Mariva

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20964930,00.htmlPEOPLE confirms that Jessa had a boy.

Aren’t ALL fundie couples more or less “arranged marriages”? When you allow your families to become so involved in the courtship process, to the point where you're always chaperoned on dates, then the relationship ends up becoming as much about your in-laws as it is the person you’re marrying. Jim Bob could have done a lot worse in “picking” Derick as a potential suitor. Maybe Derick isn’t the most attractive looking guy and sure, he’s kind of a socially awkward doofus, but so is Jill IMO. That’s why they match so well and more importantly, they seem to genuinely love and respect each other. I never got that vibe from Josh and Anna. I saw a guy who was so desperately horny that he would have married a blow up doll if he could, and a poor, sheltered girl who was in a constant state of awe at her somewhat famous, "celebrity" husband. Even with Ben I sometimes feel he treats Jessa more like his trophy wife, aka someone hot on his arms who makes HIM look good. I do think they love each other though. Despite all the Gothard BS about the man being the headship of the household, I don’t get the impression that Derick is or was interested in having a subservient wife. IMO Jill's more of his equal partner and I think Derick is even fine with letting his wife call the shots in the relationship if that’s what will make her happy. Isn’t this why most of us were so disappointed in Derick anyway? Because we thought he would be the one to “save” Jill from the cult and then he turned out to be kind of a lame pushover? Who says Jill wanted to be saved though? As long as they are happy with their life I don’t see why they would ever want to leave their little conservative bubble. No matter what any of us naysayers think about them.

WTF? Link to the article - http://www.etonline.com/news/172822_exclusive_jessa_duggar_seewald_and_husband_ben_explain_how_they_save_money/

The S.O.S. link has been up on Jessa and Ben's site for forever though, long before Derick and Jill announced they were becoming missionaries. Jessa didn't "promote" anything in response to the backlash, or to get back at her sis, or whatever. The Duggars have always supported S.O.S. for as long as they've been going on their mission trips. I'm all for a Duggar scandal if there's an actual story to be told, but this is the tabloids just trying to stir up crap where there is none. Frankly, this is exactly the type of passive-aggressive move I can see Jessa doing so I'm somewhat disappointed that it's not true.

I thought these tweets was interesting - https://twitter.com/derick4Him/status/643850658748174336 https://twitter.com/derick4Him/status/643850846724337664 Derick sent a message to US Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall asking about the work he and his wife Sara are doing in Africa. The couple have a foundation there called the Steps Foundation which they describe as a "non-profit movement to fight global poverty through better health". I took a quick look at their website and it appears one of the things they do is invest micro loans in people to help them start their own businesses and get out of poverty. They've also helped build wells and redo a maternity clinic in Africa, among other things. Derick said that he and Jill were interested in doing something similar in Central America.

The link works fine for me but maybe you can try this link - twitter.com/amyduggar or just search for 'amyduggar' on twitter. I just copied & pasted what Amy said in my previous post but here it is again - "There is definitely a thin line between being tasteful and being tacky. Hmm."

Looks like Amy took time off from her honeymoon to issue a very pointed comment about something, or perhaps a certain someone. From her twitter - "There is definitely a thin line between being tasteful and being tacky. Hmm."

I think a honest Jessa IS "sassy" (I prefer the term smug), bitchy and a fame-hungry narcistist. I don't find anything deep or vulnerable about Jessa sharing yet another mirror selfie but YMMV. The girl just likes the attention, that's all.

https://instagram.com/p/6v4fBLnSzW/ ^ Derick's brother Dan originally shared those pics on his instagram. He wrote that he was glad that he still gets to see his nephew while he's overseas (those who've been in the Dillard's thread know what I'm talking about ;-) )

The Gawker did some investigating and they think Josh may be in a "Christian-based" addiction facility in Rockford, IL. Link: http://gawker.com/is-this-where-josh-duggar-is-in-sex-rehab-1726687142

So my friend and I were discussing Derick’s most recent IG post, where he quoted Romans 6:1-2 in Arabic. Here’s the English translation- “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Neither my friend nor I consider ourselves knowledgable about the bible or Christianity but does that verse not seem like a thinly veiled diss at Josh, assuming it was directed at him? Based on my very limited research, it sounds like it's a warning against using God’s grace as an excuse to sin, that more sins does not equal more grace, true forgiveness will only come with repentance, etc...I'm hoping someone who knows more about the bible than I do can tell me if I'm on the right track or not. Could Derick be trying to send a message to his cheating brother-in-law? ETA: Oops, I just noticed that someone else brought up Romans 6:1-2 on the previous page. I swear I thought I had caught up on this thread so I have no idea how I ended up missing that post! Thanks for the link to the MSG bible, I found that it cleared up a lot of the questions I was having. So it turns out Derick WAS dissing Josh after all?

I just checked for myself and looks like you were right! Out of all the Bates family/spouses accounts only Whit is still following Josh. Although if I remember correctly, I think some, like Erin and Michaela, never followed Josh in the first place. Lawson definitely used to follow Josh though, but must have stopped very recently because he was still "liking"Josh's posts right up to when the cheating news broke. Interestingly, I also noticed that many of the Bates follow Derick on IG but not Ben. I'm not entirely sure why but I'd like to think it's because they got a full account of Ben's douchery in person and no one likes him (except Jessa, apparently, them being two arrogant, self-righteous peas in a pod and all).

I don't think they're at the reception. Brandon and Michael's reception was held in a gym and that video looks like it was shot while they were having breakfast in a church or someone's house.

I disagree that Michael's wedding (or fundie weddings in general) can be classified as "formal". Besides, has there been any photos of Jill at the actual wedding yet? The one with her and Erin that was posted earlier was at the wedding rehearsal, which is different IMO. Based on what the other guests in the background were wearing (there's one in a jean skirt and flip-flops), Jill's everyday outfit of a t-shirt and long skirt doesn't seem that out of place. I don't think it's really fair to compare the two girls anyway because Erin is very much a girly-girl who loves getting dolled up while Jill is more laid back about her appearance.

I have a friend who did long-term mission work in Africa a few years back. She was part of a non-denominational organization that tried to do actual, constructive work, and not an evangelical mission where the primary focus is on conversion. Anyway, she mentioned that her team was pretty flexible with the time off and she regularly took side trips to other cities/countries while she was there. The whole point was was so they could have a break and recharge, just like many of us who take vacations or only work weekdays while getting the weekend off. As such, I didn't think it was odd that Derick and Jill were able to travel after a few months in the mission field. It's not like they were in NY purely for fun, they actually had some TLC/work business to do while they were there. Maybe other mission are less flexible about their time off?