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The Seven Sisters Continue Progressing


deborahlynn1979

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This made me so happy. I really do have a heart for these girls, they seem like genuinely good people, and I've said before that their joy in life is infectious. You really can't help but root for them, and I'm genuinely happy that they're finding their footing in the things they are passionate about. 

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Many of the FJ fundies we talk about are insufferable. The type of people I would never ever want to have a conversation with (JillRod, Zoo, Lori for example). However I would be happy to have a conversation with these sisters. I’m sure they are nice to talk to and friendly. Plus they all seem to have interests that I would enjoy discussing. Although I believe Suzanna hates cats. So that’s a black mark against her ?

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7 hours ago, GenerationCedarchip said:

So glad to see an update.  They always seemed like such a fun and genuinely happy family. The way they live reminds me a lot of my circle of friends who are conservative Christians by belief , as opposed to the more fear and rule-driven legalistic fundies from the church where I grew up. 

Not so happy. One of the girls had a severe bout of depression. Remember, you can’t judge the book by its cover.

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1 hour ago, DarkAnts said:

Not so happy. One of the girls had a severe bout of depression. Remember, you can’t judge the book by its cover.

And actually wasn’t that when they talked with their parents and made some changes? I feel like that was around the time they became less SAHD and started to spread their wings a bit. 

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6 hours ago, DarkAnts said:

Not so happy. One of the girls had a severe bout of depression. Remember, you can’t judge the book by its cover.

Well as someone who has suffered from depression, you can kind of be happy and depressed at the same time sometimes too somehow.

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Loved the blog post! They are so much less irritating than other fundies because they're not all about pushing their extreme beliefs on other people, like so many other families. When they wear frumpers it doesn't feel so "in your face, look how holy I am" like the Maxwells for example. I'm sure they still have some pretty fundie beliefs, but they seem like people who would at least be willing to listen to a different viewpoint.

And I think it's freaking cool that they're pursuing their interests and making their own paths in life. 

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36 minutes ago, Lisafer said:

Loved the blog post! They are so much less irritating than other fundies because they're not all about pushing their extreme beliefs on other people, like so many other families. When they wear frumpers it doesn't feel so "in your face, look how holy I am" like the Maxwells for example. I'm sure they still have some pretty fundie beliefs, but they seem like people who would at least be willing to listen to a different viewpoint.

And I think it's freaking cool that they're pursuing their interests and making their own paths in life. 

I think it’s because they aren’t smug holier than thou types. There are so many fundies like that! It’s refreshing when you find a fundie family that doesn’t seem to have even one smug jerk. 

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Some on FJ might disagree, but I think that the Seven Sisters are actual living out their faith more than many other fundy families we follow.

 

And seriously--a note to conservative Christian hard-working fun-loving guys in Indiana--snatch one of these girls up!!

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I found one of the girl's Instagram (@jollyjessica) and the sister that is a pilot did a class to teach young girls about flying. It makes me happy to see a fundie woman recognize that it is important to help give women/girls access to fields that are traditionally male.

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2 hours ago, browngrl said:

I found one of the girl's Instagram (@jollyjessica) and the sister that is a pilot did a class to teach young girls about flying. It makes me happy to see a fundie woman recognize that it is important to help give women/girls access to fields that are traditionally male.

I think being a woman in a male dominated job will turn you at least a tiny bit feminist. 

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On 10/23/2018 at 1:05 PM, 16strong said:

Lots of fundies talk about how they/their kids have a choice in how they dress and live their lives, and that no judgment will be passed if one of them chooses a different path, but the Richardsons are the only fundie family I can name that really mean it. Yes, they're my pet fundies, but I have really enjoyed seeing the girls (women!) get out into the world and make their own destinies. They all seem like such hard workers and go-getters, educated and capable enough to provide for themselves. It's nice to finally see some fundie kids that will be just fine.

I agree, as far as a lot of the fundies we see the Richardsons appear to have supported their daughters in whatever endeavor they sought as well as any different fashion choices they make. I don't mind if someone chooses to wear frumpers as long as it is what they like! 

And yes, they are my pet fundies too. I always liked that the parents chose to get them some valuable life skills (farm work etc.) instead of looking pretty and doing laundry. They also went through the illness of their dad and that was probably an eye opening for the whole family.

On 10/24/2018 at 9:15 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

And actually wasn’t that when they talked with their parents and made some changes? I feel like that was around the time they became less SAHD and started to spread their wings a bit. 

You are right, it was after that time that they started pursuing a lot more outside interests. 

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On 10/24/2018 at 6:06 PM, DarkAnts said:

Not so happy. One of the girls had a severe bout of depression. Remember, you can’t judge the book by its cover.

On the internet no one needs to know you are miserable.

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Something has happened here, ok it’s great that in the past few years the girls have been allowed to have careers. But suddenly, the head coverings are removed, most stop wearing frumper (to the extreme that Stevie Maxwell would have a melt down), get boyfriends... in the space of six months.

im so pleased for them, but it does not add up.

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2 hours ago, johnhugh said:

Something has happened here, ok it’s great that in the past few years the girls have been allowed to have careers. But suddenly, the head coverings are removed, most stop wearing frumper (to the extreme that Stevie Maxwell would have a melt down), get boyfriends... in the space of six months.

im so pleased for them, but it does not add up.

It wasn't as sudden or recent as that. Most of them started wearing t-shirts occasionally a few years ago. Anna stopped wearing frumpers a couple of years ago I think, and Susannah followed in the following year. Cassia was the recent one. And to be honest, they've always worn modern sweaters, hoodies, jackets etc.

