Faith Pennington "Help Me Prove It" updates

[Marian the Librarian]

Faith's "Help Me Prove It" Facebook page has been updated. There's lots of back-and-forth discussion with commenters - way too much for a comprehensive quote here, but I want to pull out a few highlights. Get your punching bags ready. :angry-banghead:

...my parents believe in religious marriage and not civil. The boys in my family are expected to find wives who will go along with all this. As you can imagine, I think this will be quite difficult for them to do! As far as a job... I can't say I have any idea how they plan for my brothers to support their families. And I'm not even sure my brothers realize what kind of a situation this puts them in. I'm afraid for them and their futures.

...to be honest, I have a hard time wrapping my head around it too.

What's it like living under their roof? It is very controlled, restricted, and dysfunctional. Even though I am in a very rough situation outside of their home, I wouldn't go back for anything.

Our relationship is at a stand still. I would say that I have done all I can to repair things between us, and they would say they have done all they can. We simply cannot rebuild it with such drastic differences in our views of how things work in a parent to adult child relationship. Also, I will admit I have a hard time being around them after the impact their actions/decisions have had on me, my life, and those who support me.

There are hundreds of other things, but these are it's a few examples of what it was like:

We all had to be up at 7:00 in the morning and at the breakfast table in their assigned seats by 7:30, dressed and prepared for the day. The children had assigned tasks to keep the flow of house running each day. I cooked the meals, planned the weekly menu, and did the grocery shopping, and worked in my mom's shop. My siblings chores included the laundry, schooling my younger siblings, keeping the house spotless, and feeding the farm animals. Each homeschool high school graduated child had to work 8 hours a day for my parents in exchange for living there -- but we were not allowed to get a job or move out.

There were strict rules on what we could wear. Girls must only wear skirts that fell below the knee, collars to the neck, no sleeveless. The boys were never allowed shirtless even for swimming.

My father turned the Internet on from 9:00 in the morning (sometimes noon) until 9:00 at night. At 18 years old, I was only allowed on Instagram, Pinterest, and emailing pre-approved friends. All movies and books had to be previewed by my parents before we could watch/read it.

We were kept secluded and rarely saw friends. When we did have families over, it was very difficult to talk or get to really know one another because of the control my parents exercised in what we could say or do. Even like or dislike.

I eventually realized something had to change, and my life was going nowhere despite my attempts. So I decided to do something about it. That is when I left. Then later realized I still couldn't because of the identification abuse.

Faith, your tenaciousness in the face of all this bullshit and abuse is impressive. And I hope it's OK to say that, while I don't ever condone the use of physical force...the urge to smack your parents is strong in me right now. Continued best wishes to you.

facebook.com/pages/Help-Me-Prove-It/882732628415890?fref=ts

[MamaJunebug]

What's this about her mom's shop? Is that a physical plant or online? Retail sales or some kind of craft-producing endeavor?

Being up at 7 and dressed and ready by 7:30 doesn't sound bad at all for me - baby boomer who had the early shift at school, aka 6:30 am-noon. (I figured it beat the noon:thirty - 6 pm routine.)

So the Drapers -- er, I mean, Penningtons (these folks who change their names are just everywhere these days!) -- have grocery shopping, menu-planning, cooking, laundry, cleaning, home-skule-ing and farm chores covered by the progeny. That leaves making boring videos, traveling to speaking engagements, and sweet sweet fellowship to the parents. And paying the bills, I guess. But not the tax bills. Because sovereignty, etc.

Yes, I'd say they never bargained for a child with Faith's tenacity. Keep the Faith, girl! I'm relieved beyond measure to know you will not go back. Your courage will help countless others.

[quiversR4hunting]

wow. Thank you Marian for the update.

Faith - Kudos for you for taking control of your own life. I hope your brothers and other siblings wake up and follow your lead.

I wonder how many other kids live this same hellish schedule and seclusion.

[apandaaries]

I wonder how many other kids live this same hellish schedule and seclusion.

What an incredibly strong young woman.

And I, too, wonder and worry about how many others might be out there. In one of the books about the LeBaron compound in Mexico, it mentions a woman kept in kennel-like conditions. The writer never found out much about her, but she's haunted me since then. How many others are trapped, perhaps literally, in crazy fundamentalist situations? It's frightening to contemplate.

