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

[Fuzzysox]

The Duggars should learn how to make long dining tables. They could take orders at the Big Sandy thing they go to every year. That might be a sustainable business.

This would be something Gil and his boys should be doing with the trees they cut down.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Fuzzysox

[EarlGreyTea]

He was? He must be a lot older than she is. He now works at Sam's Furniture, a Christian-owned and operated place. A friend has speculated that Ben might be working there based on the fact that Jessa and Sierra pregnancy-posed a couple of weeks ago (at least that's when Sierra first posted it) with matching Sam's tees. 

 

Interesting. Sierra and her husband fascinate me. He's Latino and you hardly ever see POC in this particular group, so I've always been interested in how he ended up in fundie circles. Also he looks exactly like my cousin (we're also Latino) and it freaks me out.

 

How he and now-defunct Marjorie would have handled the onslaught of ignorant comments about their culture would have been must-see TV for me.

Edited November 29, 2015 by EarlGreyTea

[GeeGolly]

Interesting. Sierra and her husband fascinate me. He's Latino and you hardly ever see POC in this particular group, so I've always been interested in how he ended up in fundie circles. Also he looks exactly like my cousin (we're also Latino) and it freaks me out.

 

How he and now-defunct Marjorie would have handled the onslaught of ignorant comments about their culture would have been must-see TV for me.

Another fundy family also has a Latino husband - the Rodriguez family. Jill is the wife and maybe David is the hubby.

[Sew Sumi]

I think David Rodrigues is Portuguese. 

[Arwen Evenstar]

A cold good morning to you lot over there, hope your Thanksgiving was pleasant.

 

I took a look at TFDW Instagram - they are not an attractive family, but then, that's not their fault. Their daughter is pretty weird looking though, I hope she will grow into her looks as she'll have a miserable life in that cult if she's ugly.

What's with Priscilla's posture? Her shoulders always stoop. To say nothing of her scrunched up face. Now that's a family that needs intervention badly. I always fear for her as I think she's not that smart, believes every bit of crap that she's being told and I truly believe that TFDW has some VERY dark undercurrents

I tend to agree...poor simple Prissy...TFDW likely has a very bad side but thus far it looks like Prissy did a lot better than Anna in the husband department...which is not much of a compliment to TFDW given the competition....

[queenanne]

A cold good morning to you lot over there, hope your Thanksgiving was pleasant.

 

I took a look at TFDW Instagram - they are not an attractive family, but then, that's not their fault. Their daughter is pretty weird looking though, I hope she will grow into her looks as she'll have a miserable life in that cult if she's ugly.

What's with Priscilla's posture? Her shoulders always stoop. To say nothing of her scrunched up face. Now that's a family that needs intervention badly. I always fear for her as I think she's not that smart, believes every bit of crap that she's being told and I truly believe that TFDW has some VERY dark undercurrents

 

Who's the poor unfortunate over there on the end, next to the big space by TFDW, looking like a gamely smiling yet beaten Olive Oyl.  Is that supposed to be Prissy?  Pic was too small for me to tell.

[Sew Sumi]

That's Valerie Mueller Waller. She is one of the mousiest in a family that is tres mousy. 

[Joe Jitsu913]

That's Valerie Mueller Waller. She is one of the mousiest in a family that is tres mousy.

She makes the Maxwell girls look like supermodels.

[Sew Sumi]

She's also the blandest person ever. Adam and Valerie are the world's blandest couple. They used to blog, but I guess they gave it up because they realized that they really don't have anything interesting to say! LOL

[kokapetl]

Valerie is married to the square jaw guy standing in the photo, right?

[Fuzzysox]

She makes the Maxwell girls look like supermodels.

Those poor Maxwell girls. Prisoners for life if they don't get away from their crazy father. *shudder*

[louannems]

I snuck over to the Maxwells blog and read about their servants heart, servants spirit, and special love of the unborn.

Then I stumbled upon a great article called"Life in the Dollhouse: Stay At Home Daughters " by Lea.

rsanonymous.WordPress.com

This might just be like the lives of Jana, Jinger, and Joy. Unbelievable!

