Maxwell 53: Escaping the Borg by Marriage. Who'd Have Thought Sarah?

[Howl]

19 hours ago, LurkerOverThePond said:

Nice to see Anna continues the share my love for Teva sandals; I practically live in mine as long as possible in these northern latitudes ❤️

And those are pretty short shorts! Not Cathy-Arndt-short, but a huge step for a Maxwell.

Do you do Teva + socks to extend the wearing time?  Here in Texas,  Smartwood socks + Tevas can get you through most of the winter.  And being a Senior, I'm all,  "Yeah I'm wearing socks with sandals, so bite me." 

I'm a little embarrassed by how excited I was to find the only Teva that works for me (and one of the few things I can wear) on the REI.com web site yesterday. I couldn't find them anywhere and assumed they were gone forever. 

Edited June 28, 2022 by Howl

[anachronistic]

I honestly never understand the hate for the ‘socks with sandals’ thing. It’s convenient, it’s lighter than a sneaker and extends the time period you can wear a sandal. And if it’s not your wedding or directorial event, who the heck cares what someone wears on their feet? I’m wearing a big, blue, ankle-foot (goes up to behind my knee actually) orthotic right now which needs a sock underneath it so I have that on my right foot, in my right sandal, and my bare left foot in the other sandal, because that’s the only way I can wear sandals now. And if anyone cares then I think that the plastic on the AFO is pretty hard and would make a nice clunky sound if I hit someone with it, 😀.

[CTRLZero]

1 hour ago, anachronistic said:

I honestly never understand the hate for the ‘socks with sandals’ thing

What?  People wear sandals without socks?  😄  It’s very common here to wear sandals with socks year around.  We love Smartwool socks, and now I’m interested in checking out this Teva brand.

I’m not often here in the Maxwell threads, but it’s been so nice to read about women going to college, participating in athletics, and seeing sights away from the parental units.  

[LurkerOverThePond]

2 hours ago, Howl said:

Do you do Teva + socks to extend the wearing time?  Here in Texas,  Smartwood socks + Tevas can get you through most of the winter.  And being a Senior, I'm all,  "Yeah I'm wearing socks with sandals, so bite me." 

Not with Tevas but I often wear socks with my Keen sandals, since they are much sturdier and feel "nicer" with comfy socks. I use them well into September if it's not very rainy, since I love the airy feel of sandals (with or without socks) in my hot, hot feet. Not hot in a sexy way, just sweaty way

I live in Finland so no sandals in winter here but well insulated arctic boots. I love winter, snow, and cold but I've always envied people whose climate enables them wearing sandals all year long!

[Loveday]

I don't question anyone's footwear choices. I have to wear, most of the time, big clunky Hoka athletic style shoes because apparently I have capsulitis of the second toe, which has been causing me a LOT of pain for the past few years and has kept me from doing a lot of things I'd like to do. Finally went to a foot doc last month, who introduced me to metatarsal pads (the cheap treatment) and Hokas (the expensive treatment!). Between the two, I now walk almost pain-free, so if anyone looks askance at my less than glamorous footwear, they can...well, you know. 😁 I mean, I won't wear these shoes to my son's wedding, I did buy a pair of dressy, sort of comfortable (but not really) flats, but I'm seriously thinking about wearing them to the reception!

So y'all just go on wearing socks with your Tevas or Keens or whatever and be your bad, sexy, very comfortable selves! ❤️ 

[usedbicycle]

That's definitely Anna. Looks like she got a professional cut and color for the first time in her life. Her hairdresser did a popular long bob with an ombre color and it looks amazing on her naturally wavy hair texture! I'm so proud of these girls for dipping into individual fashion choices and self care. What a huge, huge improvement from their past life.

 

[molecule]

Looks like her here as well.

 

ETA: Will a helpmeet please put this photo in a spoiler? It's bigger than I realized, and I don't remember how to do it myself.

Edited June 29, 2022 by molecule

[JermajestyDuggar]

It’s fun playing Where’s Waldo on the ABC fb pages. We need to draw a little red and white hat on Anna every time we spot her. 

Edited June 29, 2022 by JermajestyDuggar

[molecule]

14 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

It’s fun playing Where’s Waldo on the ABC fb pages. We need to draw a little red and white hat on Anna every time we spot her. 

[sleepygirl1]

^^^^oh that’s great! Now I’m expecting a hat every time we find her.

