Share This Episode
Focus on the Family Jim Daly Logo

Finding True Joy at Christmas

Focus on the Family / Jim Daly
The Truth Network Radio
December 25, 2024 2:00 am

Finding True Joy at Christmas

Focus on the Family / Jim Daly

On-Demand Podcasts NEW!

This broadcaster has 1281 podcast archives available on-demand.

Broadcaster's Links

Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.


December 25, 2024 2:00 am

Phil and Kay Robertson reminisce over some fun Christmas memories from the Duck Dynasty clan. Laugh along as Miss Kay talks about learning to cook (squirrels!) with her grandmother and Phil shares how he put out a fire that almost burned down their home. Your heart will be warmed with the Christmas spirit as they reflect on the true meaning of the season.

 

Receive Phil and Kay Robertson's book Exploring the Joy of Christmas and the audio download of the broadcast "Finding True Joy at Christmas" for your donation of any amount! Your Gift DOUBLES to Give Families Hope! Save 2X the marriages and families this Christmas with your life-changing gift today!

  

Get More Episode Resources 

 

If you've listened to any of our podcasts, please give us your feedback. 

COVERED TOPICS / TAGS (Click to Search)
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

So the circumstances were that I had just given my life to Christ after having been a runaway drug abuser, sexually abused, in and out of mental institutions with a single mom and kind of a distant father. Ann's life was a mess.

She didn't know the first thing about how to be a good wife or mother. So focus on the family was like manna to me. Every day I needed wisdom. I needed guidance. I needed the lessons and the teaching that came every day from 11 to 1130 into my kitchen. And I know today that my life has changed because of Focus on the Family.

I'm Jim Daly. Working together, we can give families hope and equip more parents like Ann. And thanks to a special match right now, any gift you send will be doubled. Call 800-AFAMILY or donate at focusonthefamily.com slash gift. Merry Christmas to you and welcome to a special holiday episode of Focus on the Family with Jim Daly.

I'm John Fuller. Well, my favorite time of year is Christmas and Christmas always brings to mind warm feelings of family get togethers and taking time off to relax and refresh and really concentrate on what this time of year means, the birth of Christ. We're celebrating the wonderful gift of God's Son, Jesus Christ, who came to save us all. John 3 16 is the heart of Christmas for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. And it's our prayer here on Christmas Day, amid all the presents and decorations and great food that you'll take time to celebrate as a family, the birth and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yeah. And we're so glad that you've allowed us to be part of your celebration festivities. Now, of course, Jim and I are at home with our families today, but this prerecorded show has some fun stories and humor from a very special family. They've become great friends to focus over the years.

Well, you may be familiar with Phil and Kay Robertson, the founders of the Duck Dynasty clan. And it was our great pleasure and honor to spend time in their home recently learning about their special family traditions and their bold faith for the Lord. And we had a lot of fun and laughter with them as well.

We did. And we talked about a book by the Robertsons. It's called Exploring the Joy of Christmas Stories, Recipes, Carols and More. And speaking of recipes, Jim, Phil and Kay have a few unusual items on their menu.

Yeah, not things I would want to eat knowingly. Well, go ahead, listen in with us. And Jim, here's how you began the conversation. Phil and Kay Robertson today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. When I watch Duck Dynasty, which I think I've seen just about every episode with my boys, cooking's a big part of your family, isn't it?

Miss Kay, you seem to be able to cook just about anything. Did you know how to do this when you got married or did you have to acquire the ability? When I was the memories of maybe four years old, I remember I stayed with my grandmother about half my life because my parents ran a store. We had a general store that we had in our family for like 75 years, you know, and they worked all the time.

So I was with my grandmother over half my life, you know, as a grown up, as I was growing up. And from the time I can remember, which is maybe four or five years old, I was in that kitchen with her. I was looking at recipe books and I remember having flour from one end of me to the other. And I remember just rolling the dough, rolling the dough, just doing all of those things. And that's where I got my passion and love for cooking. That sounds like fun though, rolling in that dough and powder.

And I've been rolling dough ever since. Now I got to ask you, really, I mean, cooking a squirrel. Yeah, that's right, everybody.

Some people just went, what? I mean, cooking a squirrel. One of the finest eating things on the earth is squirrels. What were you going to ask about cooking squirrels, Jim? I'm curious. Where'd you learn how to do that? Look, my daddy.

