Mia Robertson Explains How She Uses Her Platform for God
By Movieguide® Contributor
Sadie Robertson Huff sat down with her uncle Jase and cousin Mia Robertson to discuss the difficulties that come with fame and how they focused on Christ amid Mia’s health challenges.
Jase explained how fame impacted Mia, who was born with a cleft lip and pallet.
“I always felt guilty because, you know, Mia, she was born with a cleft lip and pallet and she’s had multiple surgeries and she handled the process way more than Missy and I, but it’s tough when you’re a teenager. But I always felt real guilty [because] I’m like, she didn’t ask to be famous or be in the limelight,” Jase explained.
“And she was constantly, you know, physically changing and, you know, teenagers can be mean and I just thought, you know, we were partially responsible for putting her in the limelight,” he continued.
Because of this, Jase knew that he had to help Mia find her identity in Christ so she wouldn’t be swayed by the public perception of her. However, to truly teach his daughter how to live like that, Jase needed to root himself in Christ first.
Even still, Mia felt the impact of fame from a young age through the way people treated her at school.
Often, kids came up to her, wanting to be her friend. But they stopped hanging out with her once they realized she was a normal girl and wouldn’t make them famous. This treatment took a toll on Mia as she would question who she could trust.
Because of this, she overthought her public image and became extremely cautious about what she posted on social media. However, as her personal relationship with Christ developed, she grew more confident and began using her platform for His sake rather than her own.
“I was like, why don’t I just use my platform? There’s so many people now that literally…want this…they’re like, I want more followers, I want to get more likes. And I was like, I already have this. I should use it for good,” Mia explained.
“I posted my first post about Jesus, and it was a lengthy one, and I was like, I’m not even called to do this, like I’m not wise at all, like what is this,” she continued. “It was just like how I see Jesus in each one of my friends…and I got, I guess, shadow banned… [I] lost followers, likes got cut in half, and I was like, I don’t care as long as one person sees it, I don’t care.”
“So I guess ever since then, the shift I’ve seen it in myself, and it’s evident more…like how I type my post, it’s just like I can tell I would never have written that. I…didn’t want to acknowledge Jesus…I was kind of embarrassed. I didn’t want people to criticize me. [But now it’s] like, who cares, like they need to know this, so I think that’s the switch,” she added.
Mia also uses her platform to encourage others dealing with a similar condition to hers.
She opened up about her fifteenth surgery in an August Instagram post.
“Tomorrow was supposed to be my first day of my sophomore year of college, but the Lord had other plans,” she wrote. “Instead of waking up in my new dorm room, heading to my new classes, i’ll be heading into a month of pain and weakness. it’s times like these where i am reminded that God is above, beneath, before, and behind me. He’s got me. Why should I ever doubt that He doesn’t? He’s already protected me from 14 surgeries, what’s one more?”
Mia and her family started The Mia Moo Fund to help others with cleft lip and palate.
“The organization began in 2014 after Mia Robertson, daughter of Jase and Missy Robertson, completed surgery for her cleft palate. As Mia entered surgery, thousands of supportive fans tweeted, blogged and talked about how strong and beautiful she was. It was both empowering and inspiring. It has since become our mission to bring this type of support and love to each and every child that is affected by cleft lip and palate,” the website reads.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Jase Robertson’s 19-year-old daughter Mia recently appeared on her grandfather, Phil Robertson, and dad’s “Unashamed” podcast to update fans after a recent surgery.
“Mia was born in 2003 with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, and she underwent her first surgery to correct the cleft lip when she was just three months old. Over the next months and years, more surgeries ensued to correct her palate, lips and nasal passages, followed by bone graft surgeries to her jaw,” Taste of Country reported.
Her most recent surgery, her fifteenth, continued repair on her lip and cleft pallet and prevented her from moving into her dorm.