[fundiemomnot]

This looks like her (fourth person from the right back row). She has the deep Maxwell side part in her hair.She 

[theologygeek]

Well it looks like Mary won't be returning home after graduation.  "Vocational missions"  She wants out.  "Please pray for both Mary Maxwell and Pastor Efta as they travel to Africa. Mary will be going to South Africa and Zimbabwe from June 20-Aug. 10 for short-term missions opportunity and to seek the Lord with regard to vocational missions. Pastor Efta will be traveling to Uganda next week to train some pastors there and then will be visiting the Blackwells in Zimbabwe. Please pray for safety, discernment, and fruitfulness in ministry for both of them."  

[SPHASH]

12 hours ago, theologygeek said:

Well it looks like Mary won't be returning home after graduation.  "Vocational missions"  She wants out.  "Please pray for both Mary Maxwell and Pastor Efta as they travel to Africa. Mary will be going to South Africa and Zimbabwe from June 20-Aug. 10 for short-term missions opportunity and to seek the Lord with regard to vocational missions. Pastor Efta will be traveling to Uganda next week to train some pastors there and then will be visiting the Blackwells in Zimbabwe. Please pray for safety, discernment, and fruitfulness in ministry for both of them."  

Where did you see that.  I think Mary wants to be a missionary wife.

[Howl]

13 hours ago, theologygeek said:

to seek the Lord with regard to vocational missions.

What is a vocational mission?  I'm assuming to teach people useful skills?  

[Pammy]

32 minutes ago, Howl said:

What is a vocational mission?  I'm assuming to teach people useful skills?  

That's a possible interpretation, but it wasn't where my mind went first. To me, it seems like "vocational" is being contrasted with "short-term" missions. In their young-adult years Christian college students are encouraged to discover a "vocation" -- a lifelong sense of what God wants them to do in terms of life and ministry. "Voc--" means "calling".

Christian young adults often feel like they need to know what God wants from them: either "vocational ministry" (their full-time wage-earning work will be some sort of official ministry position) or more casual ministry (volunteering with a church or charity) combined with some other "vocation" (what they will do to earn money, or, in the case of many young women, at-home parenting is considered a "vocation" too).

So, to me, I interpreted the comment meaning: "We will go there for the summer to serve short-term. While we are there we will pray and contemplate whether this is what we want to do full-time for the rest of our lives."

[Bethy]

1 hour ago, Pammy said:

That's a possible interpretation, but it wasn't where my mind went first. To me, it seems like "vocational" is being contrasted with "short-term" missions. In their young-adult years Christian college students are encouraged to discover a "vocation" -- a lifelong sense of what God wants them to do in terms of life and ministry. "Voc--" means "calling".

Christian young adults often feel like they need to know what God wants from them: either "vocational ministry" (their full-time wage-earning work will be some sort of official ministry position) or more casual ministry (volunteering with a church or charity) combined with some other "vocation" (what they will do to earn money, or, in the case of many young women, at-home parenting is considered a "vocation" too).

So, to me, I interpreted the comment meaning: "We will go there for the summer to serve short-term. While we are there we will pray and contemplate whether this is what we want to do full-time for the rest of our lives."

All correct. I'd also like to add that based on my experiences, being at ABC the girls are under a lot of pressure to pursue full-time Christian service (aka "vocational ministry") and just graduating and getting a job to pay the bills is seen as second-rate, no matter how involved you are with your local church or other parachurch ministries.

I'm not being dramatic when I say this summer could be a dealbreaker for Mary/Samuel if there is a relationship brewing. If he feels he's called to vocational missions and she can't honestly say she also has the call (or vice-versa) that would be the end of the line for them.

[theologygeek]

4 hours ago, SPHASH said:

Where did you see that.  I think Mary wants to be a missionary wife.

Maybe.  But I think that she started out with vocational missions in mind when she started school, pre boyfriend.  Vocational missions is one of the only acceptable ways for a fundie girl to get away from her parents without being married.  I saw it in their church bulletin.  

3 hours ago, Howl said:

What is a vocational mission?  I'm assuming to teach people useful skills?  

Vocational missions is a career as a missionary, as opposed to just going on a mission trip.  

Edited July 1, 2022 by theologygeek

[Zee]

11 hours ago, Pammy said:

That's a possible interpretation, but it wasn't where my mind went first. To me, it seems like "vocational" is being contrasted with "short-term" missions. In their young-adult years Christian college students are encouraged to discover a "vocation" -- a lifelong sense of what God wants them to do in terms of life and ministry. "Voc--" means "calling".

Christian young adults often feel like they need to know what God wants from them: either "vocational ministry" (their full-time wage-earning work will be some sort of official ministry position) or more casual ministry (volunteering with a church or charity) combined with some other "vocation" (what they will do to earn money, or, in the case of many young women, at-home parenting is considered a "vocation" too).

So, to me, I interpreted the comment meaning: "We will go there for the summer to serve short-term. While we are there we will pray and contemplate whether this is what we want to do full-time for the rest of our lives."

