Foreword

SHORTLY AFTER MY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY, I made a declaration that I would be a single man for the rest of my life. That was it! No more dating for me. The vow of lifelong celibacy was in response to my latest dating relationship gone awry. A few days later, I picked up Missy at her house so we could attend a football game at her high school. We didn’t view this as a “date” since we had both recently gotten out of relationships. I decided to make an exception to my new vow because I knew she was a young woman of faith in God, and her stunning beauty was impossible to overlook. She quickly became my best friend, and nearly three years later she would become my wife and lifelong partner.

I was so happy when she actually said “I do.” Despite our physical attraction to each other while we were engaged, we decided to focus our relationship on our mutual faith in God and remain pure until marriage. The spiritual foundation we laid for our life together was based on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These qualities are known as the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who we believe exists in our hearts.

Since we’d waited, our wedding night was all the sweeter. Missy and I decided to wait a while before we had kids so we could continue building a strong foundation for our future family. Being together made us both happy—or as my dad would say, “happy, happy, happy.” That’s happiness with a double dose of validation.

In our nearly twenty-five years of marriage, we have been blessed, blessed . . . blessed with three wonderful kids who we believe are gifts from God. To me, the meaning of the word blessed is similar to the definition of happiness but goes even deeper, reflecting a joy that comes from a divine origin. There are times when blessings from God are difficult to recognize because we cannot see the world through God’s eyes, and we’re unable to understand all of His ways. But God asks us to remain faithful to Him and wait until the blessing becomes apparent. Missy and I are not ashamed of our faith in God and welcome every opportunity to share it with others.

Mia is our third child, and from the time we could see her in Missy’s womb, we knew her life would be filled with special challenges. I vividly remember how she struggled to breathe when she was born. When she was being whisked away to intensive care, my first thought was, Please, God, let her live! And she did! That day I made a promise to Mia in my heart that I was going to help her in every way possible.

For the most part, this book is about the dot, dot, dot in Blessed, Blessed . . . Blessed. Missy has been an incredible mother during Mia’s journey and has helped me deal with the “new normal” in our family multiple times throughout this difficult process. Missy is the most qualified person I know to recount Mia’s courageous marathon with her cleft lip and palate because Missy has been just as brave throughout this ordeal.

People often ask me, “How’s Mia?” I usually answer “good” no matter what procedure she is facing, but in my mind I’m thinking, It’s complicated! Most people think that cleft lip and palate is merely a cosmetic issue that can be quickly fixed. In fact, that was my initial mind-set too, thinking, My daughter has a problem. Let’s fix it and move on. If only it could be that simple. The harsh reality is that kids like Mia have surgeries and procedures to aid their speech, eating, and breathing the entire time they are growing. In severe cases, where there is no medical care available, a person could have difficulty speaking and extreme discomfort when trying to eat or breathe; in some instances, it could be life threatening. I’ll admit that a general lack of understanding about Mia’s condition has generated comments that can be frustrating. However, being from a family of talkers and ramblers, I am used to hearing a few dumb statements made with the best intentions, coming from sincere people.

We are extremely grateful that Mia’s condition is being managed by some of the most talented doctors in the world. I’ve observed the compassion of these professionals who attend to cosmetic needs while also relieving suffering—giving kids reasons to smile and in some cases saving lives. We have been blessed by the encouragement of our family, friends, and the expertise of Mia’s medical team.

Most important, our family believes that God doesn’t make mistakes. He determines each and every detail of our lives. There is an interesting story in the Bible in John 9. Jesus and his disciples are walking together and encounter a man who was born blind. The disciples ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (verse 2). “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (verse 3, emphasis added). I know that “the works of God” are being displayed in Mia’s life and are impacting people every day.

There is always a spiritual response to the things that happen to us physically. Jesus offers a new normal, if we have accepted Him, through His grace. A transformation occurs from the inside out through the Holy Spirit.

As the years have gone by, I’ve realized how Mia has helped me to grow spiritually. I have seen firsthand how she lives out Romans 5:3-5. The physical suffering Mia has experienced has produced in her incredible perseverance, character, and hope.

In Romans 5:6-8, the apostle Paul reveals the person who has suffered the most for all of us—Jesus Christ died. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (verse 8). It is the ultimate expression of God’s love, a gift freely offered to you and to me.

Mia has handled her challenges much better than the rest of us. I believe it is difficult to live with circumstances that you have very little control over, but she seems to do it with lots of laughs and a zesty personality that people are drawn to. When innocent people suffer, it motivates the rest of us to stop complaining and start living unselfishly. Those who display courage inspire us to live life to the fullest. May you be encouraged through Mia’s journey.

Thank you, Missy, for all you do for our family and also for writing this book. Without you I could not be me—but God knew that, didn’t He?

I love you.

Jase Robertson