Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)

[Minivanessa]

I agree with there being limits on how far we delve into Brianne's life, and I also don't like how far some people on reddit have gone into that. I commented above on a couple of issues - based mainly on what we saw on JillR's public social media, plus the information that Brianne wasn't reared in a fundie family but has converted to that religion.

There's a bigger issue, I suppose, about how much any of Jill's children are appropriate subjects of discussion. It's Jill who puts them out there on her public social media. AFAIK only Tim, Nurie, and Kaylee have their own public social media and could be said to have put themselves "out there" to the public. I've occasionally searched online for more information on something JillR posted but I'm not liking the idea of snooping around the life of a young woman who's just been announced as courting Sam. (Or is he courting her? Not sure how that works in the IFB world, given their attitudes toward "a woman's place" in life.)

[AstridM]

22 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

My cousin's girlfriend just argued her dissertation to a win as she is on her way to a doctorate in anthropology..... that is an announcement! With the Rods, pregnancy? courting? engagement? BFD. 

Thank you!!! ❤️

[Heathen]

5 hours ago, lianau said:

She's a convert , of course she went full on fundie. At least she has an education to fall back on when the shine wears off.

As long as it's a real education. Another bible school or Clown College won't do her any good. 

[AstridM]

15 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Here is our BIG NEWS! 😊 Our son Samuel is in a courtship with Brianne Hessert.....one of the sweetest girls in the world! 

David and I could not gave handpicked a better fit for Samuel.  She has fulfilled our deepest prayer and desire for our son.  She is one of four children and she is from Florida. 

Brianne is beautiful, kind, loving, respectful, God honoring, chaste and virtuous.  

When they met at a church service we went to last year, it was "love at first sight" for them both.  

We are SO proud of Samuel for choosing well!  💜 Congratulations to this sweet couple as they embark upon a journey of getting to know one another at even deeper level.  We love you both beyond words.  Thank you, Samuel and Brianne, for honoring God in every aspect of your life.  We love you both beyond description!   God is SO faithful!   🥰   (*More video content and pics coming in a few weeks!) 

#newcourtship 
#HonoringGod

OMG why the stupid hashtags???

4 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

I don't know her but I get a "drink and ladle out the Kool aid" from her. Something just doesn't sit right with me. I don't know.

Maybe she will out Jill, Jill? Telling her she has on too much make up or her skirt is too tight... or Jill will run over her and she won't know what hit her. 

Again, something bothers me. 

Ha! I just spent the past few days reading a book about those Jonestown women! And yes, sadly she fits the bill perfectly. 🥲

[AstridM]

3 hours ago, BradandJanet said:

Brianne is very attractive. Her skin and features are nice. I'm not sure why she's dressed for a different century, but not wearing makeup and not doing stuff to her hair will make her life a lot easier than trying to look like a Rodrigues woman.

Come to think of it, skipping the hair and makeup may be about the only easy thing in her life with Sam and his family. He's good looking, but that's about all I see he has going for him. I hope they don't end up being David and Jill clones with an army of kids and not nearly enough money to feed them. 

Eh, she’s ok looking imo but her hair is way too long. I also hope she doesn’t start troweling on the makeup like Mahmo, though. And to me, Sam looks JUST like a young David . . . 

2 hours ago, Minivanessa said:

Well said. As has been mentioned here, she's a convert. Apparently wasn't raised fundie and has really gone all in, with the IFB/KJV church belief system. In my limited experience, religious converts - especially fairly recent converts - can be more strenuously (and sometimes performatively) observant than folks who grew up in the religion or have belonged for a long time. Brianne seems to be in that enthusiastic convert phase. 

I wonder if Brianne's somewhat performative meek tradwife no-makeup old-fashioned dress persona, will survive in the face of Jill's truck stop hooker style of makeup and overprocessed hair (with cheap extensions for special occasions). Because Jill's a licensed cosmetologist, doncha know, and an expert in Gawdly and Mawhdest hair, makeup, and clothing for women who worship the correct Jesus. 

