Maxwell 14: Editing Out Fun-Loving

[catlady]

i'm reluctant to assume there's drama in Melanie's family (sorry to be the wet blanket).  i don't know how big her family is, but it could be as simple as Anna wanting a small wedding party and Melanie having a role elsewhere.  

and yes, Anna has spectacular hair.

[Palimpsest]

19 hours ago, Tatar-tot said:

Where was the Maxwell clan when it came to assisting Steve’s mother as she declined with Altzheimers?  Where does Steve set forth in his Dad notes  how he honored amd respected indicatei

To be fair, AFAIK, GiGi is still around and does not have Altzheimers or any other form of dementia.  She must be around 85 and occasionally gets mentioned or appears in photos.  They bless her with garden mulch or window cleaning sporadically and I think Mary or Anna goes next door to have lunch with her on Fridays.  I think the girls do help her.

Teri's father was ill for a long time with Parkinson's Disease (which can cause dementia) and the family helped GiGi with him.   At least, the sons did.  Steve's name is not mentioned in the schedule, because of course they had one.

Quote

 

THEY SERVED HIM

This was posted on May 21, 2015 by Teri Maxwell.

It blesses my mother heart as I watch our adult children with a mindset to serve. My dear dad passed away last year. During the final years of his life, my mom could no longer fully care for him alone because of the Parkinson’s Disease with which he suffered. It was her desire to keep him at home. For the last year and a half of his life, each night one of our five boys would go over to their grandparent’s house to help GiGi get Grandad to bed.

They made up a schedule for his care so they knew when it was their night. If one was away or sick, they took over for each other. They not only went in and helped, but they had smiles on their faces and encouragement at the end of an often wearisome day for my parents.

A servant’s heart begins with teaching your children the joys of serving first in your home and family and then others.

 

The point is, the Maxwells only help family.  They rarely help others.

[FloraDoraDolly]

8 hours ago, Markie said:

I dreamt about Melanie's sister's wedding last night. Abby was sitting in the congregation and being real critical of how her relatives, especially the cousins her age were dressed and Melanie told her not to be mean but Abby said that her aunts and grandma told her it was her Christian duty to point out whores. After the wedding Bethany, Tina and Drew were milling about playing with other kids and Abby went up to a bunch of 10-13 year old girls and told them what she thought of their clothes. The other girls were quick to tell Abby about her clothes and started teasing her. Tears came and Nathan and Melanie gathered up the rest of the kids and left early.

I can see that happening in real life, except maybe Abby might not use the word "whore" at her age. And I get the feeling that Bethany, Tina, and Drew would fit in with other little kids if they were allowed to play with them. 

[SPHASH]

New post up.  Amish Anna and Prissy Chris's anniversary or AKA the death speech.  Funny they didn't mention Invisible Elissa and Smug Joe's last month.

[FloraKitty35]

I like to think that Melanie & Nathan's children may have to abide by two sets of rules.  They are expected to follow the rules of Maxhell, but they may have a different set of rules regarding their maternal relatives (with the proviso of "what happens here stays here").  Nathan has been steeped in the Maxhell Flavor Aid for the bulk of his life, but he should have memories of a more normal childhood (before the trip down the rabbit hole his parents put him thru) and some underlying resentments about that  being taken away from him that neither Christopher or Sarah have.

[anjulibai]

45 minutes ago, SPHASH said:

New post up.  Amish Anna and Prissy Chris's anniversary or AKA the death speech.  Funny they didn't mention Invisible Elissa and Smug Joe's last month.

I came here to post this. It's very interesting they didn't post about Elissa and Joe's anniversary, but did for Anna and Chris's. Something is up. 

[Coconutwater]

Maybe because they are the only ones truly following in the way Steve wants his kids to be? If you waver at all, you're shunned? Joe and Elissa seem to be doing their own thing and spending more time with her family and taking what looks like vacations from that one post which is great. I wish she blogged. 

[Tatar-tot]

One more example of Steve's TRUE character.  This man emulates JUDAS not JESUS.

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, anjulibai said:

I came here to post this. It's very interesting they didn't post about Elissa and Joe's anniversary, but did for Anna and Chris's. Something is up. 

This is exactly why I don't think Joe and Elissa are not as fully part of Maxhell as the others. I've always assumed that if you aren't fully in the fold, you'll be mostly ignored. I have a very strong feeling that will be happening with John and Chelsy. They won't get as much time on the blog if she's wearing pants, hanging out with friends from a new church, and spending lots of time at the Bontrager home.

[anjulibai]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

This is exactly why I don't think Joe and Elissa are not as fully part of Maxhell as the others. I've always assumed that if you aren't fully in the fold, you'll be mostly ignored. I have a very strong feeling that will be happening with John and Chelsy. They won't get as much time on the blog if she's wearing pants, hanging out with friends from a new church, and spending lots of time at the Bontrager home.

Which makes you wonder why they are not fully in the fold. Prior to marriage, Joseph was all about the Maxhell cult. Has being married and a father loosened him up somewhat? We can only hope. 