[VelociRapture]

This young lady is an incredibly strong person. It says a lot about her parents that they were unable to see just how incredibly she is. I hope she stays strong and continues moving forward with her life.

And just out of curiosity, do we know if she ever got the documentation she needs? I haven't followed her story closely enough to know.

[Koala]

Faith is going to go far- no question about it!

You can do it Faith! :clap:

[quiversR4hunting]

This young lady is an incredibly strong person. It says a lot about her parents that they were unable to see just how incredibly she is. I hope she stays strong and continues moving forward with her life.

And just out of curiosity, do we know if she ever got the documentation she needs? I haven't followed her story closely enough to know.

Here is a news article about it. Faith and Grandma are interviewed. dad got one little sound bite.

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/clip/1141394 ... w.facebook

The last part of the video states Faith still has some hurdles to do in court to get the birth certificate.

[Cartmann99]

What's this about her mom's shop? Is that a physical plant or online? Retail sales or some kind of craft-producing endeavor?

Being up at 7 and dressed and ready by 7:30 doesn't sound bad at all for me - baby boomer who had the early shift at school, aka 6:30 am-noon. (I figured it beat the noon:thirty - 6 pm routine.)

So the Drapers -- er, I mean, Penningtons (these folks who change their names are just everywhere these days!) -- have grocery shopping, menu-planning, cooking, laundry, cleaning, home-skule-ing and farm chores covered by the progeny. That leaves making boring videos, traveling to speaking engagements, and sweet sweet fellowship to the parents. And paying the bills, I guess. But not the tax bills. Because sovereignty, etc.

Yes, I'd say they never bargained for a child with Faith's tenacity. Keep the Faith, girl! I'm relieved beyond measure to know you will not go back. Your courage will help countless others.

Lisa has an Etsy shop where she sells stuff like racks for essential oils, mason jar straw lids, and chalkboard labels. The shop is closed right now because she says they will be on vacation for a few weeks.

etsy.com/shop/Shop24

[DomWackTroll]

Thanks for letting us know, Marian.

[hoipolloi]

Late to this saga. Thank you, Marion, for the updates.

Good for Lisa's mother supporting Faith in this mess. As for James Pennington, what a pompous dick.

[Grimalkin]

Marian, When I go on the FB page I cannot find where the conversation is that you posted. Can you point me in the right direction?

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Thanks, Marian!

My mom was so controlling (but also very neglectful/selfish so I still had plenty of alone time) and so now I'm more of a free spirit. Reading that description was horrible, I could never live like that or have my kids live like that! And Lisa will never apologize, she will never come around or change. She doesn't have it in her. Faith, don't ever go back! You're strong and smart and have a lot of potential. I am proud of you!

[Koala]

Thanks, Marian!

My mom was so controlling (but also very neglectful/selfish so I still had plenty of alone time) and so now I'm more of a free spirit. Reading that description was horrible, I could never live like that or have my kids live like that! And Lisa will never apologize, she will never come around or change. She doesn't have it in her. Faith, don't ever go back! You're strong and smart and have a lot of potential. I am proud of you!

No, Lisa will continue to make her idiotic youtube videos and blog posts, never realizing that she makes herself look like a complete ass.

She doesn't even seem to care that she has essentially lost a relationship with her daughter.

[Grimalkin]

No, Lisa will continue to make her idiotic youtube videos and blog posts, never realizing that she makes herself look like a complete ass.

She doesn't even seem to care that she has essentially lost a relationship with her daughter.

Yeah she made one or two obligatory broken heart posts, but not much else. I was horrified when people commented on their FB page what a spoiled brat she was, among other not so nice statements. They kept those up but deleted posts criticizing them. That was so messed up. I don't care if its even true I would not let people bash my child like that on my own FB page. No matter what they did. Ever. I don't recall if they liked those posts. I want to say yes but not sure.

[Peas n carrots]

Wow that is messed up. Forced to live and toil at the Pennington Company Store, but not allowed to get your own job. That is called being held hostage by your parents.

I have a toxic and manipulative mother, but even she wouldn't dare go that far.

[Koala]

Wow that is messed up. Forced to live and toil at the Pennington Company Store, but not allowed to get your own job. That is called being held hostage by your parents.

