The Good, the Bad, and the Grace of God: What Honesty and Pain Taught Us about Faith, Family, and Forgiveness by Jep Robertson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
*ARC given for an honest review
Pretty much if you have lived anywhere in the world, especially in the United States you have heard of Jep & Jessica Robertson, part of the Duck Dynasty family. If you haven’t heard of them you may be living under a rock and should get out more
In their debut book The Good, The Bad, and the Grace of God, Jep & Jessica share their personal stories. Jessica was always kind of a tom-boy and came from a family where hunting and outdoor activities were important. She pushed herself, worked hard, and tried to excel at everything she did. However, it was because in her core she found her self-worth by pleasing other people. She felt if she worked hard enough, got good enough grades, made perfect attendance, than she was worthy of being loved. Sometimes she would go so overboard it would actually do more damage than good. In her quest to be perfect she was easily influenced by those around her and made life decisions pertinent to what others wanted. Sometimes she made decisions she felt were a mistake like getting married, but was so consumed with the fear of letting people down she did it anyway. While she eventually walked away from her first marriage it left her scarred and feeling that she wasn’t worthy of anything good because she had failed.
Jep Robertson, as the baby of the family was just trying to figure out his place in the family and in the world. There is such a huge age difference between him and his brothers that he spent many years searching for who he was. Was it following in his dad’s footsteps with football? Was it being a basketball star? Or was it simply just making sure he was Miss Kay’s true favorite son? He searched in all the wrong places which including drugs, alcohol, and porn. He was once engaged but it didn’t work out.
When Jep and Jess first encountered each other they were both smitten but each was at a low point in life both wanting to be loved and accepted. This is the story of how each of them came into their own, how they each realized they were worth it, and how they each found their true love and relationship with God. They had struggles in their own lives and their married lives. They had fears, let downs, ups, hope, and faith. Through it all they had the love and support of their friends and family. This isn’t a story about perfection or being up on a pedestal. The story was so raw, and they shared their most intimate successes and failures. As the reader I was able to see who they truly are, not just who we see in a 30 minute tv show. I appreciated their honesty, humor, and sincerity.
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