I agree that Sam is very handsome - certainly quite photogenic. I have an impression that he's not very bright - or maybe it's just that he's skilled at getting things done on a practical level but he's not very articulate. In a group of 13 siblings it wouldn't be rare that one or more has some level of dyslexia or a similar learning disability. And of course in that family such a condition will never be acknowledged, much less handled appropriately. That issue hits some of my buttons. Among my relations - on both sides of my extended family - are a couple of now grown men who were diagnosed when quite young with learning disabilities. And in each case their parents were all on board with getting them diagnosed, and then worked with them (and their schools) each year as they went through school to be sure they got the support they needed to succeed. Having witnessed all that over the years, the thought of the ignorance and neglect dealt out to kids like the Rods, is alternately saddening and infuriating to me. And that's the end of my TED talk about that. 🙂

He can barely speak English, unfortunately. And on the video, referring to her as “the most beautiful, most perfect?” Something is OFF, imho. 

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, ALittleShelfish said:

Reddit has all but found this girl's SSN and it's really creepy.  I'm going to have to dial back my lurking over there.  It's pretty yikes-y. 

True and yes, it’s creepy. But Jill knew exactly what would happen and chose to put all of her info out there anyway. This is the predictable outcome. She really should’ve stayed off social media.

[Salacious Kitty]

45 minutes ago, Heathen said:

As long as it's a real education. Another bible school or Clown College won't do her any good. 

She went to the University of Florida, class of '21. So yeah, she has a real education. 

[Lady Edith]

1 hour ago, ALittleShelfish said:

Reddit has all but found this girl's SSN and it's really creepy.  I'm going to have to dial back my lurking over there.  It's pretty yikes-y. 

I stopped reading Reddit because of exactly this.  Not sure what the obsession is with uncovering everything.  Regardless, if something isn’t put out there by Brianne, it should be left alone.  None of our business. Some people take things almost to the point of cyber stalking/invading their privacy and  that is just wrong. 

[Salacious Kitty]

I think that coming into this particularly uneducated family, her education is important. Maybe her kids will have a chance the other Rods don't. 

[libgirl2]

16 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

I think that coming into this particularly uneducated family, her education is important. Maybe her kids will have a chance the other Rods don't. 

It will depend how much of an effort she puts into it. 

[Salacious Kitty]

6 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

It will depend how much of an effort she puts into it. 

It can't be worse than Jill. That bar is in hell. 

[crazy8s]

Reddit does go way too far.

Between what Brianne herself posted and what Jill has posted is pretty much enough to know.

I only noticed the connection to the person who commented on Brianne's post and a rod grift stop because the person's picture showed a little tiny church Jill had posted about before.

I hope Sam and Brianne follow Tim and Heidi's lead and set a boundary with Jill. Jon/Kaylee and Nathan/Nurie may have reached that point.

Whatever happened with new baby's birth and Jill not telling about it shows some limit was set. I bet Nurie's new fb is so they will be in charge of posting their own life updates moving forward instead of mama. Jill did mention "having permission from Nurie to post" a picture of the boys recently.

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, Lady Edith said:

I stopped reading Reddit because of exactly this.  Not sure what the obsession is with uncovering everything.  Regardless, if something isn’t put out there by Brianne, it should be left alone.  None of our business. Some people take things almost to the point of cyber stalking/invading their privacy and  that is just wrong. 

And Jill is well aware of that, more so than most people. She invited it. I guess she’ll never learn 🥲

50 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

It will depend how much of an effort she puts into it. 

Hopefully she knows about proper nouns and correct comma usage!

16 minutes ago, crazy8s said:

Reddit does go way too far.

Between what Brianne herself posted and what Jill has posted is pretty much enough to know.

I only noticed the connection to the person who commented on Brianne's post and a rod grift stop because the person's picture showed a little tiny church Jill had posted about before.

I hope Sam and Brianne follow Tim and Heidi's lead and set a boundary with Jill. Jon/Kaylee and Nathan/Nurie may have reached that point.

Whatever happened with new baby's birth and Jill not telling about it shows some limit was set. I bet Nurie's new fb is so they will be in charge of posting their own life updates moving forward instead of mama. Jill did mention "having permission from Nurie to post" a picture of the boys recently.

Both Jill and Brianne know that all they have to do is make their pages private if they want more privacy. If they choose to keep their SM wide open to the public, they know what’s coming, imho. I don’t even click on any Duggar or Bates SM or video, ever, but I know I am still in the minority, sadly.  

Edited September 1 by AstridM

[AstridM]

12 minutes ago, crazy8s said:

Reddit does go way too far.

Between what Brianne herself posted and what Jill has posted is pretty much enough to know.

