The Women of Duck Commander (27 page)

WE’RE HAPPY NO MATTER WHAT

Jessica

I appreciate the fact that
Duck Dynasty
gives our entire family a chance to show the world who we are. When people ask me what makes us Robertsons the kind of family we are or what we do in order to have the kind of family life we enjoy, I have two words: “Robertsons love.” That’s the bottom line. To me, the best thing about the limelight and the exposure we have is that we get to present to the world the love we have for God and the love we have for one another. We also get to do a lot of good, whether that means calling attention to a good cause, donating money to charity (we have done events and given all the proceeds to charity), or just taking the opportunity to share love and kindness with the world. We have not always had those opportunities, and we are blessed to have them now.

When I think about what it means to enjoy some celebrity status and about how
Duck Dynasty
has changed our lives, I also have
to think about how it has not changed us. For one thing, we are still the same happy, loving people we have always been. Jep and I have always found our joy in God and in our family. We have never been impressed by fame or fortune, and we still aren’t.

By the time Jep came into the Robertson family, some of Phil and Miss Kay’s major financial challenges were behind them. While Alan, Jase, and Willie remember times when their family struggled to buy groceries, Jep remembers that Miss Kay bought him a new G.I. Joe almost every time one came out. My upbringing was similar. Our family always had enough, and we took care of our belongings. I remember, as a fifth or sixth grader, when my parents bought us a trampoline. I thought we were
rich
. For all I knew, it might as well have been a yacht! I share those stories to make the point that Jep and I have always felt taken care of; we did not feel we lacked anything we needed. Now we want our children to feel the same way—whether or not we are on television, whether we have $500 in our checking account or $50,000.

T
EACHING
O
UR
C
HILDREN

Children today face temptations that Jep and I never encountered. Technology alone has totally changed the way many children think about money and possessions. While I grew up having to save my money for something like a new bicycle and knowing I would not get another one for several more years, a lot of children we know have the latest electronics handed to them and then get new ones as soon as updates are available. We try hard to help our children
understand what it means to earn their own money and make their own purchases and to appreciate and take care of what they have. We want them to realize they do not need the latest, greatest gadget. I did not even have a cell phone until I met Jep. I use my phone and laptop for many purposes, but I have no need to upgrade them every time I turn around.

I could hardly believe my ears the day one of our children told me we needed more square footage in our home. I didn’t know she had ever even heard of square footage! Apparently, someone at school had been talking about moving into a larger house, and our daughter thought we should do the same. I said to her, “You know what? I am glad that family can have a bigger home, but square footage or having the biggest and best of anything does not make anyone happy. I’m happy. All my children are healthy; we have a nice home and food on our table. All our needs are met. We have a peaceful, happy life. We don’t fight. And we’re all together. If we get a bigger house someday, that would be great. But if we don’t, I will still be the same happy person I am right here in this house. Having my dream house, a new car, or the nicest clothes will not make or break my happiness.” I think she got the message!

Joy does not come from what we have; it comes from knowing God. And God has blessed our family with so many gifts no amount of money could ever buy. I was content when Jep and I hardly had anything at all, and I am just as content now. We can truly say we are rich in love, and that is what matters most to us. It’s more important for us to raise our children knowing Jesus Christ than it is to be wealthy from the world’s perspective.

K
EEPING
O
UR
B
ALANCE

Jep and I are determined to stay happy and balanced, no matter what happens in our lives. Like everyone involved in
Duck Dynasty
, we had to make major adjustments to our schedule when it started. We suddenly had to squeeze filming, travel, speaking engagements, and other live appearances into an already busy life with four young children. The filming alone takes much longer than most people think. Even filming the short dinner scenes at the end of most of the episodes often takes one and a half to two hours. We have to add to that the time it takes for hair and makeup, which we do every time we film anything. And sometimes, the dinner scene is not filmed at a normal mealtime, so that throws off our schedules a little, but at least we can enjoy time with our family and have a good meal.

When
Duck Dynasty
started, Jep and I learned quickly we would have to monitor our lives closely and set firm boundaries in order to keep time from getting away from us and to keep ourselves from getting worn down. It did not take long for us to see how fast the scales of our lives could tip out of balance, causing us to feel burned out and empty. For me, especially, the travel can be grueling. Sometimes, when I’m on the road, I can get so tired and miss my kids so much that I want to cry. Every so often our priorities get out of balance, and we have to stop and get everything back in order. The great thing is that Jep and I are on the same page, whether the issue is raising the
kids or our views on life in general. When I overextend myself, he can see it and he will let me know. I do the same for him, because we love each other and are on the same team; we are helpmates to each other.

