Counting On: Season Four

[VelociRapture]

44 minutes ago, CreationMuseumSeasonPass said:

@VelociRapture, Can we be best friends?

Absolutely. I feel like it's just a given with our usernames. 

@SuhrEnityand @Bad Wolf You're welcome to join the Bestie Brigade. Lol!

[CreationMuseumSeasonPass]

But in all truthfulness, whenever I see you post something, I'm always intrigued because 1) It's something amazingly funny/snarky or 2) Something very intelligent and well-written. I often come away thinking, that's exactly how I feel, but phrased much more eloquently than what I was going to write.

You either make me laugh or inspire me with your posts. What can I say, it's Love on @VelociRapture Day!

[Dandruff]

I think Joe and Kendra will be married by Labor Day.  The show will probably be full of teasers about who might be pregnant and who might be pregnant at the same time(!)  And I suspect Jim Bob can't wait for a grandchild with the last name Duggar who can be seen on the show with both parents/no baggage.

I doubt Josh will appear again on the show.  Imagine the crap that TLC would catch if they put him on and another scandal erupted - either new or freshly uncovered.

[ItsMeY'all]

Friend of a friend ran into the Duggars at Silver Dollar City this morning. Looking at the pictures I noticed:

-A pregnant Anna but no signs of Josh.

-Jill wearing a skirt that appears to just barely show her knees.

-Most of the girls/women look to have leggings on under their skirts so maybe they actually get on the rides? Yes, I'd assumed that above the age of 8-ish they considered the rides inappropriate for the women. 

-A few guys in shorts and tee shirts but they don't look familiar. Likely production/crew people?

-A few females in tennis shoes, lots of Chacos/Teva type sandals, and not a single flip flop! I know you can't wear flip flops on the rides, but Jill and Anna shouldn't be on rides and they were wearing the sandals. 

-Michelle is in her standard shoes, black tights, just above the ankle heavy denim skirt, and a mustard colored long sleeved button down so I'm expecting reports she has had a heat stroke by the end of the day. She seriously looks ready for a brisk visit to a pumpkin patch, not a humid day of sun in Branson.

Sounds like the Duggars were gathered up talking about collecting half priced coupons. What a thrilling day at the park.

 

 

[Four is Enough]

On 5/30/2017 at 0:18 AM, JordynDarby5 said:

My hope chest was passed down from my great-grandmother, to my grandmother, to my mother and then to me. There's a lot of really nice things inside, baby stuff, beautiful embroidery, and jewelry belonging to all three. 

Please, don't just look at the stuff. USE IT. WEAR the jewelry. REALLY honor them by using what they made. I have a quilt top that my grandmother made for my mother's "Big girl" bed... she was pg with #2 when she died, and my mother never got to use the quilt because it was never finished. When my mother died, I took that quilt top, added fabrics that were given by my mother's cousin, and some I chose, and finished that quilt! We don't use it much, but it has pride of place on the guest bed (which is a twin size) in our house.. I also use crocheted tablecloths and doilies that were embroidered and crocheted by three generations of my family. I feel that I am the last to remember these women, and I don't want to see some "picker" person come and take them out of my house when I'm dead and say how beautiful and pristine they are and won't they looik good in a museum. I want them USED and honored...

and yes, I had some of my mother's jewelry resized so that I could wear it, and honor her memory that way.

[MayMay1123]

my grandmother left me a diamond cluster ring that was left to her by her aunt. she only wore it on the most special of occasions, but i never take it off. treasure whatever you have of the past!

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

3 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Sorry guys. I've been here longer and we're already best friends. Get in line. 

@VelociRapture  VelociRapture  VelociRapture its always about VelociRapture  

Stomps feet petulantly and runs off to put on a black (well blonde I guess since i already have dark brown hair) wig to make myself prettier so boys will pay attention to MEEEEEEEE!  

[Mrs.Right]

Jeremy and Audrey Roloff are now (correct me if this isn't the first time) saying "season of life".   

[JMO]

3 hours ago, ItsMeY'all said:

Michelle is in her standard shoes, black tights, just above the ankle heavy denim skirt, and a mustard colored long sleeved button ... She seriously looks ready for a brisk visit to a pumpkin patch, not a humid day of sun in Branson.

