Finding Strength in God's Blessings - Jase and Missy Robertson Part 1

I mean here's me I consider myself one of the toughest people on the planet whether that was in my mind or not seeing my daughter go through that I was like putty welcome to the focus on the family broadcast helping families thrive hey Jase and Missy welcome to focus on the family thank you blessed to have you your book blessed blessed blessed we're blessed to have you guys here what fun you put on television through the series and how many seasons have you done this now Jays 30 episode you guys are just like gene and me so you you've got a correct we have wives have you know that's why we're created as a helpmate so I'll just wait and see if he gets it right and when he does and I'll correct him yep Mike you're correcting you were a little loose on the age of your kids yeah I was 22 I think I was 19 and then I forget she just had a birthday a couple of months ago but yeah that's what happens every year a couple months ago you two had been married 25 years roughly I won't ask specifically I don't want the date yes it's 25 close yeah it's it's north of 20 focus on the family today we're counseling why but you know I related to part of the story that I read in your book about wanting to go through life single because I went through that face it was about a two-year face for me where I said okay Lord I'm not dating I'm done with that I want to be true to you I was probably 22 so I was a tough time to have that mentality and I remember I was this is what I'm gonna be I'm be Paul that's what I wanted to be in and shortly thereafter about two years later some guy came up to me and he said hey you know the pastor actually said God has your mate your wife picked out for you and she's gonna have a heart for the things of God and I thought this guy's wacko you didn't even know I'm going through life single that was Wednesday night I met my wife Jean Saturday is that an amazing thing and you know same thing happened to me you know of course I I made a decision you know to follow Christ when I was 14 and you know in my book I wrote about that my dad here's my dad who had all these this bitterness towards because when I was a kid he wasn't a Christian but I got to see God's evidence right in front of my eyes with him being transformed how big was that change I mean it was huge I mean he went from one of the worst people on the planet just true the way he treated people anger that's anger well you know he was just drunk every night fistfight you know beat on my mom he cheated on my mom he was in trouble with the law wow so every night every night and then all of a sudden you know which led to a separation and so I didn't see him for months and then the next time I saw him I knew something was different you know we were had moved to West Monroe which is you know with your where we're at now right he basically kicked us out and which is kind of laughable you know what we should have just left and you know then he transforms and but you know as a kid you get better and and I just you know I was scared of him and and when I heard the story of Jesus you know his death on a cross and a resurrection it hit me that I thought you know if I'm gonna embrace Jesus His grace and his forgiveness I'm gonna have to forgive my dad and he had proven it really it had been years you know since he had turned around but I you know I was just still bitter about it but so that day you know where we where they still live you know the Washita River backs up to his backyard you know I made that decision to follow cry and through that to forgive my dad and and then you know so here I am as a teenager trying to live a Christian life which I think is the most difficult thing to do on the planet and I dated a few girls and I told them you know where I stood because I wanted to wait till I got married I wanted to do it God's Way you know and I would tell these girls when I went out on a date the first thing I'd do I'd have my Bible I said look I'm a follower of Jesus I believe he's coming back and that usually ended the date well it was one hot date most of it just it was I was getting frustrated and I said that's it I'm done and as soon as I said I'm done it wasn't a week later and me and her Missy and I had a conversation at a UH we were at some kind of teen devotional or something and I had dated a girl who was not a spiritual girl at all we had just broken up and she was friends with that girl and we decided to go out on a date at at the school where they went together just to kind of make her jealous I was sixteen weren't the most mature yeah we were being juvenile your brains weren't fully devoted right but and so then we but we actually had you know we had a good time and then I gave her the speech then we actually went out on a date and I gave her the speech you know I'm a follower of Jesus I want to help people get to heaven and she's like I'm in and that literally is how I was like she was the first girl I ever took out that when I gave him the I'm following Jesus speech she was like sounds great to me but you know it's awesome about that being a father of two teenage boys right now 17 and 15 my boys that's the kind of character you want to see any young man certainly a young lady but Missy you're coming from a family that's it the way I read it I mean more of your typical middle-class family you know godliness cleanliness is next to godliness of course it's not in the scripture for those that don't know that in description but that was what your family's Creed was yes well I'm not even sure if we would we were considered middle class because my dad was a preacher and got olivey I got all of his income by basically donations because he has a program called we care ministries and so he just we lived on people donating that and he traveled all across the country preaching and my mom bless her heart has a master's education in vocal training and choral direction but chose to not have a paycheck to help start our Christian school sure so she chose to volunteer her time up until I was in middle school and so when I found that out when I was I think I was 30 when I found that