[Tangy Bee]

Saw John's yellow house. Needs alot of work but I like it. I'm sure the whole family will help out. Do they ever mention how long it takes for each son to save enough to buy a house? I've noticed John and Jesse wearing name brand clothes over the years. So I guess they are familiar with what's trendy.

[JermajestyDuggar]

3 minutes ago, Tangy Bee said:

Saw John's yellow house. Needs alot of work but I like it. I'm sure the whole family will help out. Do they ever mention how long it takes for each son to save enough to buy a house? I've noticed John and Jesse wearing name brand clothes over the years. So I guess they are familiar with what's trendy.

That's because the boys are allowed more freedom than the girls. So they know much more about the "worldly influences" than the girls.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

My neck of the woods you can get a decent 3 bedroom ranch on 1/2 acre for 40-100 depending on the condition. And, almost no property taxes.

Someone said "We talked about this before but the house seems rather small." Those houses were everywhere when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's  There's plenty of room. In my childhood years a family of 6--8 could live VERY comfortably. Since the Maxwells keep toys to a bare minimum and use the bedrooms only for sleep, they'll be fine. The family room in that style house is usually much of the basement. There may be a bedroom, bath or 1/2 bath and/or laundry and utility room down there too. He probably got it for a song.--re-po even. Remember, they don't have to factor in school district or commute time or anything like normal folks.

Before everyone rushes to get the "they'll live free scooter" moving, no way would John be marrying her if she wasn't absolutely like minded. That her family "rushed" the announcement may be to keep Steve from saying "not yet".

Now, could someone explain how a really lousy picture of Drew's back in a doorway rates "Love this"??? And why only the "little guy" needs to run of energy?? Geesh.....

[NotALoserLikeYou]

I think that even though Elissa came from a Christian, homeschooled family, they were still fun and involved with their family and community, whereas the Maxwells like to shun everyone and participate in nothing. Elissa did 4H. Her family is Italian and, as an Italian, I like to stereotypically hope that they expressed love and stuff. So, they're still conservative and religious, but possibly a little more mainstream. Or so I hope. Any normal couple would want to have a LIFE instead of having whatever the Maxwells have. Thinking about Sarah's last 36 years down the tubes makes me uncomfortable. I don't think Sarah is that happy about it, either. 

[divadivine]

What’s the age difference between Melanie & her sister Anna?

[Jana814]

7 minutes ago, divadivine said:

What’s the age difference between Melanie & her sister Anna?

I was wondering the same thing. I think Melanie is the oldest and this one might be the youngest. If I'm wrong sorry for jumping to that conclusion. 

[divadivine]

5 minutes ago, Jana814 said:

I was wondering the same thing. I think Melanie is the oldest and this one might be the youngest. If I'm wrong sorry for jumping to that conclusion. 

I’m thinking the same thing. 

[FloraDoraDolly]

1 hour ago, NotALoserLikeYou said:

I think that even though Elissa came from a Christian, homeschooled family, they were still fun and involved with their family and community, whereas the Maxwells like to shun everyone and participate in nothing. Elissa did 4H. Her family is Italian and, as an Italian, I like to stereotypically hope that they expressed love and stuff. So, they're still conservative and religious, but possibly a little more mainstream. Or so I hope. Any normal couple would want to have a LIFE instead of having whatever the Maxwells have. Thinking about Sarah's last 36 years down the tubes makes me uncomfortable. I don't think Sarah is that happy about it, either. 

I wonder what Nathan, Christopher, and Joseph think of the way Sarah's life has turned out? I wonder if it has influenced the way they are raising their own daughters and the plans they are making for their daughters' futures? Obviously, they're not planning to send any of their kids (female or male) to Harvard or even to the local community college. But hopefully these kids will get to interact more with other homeschooled Christian kids? Maybe they'll be allowed to have SOME kind of social life? It's hard to say because most of the kids are pretty young. And if Nathan and Melanie's kids are participating in some kind of homeschooling group or church youth activities, it would NEVER be mentioned on the Maxwells' blog.

[SPHASH]

On 10/22/2017 at 2:01 PM, Palimpsest said:

To be fair, AFAIK, GiGi is still around and does not have Altzheimers or any other form of dementia.  She must be around 85 and occasionally gets mentioned or appears in photos.  They bless her with garden mulch or window cleaning sporadically and I think Mary or Anna goes next door to have lunch with her on Fridays.  I think the girls do help her.

Teri's father was ill for a long time with Parkinson's Disease (which can cause dementia) and the family helped GiGi with him.   At least, the sons did.  Steve's name is not mentioned in the schedule, because of course they had one.

The point is, the Maxwells only help family.  They rarely help others.

So true!  They preach helping widows but Gigi is the only one they help.  They preach hospitality but only invite each other to dinner.  They haven't done the neighborhood fall brunch in years and took lunch to a widow once and that's it.