So I don't know why this didn't occur to me until now but I'm betting that she wears compression stockings. It probably finally entered my mind because I have a wallop of a varicose vein from my most recent pregnancy.  And that was with me wearing compression stockings the whole time.  19 pregnancies including multiple past 40 have no doubt left her with serious varicosities.  She'd probably be seriously uncomfortable without them.  No doubt she has chronic foot and back pain too and thus the sensible shoes. 

[Carm_88]

1. The Dullards' second child will grace this world on July 4th, 2017. No one will care but them and then there will be much talk. Jill may potentially do something stupid. Derick will look dumb. 

2. Anna will give Birth to M5 around July 21st. Holy JB and Michelle's anniversary. There will be much talk of special blessings. Josh will not appear but wherever he, he'll be sobbing. 

3. Around the end of July and to shift the focus off the new Joshly baby, Jinger and Jeremy will announce a pregnancy. 

4. JoKen will get married around the middle of August. No one will propose at their wedding but we will joke about it a lot. 

5. Jessa will announce a pregnancy around the end of August. She will continue to talk about being like her Mom, much talk about twins, and they are still thinking about adoption!

6. Another courtship possibly Josiah around early September. 

7. Jostin will announce a pregnancy in late September. Free Jinger will begin sobbing. 

8. JoKen will announce a pregnancy in mid October. The thread title with be "Joe and Kendra: A Baby already? You must be JoKen." 

I can't even think about Counting On because it will just be snoozeville. The only redeeming thing about it will be that it will make for some good jokes. 

 

[cascarones]

Jinger will tour the thrift stores of Laredo, find them lacking and decide to open her own with the proceeds going to Jeremy's church. 

Oh so very unlikely, but it would a neat way for her to make the pastor's wife role her own! Plus, imagine the mayhem of everyone showing up to help decorate it under General Jessa, while Jeremy tries to figure out how his bookshelf made it out of the closet and onto the sale rack.

[Lurky]

I just hope all the pregnancies are accompanied by adequate pre-natal care, and nothing goes wrong with any of the home births.  Of course ideally they'd all be looked after by proper obstetricians, so anyone them who wanted a home birth could be properly assessed, and supported by a proper medically trained midwife, while other could go to a proper hospital birthing centre, and hospital if necessary - eg if Jill's trying for a VBAC - but I very much worry it's be all dopplers at home, doulas and "midwifery" from unlicensed friends. 

I genuinely worry about all the fundies who see forgoing adequate pre-natal care as making them more godly, and I really, really hope it doesn't take a tragedy to make them change their ways.

(I suspect that at least Jeremy would encourage proper pre-natal care, but I think about poor Kendra and my heart hurts for her)

[ItsMeY'all]

Bet you are right about the compression stockings! Can't believe I didn't think of that. Super hot in warm weather but they really feel good on overused feet and legs. When I started working on my feet for a 12 hours at a time in my 20's, a fellow degreed medical professional suggested compression stockings and it was some of the best advice I got. No more sore feet. Still seems like an overall really warm outfit for a day at the park. I would have at least gone with a lighter weight skirt.

[divadivine]

2 minutes ago, ItsMeY'all said:

Bet you are right about the compression stockings! Can't believe I didn't think of that. Super hot in warm weather but they really feel good on overused feet and legs. When I started working on my feet for a 12 hours at a time in my 20's, a fellow degreed medical professional suggested compression stockings and it was some of the best advice I got. No more sore feet. Still seems like an overall really warm outfit for a day at the park. I would have at least gone with a lighter weight skirt.

J'shell must let the world know how Godly and modest she is at all times. A lighter weight skirt would not prove this to the world. 

[mlsgregg]

...the pastor's wife role...

This just hit me. I hope that the people who attend their church are gracious and kind, because there can be a lot of pressure on a pastor's wife. There's a good chance she might be expected to organize women's events, oversee children's ministry, lead a Bible study group, host baby showers, do secretarial work... The list is endless. Plus she has to accept her husband being on-call 24/7. Gosh. That's got to be a huge and ongoing adjustment for Jinger.

[Pasta]

I imagine that Michelle is cold these days considering how frail she looks

[SuhrEnity]

14 hours ago, mlsgregg said:

This just hit me. I hope that the people who attend their church are gracious and kind, because there can be a lot of pressure on a pastor's wife. There's a good chance she might be expected to be joyfully available at all times. Gosh. That's got to be a huge and ongoing adjustment for Jinger.

