Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Blessed, Blessed... Blessed: The Untold Story of Our Family's Fight to Love Hard, Stay Strong, and Keep the Faith When Life Can't be Fixed by Missy Robertson with Beth Clark | Book Review

Blessed, Blessed ... Blessed: The Untold Story of Our Family's Fight to Love Hard, Stay Strong, and Keep the Faith When Life Can't Be Fixed

Blessed, Blessed... Blessed is the story of Missy and Jase Robertson, and their special needs daughter, told in their own words.  I was first introduced to Missy and Jase on the show Duck Dynasty.  (Great show, if you haven't seen it before!)  I knew from the show that their daughter had been born with a cleft palate, but to be honest I hadn't thought much about it.  I thought that babies born with cleft palate had surgery when they were young and were "fixed."  I had no clue until I read Blessed, Blessed... Blessed how much of a process it is.  At the end of the book Mia (the daughter) had her fourth big surgery at age 10... and it might not even be her last.  In between the surgeries there were still lots and lots of treatments, and some of them had to be administered by Missy.  The Robertsons were able to secure top-notch treatment for Mia, but it meant driving five hours each way to Dallas, Texas for those treatments, and paying out of pocket since their insurance didn't cover it.

So this was not the story that I was expecting when I picked up Blessed, Blessed... Blessed!  It ended up being a true page-turner to me, but I did go into it expecting something more lighthearted, like the other Duck Dynasty books.  I was fascinated by the Robertson family's strength in the face of adversity.  Even young Mia never seems to balk at the treatments or get down about how she looks different from other kids her age.  A lot of celebrity memoirs are kind of sub-par in writing, but the Duck Dynasty books continue to impress me.  I think Beth Clark has helped with the writing in most of them, and she's good!  Even though I knew in the back of my mind that the Robertsons are doing quite well now, I still felt a connection to Missy.  I felt like we could grab a cup of coffee and chat and it wouldn't be weird.  I appreciate that the family is always very open about their deep faith in their books too.  They don't shove it in your face; it's worked into the story.  

Overall, this is a great book.  You'll cheer for Mia and her family the whole way!

*I checked out my copy of Blessed, Blessed... Blessed from my local library.

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