Heart to Heart with Audrey Roloff

Audrey Roloff is an Oregon native who has a love for running and an even bigger heart for Jesus. She stars along side her husband Jeremy in the hit show Little People Big World on TLC. Both Jeremy and Audrey speak candidly often on their show about Christ and the impact their relationship with Christ has on their marriage.  Audrey and Jeremy are passionate about having an above average  marriage and having Christ as the center. We had the privilege of talking with Audrey more in depth about relationships, Christ, marriage, Beating 50 Percent and her own website Aujpoj. Check out the amazing advice from Audrey.

1. How did you come to know Christ as your personal Savior?
I was raised in an amazing Christian home with wonderful parents who always encouraged me in my walk with Christ. I never had a real clear moment of acceptance, but it was rather a gradual transformation into the likeness of Christ. I was baptized at nine years old. I really starting making my faith my own when I was in middle school. My friend Kelsey and I loved sharing Jesus to our friends. We actually had many friends come to know Christ. God was really working in my friend group. In high school, I got involved in young life and my walk with Christ sharpened each year. My friends also pushed me to grow closer to God.  I am so thankful God provided me with amazing friends like Kelsey who I am still friends with until this very day.

2. What advice would you give to young women in regards to their identity?
The advice I would give young women would be to start putting your identity in Christ at a young age. My parents and friends constantly pushed me to find my identity in Christ. This was impactful because it made it easier for me to have a firm foundation of who I was and whose I was.  So I challenge young women to really lay that foundation to know who you are in Christ. Figure out what the Lord has called you to do. Start asking, seeking and start living as image bearer for Christ. Figuring that out takes a strong sense of knowing who you are. Reading the Bible and really making your relationship with God a priority is the biggest key in all of this. As young women, we will be attacked by the enemy, but if we have God’s truth engrained in our hearts then we will be able to overcome those lies and have a solid identity.
 
3. What is Always More?
Growing up I was a distance runner. I started writing on my arms in black sharpie “Always More”. “Always more”, is based on the verse in Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine…” In college when running, “always more” was a motivational reminder that no matter how tired my body was, through Christ’s power in me, I always had more to give than my body often times wanted me to believe. Over time “always more” trickled into other areas of my life, it became my mantra. These words started resonating in me that there is ALWAYS MORE to some story, ALWAYS MORE than what meets the eye. So I wanted to share it with others that there is ALWAYS MORE that God wants us to see and do!

4. What inspired you to write weekly devotions for your Aujpoj website?
I love writing and I love scripture, so I wanted to really get to meat and bones of scripture. All of the devotionals are topical studies though go in depth into scripture and I love it because it give me a chance to explain and write in depth about scripture as opposed to my blogs. I also love it because it gets personal and girls can actually text me back since the devotionals are sent out via text. It’s a more intimate way that I am able to connect with my readers, which I love.

5. How did you and Jeremy meet?
Jeremy and I actually met on a blind date, believe it or not, before church.  We grew up in the same town, but I went to public school and he went to private school. We had two good friends who set us up. I like to say that it was love at first sight for Jeremy but for me it took me some time. I was in my season of singleness pursuing God and figuring things out and Jeremy patiently pursued me for two years before we started dating. We actually dated long distance all the way through college.

6. What made you and Jeremy want to start Beating 50 percent?
The initiating phase was really when Jeremy and I got married. We were both in our twenties and we faced a lot of skepticism due our age. We were stunned by all of the negativity that surrounded marriage and the way that are culture has focused on sex and lust instead of marriage. Due to the show that Jeremy and his family have, our wedding was televised. It was evident to our viewers that Christ was the foundation of our marriage. Shortly after the wedding, I began getting a lot of emails from people asking for relationship advice like “how to get through long distance?”, etc. Jeremy and I have always had a huge passion for helping friends and their relationships. We love doing things that prepare for thing. We were tinkering around with the idea of doing something in ministry together.  We were really inspired when we were in an old antique shop and we saw this photo of an elderly couple holding hands with a caption that read: “Back in our day if something broke, we fixed it.” This was huge, they had been married for 50 years. It got us thinking about our generation and how we so easily throw away stuff instead of fixing it. Marriage has become a lot like that in our day, Jeremy and I see that as a major problem. So we want to do all we can as a team with our combined skill sets to encourage others to have above average marriages and where they give 100 percent to their spouse. 

7. How do you keep Jesus at the center of your relationship?
Well, one is how you view your relationship. You have to have Jesus as your main focus. Jeremy view our relationship kind of like a braid. In a braid you have three strands. Jesus is the center of that braid that is woven throughout the entire braid. Day to day advice would be just sitting and taking time to pray for one another and with each other. Also community is another big part. Jeremy and I are part of a house church here in Bend and their accountability and community is essential.

8. If you could give young women any relationship advice what would it be?
Oh, goodness, so much… well first let me give advice to single women.
Single young women:  I would say be more concerned about becoming a godly woman than finding a man.  I feel like often times in our season of singleness we can get so caught up in not having a man that we neglect the importance of really investing in that time. Singleness is a crucial time for women to prepare their hearts for marriage but most important grow deeper in their walk with Christ.  
Dating women: For dating women, the best advice I can give is if you can’t see yourself marrying them, then your just prolonging hurt. You don’t need experience dating other guys to know what you want. I feel like this is something that our society has told us to believe that in order to know what we want in a guy we need to date as many men possible, but that could not be further from the truth. I would say be intentional to protect your heart and not prolonging a relationship if you can’t see a future with them.
Engaged: For young women who are engaged I would say spend more time preparing for your marriage instead of the wedding. I feel like this is something I tried to do, but I could have done so much better. It is super hard to do but it so very important to put preparing for marriage as a top priority.
Married women:  For married women I would say pray about it more than we talk about it.  This is something the Lord is currently working in my heart. When you get married, sometimes there will be things you will want to change or to be fixed. We want to tell them to be the one to change or get them to understand us. Instead of constantly asking or seeking for them to change we need to go to our knees and pray about what’s on our heart and ask God to help us evaluate our hearts as well.

9. What is one thing that you wish you would have known before you got married?
One thing I wish I would have known is how to let my husband lead. I am a very outgoing, independent and natural born leader, so it’s hard for me. I like to lead. The best advice I have been given about this is someone used the example about the Apple Inc. company and how everyone who works for that company has distinct roles. Well marriage is the same thing, if we try to take on our spouse’s role it won’t work. Culture says not to do that but it is of vital importance to marriage.

10. How do you recommend that couples pursue personal devotion time with Jesus and as a couple?
First off, everyone is different, but for Jeremy and I we typically spend our own personal time with Jesus separately. However, we are constantly sharing about what God is teaching us in those alone times with the Lord. It is just vital for each person in the relationship to make sure their own personal relationship is strong apart from their spouse. When we do come together for times of prayer we often times read large chunks of scripture. One thing that Jeremy and I have done is Navigators Council. We ask the same 6 questions every week. It gives us time to reconcile and share our hearts and love for each other better.

11. How did you prepare yourself for a serious relationship before you were in a relationship with Jeremy?
In college I went through a season of singleness. I was able to really focus on my relationship with Christ, it was at that time where I really found my identity in Christ. I also spent time walking in relationship with other Christian women. I would say to any girl going through a time of singleness to really soak up those moments with other Christian women.

Picture Provided by: Audrey Roloff

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