out and I was like you mean we were poor on purpose like you said no thank you to the paycheck and you know you're trained and so to me that showed that they had such a servant heart and they wanted our their children to have that Christian background and so they they sacrificed a lot to help start our Christian school did they have any I mean I'm probing into this so if I'm beyond the boundary but when when you're now dating Jase were they going down on the dating part they love Jase they knew phil was preaching all the time of his house and sharing the gospel which he my if you look at my dad and you look at field they look like total opposite ends of the spectrum okay guys clean-shaven does not he's not an outdoorsman he's on into sports he's not into hunting he is preacher right hey you look at feel you know okay okay the same but they preach they both stand and are passionate I'm sharing the gospel of Jesus so when my dad realized that that's what was happening here he was all for us dating now being engaged at 17 was not something my dad was that was that where it all took the turn well I you know I didn't know you know look I was raised on the river and we didn't have a lot of the social etiquette rules most people have and so Missy said look you need to ask my dad's blessing if you want to ask you know for my hand in marriage and my think is would be engaged like a year and a half it wasn't like we were gonna be married instantly and she's hot well you got to talk to my dad so I was like okay so I thought it'd just be a formality so I go to him I was over to her house and I was like I want to ask your you know your blessing in marrying your daughter and he said absolutely not for that conversation begins so since you know my maturity level was not where it needed how he at this point 19 in you were I was 17 she was 17 and I said I don't mean right now but just like in a year and a half he was like no and I said well you're being you being a preacher you'll appreciate what I'm gonna say I said I have not laid a hand on your daughter in any kind of any inappropriate way and I said I want a quota versity and I said it is better to marry than to burn with passion that was the worst so we live the truth in that let me say well there's truth in that in that we tend to want our kids to marry later and they are burning in their passion and as Christian parents we got to think about that don't we yeah and you know what's weird is we really never resolved that conversation we this one think you did we just went home like cuz I thought I'm doing this whether you do it or not I gave her the ring and I figured you know a wedding day if they showed up then we were all good and they show Jace we have Missy's father on the phone I'm kidding I'm just we haven't resolved this yet you know it hit me how he was failing when my son's got that age and they're like you know like raid he was like you know I'm thinking about getting married you need to wait a little bit that was my first yells my first reaction and you know my daughter I don't even wanna talk about well let's we're gonna get into that because that's the bulk of the story in the book blessed blessed blessed but that early yes marital stage where you're at it was everything pretty reasonable you both come in from Christian homes now did you have it all button-down and wired Missy did no no the hunting days were hard and they're still hard after 27 years hunting season is hard don't they call you hunting widows hunting widows yes I call it I don't even call it hunting season I call it the ordeal no by saying we did agree going yeah we did and that's why I mean if you're gonna ask me about it I feel free to talk about it but I I agreed thirty years ago when we started dating and all that he said there's one thing you need to know about me I hunt every day of hunting season so if we're gonna go any farther you need to know that and you thought that might be a week he told me like first date I first date no no I said the first date I told you that I love Jesus and I'm gonna fall here are you in yes about the third or fourth date I said if this goes any further I need you to know I'm gonna duck on every day of the season remember I said if you got a problem with that babe I remember that and you said yes and you said if we ever get married and have kids I want them to go to the same Christian school that you went to and I was like deal so I said it's not free and so we had an agreement they had an agreement that I would not complain about him going hunting every day she would not complain about how much money it was gonna take to send them to our Christian school in the drive and it worked out so far I'm almost 30 I mean you got a member when are our kids you got enough to go to this school we had no money and so I was lying I know we made this agreement it's really amazing you know just basically I went to work so I worked and almost all of my paycheck would go to sending them to that Christian school Missy and Jase the question I have to make this tangible for the listeners fill in the blank is what I'm hearing you know there's always going to be these disagreements within marriage it could be I get the hunt every day I could hear guys going I wish I would have made that deal I did make that deal smarter than me or the wife is saying you know what there are things that I thought we had agreed to that are happening what can it just give me a little marital advice there's always unmet expectations always and so whether it's in or whether it's not sin it you know it can be either or both but with with me with with all of that I would always remember I agreed to this I mean I can't go back and say this is terrible my life is horrible and people would even come up to me women over the years would say I don't know how you do it and especially when he would be gone because you know if the Ducks weren't in West Monroe because our our lifestyle relied on the selling of that hunting video or hunting DVD they had to make those hunting DVDs for us to continued living and and and providing food for our families basically so they had to go find the ducks so sometimes he would