introduce you to the world and they’re going to see what kind of person you are, through this platform that really doesn’t have any kind of attraction to it yet.’ That was four minutes laughing in my car.”
Related: The Christian Mom Who Made Hundreds of Millions of People Laugh
Payne shared that she thinks the video blew up because people liked that it was “authentic” and “relatable.”
Looking back on the moment nine years later, she said, “I know it’s proverbial, but it has taken me about nine years to ‘unmask’ and to really figure out who I am behind that moment to where I am healthy, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. I’ve never been in the physical health that I’m [currently] in.”
Today, Payne is a “Joy Evangelist + Author + Speaker + Podcaster,” per her Instagram bio.
During an appearance on the “Jesus Calling” podcast, Payne spoke about the role her faith has played in her life and career as a viral sensation.
“I’m going to be honest: my faith is ever evolving, which I think is almost everybody’s in the world. If you go on a journey to be a follower of Jesus Christ, it changes from day to day,” she said.
Payne continued, “I’m drawn to places that are free, places that exhibit the joy of the Lord, where you feel and sense the spirit of God. And really, in all honesty, you put denomination labels on anything, and it doesn’t matter. The joy of the Lord is for every single one of us — every single one of us. I think it’s just a matter of lifting up our eyes and acknowledging who’s the Joy Giver and letting Him do a work inside of us.”
After spreading so much laughter through her “Chewbacca Mom” video, Payne is still hard at work trying to help people find joy.
Read Next: Chewbacca Mom Candace Payne Uses Joy to Inspire Worship
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