Update on the Morton blog

[ophelia]

A four sides long new entry on their blog..

my personal 'highlight'... :/

The ladies of the house have been keeping the home fires burning..

which is a huge and multi-faceted task...

picking the kale and pulling the carrots for the evening meal,

tending the herb garden, ruling emotions and thoughts and fighting the same battle to walk in the Spirit of the Lord,

sewing, hanging out 5 loads of laundry a day, because the dryer is uncooperative, giving baby showers and doing Bible studies on honoring your mother and father, planning conferences and menus and times of hospitality......

and we all just enjoy life...

(I discovered .....from reading it this week :)........ that 6 times in Ecclesiastes, God says to enjoy your drink and food, your labors and work, family and wife, for all the rest is vanity....so, we have a new motivation here in the kitchen at Calathora and in our hearts to BE CONTENT, be sweet to the menfolks and give them a good supper

patriarchy on its best...

[gustava]

Mortons remind me of Meredith's family. Both have farms and CSAs.

[ophelia]

what means CSA?

[hoipolloi]

what means CSA?

Community Supported Agriculture - people can buy produce & related items (e.g., eggs) directly from local farmers. The CSA farmers' products -- delivered to or picked up by their customers -- vary according to the season & abundance.

[PBrooke]

What's weird is, all the CSAs I've seen in my area appear to be Pagan/New Age.

Yeah, that opening bit from Jeanine made me cringe. Sounds like the girls have been tomato-staked and need to do "Bible studies on honoring your mother and father" to me.

[buttercup]

The bit from Jeanine made me curious too. It's been a busy social season for the Mortons, between Cleve's wedding, the ball, Bethany Lane's wedding.. maybe the girls were getting too used all the finery. Definitely seemed like a tomato-staking sort of post. I have a sneaking suspicion that Adeline and/or Martha will end up being at home for a while yet. There's no younger girls, and Rachel/Kressy/Lise have their own households to worry about.

I noticed in Adeline's part of the post that Abbi Sanders has her own webpage for her photography - southernrosephotography.com/Southern_Rose_Photography/Home.html - have we seen that before? it looks pretty bare, but it seems that Abbi's trying to make a go at photography. Interesting..

[PBrooke]

The bit from Jeanine made me curious too. It's been a busy social season for the Mortons, between Cleve's wedding, the ball, Bethany Lane's wedding.. maybe the girls were getting too used all the finery. Definitely seemed like a tomato-staking sort of post. I have a sneaking suspicion that Adeline and/or Martha will end up being at home for a while yet. There's no younger girls, and Rachel/Kressy/Lise have their own households to worry about.

I noticed in Adeline's part of the post that Abbi Sanders has her own webpage for her photography - southernrosephotography.com/Southern_Rose_Photography/Home.html - have we seen that before? it looks pretty bare, but it seems that Abbi's trying to make a go at photography. Interesting..

It was linked at least once on the Sanders' blog recently, but in passing, not with its own post - which I suppose makes sense if Abbi's the one doing the blog posts, can't possibly appear prideful around these people. The bare-bones site was also linked a long time ago, but never really had much on it. The blog where she posts some of her actual work (linked on her site) is only a few months old.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, it also seems weird that Jeanine mentioned that both the men and the women were working on "ruling their emotions and thoughts." Discord at the happy homestead, or just adding a dollop of preventative guilt?

[dramallama]

Ugh, the Mortons. Sometimes when I'm bored and can't sleep, I go read older entries on their blog, and then I always want to vomit from the abundance of pictures with captions like, "Oh! Oh dearie! Fiddle dee dee! Look at those wise, strong menfolk! It's so good to see men being so wise and Godly! *sniffles silly womanly tears and giggles and amazement at the greatness of MEN!*" <--- Not a quote, but not really much of an exaggeration, either.

[lexiloumarie]

Can we talk for a moment about the fact that the then engaged Beth and Danny are dancing together (at least from the looks) in the third picture underneath "Amy you are such a joy!" What happened to no touching until marriage?