[BitterApple]

I was just looking at the Maxhell's blog and their most recent entry is a response for recipe requests. They feature instructions to make Seven Layer Salad. Isn't that like the oldest church potluck recipe in existence? I guess Fundies aren't really into healthy eating, so "salad" is some mystical, exotic concoction to them.

Edited November 29, 2015 by BitterApple

[Sew Sumi]

Valerie is married to the square jaw guy standing in the photo, right?

Correct.

[Churchhoney]

I snuck over to the Maxwells blog and read about their servants heart, servants spirit, and special love of the unborn.

Then I stumbled upon a great article called"Life in the Dollhouse: Stay At Home Daughters " by Lea.

rsanonymous.WordPress.com

This might just be like the lives of Jana, Jinger, and Joy. Unbelievable!

 

Ah, but it's probably all their own fault. Just ask the Botkins:

 

So, we make our wish lists and pray that we get Missionary Martyr Malibu Ken for Christmas. But what will we have to offer him? How are we preparing to be what he might need in a wife? How long are our lists of standards and requirements for ourselves?

Our aspirations to be married to fine husbands are good; but then, that’s an aspiration that the Cinderellas and the ugly stepsisters of the world have always had in common. We need to step outside of our imaginary roles as the heroines of our own personal fairy tales, and ask ourselves: Which one am I? Why would the prince choose me?

On a day when women all over the world will be thinking about what they want to get from a man, let’s think instead about we’re preparing to give to one.

The bad news is, none of us are naturally likeable, desirable, or eligible. Because of sin, we all start out as ugly stepsisters, and we don’t automatically become Cinderella upon reaching marriageable age. The good news is, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” (1 Pet. 2:24) And the rest of the good news is, if you find yourself Valentine-less this Valentine’s Day, that means the Lord is giving you more time to die to sin and live to righteousness, more time to make yourself ready, more time to become a better gift.

Ladies, let’s decide to do our (future) husbands good on this day (Prov. 31:12), instead of moping about the good they’re not here to do for us. On a day when women all over the world will be thinking about what they want to get from a man, let’s think instead about we’re preparing to give to one.

 

http://botkinsisters.com/article/all-i-want-for-valentines-day

 

So...uh, I guess two young women who've basically given their entire lives to one man -- their father -- think they're somehow unworthy of...something...because they're...uh...insufficiently willing to sacrifice themselves to men? Or what?

[queenanne]

Ah, but it's probably all their own fault. Just ask the Botkins:

 

So, we make our wish lists and pray that we get Missionary Martyr Malibu Ken for Christmas. But what will we have to offer him? How are we preparing to be what he might need in a wife? How long are our lists of standards and requirements for ourselves?

Our aspirations to be married to fine husbands are good; but then, that’s an aspiration that the Cinderellas and the ugly stepsisters of the world have always had in common. We need to step outside of our imaginary roles as the heroines of our own personal fairy tales, and ask ourselves: Which one am I? Why would the prince choose me?

On a day when women all over the world will be thinking about what they want to get from a man, let’s think instead about we’re preparing to give to one.

The bad news is, none of us are naturally likeable, desirable, or eligible. Because of sin, we all start out as ugly stepsisters, and we don’t automatically become Cinderella upon reaching marriageable age. The good news is, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” (1 Pet. 2:24) And the rest of the good news is, if you find yourself Valentine-less this Valentine’s Day, that means the Lord is giving you more time to die to sin and live to righteousness, more time to make yourself ready, more time to become a better gift.

Ladies, let’s decide to do our (future) husbands good on this day (Prov. 31:12), instead of moping about the good they’re not here to do for us. On a day when women all over the world will be thinking about what they want to get from a man, let’s think instead about we’re preparing to give to one.

 

http://botkinsisters.com/article/all-i-want-for-valentines-day

 

So...uh, I guess two young women who've basically given their entire lives to one man -- their father -- think they're somehow unworthy of...something...because they're...uh...insufficiently willing to sacrifice themselves to men? Or what?

 

I think that sounds like "Better make sure you're not still holding onto a hot temper."