Do you fry it? Look, when I was a little girl, I held the legs and Phil knows what I'm talking about. For him to clean the squirrel when I was a little girl, little girl, and I did all that stuff with him. I learned how to pick birds and everything, which makes me kind of see why I chose who I chose because I already liked that stuff and did that stuff. And I liked the men that did that stuff. You see what I mean?

Oh, absolutely. You take squirrels and you clean them and cut the backs and the legs and get them all cut up. He cuts them up for me now. She fries them and then you pour the grease off and you add a can of French onion soup. Phil has several cans. Several cans.

However much you want to make. Because we have to get the pot here. French onion soup and cream of celery and you put that in there and cut that with water or chicken broth. You put that, after you fried the squirrels, you put the soup in there, add the water till you get the consistency right. Put it in the oven for about- In an iron skillet. Big iron skillet with a lid, you fried them, you have the soup in there, you have a gravy. You put them in there, you can throw four, five, six cloves of garlic in there and you put that in the oven and you cook that an hour and a half, two hours. Over two. Listen, if you tasted that a couple of hours, you put that over rice.

It is one of the finest- It really is. Even things on this planet. Okay, now I'm thinking today's Christmas day. New Year's is coming though. New Year's is coming. When you see this big unveil of what you think is going to be a turkey ends up being a squirrel.

That's not going to feed enough people. We don't eat that on Christmas day. I wonder if you think you'll try some squirrel to celebrate the season.

Well, I've had squirrel, but I'm not going to have it this time. The Robertsons really do take their Christian faith pretty seriously and that doesn't mean they don't have fun as well, of course. Here's a story that we heard about a special pageant at their church. Hey, I want to ask you now in your book, Exploring the Joy of Christmas, Phil, you had this thing where you dressed up like John the Baptist and it kind of scared the wee heegee beebies out of your kids.

What happened? Well, when he was in that play and he came in the back of the church and what he did was he hollered, he didn't even have a microphone, he put, repent ye, and he had the staff and all that. Look, all the babies climbed under the pews. Was this Christmas?

During Christmas? Yeah. And he started, repent. Yeah. I was just duplicating.

We did that one. John the Baptist raised his voice and he was hollering, repent, God can raise these stones up here. So I just went through what John the Baptist was saying. And I will have to admit- It was a whole story about Jesus, you know. He was a scary figure at that point.

And he was so good. Think about it, a guy just comes walking out of the wilderness and looking rougher than I do right now. I mean, camels hair, robbing beehives and running down on grasshoppers. You're like, boy, that dude. And he was the guy appointed by God to pave the way for the savior of the world. Just look how God works. Look at that.

Yeah. So I feel better about the way I look now because I think about John the Baptist. You're a bit of a John the Baptist, perhaps. That's what they've introduced in many speeches as the John the Baptist look alike. We take them to this river right down here, just like John did. So there you go.

That is cool. Well, this is Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. And today we're featuring Christmas stories from Phil and Kay Robertson, the founding members of Duck Dynasty. Now, every holiday season is unique. We know that, especially when the unexpected happens.

And that was true for the Robertson family. It was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for Grandpa Phil, who thought he smelled something funny. It was cold at wintertime. So I looked in my fireplace and I looked around and I said, well, this seems to be all right. So I go back in there and I crawl back in the bed.

Well, about 30 minutes later, I said, wait just a minute. I said, I'm still smelling that wood. I said, that's not fireplace smoke. It's a little different kind of smell to it. So I get up and I walk back in there with a flashlight and I'm and I have my flashlight and I'm looking at the front of that fireplace.

It's dark. And there's a seam where the fireplace came out the concrete part where it hit the wooden floor. And I looked right there and I saw a little wisp of smoke and I said, hmm. So I go over here and I get a bottle of these, this spring water, and I just poured some out in a container. I walked over there and I poured that water in that seam. I just started right there where my floor hit the concrete and the fireplace.

I poured some water in there and it went just boil like that. So I'm looking down and I said, that's not right. I said, all my grandkids were asleep in here.

Alan, Alan's family spent the night. All my grandkids were in there. So I looked around in the living room here and I thought, this seems to be a lot of smoke in here. So I got up under the house and my flashlight. So I turned it off and I'm just looking back up toward my fireplace and I saw a red glow coming down in the house up under there. Well, I also noticed that there was smoke about hanging from the bottom of my floor. I got that flashlight and it was just a layer of smoke, like a cloud bank right up there on those joists and I thought, this thing's on fire back in there.

