Read Online Live Original (Sadie Robertson) by Sadie Robertson - Free Book Online Page A

Dynasty , they have no idea what a strong person she is, how hard she has worked all of her life, or how much she has been through. They do not know she has faith like a rock and that if she believes in something and starts praying about it, she will not let it go until she gets her answer. But she doesn’t just pray; she gets busy doing everything she can to fix her problem. She does not sit around and wait on God to do everything for her; she does all she can to help herself.
    Mamaw Kay has always been this way, I guess. She has definitely been like this for as long as I have known her. I have heard enough to know there was a time in her life when she could not fix anything or anyone who really mattered to her. All she could do was take responsibility for herself and work hard to make her life better. Here’s the story.
    For as far back as she can remember, Mamaw Kay dreamed about having a “pioneer man” for a husband, a happy marriage, and a loving family. But her life did not turn out that way, at least not at first. Early in their marriage, Papaw Phil was definitely a pioneer man, but he was also really wild and he did not treat Mamaw Kay well. I’m not talking about a little partying for a little while; I’m talking about some things that really hurt Mamaw Kay and madeher life really hard for ten years. She could not do anything about him or his choices; she had to take responsibility and do what she could to make it through a very hard time and to grow in the middle of it.
    No matter how bad things got, even when Papaw Phil was not around, Mamaw Kay kept herself and her boys (my uncles Alan and Jase, and my dad) going. She did not let her troubles steal her dream or keep her down. One time, she even worked at a chicken place just to make enough money to pay her rent and utilities. With every job she had, she was a dependable hard worker, and she kept learning new skills so she could get better jobs.
    Mamaw Kay’s grandmother, who would have been my great-great-grandmother, told her one time, “You have to fight for your marriage.” Mamaw Kay never forgot that. The harder things got with Papaw Phil, the harder she fought and the more she took responsibility for herself and her boys. She could have let herself have all kinds of problems and blamed Papaw Phil for them. I think a lot of people did blame him, but she did not. I won’t go into detail about this story because Mamaw Kay does that in the book The Women of Duck Commander , where she writes a lot about what she had to do to survive during that time. She worked hard to keep her dream alive when everyone around her told her to give it up. She owned her decision to marry Papaw Phil and did everything she could do to help herself, while she prayed for God to help her too.
    For years, Mamaw Kay kept that dream in her heart all alone, with no one to encourage her or help her very much. She had to help herself. She was the only person who believed Papaw Phil could change, and when he did, he changed totally . Now Mamaw Kay does have the strong, happy, loving family she always wanted—and people all over the world tell her they wish they had a familylike hers. Her dream took years to come true, but she fought for it and prayed for it until it happened.
    If I ever find myself in a problem I think is someone else’s fault and feel tempted to blame them, all I have to do is think about Mamaw Kay. I remember that she refused to blame Papaw Phil even for problems he did create; she just found ways to do what she needed to do to get through them. Getting to her dream was not easy, and it took a lot of years and a lot of effort, but she got there. She says the relationships she has now with Papaw Phil and her family have been worth everything she went through, and she has taught me through her example that I cannot control what other people do, but I can control the way I respond.
    HOW TO BECOME YOUR BEST YOU
    It’s one thing to tell ourselves, “I can only fix