Minivanessa

I checked just now. No activity that I can see since last August. That's when he posted a link to a YouTube video as a comment on a few posts. But when I followed the link, YouTube said the video was no longer available. Was that a video of his poetry?

Actually, I don't think they have a mortgage. Although I agree he's being coy about his next career move.

From what I know of Jon's family, he must have a better understanding of money - and work - than any of the Rodlets. His dad has a couple of college degrees and before becoming an IFB pastor, was an executive (albeit in the company that produces a successful fundie homeschool curriculum, IIRC). His mother has a small farm operation - maybe raising some kind of animal - I don't remember the deets. Anyway, Jon wasn't reared in a family with parents who called themselves "full time missionaries" and constantly mooched around the Eastern states in an RV, grifting for Jesus while trying to get famous and on TV. I think it was much more of a "normal" family, in that dad had an actual job (imagine that, David!) and mom stayed home with the kids and the chickens (or whatever critters they raised). No wonder he chose to get Kaylee and himself into a Dave Ramsey course. I'm sure she was exposed to many ideas that were new to her, him probably not so much.

I'm happy to be corrected. His leaving after almost three years isn't surprising or a sign of something wrong. Not all - or even most - people who take entry level prosecutor jobs in their local DA's office end up becoming career prosecutors. Career prosecutor is the straight line career path from that entry level job: get promoted within the office to handling the felony cases, etc., probably make lateral or promotional moves to other district attorney offices in the state or jump into the US Attorney's Office doing criminal prosecutions. For most lawyers that entry level job gives them experience in handling cases, and doing courtroom work including hearings and trials. It's a foundation from which to move on to the private sector or other kinds of legal positions in the public sector. Anyway, I'll edit my original comment above. Staying at that job for almost three years is not unusual.

His entry level job in a small DA's office in Oklahoma was a 'first step on the ladder' position for a new lawyer. Some people take those jobs as the first step in a career as a prosecutor, but most people move on to other positions, not involving criminal prosecution, either in government or the private sector. The work he was doing was useful and necessary, but routine low-level stuff that's not usually exciting or high-status. Also I think the salary wasn't generous even considering that he could get health insurance through probably a good group plan. (We know that they live in a nice house without a mortgage, which is a significant advantage for the breadwinner of a young family.) IMO his leaving the job is not a big deal. That he did so after only a year? That's sooner than I'd have expected, especially since he's being coy about what he's doing next. Hmm . . . I'm editing this because @ginger90 and @AstridM have brought the receipts: Derick held the job for two years and nine months. That's IMO not an unusually brief tenure and as I've said, it's an entry level job from which people move on.

That's great information! I hope you find it when you eventually have time to look. Because for now, I'm sure you will actually be caring for, and spending quality time with, the grandkids. Who won't be on tap 24/7 to perform for your social media video content needs. Unlike that amazing mother and grandmother and soul-saver, JillR. I know that Jill can spin - and probably has spun - that "origin story" mentioned by David, into a dramatic god-honoring testimony of how God called them and David surrendered. To Jill Jesus. 😉 Not that I'm a fan, but IMO she's the one in that couple with the preaching skills. However, of course, one has to have that Y chromosome to be an IFB preacher, so David must just get up there and do his lackluster best.

Whoa. I've gotta have a think about Jill's narrative in the social media post above, of David's decision to quit working and grift for Jesus. Jill's comments in bold font, my markup in italics: He prefers to be behind a printing press, printing Gospel Tracts and Scripture portions. An extremely small variety of tracts and "Scripture portions" which has apparently not changed for a decade or two. But years ago he surrendered to the Lord that he would accept preaching opportunities. Based on the following statements of Jill's I think he surrendered to Jill's burning desire to achieve the highest status available to a woman in the IFB world: Pastor's Wife. His comfort zone is not communicating or being in front of people, but his love for proclaiming TRUTH from God's Word, trumps his discomfort. So he's an inarticulate guy who'd rather tinker with his printing machines than get up in front of a group and speak. But he thinks God doesn't want him to work on things he likes, but to do something he doesn't really want to do. So, he keeps surrendering. Keeps preaching. Keeps serving. Keeps being a voice for righteousness andI LOVE and respect him for it! And all these years later, he has to KEEP surrendering? Meaning he still doesn't like getting up in front of groups to speak even if he may enjoy talking scripture and laying down the law in small informal settings. Like preaching to his captive audience, aka his family, late into the night at home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't know, that's just my take on it at the moment. I think David is a fairly low energy guy who would have been happy to print tracts, schmooze with other IFB guys about religious doctrines, be the boss at home as IFB guys are, and enjoy the delights of his marriage to Jill. I wonder if Jill worked on him until he decided God wants him to get up and preach instead of working an actual full time job or run his own business. I doubt it would have taken much to lure him away from the effort and inconveniences of full time work (job or business), but it probably took Jill's skills to help him understand that God wants him to be an IFB preacher so that Jill can be a Pastor's Wife. I'm sure he was a soft target; I think he's probably opinionated and full of himself. If David wasn't a "full time missionary" IFB preacher, and instead just a guy with a printing business or a regular job? Jill couldn't be performing with her songs and cowbells at churches all over the Eastern states. She probably wouldn't have been handed her Ladies' Retreat to run. She could have a public social media presence, of course, but she wouldn't have that band of traveling children performing songs in front of IFB congregations. She couldn't have piled the kids into a big RV and hit the road to sing and pray for Jesus while David stayed at home running a business or working as an employee with a regular job. She would have been home with the kids. ALL THE TIME. No constant road trips, not many chances to meet people in so many different places in several states. No way to get invited to a Duggar or Bates wedding. The deal in the IFB world is, that the churches are booking David as the preacher, and his wife and kids are collateral benefits. No David, no Jill. In that last photo above, they are shown at a church in Indianapolis, proudly advertising the revival and the appearance of David. I went to the church website, scrolled back through their calendar, and for all four days of the event, the calendar reads: "David Rodrigues Meeting." Not the family. Not "David Jill Noyes Rodrigues" as she's known on social media. Just David Rodrigues. Maybe my first think about this is not correct. I just don't see Jill as a meek obedient wife, and I don't see David as a strong energetic leader. Although I'm sure he enjoys the power and authority that an IFB man has in his family and church circles. I think Jill has to prop him up as the front man so she can enjoy her travels and performances and pursuit of fame. (She'll deny that she pursues fame; she's just a devout follower of Jesus, spreading the Word and saving souls, doncha know.)