There. I fixed it for you

[mlsgregg]

@SuhrEnity, well, yes. That too. But for real. The pressure that some congregations place on pastor's wives is beyond intense. I hope she's not dealing with that.

[Lurky]

Anyone know how big Jeremy's actual congregation is?  It's not so much a church, more a converted small house in a residential street, so it looks like it couldn't hold too many people - which makes it easier for Jinger to adjust.

[GreenTea]

No offense but out of hard jobs pastor's wives does not rank up there on the list.

Nurse = Hard Job

Public School Teacher = Hard Job

Anything Mind Numbing, but you do it to take care of your family = Hard Job  

Physically Demanding Work, but you do it to take care of your family = Hard Job

Pastor's Wife, where you make your own schedule, lead a Bible study (which she has done all her life), and throw baby showers, etc = Not a Hard Job (in my opinion) 

[Lurky]

@GreenTea My best friend is the son of 2 ministers, and while teaching, nursing etc are all very hard work, the problem with being a Minister's Wife is that you never get to leave your job at home, and everything you do (in a bad congregation) is scrutinised and judged, especially when congregations feel like they're directly paying the minister, and so can have a say in how they spend their money. 

Buy your kids new clothes?  You're a spendthrift and a bad example.  Keep them in second hand clothes?  You're not respecting your position. You can pretty much never raise your kids right at all, and everything about your household is wrong too.  And god help you if they decide you're wrong in how you do your duties, because then it's "let's try to fire the minister".

(My friend was told, at 8, that if he wasn't well behaved in church, and making sure his brothers behaved, his dad would lose his job and they'd be out of their home, by a "helpful" member of the congregation).

My TL;DR is that I'm sure in a lot of congregations, it's can be a wonderful life (I think of what Zsuzsanna Anderson expects as the Pastor's Wife, eg) but it can be pretty hellish. 

[elvirajane]

Jinger has been trained to be a pastor's wife.

Her whole life has been organising events, smiling to fans, attending book signing events and trying to recruit people. As far as baby showers are concerned, I think she knows what she is doing. Oh and she has 20 years of experience in cleaning.

She looks like a sociable person that makes friends easily so I am sure she is alright.

 

[mlsgregg]

3 hours ago, Lurky said:

Anyone know how big Jeremy's actual congregation is?  It's not so much a church, more a converted small house in a residential street, so it looks like it couldn't hold too many people - which makes it easier for Jinger to adjust.

I can't find anything about congregation size, but that's not uncommon. Pretty sure my church's website doesn't list the number of attendees. Based on the photo of that house, I'm guessing they probably run anywhere from 30-60, especially if there's a basement.

I'm a big ol' church nerd, so I did some snooping. GC Laredo is affiliated with this place: http://gccsatx.com/. Pretty standard Reformed, conservative stuff. I'm glad to see that they have children's services, so they're not all up on this "family integrated" thing. GC San Antonio offers a Systematic Theology class, so, while it doesn't appear that Jeremy went to seminary, there's a good chance that he has a pretty solid footing in theology and pastoral care. The Reformed folks I know are all about education. 

[MargaretElliott]

I like the idea of hope chests, because I'm a romantic. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think in some time periods/cultures, the contents of a hope chest was not a dowry, but insurance- if the man and wife separated, the wife kept the contents of her hope chest. Linens and pillowcases may not seem like much to the modern woman, but when you had to sew (and sometimes even spin/weave, depending on the location/time) everything yourself, household linens were the most precious thing in the world. A full hope chest would be one of the most valuable things in your home. So being able to hold on to that, and not have it taken away from you, was an enormous relief. I can't source this, and I don't remember where I heard it, but I like the story and I hope it's true.

[Cheetah]

My prediction:  there is another courtship in the works.  This is why the Joe/Kendra engagement happened already... otherwise that would have waited another month or so as an episode teaser.  

16 hours ago, GreenTea said:

No offense but out of hard jobs pastor's wives does not rank up there on the list.

Really depends on the congregation.  My mom was a pastor's wife.  Time-wise and energy-wise, this was an easy role.  But the scrutiny was intense.  I don't know how much of this was her personality (wanting to please/ look good) but she regularly broke down crying at Sunday lunches with the stress of what so-and-so had said to her that morning.  People who had complaints about my dad's sermons or other decisions would complain to my mom, expecting her to pass that along.  

(oh, and she was also a nurse, too, part-time.  More physically demanding, but guess which job stressed her out more?)