be gone for 1 to 3 weeks at a time and these women would say I don't know how you do it I'd put my foot down and all I can think of was number one this is his job and number two I could be living a way worse life than this and I thought and I said this in my book about the military families their their husbands are gone for weeks months sometimes years at a time and do those wives put their foot down and say nope I mean it's a sacrifice and so what he's doing is not near what the freedom that those people are giving us in order to make this decision and make this choice so I always lived out of gratefulness because yes it's hard yes it's difficult and yes sometimes I felt like a single parent well I love that that's the right way to you said not it doesn't deal with sin and and now it's just choices of life and what you want to do to do entertainment and other things and feel fulfilled as so many couples need that peace to say this is okay it'll be okay it's not the biggest mountain in my life and I appreciate that I figured out - I mean I'm I need to provide for my family but I also wanted to do what I love to do to make a living because then I could feel like in my mind it's been years since we he's had to do this but he would go hunting sometimes all day might take all day to bring in the ducks but that doesn't mean with the duck call someone else was in there making them that was still his job so he would bring them and and make them till 10 11 o'clock in the living room with baby sleeping or even through the duck call making noise because it was put him together blow it a couple times and throw it in the box and that's what I would hear I would hear the silence you know then the call and then the plop in the box and that's what our babies went to sleep even in duck dynasty what people don't realize the first year that we were filming 8 to 10 hours a day then I was going to duck commander and building these columns right I did not sleep that whole year oh we got a train some people because he going home and so we would be filming in there but then everybody would leave the cameras would leave and I still had I mean we had orders to get out and I was the only one at the time you know with our crew doing that so because it takes some skill to put them in well that what that is what makes you guys so real I mean you're still you know normal folk even though the Lord has opened up an amazing opportunity to touch millions of people and that's what I love about you guys have remained who you are and I love that let's move to the kids you mentioned one of your son's give us a picture of the the kids there's three children right yes three completely different children Oh mom or dad of any number of children know that they're all different but Reid is our oldest he's 22 and he was married last year October of 16 and they live in Nashville and he is a music writer and music performer so and bright and his wife there he she's a nursing school and in her last year so my good yeah they'll have something to make him some money for a while at least while Reed's getting his music career going but we're super proud of them they are committed to each other you know I look back on our first year of marriage and it was tough for many reasons and they are I think we both talked about him in our books but I keep asking Reid and Brighton how are y'all doing anything we need to discuss that's right you know because I'm thinking that something's majors got to be going on it's the first year of marriage right and they have come through recently just you know celebrated year one and they're like we are rocking and rolling and they're talking they work things out it's not like they don't fight but they they work things out and there's one that's I'm so proud of them in their relationship so I see when they put God first that you can see that they make each other better which then it makes me look at my life because it's hard to see that in your own life but then as I look back when we dated I was like that same thing happened I just didn't realize it of you know two people seeking God first and then each other it actually makes you better together and I mean you'll you'll agree I mean ever since he has been with her he's been more of a joy oh yeah you need to go for everything we prayed for they want to come on too strong because you know how kids are if you want something really bad they'll do the opposite but I was like well call is he studying overseas in Argentina with Pepperdine so he's a student with Pepperdine and absolutely loves it and called the other night and said can I stay for another semester in Argentina like okay I can't imagine your dad saying no you have to come home and go to Malibu he's nobody mission minded he's off when he's a teenager he's been on more mission trips than me and her combined he's been all over the world and that's just what he loves to do and I can't be more proud I'm yeah you know my son came to me and said I just I want to go to this country or that country and help other people I'm just like okay I mean I'm really proud of really and that is a blessing from the show that we're able to financially do that allow that to happen so we feel very grateful and he does too thank you mom thank you for letting me be here so so yes and he's having a great time and then Mia is 14 and she's in middle school so this is a new phase well I say new it's eighth grade but it just seems like eighth grade has been a big a big year for her and I think not just her age but because her brothers left home at the same time the cameras pulled out at the same time and she's kind of had to find herself of where does she vidya now you know with the busyness so one of my daughter's when she was about that age called it hormones yeah my hormones are happening she's been through so much she's been through ten eleven surgeries depending on your definition of surgery I guess many more procedures and and she's always you know having to go to Dallas which is her hospital because she was born with a cleft lip and palate yeah we want to get into that so tell us quickly at the end of today and then we'll pick it up next time for