I suspect the feeling is mutual. 🤣

Ouch. The Keller family group photo that Jill posted on her public Facebook and Instagram accounts, was picked up and publicized (linked to, not directly published) by InTouch Weekly, which gave Jill what must have been incredibly pleasing publicity about her social media. Yeah. InTouch. The tabloid that broke Joshgate all those years ago. However, if you click the link in the InTouch story to the beach photo, you don't see it because as has been discussed here, Jill deleted it from her Facebook feed. Not that I really like what I know about Anna, but even so I hope she ripped a strip off Jill for stirring the sh*t. I even hope other Kellers piled on and didn't confine themselves to gentle Christlike words of reprimand. Anna is rearing 7 kids while her at-least-I-have-a-husband™ is in prison. AFAIK she doesn't maintain a public social media presence, appear on TV shows, or seek publicity. When Anna got dragged into the news by the tabloids linking this picture, so did her kids. Who DO NOT NEED that sh*t, Jill.

I think their various product lines have their own brand names, which aren't 'Melaleuca." But I haven't done a deep dive into how they operate. There are better ways to waste my time. 🤣

Did you ever share a link to it in the Small Talk topic? I'd like to read it. I understand if you don't want to because of privacy, though. I put a hold on the book at my public library, and I finally got it the other day (the e-book version). I finished it last night. I enjoyed it. And like @Westiepeach - I definitely got some Plexus vibes from it. There's an author Q&A at the end. The author said: “There were many instances when I wrote something I thought was so outlandish that it would be purely comedic or satirical, but then found an actual social media post nearly identical to what I wrote." She cited as an example posts using a death in the family or a child's illness to sell more product. She also says that MLMs are powerfully skilled at manipulating people, and that nobody is "too smart" to fall for an MLM's pitch and join, i.e., she doesn't disdain or insult those who join MLMs as "they all must be stupid people." Frankly, as cringey as many of Jill's Plexus social media posts were, they weren't the worst MLM posts I've ever seen. I'd put her about in the middle of the pack as to awfulness. The demands of MLMs that their huns incessantly post on social media are well known, and mentioned in the novel. Jill sure seemed to be constantly churning out the Plexus content. I think Jill's new MLM is a little different. For one thing, Melaleuca doesn't want its huns to mention the company name. And I think that besides recruiting downline members, Jill has a minimum monthly purchase requirement herself. I haven't been keeping up with her lately, so I don't know how aggressively she's been pushing the MLM That Must Not Be Named on social media.

Me too!!

I assume JB would hate the idea of having his estate go through probate, which is why I think he and Meech have their major assets in one or more trusts. I'm not at all expert in that area (bored me to tears in law school and still does), but they can be set up in any number of ways. It's possible that if the significant marital assets are in a trust, the surviving spouse just gets it all when the first spouse dies.

The idea that children can be molded (programmed) and set for good on the desired path of righteousness, seems to me to be consistent with the thinking of people in high demand, high control religions. They set themselves apart from "The World" and its evils, control the information their children (and their congregations) receive, closely monitor thoughts and speech, etc. So, according to their logic, all the people who are reared and properly indoctrinated and live in their bubble, will continue to do so for their lifetimes, and spawn and train another generation of bots true believers to carry it on into eternity. [Disclaimer: I'm not a theologian or trained in psychology. I'm just stating some opinions here.] But, yes, AFAIK, narcissistic thinking objectifies other people and sees them as objects to be controlled or manipulated. So there's that.

I ❤️ that ^^. What a great turn of phrase!!