[dramallama]

Dorothy and Noah were "given permission" ( :roll: ) to hold hands pre-marriage/post-engagement, so apparently there is a certain amount of touching allowed once engaged.

[PBrooke]

It's totally up to the couple, near as I can tell. Kressant held hands after her betrothal ceremony; Rachel, who got married after Kressant, apparently wanted to wait to even hold hands. Dorothy not only held hands with Noah, she totally snuggled up to him pretty much the whole time, and she and Noah danced during some engagement party or rehearsal dinner or something - some celebration before the actual wedding.

I do wonder what would happen if a couple dutifully went through the hoop-jumping to get their courtship approved - and then announced that they wanted to kiss before marriage. Part of me thinks that as long as the kissing was done in the presence of chaperones (ie no Evil Sex) it might be allowed.

[gustava]

It's totally up to the couple, near as I can tell. Kressant held hands after her betrothal ceremony; Rachel, who got married after Kressant, apparently wanted to wait to even hold hands. Dorothy not only held hands with Noah, she totally snuggled up to him pretty much the whole time, and she and Noah danced during some engagement party or rehearsal dinner or something - some celebration before the actual wedding.

I do wonder what would happen if a couple dutifully went through the hoop-jumping to get their courtship approved - and then announced that they wanted to kiss before marriage. Part of me thinks that as long as the kissing was done in the presence of chaperones (ie no Evil Sex) it might be allowed.

Sounds like fundie porn.

[Karsaroni]

The bit from Jeanine made me curious too. It's been a busy social season for the Mortons, between Cleve's wedding, the ball, Bethany Lane's wedding.. maybe the girls were getting too used all the finery. Definitely seemed like a tomato-staking sort of post. I have a sneaking suspicion that Adeline and/or Martha will end up being at home for a while yet. There's no younger girls, and Rachel/Kressy/Lise have their own households to worry about.

Yeah, I sort of wonder if Adeline and Martha were spending a little too much time w/ their brothers' wives and not attending to their own household duties. Lord knows we can't expect Mama Jeanine to raise her own children! That's what older daughters are for!

[lexiloumarie]

I knew hand holding, and side hugging but the dancing surprised me. All of the things they've posted said family (husband/wive parent/child siblings). I didn't expected a betrothed couple to be allowed to dance. TMYK.

And the end of that post was written by Mama Morton as well, she rights about where her and her husband stayed during the party. I suspect the girls (especially Addie) have gotten caught up in all the wedding stuff and fear of them getting their own ideas caused a bit of a clamp down.

[PBrooke]

Rereading the post, I think the admonitions about being content with your lot have less to do with "rebellious" acts and more to do with, "Everyone is getting married, when the hell is it going to be my turn?!" sort of despair. The Mortons in particular have witnessed a lot of younger marriages - Rachel had been married for like three or four years when she was Addie's age. It must be so depressing/stifling/boring to be a 20something SAHD.

[lexiloumarie]

Rereading the post, I think the admonitions about being content with your lot have less to do with "rebellious" acts and more to do with, "Everyone is getting married, when the hell is it going to be my turn?!" sort of despair. The Mortons in particular have witnessed a lot of younger marriages - Rachel had been married for like three or four years when she was Addie's age. It must be so depressing/stifling/boring to be a 20something SAHD.

Addie had that really depressing (for her!) post a few weeks ago, this makes sense. I'm wondering if she's not had significant interest yet. We've said it before in other threads, but I can't imagine the pressure these girls must face.

[ophelia]

I think Dorothy was born in 1990, so they might be between 18-21. They are not THAT old, even in fundieworld. Although I have to admit that especially the whole VF-crowd is really into marrying off their offspring in their teens.

[moreorlessnu]

Rachel, who got married after Kressant, apparently wanted to wait to even hold hands.

This I don't understand, especially since Rachel and Wesley are so snuggly-wuggly with each other. I can't imagine refraining from even holding hands with someone if you are in love with them.

