The Good, the Bad, and the Grace of God

While I have been a fan of Duck Dynasty from the beginning, I haven't always been the biggest fan of Jep and Jessica Robertson. At time on the show they come across as spoiled liltle brats. That view has changed, however since I have had a chance to hear their story in their book, "The Good, the Bad and the Grace of God." Using an alternating format, Jep and Jessica tell the story of growing up, getting into trouble and getting together by the grace of God. Both are extremely honest in facing their past mistakes and showing how the forgiveness of God not only saved their souls, but also their lives and relationships. The struggles they share are ones that most young people can relate too, the desire to be popular, the drive to succeed and the dangers of falling in with the wrong crowd. Special attention is given to the deception and danger of sexual sins; including molestation, promiscuity, and pornography. But through many dangers, toils and snares; Jep and Jessica show the triumph of faith, forgiveness and family. I have a greater appreciation for them and for God's grace in this snapshot of their life journey so far. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Duck Dynasty and its characters, but more so for anyone who is struggling with their past mistakes and is longing for the freedom found in God's forgiving grace.

The Robertson family, those who have been brought to the attention of the world via the popular series DUCK DYNASTY, add another book to the growing collection of tomes revolving around the family. This time out we get the word from Jep and Jessica Robertson about their lives as individuals and later as a couple. But this time we get something more than we’ve come to expect from a book about this family.

As I said, the story told involves both of their lives before they met and became a couple. Not only that, it tells of the troubled lives they had during those years. For Jep that story involves some heavy duty drug use. For Jessica it involves a previous marriage for all the wrong reasons. In the end the two stories collide to form their current lives together and finding that they can overcome all with the saving grace of God.

Perhaps the best and worst of their story revolves around the fact that they lay bare all of their past secrets for everyone to see. Of these the one that seems to be getting the most attention from the press is Jep’s revelation of sexual abuse as a child from someone he knew. But there is more to their lives than that one segment. Neither has a past with no problems and that makes them more human than die hard fans might be willing to believe. But that’s what makes their story so valid and important. It shows that bad things do indeed happen to good people but that those things can be survived.

The abilities to tell their tale might not rank high on the literary scale but they do indeed seem to be written by the two of them without an overabundance of assistance. It feels like the words are coming straight from them. That brings the story all the more believability than many would expect. Moving back and forth from one to the other, we get their stories prior to meeting and then a dual perspective of the times they’ve shared together. It’s a fresh way of doing things.

If you love the Robertsons my guess is that you will love this book. If you hate them then you should learn to lighten up and dig deeper than the hateful words tossed out by the PC police. Give the book a read and see if they aren’t more normal than you’ve given them credit for. In the end their journeys apart and together make for a good read that will help you discover who they really are.

I will start out by saying my family and I used to LOVE to watch Duck Dynasty! Somehow though, the shows began to appear a bit staged and not as real, and we haven't kept up with the new shows this past year. I still like them and love their sense of family! I especially love their openness and willingness to share their love of God in a country that seemingly no longer believes a Christian has any right to speak their religious views.

As I sit here in my Duck Commander shirt, I have to say, I absolutely loved this story and couldn't seem to put it down. My attention was immediately captured by the realness of their lives. Their backgrounds, their childhood, and their trials. Wow, how very similar to many people across the nation.

Something I've tried to tell myself, and try to teach my kids, is that you can't compare your life to a snapshot of someone else's life. We tend to get so down in the dumps thinking our lives stink and we don't have this or don't have that because we've compared our lives to a picture of an actor/actress or neighbor down the street or fellow church member taking a vacation on a beautiful, remote island in the Caribbean! It's not how it is! Life is hard, everyone is different! For me, Jep and Jessica's story exemplified that point to a T! When we see them on TV, after hours of shooting, hours of editing, of course their lives look perfect and they may come across as Bible thumping goody two shoes! BUT, when you read their stories, you realize, they're just like you and me!

"You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful. - Amy Bloom" I absolutely LOVED this quote from the book! How true! We are all flawed, but with the grace of God, we are forgiven, and BEAUTIFUL!