That's crazy. So I get up, you know, and I get a hold of old Burley, my neighbor, I said, bring a chainsaw and a sledgehammer and get over here fast as you can. He said, what? What time is it? It's three thirty in the morning.

Three thirty five. Okay. That's a good neighbor. I said, bring a sledgehammer and a chainsaw. So he comes running over here. And Alan's up. We got all everybody up then. And I ascertained that the fire has gotten to our floor and it's working its way this way and it just smoldering, ready to go. And I thought, so I took that sledgehammer, he took the chainsaw, started cutting up under there.

We're going to try to do that. And I said, we can't do it. I said, I got to get in there on the fireplace.

I took a sledgehammer. And now everybody's up. And we've already called the fire department. Get all the kids up. Call the fire department. You see how far out.

It takes a while to get here. I'm standing there with a sledgehammer like this. And I said, Miss Kay, that new fireplace, we're fixed to do away with it right here. So I had two guys with five gallons of water each. And I just came from here and I came down on that concrete and I just started breaking it. When I started breaking it, we could see them coals, that floor itself was, and they started pouring the water on as I was beating it.

So I just beat me and gassed out a big hole, broke all that. I mean, I tore the floor up and I'm just moving back and they're keep pouring the water. You know what the grandkids are doing? They're over there picking out their Christmas presents as fast as they can do. Get your Christmas presents. They had the priorities, right?

Yeah. They're going, let's save the Christmas presents. Fire department pulls up. They walk in and they look back there after I poured all the water and broken all the concrete coming out and boards and all that. It was just a pile of charred stuff and we wet it all down. The guy looks at it, the fire guy, and he said, who did that? And I said, that'd be me.

He said, that's exactly what you had to do to put that fire out. Wow. Well, we hope you're enjoying this Christmas episode of Focus on the Family with Jim Daly.

I'm John Fuller and today's some pretty incredible stories from Phil and Kay Robertson, better known in the Duck Dynasty family as Pa Pa Phil and Miss Kay. And you can find a lot more great content in their book, Exploring the Joy of Christmas. And get a copy today.

So you'll have it next year. We've got it here at the ministry and we've got details in the show notes. Well, so far we've heard some pretty crazy stuff like how to cook a squirrel. I think I could do maybe squirrel tacos.

Sure. And how Pa Pa Phil dressed up as a scary John the Baptist. He would make a scary John the Baptist and of course their Christmas fire. And if you missed any of that, get the download from us or look for this episode on YouTube or better yet, download the Focus on the Family app so you can access this great content whenever you want to.

That's a great idea. And now as we continue today's Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, you'll hear more from Phil and Kay Robertson as they reflect on how all of us can reach out more intentionally and help others, especially the less fortunate during the holiday season. I talk to women myself, you know, that have a hard time with everything like that. The different homes, they go to so many different because of so many different, you know, things that have happened in the family and all that. And, you know, that's just circumstances of times and things that's happened to them, you know.

But the thing about it is I try to tell them, look, your kids are looking at you. So you have got to find joy in even the hardest of circumstances. And you know, I love it because even we can find ways always to help people. You know, we did a thing last year where some of my girls I work with, we just it had their coldest night we ever had during the Christmas season. And you know, we took out blankets to people, you know, just gave blankets to them and things like that. And gloves and hats and stuff like that.

We just, we got the money and well, I donated the money, to tell you the truth. But what we did was to have those girls do that and give all these things right there at the joy time of year. But there's so many people that don't even have simple things.

And maybe some of it is because they've caused trouble to, you know, with the lifestyle they lived and they don't have it. But those children, they still deserve having, you know, something or even somebody just to talk to them and care about them and all that. And I love that part of what we do at that time. It's beautiful. I mean, that is the Christmas spirit, isn't it?

Oh, it really is. To be joyful. We came to some homes and it was freezing cold and the kids were outside barefooted. And I was like, where's your mama?

And they'll say, well, she's asleep and I can't get her to wake up. And I told them, I said, well, I brought you, we brought you, all of my girls would give them out the blankets and, you know, mittens and things. And I said, I wish I'd have brought some shoes, but here's the deal, you're going to get sick. So I know you have shoes. And so I'll be like your mom today and tell you, put your shoes and socks on. It's cold, you know, get in there, get in there.