Then again, maybe it's a way of protecting their future prospects if that particular courtship doesn't work out. They can still say that, even though they were betrothed, they literally didn't do anything with the first guy.

I do wonder what would happen if a couple dutifully went through the hoop-jumping to get their courtship approved - and then announced that they wanted to kiss before marriage. Part of me thinks that as long as the kissing was done in the presence of chaperones (ie no Evil Sex) it might be allowed.

Given the somewhat shocking pictures of Bethany and Danny (in their going away outfits), is there any doubt they were kissing before they got married? What other fundie couple have we seen who seemed so comfortable kissing each other on the day of their wedding?

[buttercup]

I agree with the speculation on Addie. Of course in the normal world, she's not old at all. But now pretty much all of her contemporaries (besides Abbi and Bekkah Sanders) are married off - Dorothy, Rachel, Kressant and Bethany. I know it's a minute difference if any, but the Sanders girls seem to have a few more options than the Morton girls. Abbi has her photography, she and her mom travelled to Seattle together this year, they get to wear pants and play outside.. it's probably at least a slightly less restrictive life than the Morton compound. Additionally, Abbi just has Dorothy living around her. Addie's got the whole compound of new brides and their ultra-breeding in her face.

I still think that Addie and/or Martha will not be married any time soon. If I had to guess, one of them will and the other won't. We see a good deal of Martha but I'm not sure about her personality as to whether it's more likely that she or Addie will remain the spinster aunt and take care of the homestead. I would guess that the "ruling emotions and thoughts" warning was to Addie. The blog's been quieter for a while, and with the way that she coos over her nieces and nephews combined with the slew of recent weddings, I wouldn't be too surprised if Addie's feeling on the shelf. Which is absolutely insane for a 21 year old (at most) but that's how these people tend to view things.

[PBrooke]

Additionally, I do believe that if one of the Sanders girls were truly, truly miserable, she'd have the option of going to some sort of Christian college. After all, LL went, and she even met her husband there!, that sort of thing. And I suspect that the Sanders girls were homeschooled well enough that they'd even possibly get in.

Addie and Martha, on the other hand, get "Well, Lise had to wait around until she was 30 to find someone, you can too! If ever!"

[lexiloumarie]

I think Dorothy was born in 1990, so they might be between 18-21. They are not THAT old, even in fundieworld. Although I have to admit that especially the whole VF-crowd is really into marrying off their offspring in their teens.

They're 19 and 20 going on 21. However you're right, in their crowd the girls are usually married by 20-21 if not younger. Rachel and Wes were about 17, and are only two years older than Addie.

Additionally, I do believe that if one of the Sanders girls were truly, truly miserable, she'd have the option of going to some sort of Christian college. After all, LL went, and she even met her husband there!, that sort of thing. And I suspect that the Sanders girls were homeschooled well enough that they'd even possibly get in.

Addie and Martha, on the other hand, get "Well, Lise had to wait around until she was 30 to find someone, you can too! If ever!"

Yeah, I think Addie is starting to realize life isn't as idealistic as it seemed. I really really think Martha will get married before her. Not sure why, I just do.

You're right I think to some degree about the Sanders girls, especially regarding options. They have a much busier life, and having seen pictures of the library, probably a lot more things to entertain them.

[ophelia]

Additionally, I do believe that if one of the Sanders girls were truly, truly miserable, she'd have the option of going to some sort of Christian college. After all, LL went, and she even met her husband there!, that sort of thing. And I suspect that the Sanders girls were homeschooled well enough that they'd even possibly get in.

Addie and Martha, on the other hand, get "Well, Lise had to wait around until she was 30 to find someone, you can too! If ever!"

To which college went LL? And did she finish it? Did she live with the Sanders or her biological Mum?

[PBrooke]

I don't know off the top of my head, so I went back to the post and I'm scanning it, copying and pasting relevant little bits. Fascinating how "normal" it is. It gets me all riled up, because it's basically a sweet, normal story and doesn't she want her sisters to experience the same things?!

Based on a few things, I think she was raised by her Dad (so, the Sanders family).