I have a toxic and manipulative mother, but even she wouldn't dare go that far.

It's exactly like being held hostage. No identity, no real education, and under the rule of two people who feel it is their privilege to decide if their adult children have earned the right to leave.

I have real hope for Faith though. She sounds very intelligent and obviously has a lot of courage!

[Delilah]

I'm so happy the identification abuse bill has passed in the House and is now on its way to the Senate! This law will help so many people in Faith's situation - maybe even her own siblings. Yay! :D

[NotALoserLikeYou]

On Mother's Day Lisa wrote about how hard it was because her daughter had "run away."

[Delilah]

Ok legal eagles on this site, does this vote in the Texas Legislature mean what I think it means? If I understanding correctly, this bill was a landslide in the House.

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup ... ill=HB2794

If it was such a big hit in the House, it'll probably pass in the Senate too, right? I really, really hope so! Faith deserves this.

[Delilah]

On Mother's Day Lisa wrote about how hard it was because her daughter had "run away."

Good grief, these parents are so weird.

[Koala]

On Mother's Day Lisa wrote about how hard it was because her daughter had "run away."

I do hope someone reminded her that her adult daughter didn't "run away". She made the (VERY legal / VERY smart) choice to leave. She is not your captive Lisa. She's an adult with the same legal rights you have.

[Koala]

Here are Lisa's FB whines :roll:

Since I shared last fall about my teenage daughter running away, I have gotten hundreds (maybe thousands) of emails and messages from other moms suffering the same pain.

Lost children, broken relationships, rejection and/or hate can all make this a hard weekend for many of us.

I am not looking forward to tomorrow and would kind of rather just take a long nap and wake up after it's over. But it doesn't work like that, huh?

So I will get up, find joy in Christ's love for me and peace in His grace and mercy. Oh, how thankful I am that there is a place I can go where I will never be pushed away as if I don't matter!

Moms, whatever what you're dealing with this Mother's Day, there is a love that washes all of that pain away. Look to Christ for your joy and He will comfort you as you go through the day tomorrow.

If you need prayer, please leave a comment below and I would love to pray for you!

I would have sent you all a card that says that, but the Hallmark store didn't have anything that really fit.

Get real Lisa. Your own parents helped your ADULT daughter LEAVE.

I recently caught a social media conversation between 2 people who were making fun of me and my essential oils (not playful fun, but cutting and mean).

I had 2 thoughts about this.

1. This is part of our family's business and how we make ends meet. I know that not everyone is interested in using them any more than we all need any of the same things. But to mock someone's livelihood really reflects on the mocker and not me or the company I work with.

2. I didn't invent essential oils. God created these plants for our health and well being. Young Living oils are simply the essence of plants. You aren't really making fun of me, but of the plants God gave us as a gift.

Please friends, if you don't appreciate the work someone else is doing, there's no reason not to be kind and caring anyway.

All in all, it only showed me how much more I appreciate those of you who support one another and love the Lord like I do!

Because if you disagree with Lisa you don't support others or love the Lord.

Do you have a friend you can call when you're really low?

I hope yall know I am not looking for sympathy here!

:shock: :shock: :shock:

[lawlifelgbt]

Wow, I did not know about the schedule! I had such a schedule as a teenager (weekends too), but at least I got to do things outside the home! And the schedule was because of school and homework and activities (largely forced on me by my mom- at least the dozen extracurriculars and all the APs). So that schedule, while terrible and making me drink coffee since I was 12, at least prepared me for the real world. I couldn't imagine otherwise.

[LovelyLuna]

Lisa has an Etsy shop where she sells stuff like racks for essential oils, mason jar straw lids, and chalkboard labels. The shop is closed right now because she says they will be on vacation for a few weeks.

etsy.com/shop/Shop24

So I wonder how many of her 1,009 sales she actually made herself or if it is all forced child labor. This makes me really angry. :pull-hair:

[MamaJunebug]

1,000-some sales of a $36 item = $36,000 gross to "help make ends meet"??!!!

Well, sure. Because those ugly hipster dresses don't buy themselves.

Also, wrt Lisa's whiny-ass Mothers Day post--last I looked, she has more than half a dozen other children still resignedly under her thumb. No thought given to thAnking God for them? What's that you say? Chopped liver? Well, sure...