HGTV Stars Encourage Us to ‘Step Out’ to Follow Jesus’ Call
By Movieguide® Contributor
HGTV stars Ben and Cristi Dozier are encouraging people to get out of their comfort zones and trust in God’s love.
The couple recently spoke at Liberty University, sharing the stories of their early lives. Both came from complicated home lives — Ben’s father abandoned his mother when he found out she was pregnant, and Cristi’s dad left the family when she was a teenager.
“In the middle of grieving my dad leaving, my mom was invited to a small Bible church, and in time I joined her and walked into a youth group where I met this guy named Ben,” Cristi shared. “[Our] stories collided in that moment.”
She continued, “He was in that youth group because his dad had walked back into his life, and I was in that youth group room because my dad had just walked out of mine. But both of us were learning more about a father and how to cling to a father who would never leave, how to trust in a father who tells us we’re chosen, and how to be in front and accepted by a father who we don’t have to be ‘just so’ in front of, because we’re accepted just as we are.”
Ben and Cristi have spoken about their faith and the role it plays in their lives before.
READ MORE: HGTV STARS BEN AND CHRISTI DOZIER ‘PRAY’ THROUGH HARD DAYS
The couple then spoke about their life together and how much of it has been moments where they had to “step into the unknown.”
“Coming from broken homes, we didn’t know how to do marriage,” Cristi explained. “We knew exactly what it looked like to leave when things got hard, but we didn’t know what it looked like to stay.”
She added that the couple also didn’t know what it “looked like to be parents” or “to step out and start our own businesses.”
“But we dreamed about it, and we had to step out and take action to start,” Cristi concluded.
The Doziers run Root Design, which includes “all aspects of home design, boutique commercial projects, destination property development, and brand conception,” per their website. They also opened a coffee shop and became the stars of HGTV’s BUILDING ROOTS.
Ben explained, “[We need] to get outside our comfort zones, to get outside our conveniences. I believe we live in a comfort crisis today…I don’t believe Jesus was comfortable. He couldn’t walk past the lame man and not heal him…He knew his calling. He was content with that. He knew his purpose, his passion. But he was never comfortable.”
“So, our call today to you guys is to lace up your shoes, lace up your hiking boots, and run into that wilderness like Jesus did, and stand on the edge of that cliff,” he finished.
The Doziers celebrated their talk at Liberty University in an Instagram post, writing, “Well… that was scary fun. An invitation from @libertyuniversity to do something we haven’t done before, on stage, telling a better story. A lot different than behind the cameras, but God is good, and so are the folks we got to hang with this week. Thank you LU! It’s not only about what we build, but who we build up!”
