Temperance

I don't know how to quote posts from other threads, but @tabloidlover and @Sew Sumi pointed out that Abbie and John's daughter Grace's birth special was aired on television last night with very little fanfare. It seems telling about how the Duggar brand is going. I'm a little confused that the show seems to be ending now, because the ratings were staying the course. The Duggars may seem boring, but they haven't changed much. Kate Gosselin's show being cancelled seemed like it might buy the Duggars a little time. I assumed the show would end within a year or so. A friend has a theory that one of the kids would have a mega family like JB and Michelle and take over the show, but that seems a long way off. (Especially since Josh and Anna are out.) I agree they could use new plots. The biggest draw JB can come up with is a new courtship. 🙄 Maybe TLC is worried about Derick's tell-all? Or maybe TLC is worried about the Home Security Investigation? Maybe TLC thinks the Plaths are the future? It would be for the best if the show went off the air. I could picture a Breaking Amish type show featuring some of the Duggar kids. Of course it doesn't seem better if another fundie family takes their place.

The outfit looks like a 90s throwback to me, but it also looks good on her and fits in with 90s nostalgia.

Yes I agree it's soon to start filming. I had forgotten about Trace's friend Campbell. Her maiden name was Roberts and she was quite fundie. Campbell Roberts married John Morton a little over a year ago. So far they have no children, despite the fact both of them come from quiverfull families with 12 children each. Yeah, but female fans can get weird about their favorite male celebrities. The Bates boys are cute and seem "nice" and to a lot of women, they're fantasy boyfriends/husbands, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if Chaney has gotten some nasty comments about dumping Trace.

The attendees are older, but they look to me to be in their late fifties and sixties. The one guy is on his phone.

His name is Michael and he often goes by Mike. Oldest Duggar grandson is named Michael after him.

She is having a biopsy and not the full procedure! Dear God help these people!

Poor dog! And worse it's a girl , so they can be backyard breeders.

It's hard to say right now. @doodlebug has surmised this better than I can, but it's hard to tell if they're taking this seriously. For example, originally, they announced this breast lump as a possible cancer. They were waiting on the pathology report. That was over a month ago. They still are dancing around whether this is cancer on the blog. It seems liking they're hoping Anna Marie won't have to do more than get to lump removed. Chemo, radiation or hormone treatments may mess with her fertility. Also Anna Marie and Elissa give birth at home, except this last time for Anna Marie. It's hard to say if they have better prenatal care or if they've just been luckier than the Duggar sisters. Chelsy was rushed to the hospital with Axton. She was planning on a homebirth. Her brothers' wives seem to have given birth in a hospital.

I totally ignored Sarah's post today thinking it was just a boring photo shoot for Anna Marie's new baby. I mean the baby is photogenic as most babies, but it's not much. However the captions are telling. At one point during a photo of all the kids they're refered to as "Christopher Maxwell children". Most telling the photo of the whole family is captioned "A growing family who loves the Lord Jesus!"Now I suppose it could refer to Anna Marie's children growing up (let's hope so). But it also sounds like the Maxwells are not ready to accept that Anna Marie might not be able to have more children after chemo, radiation or hormone treatments.

Wait... Alyssa said she'd love more. The women seems to hate noise and fuss, what does she think adding to her family is going to do? Make things quieter. I guess she wants another baby, but wait five minutes and you'll have a new niece or nephew to hold. It's refreshing to know their taking her health seriously. John's parents have only 6 kids so they may not be quiverfull and none of his siblings have big families yet. If she had married a guy who was as quiverfull as her parents, he may not have been willing to slow down.

She's 25 now. She'll be 26 in May.

Happy Valentines Day! And now a too many words from Allison Bontrager! Allison has a blog called From Allison. She has spent all week coaching single women on what to do during Valentines week. On Monday we got a post about what she learned from her older single friends, Lindsay and Priscilla. Lindsay taught her that the value of being attentive to small tasks (value of faithfulness in the small things, the greatness of servanthood (to other people like Jesus, others, yourself) and the importance of family, no matter your age. From Priscilla, Allison learned the adventure of singleness, the blessedness of true contentment, and the value of hard work. On Tuesday, Allison told us her plans for Valentines day. They include celebrating with her young siblings (who are single?), sending cards to her grandparents, making brownies for her family and "emailing a “Starbucks date” (gift card + note via email) to some random couples whose marriages have been an inspiration to me". The main point is " You don’t have to wait till you have a Significant Other to celebrate Valentines Day! Gals, you could plan a fancy evening out with some girlfriends or siblings! I have friends who do a big Valentines Day party for a group of friends (guys + girls) every year. You could plan a candlelight dinner for your family!" etc. On Wednesday, Allison did Q&A about whether to pray about a guy. It's more complicated than you think. God created marriage so he wants you to get married. It's good to want to get married. However praying too much about one guy could lead to an infatuation. Don't give away pieces of your heart. Don't get infatuated with someone else's future husband (not necesarily meaning the guy is engaged, but also meaning God may want him to marry someone else who he hasn't met yet). On Thursday, Allison wrote about whether true love still exists. It does, despite the fact she has "become frustrated by the mediocrity and sometimes the downright pathetic-ness of so many of the marriages around me." She then has a list of things true love isn't. Most of her list is conventional, but this gem: A guy who texts you more faithfully than he prays for you. So then we get true love which comes from God. "True love is discreet, selfless, patient, and gracious." Discreet is interesting as parents and married siblings took pictures of everybody kissing their spouse at once! True love also involves honesty, devotion and no wandering eyes. She then gives a long list of things that show true love to her. From "the boyfriend who proves his commitment before he declares his love" to "a husband who holds his wife’s hand while she throws up from morning sickness" to "a husband who does a household chore for his wife just to bless her" , it's a long list that mostly focuses on marriage and pregnancy. It reminds of Jill Dillard, when she first got married. Anyway those are the highlights. If you want to know more, you can see her blog.

Are they heading to AR? Maybe to film?

Are you familiar with the Novilase Breast Therapy Laser Ablation Surgery Alternative? Apparently it seems legit. It's not something I had ever heard of before. I have no idea if Anna Marie is involved with this particular group or not. She could be going to a quack. I scanned the website. The Novilase people do not say laser treatment is in lieu of radiation or chemotherapy. Nor are they against chemo and radiation. Chris works for his brother's (Joe) very successful IT company. They may be okay money wise. I get the sense she is hoping to skip radiation or chemo, but it's too soon to know what they'll do next. Anna Marie seems extremely fundie to me, and I think she's as resistant to change as Steve. I could see her wanting to forgo chemo or radiation without anyone else advising her to.

Jinger's always a dramatic streak as mentioned above. I think if she had gone to normal school and had a normal life; she might have enjoyed being in the high school drama club. It's possible she's trying to look dramatic or excited and isn't aware of how she comes off. People, who influence or act, etc. often practice expressions in the mirror. She may not be aware how her face looks. That being said make-up influencing one of the most competitive fields of influencing if not the most. She needs to step up her game. Just like Jill, Jessa, Michelle, etc. This is exactly the techniques Jill and Derick use when they're influencing or trying to get people to read their blog.