Do the Maxwells really have friends?

[SPHASH]

Joe and Elissa had an open house on Sat for "friends" and neighbors who couldn't make it to the wedding. Jesse was the door guy, wonder if he had to preach about death everytime someone knocked.

[Jana814]

I was surprised when I saw that!! Maybe they do.

[anjulibai]

Sad that all of their friends are the "elderly". They are in their 20s, they should have some friends their age.

Does anyone really think all of their neighbors are old? I seriously doubt it. They just don't talk to the neighbors that are closer in age.

[Coco]

Their friends are the middle aged "children" of their nursing home church attendees. :lol:

[Seven Severn]

Interesting that the kitchen is the same oxblood red that Elizabeth (Joseph's former "love of his life and best friend") presumably picked out.

[Hane]

Interesting that the kitchen is the same oxblood red that Elizabeth (Joseph's former "love of his life and best friend") presumably picked out.

But aren't the cabinets different? I thought that the ones meant for Elizabeth were wood-finished, not white lacquer.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Sad that all of their friends are the "elderly". They are in their 20s, they should have some friends their age.

Does anyone really think all of their neighbors are old? I seriously doubt it. They just don't talk to the neighbors that are closer in age.

It sure looks like all of their friends are at least as old as their parents if not older, yeah. I suspect that's a direct result of all the "sheltering." Mom and Dad, er, Dad and Mom are adults so officially worldly and able to mix, but they kept the children from having any friends their own age. Reading the Moody books it's similar too, the kids interact somewhat with neighbors but only ADULT neighbors - people who are their parents' ages.

Meanwhile the Maxwells do have some further away friends, entire families that are chummy with the Maxwells to the point that they visit each other. The "BuckHale" family (Buckingham and Hale joined families) from Alaska are among them, they visited the Maxwells on their trip across the US from Alaska to Pennsylvania and back.

[Seven Severn]

But aren't the cabinets different? I thought that the ones meant for Elizabeth were wood-finished, not white lacquer.

I remember a post where Anna &/or Mary were in the garage painting the cabinet doors white and it was very hot and they were wearing layers of shirts. The summer of 2012 was godawful hot in this part of the country.

[TXGirlInAMaterialWorld]

Okay, this is really wrong but the first thing that popped into my head was an evening with the newlyweds and the nearly dead.....

It's one thing to have friends of all ages, but surely all their friends weren't a part of the greatest generation......

[nelliebelle1197]

There looked to be one or two younger people in the background- in fact, I think I spotted at least three that were not Maxwells - one in the background where Mary is chatting with a woman in blue and two on sofas in the photos where the purple and white sheet cake is in the foreground.

[FloraDoraDolly]

If the Maxwell chidults only get to socialize with these people as long as Teri and Steve or other siblings are present, then no, they don't have real friends. If you were the nice old lady down the street, how would you feel if you invited Sarah over for lunch and she told you she couldn't come unless she brought a family member along for "accountability"?

[Dru]

What the hell is it with fundies and Precious Moments figurines?

[scoutsadie]

But aren't the cabinets different? I thought that the ones meant for Elizabeth were wood-finished, not white lacquer.

You mean the ones God had for Elizabeth.

[Coco]

What the hell is it with fundies and Precious Moments figurines?

i don't know :lol: i made my hubby stop at the Chapel and Gift Shoppe tourist spot on our honeymoon and it was creepy. There are some children's graves there, or at least, memorial stones. And the whole thing has a bygone glory feel to it. Very eerie. They're just not as popular as they were in the '80's except with fundies, i guess.

Anyway, before we went through that weird experience i had liked them better than those faceless Willow Tree ones that are in vogue now.

i think fundies like them because they're so sweet and innocent and pastel.

[Jana814]

Their friends are the middle aged "children" of their nursing home church attendees. :lol:

Haha!! I was thinking the same thing.

[SPHASH]

i don't know :lol: i made my hubby stop at the Chapel and Gift Shoppe tourist spot on our honeymoon and it was creepy. There are some children's graves there, or at least, memorial stones. And the whole thing has a bygone glory feel to it. Very eerie. They're just not as popular as they were in the '80's except with fundies, i guess.

Anyway, before we went through that weird experience i had liked them better than those faceless Willow Tree ones that are in vogue now.

i think fundies like them because they're so sweet and innocent and pastel.

My stepsister collected them and she is far from fundie, in fact she rarely attends church and loves watching horror movies. I think she just liked them like I like coins.

[MamaJunebug]

There looked to be one or two younger people in the background- in fact, I think I spotted at least three that were not Maxwells - one in the background where Mary is chatting with a woman in blue and two on sofas in the photos where the purple and white sheet cake is in the foreground.

I wondered if those younger folks were brought along by the Elderly.

Always striving to find joy, I enjoyed seeing that OfJoseph has arranged bowls and other knickknacky things on the cabinets of her his kitchen, and that there were a few living plants .... were the other tchotchkes from Precious Moments? Meh/yuck, but at least she has a few dust-catchers around. IIRC the mothership has nothing of the sort.

Oh also - it looked as though she set out a decent amount of food ... but then, the photos were from afar, so we'll never really know. ... Aw, gosh, now I feel the need for a midnight snack coming on. Animal crackers!!!!!

[Arete]

My sister has a rather unfortunate fondness for Precious Moment figurines. She is as far from fundie as you can get and has a display case for them. Love the sinner, hate the sin.