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55 minutes ago, Triplet3 said:

It wasn't as sudden or recent as that. Most of them started wearing t-shirts occasionally a few years ago. Anna stopped wearing frumpers a couple of years ago I think, and Susannah followed in the following year. Cassia was the recent one. And to be honest, they've always worn modern sweaters, hoodies, jackets etc.

Yep. This was not sudden at all. I noticed Anna starting to wear a headband in place of a head covering a couple of years ago. Then she stopped wearing frumpers completely. Then she started wearing make up. Then I spotted her in a pair of jeans and no head covering. Her sisters have been very slowly following her lead with makeup and hair/head covering. I’ve never seen the two oldest without their head coverings and they still wear frumpers (Leah all the time and Jess sometimes). It’s the five younger sisters that seem to be varying in their clothing/hair changes. Some might finally settle on modern modest like Jessa Duggar or they might just go with more mainstream clothes like Anna. 

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The head coverings are a personal religious convocation. Some of the girls realized that they were not doing it as a personal convention so they stopped. I am happy to see them each find their own identity.

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What I find facinating is that their parents trusted their own parenting enough to not restrict their children from becoming independent women with their own dreams and desires. Honestly, they are basically now living normal, everyday lives. No one is at home waiting for Prince Charming to show up so they can finally go to the grocery store alone. 

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On 10/24/2018 at 8:06 PM, DarkAnts said:

Not so happy. One of the girls had a severe bout of depression. Remember, you can’t judge the book by its cover.

People in happy families can be depressed. Depression can be situational, or it can be clinical with no specific trigger. Of course, situational depression can turn clinical, or a bad situation can worsen clinical depression, but the main point is that depression is not always caused by a bad situation or bad home life.

It's dangerous to think that kids from good or happy families don't get depressed.   

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8 hours ago, katilac said:

People in happy families can be depressed. Depression can be situational, or it can be clinical with no specific trigger. Of course, situational depression can turn clinical, or a bad situation can worsen clinical depression, but the main point is that depression is not always caused by a bad situation or bad home life.

It's dangerous to think that kids from good or happy families don't get depressed.   

I have treatment resistant depression so I know that people from good families can have depression. I get so angry when people say that the girls all seem so happy when of them was suffering from an untreated mental illness. Many people with depression myself included put on a happy mask because people in our lives tell us to stop looking so depressed. We put on a happy mask because we are trying to hide how we feel inside. That’s why I made the comment about how they all seemed happy while one of them was suffering.

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Anna posted a new family picture on her Instagram and it looks nice. 3 girls are wearing their hair down and curled with modern modest clothing. The youngest is wearing a cute long dress and the other three are wearing frumpers. But they aren’t super frumpy frumpers. 

Susanna is moving out of state to do some clinical stuff for midwifery. It seems she will only be a few months but it’s nice that she’s able to move away unchaperoned for her future career. 

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On 10/27/2018 at 3:19 AM, johnhugh said:

Something has happened here, ok it’s great that in the past few years the girls have been allowed to have careers. But suddenly, the head coverings are removed, most stop wearing frumper (to the extreme that Stevie Maxwell would have a melt down), get boyfriends... in the space of six months.

im so pleased for them, but it does not add up.

I agree with others that the change seems to happen pretty organically. With the sisters being so close, it's easy for change to have a snowball effect. If parent's aren't actively restricting this change, it's quite natural for young people to naturally bloom and pursue their interests.

Anna, from a young age, seemed like a free spirit. Her year in Guatemala changed her, as foreign experiences usually do at that age. She came home wide a much wider worldview, standard clothes and a boyfriend. While I'm sure she feels some internal tension relating to her family (like when she says that she only feels at home in Guatemala), she still seems very close to her siblings. She recently returned to Guatemala to visit her boyfriend, so her parents, on some level, must be accepting of the situation.

Jessica has just soared with her aviation career. This happened around the same time Anna decided to leave, and I'm sure that as the eldest sister, she has had a large influence on the rest of her siblings to follow their dreams. It wasn't that long ago that her posts were full of SAHD feelings of antsiness and uselessness, "be still and know that I am God" and "waiting on the Lord" kind of stuff. She also used to be terribly shy at her first flight lessons and look at her now, she's the instructor!

Cassia started EMT training with encouragements from Jessica. She is the one who spoke candidly about her depression several years ago. She recently moved into her very own apartment and started wearing her hair down and curled which looks lovely. She's active on Facebook and seems to interact with many friends. I feel like I could be friends with her and truly wish her the best!

Suzannah has also changed quite a bit after starting midwifery training away from home. She quit wearing frumpers and she interacts with lots of progressive crunchy people through her work. She seems like a lovely, warm person. I wouldn't mind having her as a midwife :)  She's moving to Texas all by herself to continue training.

Leah we don't know much about. She still wears the old getup and doesn't use social media. She is described on her latest birthday post as the quietest family member. It seems like under her gentle facade she has many insecurities. Cassia says: "Regardless of how much you deny it, of all us crazy kids think you’re pretty perfect, kindhearted and sweet!". 

The youngest sisters are busy with farm work (Rebekah) and culinary endeavors (Charissa). Charissa is starting to work with a local bakery IIRC. These girls are industrious go-getters!

I feel like their lives are unfolding naturally and I can't wait to seem them grow and develop over the next few years. They might not fit their parents' "brand" perfectly, but I have a feeling they are quite proud of their daughters. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Charissa’s bakes goods make me drool. She makes perfect macaroons. 

I want to visit that bakery just so I can taste what we see in the pictures.

I don't know where they live in Indiana so I am not actually going nor would I say I am from FJ if I did.

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