I agree. And with this from that last blogpost:

“The Lord brought Anna and Mary to Bible college this year (at our pastor’s recommendation) to become better equipped for ministry. It’s an exciting season for them as they have this opportunity to learn an incredible amount about the Bible and important tools for ministry/missions – where they want to end up. We miss them, but we love what they’re gaining!”

And from their previous mission trips, it would seem that this is WHY they went to college in the first place. 

[MsThibodeaux]

On 6/28/2022 at 5:38 AM, Howl said:

Do you do Teva + socks to extend the wearing time?  Here in Texas,  Smartwood socks + Tevas can get you through most of the winter.  And being a Senior, I'm all,  "Yeah I'm wearing socks with sandals, so bite me." 

For me, it has to be hand knit socks with Birkenstocks.  But other people wearing any kind of sock with any kind of sandal is fine with me. 

[MamaJunebug]

Mary Maxwell’s going to Africa. 
 

There’s a statement I would never have expected!  
 

Anna Maxwell pulled a funny-smile-face whilst wearing shorts and in a happy scrum of very young women also making funny faces and wearing shorts. 
 

Honestly, if I never heard any more about them, this would be enough. At these points in their lives, they seem well and truly pointed AWAY FROM THEIR PARENTS’ oppressive plans for their lives.  
 

Whew! 
 

I find it difficult to recognize  Anna with her scrum smile as I’ve never before seen her smiling without her cute gummy, toothy grin.
 

I’m here for ANY smiles those girls display.  Also for Sarah, OFF THE MAXGRID in her own place with her pup and quite likely UNRELATED friends HER OWN AGE and of mutual choosing. No overbearing parents required, K THX BYE?

 

Thank you for keeping the info coming. What a change, to feel heartened after reading about some Maxes! 

Edited July 3, 2022 by MamaJunebug

[Botkinetti]

My hope for the Maxwell women is they feel more adult and in control every day.

I want them to be choosing for themselves what foods and spices they like.

I want them to walk past every undusted ceiling fan and not care.

I want them to feel comfortable and unrestricted in their clothing choices.

Every time they talk to people with even a slightly different take on things I hope they don’t automatically think they know better.

I hope they are starting to think about how their parents choice to try to inflict total control over them for their whole lives has harmed them.

[HoneyBunny]

On 6/24/2022 at 12:19 PM, Sops2 said:

I think I'm nuts- I found an old photo which shows she has the same long toes.

I too think its her!

I can’t be the only one who is loving the fact that Anna Maxwell now has the freedom to change so much that we are identifying her by her toes. 

[treemom]

On 7/1/2022 at 1:12 AM, theologygeek said:

Well it looks like Mary won't be returning home after graduation.  "Vocational missions"  She wants out.  "Please pray for both Mary Maxwell and Pastor Efta as they travel to Africa. Mary will be going to South Africa and Zimbabwe from June 20-Aug. 10 for short-term missions opportunity and to seek the Lord with regard to vocational missions. Pastor Efta will be traveling to Uganda next week to train some pastors there and then will be visiting the Blackwells in Zimbabwe. Please pray for safety, discernment, and fruitfulness in ministry for both of them."  

I feel awkward liking this since I hate the idea of missions.  But I’m so happy for her in a way too

[Lista]

Am I the only one that think the Maxwells faked it all? Like an online reality show?  Look at us! Perfect family! You can have all hat too if you buy our products! They reminded me of people that would knock on your door & sell encyclopedias.  

They had to keep the clown car going to line their wallets.  But everyone got too old for the facade.  No more cute kids.  It got weird pretending they lived at home. 
 

the girls didn’t get into college because of a priest.  They didn’t leave home because of a church person. 
 

they are liars & played everyone. 
 

they are the original kardashians. Except less money and more toothy. 
 

I don’t feel sorry for the girls.  It was all a lie lol 

 

but hey.  My thoughts. 

[Mrs Ms]

17 minutes ago, Lista said:

Am I the only one that think the Maxwells faked it all? Like an online reality show?  Look at us! Perfect family! You can have all hat too if you buy our products! They reminded me of people that would knock on your door & sell encyclopedias.  

They had to keep the clown car going to line their wallets.  But everyone got too old for the facade.  No more cute kids.  It got weird pretending they lived at home. 
 

the girls didn’t get into college because of a priest.  They didn’t leave home because of a church person. 
 

they are liars & played everyone. 
 

they are the original kardashians. Except less money and more toothy. 
 

I don’t feel sorry for the girls.  It was all a lie lol 

 

but hey.  My thoughts. 

I don’t think you give sermons about death and your testicles at your children's weddings if you are faking it, but the blog? Definitely curated!