Prayer is a big part of our lives, and Jep and I pray regularly about our commitments and our schedules. Is it important to be paid for a television show so we can have nice things? It’s not nearly as important as providing our children with happy childhoods and not being so exhausted that we won’t remember this time in our lives ten or twenty years from now. God blessed Jep and me with four sweet children, and it is our responsibility to teach them how to grow to be godly people, to make the right choices in life, and to treat others well. We continually ask ourselves what is most important in our lives. We realize our children are the youngest of the Robertson grandchildren, which means they might possibly spend more of their lives in the spotlight, starting at younger ages, than their cousins. We do not want them, or ourselves, to lose anything that is truly valuable in life just because we are on TV.

M
AKING
W
ISE
C
HOICES

One thing we have had to be very diligent about is teaching our children to choose their friends wisely. Our children have experienced a few instances in which others have been nice to them because of their last name. One of our daughters, Lily, is very shy when she is not around family. She did not have many friends during her first few years in school, but when
Duck Dynasty
started, she suddenly got a flood of invitations to do things with other children. We
cannot judge anyone’s intentions, but we did notice the dramatic increase in people who wanted to be her friend. We wanted to make sure the people who reached out to her were truly interested in
her
, not in anything else.

In helping our children choose good friends, we have taught them to pay attention to the way people treat others as much as they pay attention to the way people treat them. We have encouraged them to see whether the children who want to be their friends treat their teachers with respect and whether they are nice and kind to everyone. We have taught them to notice whether other children obey their parents, teachers, and others in authority. These are important values to us, and we want our children to choose friends who share them.

We have laughed at times because once
Duck Dynasty
went on the air, little boys started liking our daughter Merritt—who is nine years old at the time of this writing. She is a cute little girl, so I can understand this, but it could also be that they just want to meet Jep. Either way, it’s cute! We might be a little concerned if she were really into boys, but she’s not into them right now, thank the Lord!

We felt good about our youngest daughter, Priscilla, one day when we heard that Willie asked her, teasingly, “Do you want to be a TV star when you grow up?” She looked at him and answered humbly but matter-of-factly, “I already
am
a TV star.” It was almost as if she were thinking,
Been there, done that. What’s next?
At this point, she is unfazed by the whole television situation. It’s part of her life, but it’s not her whole life.

Our son, River, is the youngest member of the family and was only two years old when we started filming
Duck Dynasty
. He may
get a few things other little boys do not have, and he will likely have some opportunities others may not, but Jep and I do not want him to have anything handed to him. We want him to know what it means to work hard and save and wait for what he wants. Our job as parents is to teach him those lessons.

G
ENERATIONAL
L
ESSONS

When Jep was very young, his parents taught him the same kinds of lessons we want our children to learn. He tells a story about a time when he was a little boy and went with Miss Kay to take food to someone who lived in an underprivileged neighborhood. The person could not afford a very nice house and none of the interior rooms had doors; they only had sheets hanging from the door frames. When Jep walked in, he said, “I love this! No doors!” Then he went flying through the sheets pretending to be a superhero.

Jep did not see the person’s lack. He saw something fun. He saw value in what some people would have viewed as a deficiency. He is still that way, and I try to be too. My grandparents have never had a lot, materially speaking, but they have worked hard all their lives, and they are wonderful people whom I dearly love and am so close to. Jep and I make a concentrated effort not to pay attention to economic differences, even when they are very obvious. We want to value and appreciate each person we come in contact with, and we want to teach our children to do the same.

I still remember when Jep and I spent our weekends at outdoor shows, selling duck calls to make extra money. Even in those days,
people lined up to get Phil’s autograph. Now people ask
us
for our autographs, and sometimes we can hardly believe it.

Being in the limelight has brought us both blessings and challenges, but if we lose everything tomorrow, we will still be happy. We can be confident of that because we were happy before we had it. We believe that the more we have, the more we can share, and that’s what we are determined to do.

Of course, the television show has made some things easier. We still live in the same house we have lived in for years, but we did finally get a new vehicle. I am still a serious bargain shopper, and I still go through the clearance racks, but we can now afford a few more groceries, and we can have people over to our house more often. We can definitely serve people more effectively and meet more of the needs around us. We do not have as much time as we used to, but we make the most of what we do have. I am diligent about being at home with the kids in the afternoons, and we still make a priority of family time together. In the end, that is what’s important to us and that’s what we most want to preserve.

29

GREAT REWARDS

Korie

I married Willie thinking he was clean-cut and preppy. When we got married, he had short hair and no beard. And he did not dip. He was the “city boy” among the Robertson men. On the other hand, Jase was outdoorsy. He spent his time in the woods or on the river—hunting, fishing, catching frogs, or doing other things connected to outdoor life—like Phil. The Willie I married was headed in a totally different direction from Phil and Jase. He wanted to do his own thing, chart his own course. If I could only tell you about all the businesses Willie has dreamed of starting, all the jobs he was going to have, from professional golfer to karaoke deejay! Willie has always thought big. He has also always enjoyed hunting, but early in our marriage he thought he would do something different from his dad. I had no idea that all these years later, he would become so much like Phil he would practically turn into his dad and that our
family would appear each week on a television show centered around duck calls and hunting.