day two but what happened it's a big story it's a big story and that's what when we get there to heaven what happened but because it has and we had to figure out a way to deal with it and so when I was 31 weeks gestation is when we found out that she was going to be born with at least a cleft lip we couldn't tell anything inside the mouth at that time and we were shocked so first we had to deal with the initial shock of the situation because we knew nothing about it we knew nothing about this condition and of course the first question is why right correct kind of transactional with the Lord right oh yes then if I do all these things first for asking why because growing up in a very conservative Christian I want to say home it wasn't just my parents but just church in school and all this you're kind of told not to ask why because then you're questioning God so you don't need to you don't need to question you just need to accept and trust that this was his will and that's great on paper but when that actually happens in life that's the first question that comes to mind is why and I thought you know if I don't ask the question I'm not gonna get the answer so I'm gonna ask and I just started to pray like why did this happen and I think that has a whole lot of soul-searching involved as well which is gonna led to about three months of us she did the research and I was doing more biblical research thinking I'm gonna handle this and I think we both came to each other because we were you know when you act when all you do is ask why and you we didn't realize it I think consciously but we were kind of having our own pity parties oh yeah and we reached that same conclusion and we thought you know we're blessed with this girl being born and why ruin the moment you know with all this pity and because it you know it did have a different feel when we were in you know when when it was time for her to come out I guess there wasn't as much excitement as it was curious see how severe is this gonna be a prehension a lot of it how does this impact us how does it impact her yeah in my mind you know I thought it's probably not as bad as we're thinking well when she came out you know my initial thought was oh ma this is way worse than I thought it was again it was devastating yeah yeah and Missy she couldn't see her and she was like what I could I could read her mind saying well I needed that first Housel report how bad is this and I gave a good godly lie I said oh it's not that bad because I didn't want to you know yeah send her into trauma here after this but I knew it was gonna be tough tonight and that's the deal with her condition you know a lip they can go in and correct in surgery but when you get into the palate and the severe nature and bone this is not something you can fix and a lot of people don't realize that you manage it as they grow because nothing ever grows right since it wasn't there to start with and so and and that was a lot of frustration for us and trying to talk to people because they were like well why don't you just go get it fixed and they're like it's a process and yeah we've got to come back next time and I want to ask those questions cuz many parents are living that right now they're in that place where you were back when Mia was born and you're thinking wow okay I'm going through something like that it may not be cleft palate and cleft lip and that's the best thing is to understand that you're getting don't have that guilt because you want answers when we want to define that yes and and what's great about it and what we'll get into next time is for a lot of this process we got to turn around and learn instead of trying to always try to teach your kids something we learn because our kid taught us so much about endurance and perseverance well that's the beauty of it and Jason Missy it's been fun day one here to get to know you better and how you got married in the background and all that and let's come back next time and really dig into the spiritual value of what you learned through hardship and here you know especially in the United States but Western culture we run from that hardship when I think the Lord is saying I'm going to teach you something through it so stick with me and trust me it's what he's saying to us and so often we want a clean life we want an easy life we want a simple life so let's come back next time and do that you're great resource blessed blessed blessed it's a wonderful encouragement for moms and dads husbands and wives even singles to say okay what does that road ahead look like thanks again for being with us thank you thanks for having us it's been fun getting to know Missy and Jase and to hear their ongoing story of faith and hope during the challenges that Mia has been facing we're gonna hear more from the Robertson's next time and of course their story shows the value of life the value of every life and that's worth defending focus on the family invites you to join us as we take a stand for life in a pretty dramatic way on May 4th in Times Square you click the link on the screen for more details about alive from New York and then make sure you sign our declaration for life we're gathering tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of signatures we want to deliver those to our elected officials and representatives in Washington DC to make your voice heard that life is valuable and then if you can donate to focus on the family as we take this stand in the culture your gift will make a big difference and will say thank you by sending a copy of Jason Missy's book blessed blessed blessed again click the link on the screen or call 1-800 the letter A and the word family 802 three two six four five nine on behalf of Jim Bailey and the entire team I'm John fuller thanks for watching join us next time as we once again help you and your family thrive in Christ you

Channel: Focus on the Family

Views: 214,823

Rating: 4.942091 out of 5

Keywords: focus, on, the, family, focus on the family, strength, suffering, duck dynasty, jase and missy robertson, parenting, children

Id: XrkAEyaWiqA

Length: 28min 15sec (1695 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2019