I actually did go into the FJ archive on Maxhell and reread the engagement and beakup threads for Joseph and Elizabeth. While there was the same asked my parents, prayed, fasted, laid on my heart bullshit, he never called Elizabeth the love of his life or his best friend. (Sorry Steve, the Internet is forever). So maybe the fact he actually bothered to get to know Elissa before proposing puts this relationship on better footing.

It still depresses the hell out of me that this girl who looks so much like my sister with the unfortunate Precious Moment habit is married to not only a Maxwell childult, but the first reversal. He has never experienced normal. On the other hand, all indications are that Elissa is completely marinated in KoolAid, unlike Elizabeth and much like NR Anna. She refered to HERSELF as a helpmeet. At least I hope she is truly marinated, because the alternative is that she will wither slowly like her MIL, and that thought makes me sad.

[YPestis]

I must admit, I was truly surprised when the Maxwells announced their open house. It seems so un-Maxwellian to open Joseph's house to non-family members, and to socialize with any random acquaintances that comes through the door. It's nice to see that their refreshments were a decent offering of sandwiches, cakes, and punch. The Maxwells seem pretty stingy with their food offerings to guests (of course, this is coming from a Chinese gal ;) ), so it seems Joseph and Elissa put some effort into their open house.

The kitchen is also really nice....in fact, I'm kind of jealous. My kitchen is nice but have only minimal upgrades and so I am planning on adding some nicer touches like what the Maxwells did with Joseph's kitchen.

The house overall is far nicer than what most young fundie couples can afford so I think Elissa can be considered the fundie girl that married well. They have a house, debt-free, and completely renovated and Joseph appears to have a job of some kind. In fundie-land, that probably puts them in the upper-echelon of fundie couples. I hope they two will grow onto their own. Perhaps Elissa can convince Joseph to make friends their own age, to have the occasional f*n, maybe even let loose once in a while. After all, the two live almost a mile away from the Mothership :D.

[Dru]

I'm actually not surprised that they had the open house. Nathan and Melanie have an annual 4th of July neighborhood cookout at their house, so this sort of thing isn't unheard of.

Elissa seems genuinely happy.

[kpmom]

I must admit, I was truly surprised when the Maxwells announced their open house. It seems so un-Maxwellian to open Joseph's house to non-family members, and to socialize with any random acquaintances that comes through the door. It's nice to see that their refreshments were a decent offering of sandwiches, cakes, and punch. The Maxwells seem pretty stingy with their food offerings to guests (of course, this is coming from a Chinese gal ;) ), so it seems Joseph and Elissa put some effort into their open house.

The kitchen is also really nice....in fact, I'm kind of jealous. My kitchen is nice but have only minimal upgrades and so I am planning on adding some nicer touches like what the Maxwells did with Joseph's kitchen.

The house overall is far nicer than what most young fundie couples can afford so I think Elissa can be considered the fundie girl that married well. They have a house, debt-free, and completely renovated and Joseph appears to have a job of some kind. In fundie-land, that probably puts them in the upper-echelon of fundie couples. I hope they two will grow onto their own. Perhaps Elissa can convince Joseph to make friends their own age, to have the occasional f*n, maybe even let loose once in a while. After all, the two live almost a mile away from the Mothership :D.

When Sarah wrote that they had "light refreshments", I was picturing something like mints, nuts and punch (like Nathan and Melanie's wedding reception.) I was pleasantly surprised to see sandwiches, cake, etc.

Of course the cake just had to have a bible verse on it, this being the Maxwells after all.

I like the kitchen too.

[treemom]

My sister has a rather unfortunate fondness for Precious Moment figurines. She is as far from fundie as you can get and has a display case for them. Love the sinner, hate the sin.

I actually did go into the FJ archive on Maxhell and reread the engagement and beakup threads for Joseph and Elizabeth. While there was the same asked my parents, prayed, fasted, laid on my heart bullshit, he never called Elizabeth the love of his life or his best friend. (Sorry Steve, the Internet is forever). So maybe the fact he actually bothered to get to know Elissa before proposing puts this relationship on better footing.

It still depresses the hell out of me that this girl who looks so much like my sister with the unfortunate Precious Moment habit is married to not only a Maxwell childult, but the first reversal. He has never experienced normal. On the other hand, all indications are that Elissa is completely marinated in KoolAid, unlike Elizabeth and much like NR Anna. She refered to HERSELF as a helpmeet. At least I hope she is truly marinated, because the alternative is that she will wither slowly like her MIL, and that thought makes me sad.

I am almost certain he responded to a comment on a blog post saying she was his best friend and love of his life. I know that is based on recollection only, but I am almost certain because I remember thinking how awkward that would be after the breakup.

[Justme]

I remember Joe saying Liz was the love of his life. Steve scrubbed it from the blog.

In the comments someone asked about the punch. Steve/Sarah said it was the same that they served at the wedding. I'm sure most blog readers weren't at the wedding so they have no idea what the white foam is....

[docmom]

What the hell is it with fundies and Precious Moments figurines?

On a board I used to belong to "precious moments" referred to quality time spent alone with a battery powered device. Can't get past that definition whenever I see them...

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Okay, this is really wrong but the first thing that popped into my head was an evening with the newlyweds and the nearly dead.....

It's one thing to have friends of all ages, but surely all their friends weren't a part of the greatest generation......

Perfect! Even if Mom and Dad "approved" friends their own age would have to come with their entire family for "fellowship." Individual friendships weaken the family. Sad. Glad some of the nursing home crew got a day out--I'm sure it WAS nice for them. But it does seem sad that they can't even go to a regular church and be in the "new marrieds" Sunday School class at least.