I only noticed the connection to the person who commented on Brianne's post and a rod grift stop because the person's picture showed a little tiny church Jill had posted about before.

I hope Sam and Brianne follow Tim and Heidi's lead and set a boundary with Jill. Jon/Kaylee and Nathan/Nurie may have reached that point.

Whatever happened with new baby's birth and Jill not telling about it shows some limit was set. I bet Nurie's new fb is so they will be in charge of posting their own life updates moving forward instead of mama. Jill did mention "having permission from Nurie to post" a picture of the boys recently.

Nathan/Nurie didn’t have their own SM accounts until just last week, AFAIK. So they had complete privacy (outside of Jill sharing their business) but now have chosen to open their lives to complete strangers, lol. I don’t use FB any longer but it’s my understanding that their account is also public. It’s an odd decision. 

[Salacious Kitty]

And it looks like Nurie will friend anyone. Last time I checked, she was over 500 "friends," one of them being a decidedly non-fundie friend of mine. 

[AstridM]

21 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

And it looks like Nurie will friend anyone. Last time I checked, she was over 500 "friends," one of them being a decidedly non-fundie friend of mine. 

Again, they chose this. Why, I truly have no idea. I thought Nathan disapproved.

[mythoughtis]

1 hour ago, Salacious Kitty said:

And it looks like Nurie will friend anyone. Last time I checked, she was over 500 "friends," one of them being a decidedly non-fundie friend of mine. 

She’s naive when it comes to SM.  She probably thinks that any ‘friend’ of Jill is a friend of hers.  And Mama did invite all 8000 of her closest friends to send a friend request to Nurie.   She’s going to get an education into the drama Facebook can be.  Hopefully someone  at her church can explain unfollowing, restricting, unfriending and blocking to her. 

Edited September 1 by mythoughtis

[crazy8s]

1 hour ago, AstridM said:

Nathan/Nurie didn’t have their own SM accounts until just last week, AFAIK. So they had complete privacy (outside of Jill sharing their business) but now have chosen to open their lives to complete strangers, lol. I don’t use FB any longer but it’s my understanding that their account is also public. It’s an odd decision. 

I just meant they maybe told mama not to post about them and they would post things about their family from last week on. If Nurie starts with the "see how manly my husband is videos", plexus crap, our recent home improvements etc then that's on her.

But if they put an end to mama's updates and posts about them and post what they want, good for them.

1 hour ago, Salacious Kitty said:

And it looks like Nurie will friend anyone. Last time I checked, she was over 500 "friends," one of them being a decidedly non-fundie friend of mine. 

Timothy must have sent friend requests to everyone he ever heard of when he first started fb. When you could see his friends he had a Bontrager, Jase Duggar, Jill's plexus team. I somehow doubt Jase Duggar sent Timothy a request.

[emma675]

Am I the only one who has reservations about this girl? She's 6 years older than Sam (which usually wouldn't bother me, but there is a big life/maturity difference between a 25 year old girl and a 19 year old boy), she's seemingly highly educated vs Sam's pathetic Rod home schooling, and she's jumped all in to a religion and lifestyle that seems vastly different from how she was raised. I feel like something happened in her life and her reaction was to turn into someone completely different than who she was before. Which is fine and pretty common for a lot of young people, but what happens when whatever shine she sees in her new life wears off and she is stuck with a semi literate man child husband, several kids, and Jill for a MiL? This seems like a recipe for disaster. 

[farmgal4]

13 hours ago, Heathen said:

Gullible. 

In all seriousness -- Hessert. I had to go see how "plain" she is. She reminds me of the Mennonite women I knew in Kansas. 

She’s deactivated her FB account.  Again. 

[satrunrose]

I find it interesting that Brianne seems to be the second in-law (well, potential in-law) to be 150% buying into the fun and wacky family for Jesus! shtick. What the heck are she and Jon running from?

[farmgal4]

3 minutes ago, emma675 said:

Am I the only one who has reservations about this girl? She's 6 years older than Sam (which usually wouldn't bother me, but there is a big life/maturity difference between a 25 year old girl and a 19 year old boy), she's seemingly highly educated vs Sam's pathetic Rod home schooling, and she's jumped all in to a religion and lifestyle that seems vastly different from how she was raised. I feel like something happened in her life and her reaction was to turn into someone completely different than who she was before. Which is fine and pretty common for a lot of young people, but what happens when whatever shine she sees in her new life wears off and she is stuck with a semi literate man child husband, several kids, and Jill for a MiL? This seems like a recipe for disaster.  