 

Or, as we civilians sometimes call it, "personality beyond a cardboard box".

 

If only, only, they had any good ideas.  About how you could volunteer, or - gasp! - educate yourself, so that if you luck into a minister or something you're not standing around the other ministers or parishioners like an empty-headed idiot.  Even advising them to read or study their Bibles more, or study actual hermeneutics, or "the Bible as history", or something.  How about broadening yourself beyond navel-gazing?  All this "secret sin" stuff, I'm convinced, just educates and trains these poor children to be further fearful self-doubters triple-examining anything they say, think, or do.  "It must be my secret addiction to the 50's secular radio station that's keeping God from giving me my husband!"

Edited November 29, 2015 by queenanne

[becca3891]

Correct.

Yup, and that would be Adam Waller, TFDW's older brother. I remember reading their blog and found it interesting that they were early 30's when they got married -- ancient in Gothard land. I would be relieved to be Valerie and know my age would preclude the possibility of 19 "blessings." I seem to recall they didn't get pregnant right away either, and a few years into their marriage it looks like they still just have one.

[awaken]

Interesting. Sierra and her husband fascinate me. He's Latino and you hardly ever see POC in this particular group, so I've always been interested in how he ended up in fundie circles. Also he looks exactly like my cousin (we're also Latino) and it freaks me out.

How he and now-defunct Marjorie would have handled the onslaught of ignorant comments about their culture would have been must-see TV for me.

Interestingly, the fundie sect that I grew up in was heavily Indian along with white. Occasionally someone from the Caribbean. Strange that these just happened to be the "acceptable" groups. Other POC were ministered to as "city kids".

Intermarriage between Caucasian and Indian were commonplace, but was rare with other races, except if POC was associated somehow with a missionary family.

[Loves2Dance]

Sierra must have had a really rough life, prior to becoming the Duggars' go-to event planner/baby-sitter at least. This is the oldest-looking "25-year old" I've ever seen. These days it's usually the opposite. Someone is actually 50 and we're guessing 35 or 40 tops. 

 

If you read her latest blog and how she met Mark, it seems she was into drugs before the Fundie life which likely accounts for the rapid aging. That and 5 kids in 5 years. 

[Fuzzysox]

If you read her latest blog and how she met Mark, it seems she was into drugs before the Fundie life which likely accounts for the rapid aging. That and 5 kids in 5 years.

Can you post the link?

[Sew Sumi]

Can you link the blog? I have to admit, I am curious, especially since it appears that she married at 19. How "into" drugs could she have been?

[BitterApple]

If you read her latest blog and how she met Mark, it seems she was into drugs before the Fundie life which likely accounts for the rapid aging. That and 5 kids in 5 years.

Wow. Not for nothing, but if I were a recovering addict, the LAST thing I would be doing is popping out five kids in five years. Don't high levels of stress often trigger relapses? Hopefully Sierra doesn't start dipping into Michelle's Xanax stash.

[Sew Sumi]

Holy shit. I just saw the old Sierra pictures. I can safely say that she had a white trash wedding. The pic of her ass in granny panties was....woah...

You can find the pics on the famyfriday IG.

edited out a triple post

Edited November 30, 2015 by Sew Sumi

[Loves2Dance]

Can you link the blog? I have to admit, I am curious, especially since it appears that she married at 19. How "into" drugs could she have been?

 

It was this post: http://dojosdesigns.blogspot.com/2015/11/its-been-month-since-ive-even-sat-down.html?spref=fb

[Loves2Dance]

Here are some old pictures from an unused MySpace (it's not private)

 

https://myspace.com/sierrajb/photos

 

Girl...white trash is being kind,

[Sew Sumi]

She looked 35 when she was 15! Yikes!

[MunichNark]

Apart from the atrocious spelling and Grammar, goodness me, but the DRAMA! What's with these kind of people that they are so dramatic? Of course, nobody's ever struggled before, nobody is ever looking for the sense in it all........good grief.