And you know, there's just circumstances like that, but we need to be out and about not just about us. Now, what a good reminder from Miss Kay Robertson about turning the focus off of ourselves this Christmas and finding ways to reach out and extend God's love to others. And of course, the best way to celebrate Christmas every year is to keep that focus on Jesus Christ. Think about what He came to do and how He transformed the world and our lives forever.

And Phil Robertson has some more thoughts about that. Look at the ramifications of John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him, all things were made. In Him was life.

The life shines in the darkness, but the darkness is not understood. You drop down to verse 14 and it says, the Word became flesh. So when God chose to enter the world via a human mother dating all the way back to Genesis 3, when man fell, the seed of a woman will crush Satan, 5,400 years goes by and here's God in flesh.

We call it Christmas. Every year before He got here, you call those the years before He got here and all the years once He arrived via a human mother, you say, A.D., Anno Domini, year of our Lord. We literally, and the world, look at how that one event, He was able to bring the world together and count time by what He did right there.

Well, you just look at it, you say, the effect was far reaching. Christ, mass, worship, mass, Christmas, Christmas, you're like, Christ, worship. You just look at the impact that's had for good on the earth and just think about if that had never occurred, if that had never happened and there were no Jesus, I don't know what we would count time by.

We would have our own little, some kind of calendar based on the moon, no telling what, but you say all the calendars change once God became flesh. It's an amazing thing. It's very amazing. I mean, the ramifications of that are still with us here today, which is pretty amazing. Therefore, when we all get together, it's a remembrance almost on the same par as the Lord's Supper when we remember the blood of Jesus that moved our sin and the body that was given for us. It was nailed to the cross.

It's almost like that around this neck of the woods anyway. This is Focus on the Family with Jim Daly and we're featuring holiday memories and spiritual insights from Phil and Kay Robertson. They wrote a wonderful book called Exploring the Joy of Christmas. Let me ask you about contentment.

I mean, this is Christmas time. Contentment is such an important aspect of the Christian life. You guys have come from, well, Phil, as your childhood, you know, being poor and Ms. Kay, you grew up in a family that had a grocery store. You kind of had a lot comparatively, but even in that context, you hit this big show, but you guys are still living pretty much the life you did before in many ways. How do you get that contentment and you don't?

Because you look for it, not in material things. That's what you do and that's where we're really messed up in our society today. How have you practically maintained that center of gravity to say, okay, we're not going to be like everybody else that becomes famous and we're not going to treat people rudely.

We came from a different time and I don't forget my roots and he didn't forget his either. I think if you work with enough individuals, you begin to take away from your counsel with them. You begin to say a lot of humanity, they don't have, rightfully so, that rarest of commodities which is peace of mind. You say peace of mind. In America especially, you say whatever happened to peace of mind?

Because if you're not content with what you have, not content despite the circumstances, if you're angry and you don't know why, if your problem is you don't know what your problem is, that's your problem. You say you're never going to get peace of mind. Only God provides that, only God.

You read these texts, the peace that surpasses all understanding. You can be dirt poor but you're just a smile on your face, it doesn't bother you. That's a hard thing to come by in America. They scramble and they think somehow if they get rich or famous, they will have achieved something. What they fail to understand is all the money any of us ever acquire, you say, can it remove your sin, all that money?

You're like, unfortunately no. You say, well all the fame one ever gets, maybe that'll help him with the grave. No, all the fame you ever get, it can't raise you from the dead. So when you look at it, you say, well if money and fame can't remove your sin or raise you from the dead, I better major my way off planet earth alive here. My sins removed and the resurrection of the dead, you're like, you better major and camp out right there because I know of no other possibility to get us off planet earth.

I love that simplicity, Phil. If someone has a better story, I'm like, well I'm all ears, what is it? And so far I've not heard a person stand up and say, I've got a better story that deals with the sins of the world and the resurrection of the dead. I say, well what is it?

Nobody has one. Phil and Kay Robertson experienced a dramatic conversion to Christ years ago and it's given them a passion for introducing others to God's love, especially during this Christmas season. So the centerpiece of one's thinking should be, especially godly people, look you're a child of the resurrection for crying out loud, calm down, enjoy it. I mean, tell others about it, I mean, so we've been given everything.

Everything is so good and on Christmas day, this is what we need to know. And I want to tell you something for somebody that doesn't know Christ, they're just on like a spinning wheel. They're not going anywhere and they keep wondering what's wrong and it's never too late.