 

[theologygeek]

On 10/21/2017 at 9:23 PM, BullyJBG said:

Holee; how DID you find that? For a sec there I thought Elissa had a public instagram.........but it's her cousin or sister? Interesting.......

I posted the family tree somewhere when they got married.  LOL  Elissa's mother and the mother of the girl in the picture above are sisters.  They look a lot alike.  The cousins are two sisters and a brother.  They're such a cute family.  They all have facebook.  It's a pretty big extended family.  But the two sisters look a lot like Elissa. 

[Corntree]

On 10/22/2017 at 3:01 PM, Palimpsest said:

To be fair, AFAIK, GiGi is still around and does not have Altzheimers or any other form of dementia.

Yeah, but that's Teri's mom. @Tatar-tot was talking about Steve's mom. I think some people here think Steve's parents were not as respected as Teri's are. I know people have speculated that he resented his parents for divorcing and he stopped acknowledging his bio dad at some point. And one of the Maxwells I think said at some point that Steve wasn't raised in a Christian home but his parents actually were Christian. There's a little talk about that on this page, but I can't find all the references to those things right now:

Some people here have said that Joseph proposed to Elissa on the day of Steve's mom's funeral, which they understandably thought was in poor taste. Her death wasn't mentioned on the blog. The funeral was in NE, so at least they probably weren't there and it's not like Joseph proposed before/after attending the funeral. The link above features a link to the obit so I know the date of the funeral, but I don't see anything on the Maxwell blog that says what day Joseph proposed. Actually, the blog has this:

https://blog.titus2.com/2014/09/17/joseph-and-elissas-story-part-1/

And I thought there was a part two posted at some point, but it's not there now. Is my memory failing me or did they erase it? I checked out archive.org, but when I tried to go back farther than page 2 of the Sept. 2014 blog posts, it said they didn't have those pages archived. Does anyone have documentation of the day Joseph proposed?

I'm glad they've taken care of Teri's parents, but I'd like to know more about Teri's family. I don't know if her parents were/are fundie or anything. And I don't know if her sister Tami is either.

[theologygeek]

13 hours ago, Tangy Bee said:

Saw John's yellow house. Needs alot of work but I like it. I'm sure the whole family will help out. Do they ever mention how long it takes for each son to save enough to buy a house? I've noticed John and Jesse wearing name brand clothes over the years. So I guess they are familiar with what's trendy.

It doesn't take long for the kids to buy a house.  Steve fails to mention in his debt free preaching that they are able to buy houses because of his God business.  They all participated in the traveling, seminars, packing of goods, etc and got paid for it.  No different from a child actor who gets money deposited in their bank account.  By the time they're 18, they have enough to buy a house.  Mary is of age now.  There's no reason to keep that lifestyle up the way they used to.  Bus got sold, work became less, and now it's not necessary to keep up that same travel schedule that they used to have. 

[Granwych]

9 hours ago, Jana814 said:

I was wondering the same thing. I think Melanie is the oldest and this one might be the youngest. If I'm wrong sorry for jumping to that conclusion. 

I think that the sister named Grace is the youngest.  She's an aspiring country music singer and moved to Nashville, (alone!!) wears short shorts, etc, and has an all-male backup band.  Steve must have apoplexy at the thought.  I hope that Melanie isn't so upset by Grace's accomplishments.

[Captain Obvious]

4 hours ago, Corntree said:

Some people here have said that Joseph proposed to Elissa on the day of Steve's mom's funeral, which they understandably thought was in poor taste. Her death wasn't mentioned on the blog. The funeral was in NE, so at least they probably weren't there and it's not like Joseph proposed before/after attending the funeral. The link above features a link to the obit so I know the date of the funeral, but I don't see anything on the Maxwell blog that says what day Joseph proposed. Actually, the blog has this:

https://blog.titus2.com/2014/09/17/joseph-and-elissas-story-part-1/

And I thought there was a part two posted at some point, but it's not there now. Is my memory failing me or did they erase it? I checked out archive.org, but when I tried to go back farther than page 2 of the Sept. 2014 blog posts, it said they didn't have those pages archived. Does anyone have documentation of the day Joseph proposed?

Part 2 is here: https://blog.titus2.com/2014/10/06/joseph-and-elissas-story-part-2/

He proposed on 22 May 2014 - so yes, the same day as NotGigi's funeral. 

[Palimpsest]

7 hours ago, Corntree said:

Yeah, but that's Teri's mom. @Tatar-tot was talking about Steve's mom.

Yes, I should have said the family members they think are worthy. 

Steve really doesn't seem to have liked or honored his father. However, somewhere on the blog there is a post by Christopher describing a visit to Steve's mother. 

Found it! It looks as though they were fairly regular visitors.   https://blog.titus2.com/2011/02/28/four-months/

The Maxwells leave a lot off their blog so I don't think it is wise to jump to conclusions about their relationships.  They didn't mention the death of Teri's father for months either and they had a lot of interaction with him as well as GiGi.  Tami is certainly not as Fundie as Steve but probably would identify as conservative Christian.