 

Oh, and if she did do drugs, of course she will feel horribly guilty and will rave on forever about how broken she was and how grateful......blech

Edited November 30, 2015 by MunichNark

[becca3891]

Well, now we know one reason why the Duggars like Sierra. She believes Biology 110 is completely unnecessary. 

 

Seriously, though, this is interesting. I had Sierra pegged for a lifelong Gothardite but in fact she is a convert. And this line struck me:  "Because each tiny human that enters my world chisels away another blemish on my heart."

 

If that isn't admitting that you're addicted to birthing babies as fast as you can because you think it's making you holier, then I don't know what is. Oh, and in a different posting she said, "I've also heard it been said, 'expectations ruin relationships.'" Atrocious grammar aside, this is all the conformation we needed that she has drunk the Kool-Aid. 

Edited November 30, 2015 by becca3891

[yogi2014L]

ohh interesting about Sierra. Though I feel bad if this gets back to her circles, must be embarrassing for her. I am so thankful I went to college before smart phones, LOL. 

 

I think the combination of her makeup, thin eyebrows, drug use ( what do we think? Meth?)  and now- her back to back babies age her considerably. She looked older than her years before kids too IMO

 

So was the wedding dress pic her wedding to her now DH?

 

Also- I think she probably latched on to fundie ism because her old life was out of control...but hopefully she snaps out of it and realizes you don't have to live one extreme or the other and have a normal life...

[Vaysh]

Wow. She hasn't aged a day. In fact I think she's de-aged about ten years since those MySpace pictures with the pink dress.

[Tabbygirl521]

Interesting. Sierra and her husband fascinate me. He's Latino and you hardly ever see POC in this particular group, so I've always been interested in how he ended up in fundie circles. Also he looks exactly like my cousin (we're also Latino) and it freaks me out.

How he and now-defunct Marjorie would have handled the onslaught of ignorant comments about their culture would have been must-see TV for me.

I recall Jim Bob demonstrating his Spanish-language fluency by tacking "-o" on the end of English words. Impressive Edited November 30, 2015 by Tabbygirl521

[Guest]

I recall Jim Bob demonstrating his Spanish-language fluency by tacking "-o" on the end of English words. Impressive

 

No. It's impressive-o. 

[kokapetl]

Mark Dominguez looks plenty "acceptable". He looks Latin, but in a non threatening, non brown/black, Ricky Ricardo way.

[Loves2Dance]

Mark Dominguez looks plenty "acceptable". He looks Latin, but in a non threatening, non brown/black, Ricky Ricardo way.

 

He's just not very attractive. 

[kokapetl]

He's more attractive than Sierra.

[Loves2Dance]

He's more attractive than Sierra.

 

No I think they're equally off putting to me. I finally realize who Sierra reminds me of---Montana from the Real World. 

[Jynnan tonnix]

To be fair, I think Sierra may just have one of those faces which looks old from the outset because her features are rather sharp, but she may well end up looking pretty much the same into her 60's (assuming ongoing back-to-back pregnancies don't do her in completely). She has the bone stucture to age very gracefully.

 

And, shoot me now, but I found her blog rather sweet. Grammatical errors, etc. aside, I thought she expressed herself quite well and I could believe that she honestly found a life which fulfills her. She's still very young, though, so the real question is whether it will end up arresting her further development for good or whether, at some point, she will be able to look around herself with anything like perspective and realize that she can incorporate her faith (if she is just one of those people wired for it) into a more mainstream lifestyle.

 

[kokapetl]

To be fair, I think Sierra may just have one of those faces which looks old from the outset because her features are rather sharp, but she may well end up looking pretty much the same into her 60's (assuming ongoing back-to-back pregnancies don't do her in completely). She has the bone stucture to age very gracefully.

And, shoot me now, but I found her blog rather sweet. Grammatical errors, etc. aside, I thought she expressed herself quite well and I could believe that she honestly found a life which fulfills her. She's still very young, though, so the real question is whether it will end up arresting her further development for good or whether, at some point, she will be able to look around herself with anything like perspective and realize that she can incorporate her faith (if she is just one of those people wired for it) into a more mainstream lifestyle.