It's never too late. Our preacher up there where he is, his father came to Christ and wasn't he like 70 or something like that? 70 years old. He came to Christ. He went to church all his life, but guess what?

He never gave his life to Christ. A guy pulled up here a few months ago, he was in a wheelchair, his healthcare professional was with him and I walked around after he was in the car and I told him, I said, so someone told me you want me to baptize you in the river and he said, I came down here Mr. Robertson because I knew you would. I said, let me, he said, but they told me, but you know, they couldn't do it because it's in the wheelchair.

I said, let me tell you something, dude. We're going to get on both sides of that wheelchair and we're going to baptize you and the wheelchair and we will bring you up out of there. He said, that's why I came.

The man was about 89 years old. My goodness. But listen, we got back down to the river and I had a couple of my brothers rolling down the boat dock down there, you know, we got him out there and got him all situated and I said, Jesus said, go make disciples and baptize them.

We're going to do it. And so look down, he went in the wheelchair and we come up with him. He thanked me.

I saw him the next Sunday morning now. Oh man. But you know, I said, you know what? That's what he wants. That's what we're going to do. Right.

It's never too late. To Ms. Kay's point. This has been terrific. Phil Robertson, Kay Robertson, thank you so much for being with us.

I could talk to you all the time. I love that. What a warm conversation we enjoyed on today's episode of Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. We hope you enjoyed hearing from our guests, Phil and Kay Robertson, and all about their wonderful Christmas stories. What a perfect place to end hearing about the spiritual birth of a brand new Christian. Because as we've shared several times today, Christmas is centered on our relationship with Jesus Christ.

That's what it's about. It's not about the presents or the decorations or anything else that might distract us from that central message. I mean, it's great to enjoy all the festivities and I think the Lord appreciates that, that we can have that festive sense around the Christmas season, but we need to move beyond the baby in a manger and connect with our living, loving Savior who died and rose again so that we could be forgiven and embrace the gift of eternal life, being with God forever.

It doesn't get better than that. And that's why we celebrate and that's why Focus on the Family is here, to bring God's good news message to you and your family. And I think the Robertsons did a masterful job of pointing us to the centrality of Christ and the importance of this time of year. We so appreciate their Christian witness and their emphasis in today's culture, especially on strong family values. Yeah, we do, John. And you know, when you spend any time with this family, the number one thing that they talk about is Jesus. Yeah. I mean, I remember the first time meeting Phil going into the living room, which is on the other end of the kitchen of their little house.

And you know, he's sitting next to the fire in his camouflage chair. And I walked up and just began to talk with him and he just went right to scripture. And you know, recently we've heard the news about the diagnosis for Phil and that's dementia. And you know, that's just a tough road ahead for the family, certainly for Phil. And I talked to Al, his firstborn son the other day, the one I'm closest with to the family.

And obviously he and his wife Lisa would appreciate everybody's prayers for Phil and Kay, for the family. And, you know, it's just that next stage of what sometimes will happen in this life. You know, difficult things come.

It is irrespective of money, of position, of status. These things hit each and every one of us in different ways. So let's remember to pray for the Robertson family. They're going to need God's peace and his comfort through these difficult days ahead. The good news is God's grace is sufficient.

Absolutely. And thinking back through the show today, we do have the book by Phil and Kay called Exploring the Joy of Christmas. And it's a terrific resource. Get a copy of this when you make a donation of any amount to the Ministry of Focus on the Family. Support this show and the work that we're doing as an organization to reach out and encourage people in so many ways, especially to introduce them to the Savior. Make a donation and get that book.

We've got the link in the show notes. Well, thanks again for inviting us into your Christmas Day and plan to join us again tomorrow as we have Curtis Chang sharing about common misconceptions regarding anxiety. But when you engage that with this idea, this paradigm, this framework that says anxiety is solely a problem to go away, you go down a path that actually makes anxiety worse. Thanks for listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I'm John Fuller inviting you back next time as we once again help you and your family thrive in Christ. Your marriage can be redeemed, even if the fights seem constant, even if there's been an affair, even if you haven't felt close in years. No matter how deep the wounds are, you can take a step toward healing them with a hope restored marriage intensive. Our biblically based counseling will help you find the root of your problems and face challenges together. We'll talk with you, pray with you, and help you find out which program will work best. Call us at 1-866-875-2915.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-12-25 08:39:16 / 2024-12-25 08:51:12 / 12

Get The Truth Mobile App and Listen to your Favorite Station Anytime