I think she needs a mental health evaluation and I’m being serious.  

[CalicoKitty]

I keep thinking of what I read in "A Well Trained Wife", and I wish her a lot of luck.  A new convert seems the type that would buy into anything.  I hope she is strong-willed, and I really do wish her every happiness in her future.

[lianau]

1 hour ago, AstridM said:

Again, they chose this. Why, I truly have no idea. I thought Nathan disapproved.

Mama told her would be my guess

[sixlets]

5 hours ago, crazy8s said:

Jill missed things like she is a college graduate, has a job or even a basic hobby like likes to bake or whatever.

Jill doesn't know what any of those things are.  She can't talk about what she doesn't know.  Now, if she wants to add, say, vindictive to the list, she would at least know what she's talking about.

[merylinkid]

1 hour ago, farmgal4 said:

She’s deactivated her FB account.  Again. 

Good.  Just because someone has Facebook doesn't mean people have to go to it or check all her friends.

Responsible social media goes both ways 

[Heathen]

8 hours ago, farmgal4 said:

She’s deactivated her FB account.  Again. 

I just saw her name on Nurie's friend list (don't judge me -- I looked to see if I recognized any names, and I do). It wasn't grayed out, so her account is activated again. 

[Salacious Kitty]

She's not searchable. I just tried. eta I just searched Nurie's friend list and came up empty.

Edited September 2 by Salacious Kitty

[GeeGolly]

So, Brianne is 24(?), with a college degree from an accredited college. I'm thinking its likely she's had FB for a good 10 years and access to the internet for just as long. I think she might be playing games with the curious Rod followers.

It sounds like she best be careful with some Redditors who are even curious-er.

[libgirl2]

16 hours ago, farmgal4 said:

I think she needs a mental health evaluation and I’m being serious.  

I completely agree with you. This whole thing could be a phase. She is jumping into a marriage, a family and a life that might not fit her long term. And as I said, she might be even more obsessed with the life than the others. 

[BetyBee]

13 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I completely agree with you. This whole thing could be a phase. She is jumping into a marriage, a family and a life that might not fit her long term. And as I said, she might be even more obsessed with the life than the others. 

I think that this being a phase for Brianne, is a distinct possibility. If she goes all in and then ducks out before marriage, what will that do to Samuel? Will he join Renee in being "content" to stay home, and help with the family while waiting for the Lord (or Jill)) to lead Mrs. Right to his door?

[oliviabenson]

Reddit is going to far on digging up Bri’s past/SM etc. it’s creepy and invasive. 
 

 

[GeeGolly]

I agree Brianne might be going though a phase, however I'm not sure she needs a mental health evaluation. Many young adults explore religion - even more so if they lived in an unhealthy environment. She's looking for her "tribe". Hopefully she figures out was is and just as importantly, what isn't her tribe before she jumps too deep.

Unfortunately Fundyland is a tribe that fits some folks.

[Heathen]

1 hour ago, oliviabenson said:

Reddit is going to far on digging up Bri’s past/SM etc. it’s creepy and invasive. 
 

 

The snark forums on Reddit are filled with people for whom fundie-snarking is an all-encompassing way of life. There are people like that here as well -- some of them have identical writing styles and are likely the same people -- but I think the larger community on Reddit grants them a greater degree of anonymity and a way to not be called out for their obsession. 

It's disturbing. 

Topic: It's Rodriguii wedding month! We know that Jana and Stephen Wissmann stole the "fundie wedding of the year" title, but there is still snark to be had! Any bets on Heidi's wedding dress? How attention-seeking Jill will be on the day? How boring the wedding will be overall? 

Edited September 2 by Heathen
Add a word

[oliviabenson]

Jill is gonna be acting injured wheelchair bound and probably fake a pregnancy. She will definitely be wearing white and a veil. Or go all black with a veil lol. It’s gonna be something! Jill is gonna make it all about her!

[AstridM]

6 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

So, Brianne is 24(?), with a college degree from an accredited college. I'm thinking its likely she's had FB for a good 10 years and access to the internet for just as long. I think she might be playing games with the curious Rod followers.

It sounds like she best be careful with some Redditors who are even curious-er.