Her blog post was a hundred times more "real" and illustrative than anything ever written by a Duggar. Plus, my grammar isn't the best, so I can't hold Sierra's against her.

[louannems]

It looks like a mother-son photo! Not in looks but in age difference!

[kokapetl]

Can you link the blog? I have to admit, I am curious, especially since it appears that she married at 19. How "into" drugs could she have been?

Sierra certainly seems to live life in the fast lane. She enrolled in college, dropped out of college, got a job at a video store, became a junkie, met her husband while restocking the shelves at the video store, quit drugs, and married her husband in the space of just a single year.

[neural-plasticity]

This cult brain washes everyone into thinking any minor "slip up" is bad, that honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if her blog is just referring to the fact that she drank. Maybe smoked weed. It's like Jinger saying she was this God-awful sinner when she was 7. They make everything so much more dramatic than what it needs to be. I highly doubt she was into drugs, but I don't doubt that she partied. I also can't believe how OLD she looked/looks.

[Churchhoney]

Sierra certainly seems to live life in the fast lane. She enrolled in college, dropped out of college, got a job at a video store, became a junkie, met her husband while restocking the shelves at the video store, quit drugs, and married her husband in the space of just a single year.

 

That's about the size of it. I doubt she had time to become and then stop being a junkie, though. My guess is that she smoked a fair bunch of weed for a brief period. David Waller was a lost soul at 3, Jinger Duggar at, what, 7 or 8? .... Doesn't take much in this community to view yourself as utterly depraved, apparently.

 

Except, of course, for those whose behavior actually is depraved. Such as Josh's serial child molestation and its unspeakable coverup and papering over by JIm Bob and Michelle. That stuff doesn't make you depraved at all. 

 

It's all upside down and backwards, so I'm betting Sierra's is a bit that way, too. 

Edited November 30, 2015 by Churchhoney

[GeeGolly]

You all took the words right out of my mouth. Having kids to mend her heart, looking like a mom & son photo, and her living about 20 years in the space of maybe 12 months or less. Also when did her fundyism kick in? On her wedding night? Because it certainly hadn't kicked in yet, in the wedding dress photo.

[queenanne]

And, shoot me now, but I found her blog rather sweet. Grammatical errors, etc. aside, I thought she expressed herself quite well and I could believe that she honestly found a life which fulfills her. She's still very young, though, so the real question is whether it will end up arresting her further development for good or whether, at some point, she will be able to look around herself with anything like perspective and realize that she can incorporate her faith (if she is just one of those people wired for it) into a more mainstream lifestyle.

 

I agree, that was good writing, with progression and rhythm to it.  Sad we're so surprised to find that someone connected with the lifestyle has a brain.

 

That's about the size of it. I doubt she had time to become and then stop being a junkie, though. My guess is that she smoked a fair bunch of weed for a brief period. David Waller was a lost soul at 3, Jinger Duggar at, what, 7 or 8? .... Doesn't take much in this community to view yourself as utterly depraved, apparently.

 

I wouldn't rule it out, allegedly Cory Monteith started doing drugs at thirteen and was in rehab by 19, so it's happened.  Not to pigeonhole, but based upon my experience with friends of all stripes the people with the trashy look of Sierra in those old pictures, tend to not have good supervision and parents and be allowed to grow up wild as grass, which is when they get into drugs unless they somehow have some strong moral code that substitutes for parents, like playing a sport and disappointing a coach.  Also, there's been a fair bit of ink within the last couple of years, about how suburbs and rural areas are higher on drugs because of the native boredom of growing up in the far-flung areas with less to do.

Edited December 1, 2015 by queenanne

[SomePity1066]

That's about the size of it. I doubt she had time to become and then stop being a junkie, though. My guess is that she smoked a fair bunch of weed for a brief period. David Waller was a lost soul at 3, Jinger Duggar at, what, 7 or 8? .... Doesn't take much in this community to view yourself as utterly depraved, apparently.

 

Except, of course, for those whose behavior actually is depraved. Such as Josh's serial child molestation and its unspeakable coverup and papering over by JIm Bob and Michelle. That stuff doesn't make you depraved at all. 

