Seewalds 36: Waiting for the Next Cute Kid Video or Photo

[SassyPants]

Great question ladies. This is the kind of thing that their show should focus on. They aren’t talking about their faith much any more, and there’s only so many farms and dental visits to cover. With no one getting hitched or popping another one out, the Duggar’s don’t have much material with which to work.

[AliceInFundyland]

It is a great question... and they could keep their viewers and ratings if they expanded their willingness to show us some stuff. They are dumb.

But we want them off the air... right? So...the less they procreate the better.

[Carm_88]

I wonder when Ben is graduating. There hasn't been much talk about his schooling and he has been pretty under the radar lately. We do know that he did an internship sometime last year, but since then? Nothing. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

7 hours ago, singsingsing said:

I don't remember any talk about them having to move to Chicago,

No.

On behalf of everyone in the Chicagoland area we are going to forego our customary Midwestern friendliness, turn off the lights and pretend were not home.

you don't see @SilverBeach and I moving to Arkansas, do you?

[VelociRapture]

7 hours ago, singsingsing said:

I don't remember any talk about them having to move to Chicago, but I've also been wondering whether he's close to being done school, and what his/their plans are going forward.

There was definitely a discussion on FJ about whether they’d have to relocate or not:

https://www.freejinger.org/topic/26369-jessa-ben-and-spurgeon-part-5/

I think there was a discussion involved regarding whether he would be able to complete is program of choice entirely online or not. 

5 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

No.

On behalf of everyone in the Chicagoland area we are going to forego our customary Midwestern friendliness, turn off the lights and pretend were not home.

you don't see @SilverBeach and I moving to Arkansas, do you?

No joke, I feel like this would actually make a pretty phenomenal reality show. “Buffy and Silver Take Arkansas!” or a show where you guys switch places with Fundies for two weeks and all kinds of hilarious hijinks ensue. 

[nst]

7 hours ago, HarleyQuinn said:

I completely forgot he was doing that in the first place. That's a good question and I hope someone answers. It would be strange to see Jessa away from Arkansas since she's always tasked with being the brand manager. Maybe it would do her some good.

I didn't feel like myself until I left my home town. 

As jinger's instagram becomes even more glam than jessa's it looks like Jinger is getting that job...at least Jeremy is trying to make it seem that way..whereas Ben doesn't even pretend to care anymore

18 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

No.

On behalf of everyone in the Chicagoland area we are going to forego our customary Midwestern friendliness, turn off the lights and pretend were not home.

you don't see @SilverBeach and I moving to Arkansas, do you?

Would you like me to move to Arkansas? I could if you wanted me to 

and my floors are wood dark  

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

5 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

No joke, I feel like this would actually make a pretty phenomenal reality show. “Buffy and Silver Take Arkansas!” or a show where you guys switch places with Fundies for two weeks and all kinds of hilarious hijinks ensue. 

. like a crossover of that old show Wife Swap and The Simple Life?!

Which two patriarchs' are going to be found in the fetal position, weeping in a puddle of their own urine, inside of 24 hours?  Because that would happen.

And fyi I am not eating anything the Duggars call food.

[nst]

although I doubt i could move there...can i fly there for a couple of days and go see amy's new shop and report back....

 

[Sky with diamonds]

On 12/30/2018 at 7:50 AM, SassyPants said:

Throw rugs are a bigger slip risk for he elderly-

I plan to get non slip ones. 

[WiseGirl]

1 hour ago, VelociRapture said:

No joke, I feel like this would actually make a pretty phenomenal reality show. “Buffy and Silver Take Arkansas!” or a show where you guys switch places with Fundies for two weeks and all kinds of hilarious hijinks ensue

Now this is a Duggar related show I would watch.

[Sky with diamonds]

Do we even know what Ben does for a job? Does he still work for JimBob?

[grandmadugger]

I can’t find the church he was listed as pastor. You would think that could be a storyline Ben and Jeremy studying. 

[Snarkasarus Rex]

I never understood why they didn’t play up the sons in law studying to be pastors either. Maybe because it highlights the educational gap between them and the male Duggarlings?

[HarleyQuinn]

I don't understand how these TLC producers think. Studying to become pastors is a lot more interesting than going to the dentist. Plus, Ben and Jeremy, douchebags as they are actually seem to really want to learn more about their version of the Bible whereas Wreck seemed like it did it to get away from his family.

[VelociRapture]

11 hours ago, grandmadugger said:

I can’t find the church he was listed as pastor. You would think that could be a storyline Ben and Jeremy studying. 

Tabloid articles listed it as Grace Reformed Baptist Church. I don’t remember hearing about that one, but I do remember another Church was listed on an ad for a speaking engagement Ben did with Voddie Baucham. I think it was Harvard Baptist, but I also think the Church was renamed to Covenant Church. 

I couldn’t find the ad I remember, but I did look through the Facebook Page for the Conference (Evangelism Reformation Conference.) Based off the photo memes they post, I can at least confirm that the group is as welcoming, loving, and accepting as you’d expect a group connected to the Duggars would be. Two examples from the fall of 2016 for those curious:

Spoiler

 

No surprise there. It is a nice reminder that Benessa still hold the same hateful beliefs as always despite their polished social media accounts though.

[SilverBeach]

12 hours ago, Sky with diamonds said:

I plan to get non slip ones. 

Even non-slip rugs can pose a risk because they create an uneven surface. I'm not elderly but I am a bit klutzy and I stumble over mine all the time.