Facebook tells me she went to University of Alabama in Huntsville. I personally know nothing about that college (in fact, I always thought she'd gone to a religious college), or the area really, other than that it's where the Space Camp is and you pronounce it "Huntsvuhl." EDIT: Though she got married before she graduated, she DID graduate, though she's mentioned several times recently that her degree doesn't mean all that much to her anymore, as it's not as important as being a mother. So naturally it must be worthless, right? Sigh.

"I didn’t go to college to get a MRS. I went for a BA. Fortunately, I left with both."

"Looking back on things, Andrew and I both see how much God protected us and prepared us for each other. We’re fortunate in that neither of us came to “being us†with any emotional baggage from previous relationships. No doubt others turned our heads growing up. But for Andrew, no one was worth the effort. And I never met anyone worth trying to get him past my dad. (It’s doubtful I met anyone who thought I’d be worth facing up to my father for. He’s pretty formidable and I love him for it. Now, anyway.)"

"The first time I laid eyes on Andrew, he was sharing a bag of Pixie Stixâ„¢ with two girls at the Baptist Student Center."

...So then they later met in Choir, and then he was the co-leader of her Bible Study. Then he brought her to his church.

"Afterward, we met some of Andrew’s friends at Fazoli’s. I managed to eat my Baked Ziti without wearing it and carried on a conversation fairly well with Andrew’s friend, Alice. She was engaged to a nice, quiet guy named Michael. Andrew called her Mama Alice. I later learned that she held his hand through freshman year and took care of him. Andrew’s mother loved Alice. And Alice had lots of questions for me."

"We developed a friendship. Nothing more. But I have to confess that he did, on occasion, make my heart go pitter-patter. I wouldn’t have admitted it for the world. I even let my roommate ask him out (he said no!)."

"Matter of fact, I was so proud that his parents wanted to meet me (they had heard about me!) and that I was able to exchange “witty repartee†that I pretty much screamed and did a seated happy dance the whole way home. "

"Andrew was the perfect gentleman. Oh, sure, he flirted and I flirted back. (Sorry, Dad.) But it was friendly banter."

...Then you find out that what LL didn't know was that the guy had sworn off dating any girl in her first semester, for no good reason that I can discern. So LL was getting mixed messages, and feeling frustrated because, you know, it's frustrating waiting around for a boy to make the first move and feeling in the dark about everything and argh.

"I left for Christmas break, angry at everyone, especially stupid boys."

So she comes back from Christmas break, and he asks her out pretty much immediately.

"A year later, we got engaged.

Nine months later, we were married. I was barely twenty. He was twenty-one.

I wasn’t even close to graduating yet. But I already had the prize."

"Once the M-word was out there, it became a given. We began to realize that we didn’t want to wait until we finished school (seeing how I still had so far to go). We shuffled numbers and schedules and living arrangements in our heads until we had a plan to get ourselves hitched before either of us graduated. We spent so much mental energy prepping for “the talks†with our parents, we never wasted much energy on angst and cold feet."

"Once Andrew had survived the interview with my father (he can tell you that story some day), it was just a natural step to put a ring on my finger and start planning the wedding. Since I knew he had the ring stashed in his top drawer, I started pestering him shortly after the door closed behind my father. Because Andrew was just as impatient as I was, he spent a bit of time praying and reading some verses about marriage my dad had given him. Then he called me into his “bear cave,†dropped to one knee, and proposed. I paused not even a little and said yes. Then there was my bright shiny ring and we were done!"

[punkiepie]

Mortons remind me of Meredith's family. Both have farms and CSAs.

I actually get some of my produce from Meredith's family's farm. I live about 30 mins from there and they have a drop off point where they will meet you half way with your order. When I first started ordering awhile ago, I used to drive out there just so I could fundie stalk, but alas, I never saw Meredith :(

[lexiloumarie]

PBrooke, did you read the interview she gave recently? For all of our classifiying her as fundie-lite, a lot of the time she flutters back and forth with that line. It screamed fundie to me.