 

It's all upside down and backwards, so I'm betting Sierra's is a bit that way, too. 

Bingo ! No...DOUBLE Bingo !!! 

 

I have no idea what actually happened to Sierra on her journey to becoming clean, so good for her either way, but something tells me it was more like two margaritas, two Marlboro Lights, and two hits from a joint before she was sent on her "road to recovery..."

 

That's not, certainly, to take away from her, or anyone else who has gone through the pain of addiction, but methinks she doth protest too much.  

 

Again - AGAIN - with making Fundie mountains out of secular molehills, while the Duggwits make Fundie molehills out of secular mountains. Blerg.

[Churchhoney]

I agree, that was good writing, with progression and rhythm to it.  Sad we're so surprised to find that someone connected with the lifestyle has a brain.

 

 

I wouldn't rule it out, allegedly Cory Monteith started doing drugs at thirteen and was in rehab by 19, so it's happened.  Not to pigeonhole, but based upon my experience with friends of all stripes the people with the trashy look of Sierra in those old pictures, tend to not have good supervision and parents and be allowed to grow up wild as grass, which is when they get into drugs unless they somehow have some strong moral code that substitutes for parents, like playing a sport and disappointing a coach.  Also, there's been a fair bit of ink within the last couple of years, about how suburbs and rural areas are higher on drugs because of the native boredom of growing up in the far-flung areas with less to do.

 

Oh, yeah, I know people can get into drugs quite quickly and move on quite young to very hard drugs. I've known more than a few people who've done it!

 

I guess I just misunderstood her blog post (which I must say I skimmed pretty quickly). I thought she said in there that she didn't get into drugs until sometime during the very brief period she spent in college (a year or even less?) .and that she stopped taking drugs completely during the same short period... And that seemed like an awfully short time to go from 0 to 80 and then back to 0 again, which is what my too-quick skim read her as saying! But since you're indicating that I'm a sloppy reader (and I was!) and she didn't say that at all, then, yeah, if we're talking the whole span of years from 13 to 18 or even 16 to 18, she can have taken a whole spectrum of drugs. 

Edited December 1, 2015 by Churchhoney

[queenanne]

Oh, yeah, I know people can get into drugs quite quickly and move on quite young to very hard drugs. I've known more than a few people who've done it!

 

I guess I just misunderstood her blog post (which I must say I skimmed pretty quickly). I thought she said in there that she didn't get into drugs until sometime during the very brief period she spent in college (a year or even less?) .and that she stopped taking drugs completely during the same short period... And that seemed like an awfully short time to go from 0 to 80 and then back to 0 again, which is what my too-quick skim read her as saying! But since you're indicating that I'm a sloppy reader (and I was!) and she didn't say that at all, then, yeah, if we're talking the whole span of years from 13 to 18 or even 16 to 18, she can have taken a whole spectrum of drugs. 

 

Oh no, no, I don't think you're necessarily sloppy about it, it's that she doesn't state it really clearly, lol.  It leans towards the drug period being post-drop-out period because she says the friends who said college was useless were druggies; but there's also room to assume that, because of her phrasing, the "college is useless" friends had been downing it well before she even enrolled in college.  In short, she doesn't say "when", but she probably meant it the way you took it.

[GeeGolly]

Bingo ! No...DOUBLE Bingo !!! 

 

I have no idea what actually happened to Sierra on her journey to becoming clean, so good for her either way, but something tells me it was more like two margaritas, two Marlboro Lights, and two hits from a joint before she was sent on her "road to recovery..."

 

That's not, certainly, to take away from her, or anyone else who has gone through the pain of addiction, but methinks she doth protest too much.  

 

Again - AGAIN - with making Fundie mountains out of secular molehills, while the Duggwits make Fundie molehills out of secular mountains. Blerg.

Great post.

[Absolom]

 

You can find the pics on the famyfriday IG.

Can someone point me to that one since I don't follow Amy.

[GeeGolly]

Can someone point me to that one since I don't follow Amy.

I just highlighted the famyfriday IG and Google took me too it. I clicked on the first option.