[HereticHick]

14 hours ago, nst said:

although I doubt i could move there...can i fly there for a couple of days and go see amy's new shop and report back....

 

I will you meet you there and we will go have flaming queso at the Marketplace Grill. And Jesus Tacos with Sierra.

[nst]

30 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

I will you meet you there and we will go have flaming queso at the Marketplace Grill. And Jesus Tacos with Sierra.

sounds like a plan. If I can stay with my friend in montreal with her five kids - I am sure i can stay with Sierra for one night and then go to a holiday inn the next day

 

2 hours ago, HarleyQuinn said:

I don't understand how these TLC producers think. Studying to become pastors is a lot more interesting than going to the dentist. Plus, Ben and Jeremy, douchebags as they are actually seem to really want to learn more about their version of the Bible whereas Wreck seemed like it did it to get away from his family.

next generation going to the dentist is riveting tv...

Ofjill is the worst of the worst especially after his last post...i didn't think he could get any worse after thanking the turd for his generous "donation"

I am sure that Ben and Jeremy don't want to be followed by tlc cameras pretending... when they could could go on free trips visiting each other endlessly. ... thrown in a dentist and we can call it an episode. 

 

10 hours ago, Snarkasarus Rex said:

I never understood why they didn’t play up the sons in law studying to be pastors either. Maybe because it highlights the educational gap between them and the male Duggarlings?

because watching ben driving himself to a coffee shop and sitting there reading is something the natural public could not take - even if he just wore a tank top, I would change the channel. 

birds chirping 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

14 hours ago, nst said:

although I doubt i could move there...can i fly there for a couple of days and go see amy's new shop and report back....

 

I can met you there, we can have Taco's for Life and shop. I'm just a quick 6 hour drive from there.  

[SassyPants]

I know it has to be hard to find riveting and worthwhile acts to film for public consumption when these folks don’t seem to do much that interests or contributes to the world around them. For people who have made a fortunate claiming that they live by the Bible and follow His commandments, how come there are so few examples of them being and living Christ like? There should be sooooooooo many good works being done in a family of that size, yet...

a shame and a sham all rolled into one.

[VelociRapture]

49 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

I know it has to be hard to find riveting and worthwhile acts to film for public consumption when these folks don’t seem to do much that interests or contributes to the world around them. For people who have made a fortunate claiming that they live by the Bible and follow His commandments, how come there are so few examples of them being and living Christ like? There should be sooooooooo many good works being done in a family of that size, yet...

a shame and a sham all rolled into one.

- I’d classify Jill and Jana volunteering with the Fire Department as qualifying. I get the impression that was only briefly highlighted on the original show though and I don’t know how long they volunteered for. So this could maybe count as a good example?

- Had Jill received better training then her Midwife work could have qualified as well - they could have spun it as Jill doing the Lord’s work by helping to bring new lives into the world. But she trained with Venessa and Jill unfortunately seems more of a risk than a help. So that doesn’t really count. 

- JD being a Constable (or whatever the title is) could qualify too, but TLC seems to have only included that part of JD’s life as a gimmick. So another example that I can’t really count, though it could count as a possibly legitimate example that was known about and not shown for some reason.

- All of the Mission work shown could have counted if they had focused their efforts better. If the Duggars had collected food donation for a Food Bank or put together backpacks of supplies for lower income kids in their area then that would have been great, but they instead chose to feature Missioncations to foreign countries in which they harassed the locals and did nothing legitimately helpful. So, again, that doesn’t really count either. 

Other than that I can’t remember any examples. So I’m left with four examples mostly featuring just three of the eldest kids that don’t even really count because they weren’t featured much on the show and weren’t always legitimately helpful.

[SassyPants]

@VelociRapture

I think the Duggar’s have ( and had) a particularly difficult road because they did try to isolate their extreme and to many, odd , “religious” views from their quimsical show. They walked a fine line in attempting to show their good works, some of which you mentioned in your comment, without also highlighting how those works dovetail with their beliefs. For example, how does the muting of individualism (aka forcing Jana to participate in and chaperone Jill, while Jill fulfills her interests) dovetail with the tenets of Gothardism? Another example would be addressing why the Duggars show did not focus, as an example, on highlighting how their annual December visits to CA actually helped or positively influenced the lives of the people they encountered. It would have been nice to see the lifelong changes that the Duggars mission work made. 

[mpheels]

Or the fact that the Jana/Jill first responder storied focused on their skirts, sewing skills, and marching in a parade... 

[Sky with diamonds]

11 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

Even non-slip rugs can pose a risk because they create an uneven surface. I'm not elderly but I am a bit klutzy and I stumble over mine all the time.

Actually I have been giving it some thought. Slippers and special socks with non slip grips it will be. 

Thanks for the advice to those who gave it. ???

[HereticHick]

I was reading recently about how George W. Bush sponsored, and wrote to, a child in the Philippines for 10 years. Wouldn't it be interesting if the Duggars had ongoing relationships with the children in Central America that they visit once a year?

What bothers me about the Duggars is that they are shown as doing charitable works once a year (their Central American trip), or only once for the cameras--the church fish-fry that they helped with while in Little Rock, the lemonade stand they ran as a one-off publicity stunt, the brief time some of the young ladies volunteered with the rescue squad.  These people home school and have home-based businesses--couldn't some of them work with charities on a regular basis?