Not only that, but apparently she’s also had her own YouTube CHANNEL as well as other public pages, etc. for many years.  I think she knows exactly how it all works and is well aware of what’s happening. 

Edited September 2 by AstridM

[crazy8s]

2 hours ago, Heathen said:

Topic: It's Rodriguii wedding month! We know that Jana and Stephen Wissmann stole the "fundie wedding of the year" title, but there is still snark to be had! Any bets on Heidi's wedding dress? How attention-seeking Jill will be on the day? How boring the wedding will be overall? 

The Coverett's have put on a nice wedding and reception for one daughter already so they know how to host a nice wedding party.

I expect Heidi's dress will be pretty and nicely altered to fit her.  No janky modesty undershirt or lopsided headpiece. the dress also will have been pressed and be unwrinkled.

Bridesmaid dresses will be nice, with no 3" modesty panel added to the hem. Though Tim and the groomsmen will all have pants at least 3" too long and bunched around the ankle. 😂

Edited September 2 by crazy8s

[Salacious Kitty]

Will Phillip show up? I think that's the elephant in the room.

[AstridM]

24 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Will Phillip show up? I think that's the elephant in the room.

Does he have free will and free agency at this time?

[Salacious Kitty]

9 minutes ago, AstridM said:

Does he have free will and free agency at this time?

Hopefully, he's not in a situation like Reformers Unanimous. I think that's what that place was called. 

[GeeGolly]

If Heidi's shower dress offers a clue, I think she might wear something like this. And because its fall, and out of respect for Tim's views, I think she'll pick bridesmaid dresses similar to what Jinger had.

[Salacious Kitty]

Two weeks from now is still summer, but I agree that everyone will be in long sleeves. I think Heidi may go more the frou frou lacy route. At least in the bodice. I could see her going ball gown. 

[GeeGolly]

4 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Two weeks from now is still summer, but I agree that everyone will be in long sleeves. I think Heidi may go more the frou frou lacy route. At least in the bodice. I could see her going ball gown. 

Yea fall is 9/22, but here in the east we consider fall after Labor Day really. Everyone is all back to school occupied and all about pumpkin spice this and pumpkin spice that, chomping at the bit for a 12' skeleton, etc.

And yea, despite Heidi being a bit of a tom-boy, I could see her going full on princess gown.

We also consider the month of December winter, when really only about 1/3 of it is.

[Salacious Kitty]

It's summer here through October. Our hottest month is September, and it's starting out as usual. 

Pumpkin what? 😀

[GeeGolly]

1 minute ago, Salacious Kitty said:

It's summer here through October. Our hottest month is September, and it's starting out as usual. 

Pumpkin what? 😀

Its almost 80 toady, sunny and breezy with NO humidity. IMO, perfect weather. It gradually gets cold, with Halloween usually feeling pretty chilly, to downright cold.

Pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin donuts/bagels, pumpkin beer, etc. You name it and someone will have somehow flavored it pumpkin. I find it disgusting, but I'm in the minority.

 

[Salacious Kitty]

I found a nice dress for Heidi. She might go cap sleeves if everything else is covered up. 

[Absolom]

That is a nice dress.

Climatological/meteorlogical summer is June  - August.  Winter is December - February.  They seem more fitting than the more variable astronomical seasons.

[crazy8s]

32 minutes ago, Absolom said:

That is a nice dress.Climatological/meteorlogical summer is June  - August.  Winter is December - February.  They seem more fitting than the more variable astronomical seasons.

Then you have seasons based on what's in stores.

Our closest grocery store had some of their halloween candy already on clearance last week to clear space for christmas items. 😂

[CalicoKitty]

1 hour ago, GeeGolly said:

Yea fall is 9/22, but here in the east we consider fall after Labor Day really. Everyone is all back to school occupied and all about pumpkin spice this and pumpkin spice that, chomping at the bit for a 12' skeleton, etc.

And yea, despite Heidi being a bit of a tom-boy, I could see her going full on princess gown.

We also consider the month of December winter, when really only about 1/3 of it is.

I'm sure her sisters will have her dressed beautifully.  Pretty sure the dress is not off the rack with poor alterations.

[merylinkid]

6 hours ago, BetyBee said:

If she goes all in and then ducks out before marriage, what will that do to Samuel?

Worse what happens if she realizes its not for her AFTER the wedding?   Doe she really have a way out?   Will Jill let her go?