Michelle Duggar on Why She Chose Modest Dress

Family Travel on 09.30.13

Michelle Duggar 19 Kids and Countingbio

Photo: DCL

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: Why did you decide to follow a style of modest dress and what are your family guidelines?

After I was born again and became a Christian, I really began to cover up. I felt like the Lord was saying to me, you know what, you probably shouldn’t be wearing that. It’s a little bit low cut, or a little bit too high, you know. I just really felt like I needed to obey what God was saying to me first and understand later. And then I saw in the scriptures a lot of things that helped me understand why I was feeling uncomfortable with my previous clothing choices. And I’m not saying this is for everyone because I realize different people are at different places and aren’t always going to have the same way of interpreting things.

Interestingly, Jim Bob and I had a conversation at that point and I said to him, I really feel like the Lord is impressing upon me that I should be modest in what I wear. And also, that I really should be defining who I am as a woman by choosing to wear dresses and skirts. So Jim Bob said, what about when we’re riding bicycles or going hiking? Do you think the Lord wants you to wear a dress then? How are you going to do that? What about swimming and all these other things that we do?

And I said, well, I don’t know the answer to that, but I’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I just feel like the Lord is saying, do this Michelle. Honor me in this way. I don’t always know the answers and details, but I just wanted to honor him. And so I did. I began cleaning out my closet and I had to go shopping. I went to thrift stores and different places because most of my clothes were not skirts and dresses. I really had to do some research to find things that were modest and so I’d have more things to choose from in my closet.

As we studied as a family, we found we could come up with our idea of what we thought modesty was, but we really wanted to see what the scriptures said about it. Our interpretation was that from the neck down to the knee should be covered. By keeping those private areas covered, there’s not any “defrauding” going on. My kids are taught the definition of defrauding as stirring up desires that cannot be righteously fulfilled. We don’t believe in defrauding others by the way we dress. And different people may be defrauded by different things. We can’t control their thoughts, but we’re responsible before God for our part. And so years ago, I just felt between me and my Lord that I really needed to dress modestly.

We always tell our children, go to his word. It’s not about these rigid standards. I meet many different people along life’s way and I hear some people say they are so sick of rules and regulations, and they go on and on about how they were raised in a certain denomination. I’m hearing what they’re saying, but I don’t understand it because that’s not where I came from. It’s not drudgery; it really is a joy to see what God says about things and bring that into our lives.

Have a burning question for Michelle Duggar? Send it to her and it could appear in an upcoming post!

Cousin Amy birthday

Amy is the oldest grandchild for Mary and JL. She turns another year older

Trivia questions and answers

1. Where did Josh and Anna take Marcus for his first appointment? Doctors visit

2. How many houses did Josh and Anna look at while in D.C.? 3

3. What did Anna asked Josh not to put in the moving trucks? Marcus's seat

4. Who put Marcus bouncing seat in the truck? Steve

5. Who's house did the duggar family stop at? The Bates family

This week's questions

1. How long did it take the family to unload the trucks?

2. where did they go to celebrate Anna's birthday?

3. Where did the duggars go after dropping off Josh and Anna?

Josh and Anna

Josh and Anna are celebrating their fifth year of marriage.

Episodes recap!

Special note: I am sorry that I forgot to post the trivia answers yesterday. They will be posted tonight right after the summaries of both shows.

Last week on 19 kids and counting, the family stopped at the Bates family home. Josh and Anna revealed that they had to spend three nights in their RV since they didn't have their belongings. The duggars surprises the young family with some extra help. The family gets them unpacked and settled. The family decided to take Anna out for a celebration of her birthday to the fair and have their last dinner together for a while. The next morning, the family heads back home and Josh heads to work. Anna knows that it's going to be hard for them.

Michelle opens up to discuss the fact since little Josie is now potty trained that she is not ready to give up her changing table just yet. The family is very open to adopting an child. Jim Bob and michelle decided that it's time for the family to experience life on the farm. The family has to get up at 5:30 am to get to their chores. The girls feed some pigs while the boys do cows and little ones do chickens and collecting eggs. Jim Bob gets to check a pregnant heifer.

The family heads to the meat shop where they learn how to make organic food and the boys learn to work in the butcher. Always wanting a chance to connect with someone, Michelle talks to a woman that lost her child that weight 1.8 at birth. Jim Bob and michelle don't know if they are going to farm in the near future but they are going to pray about it.

Happy Fall 2013

Happy Fall everyone.

The last day of summer!

Today is the last day of summer and the weather is definaly changing.

What's your favorite memory of Summer?!

Duggars on courtship!

Michelle Duggar on Courtship

FAMILY MATTERS on 09.20.13

Michelle Duggar19 Kids and CountingBIO

 

Photo: DCL

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: How do you decide when one of the children is ready for courtship?

In my home, we like to think very carefully about courtship and getting to know potential husbands and wives. Why would you consider really getting to know someone closely if you didn’t think that there would be a potential for marriage? A person really needs to ask themselves, are they at the point in their life where they are ready for marriage? If they are, they need to be careful in how they handle this whole idea of getting to know someone because the emotions and the hormones that are involved in that season of life can really get out of hand if you really don’t have a good perspective.

We want them to make sure they’re ready for marriage, and that they are really prepared for it. For one of my daughters, there would be a lot of things that she would want to consider. Can I really, truly manage a household? Am I able to manage the money, purchase the things I need for my home and get all those ducks in a row to be married and run a household? 

In a potential suitor, we’d want a gentleman that loves the Lord and is growing in his relationship with him. He really needs to have that relationship as the priority of his life that drives him to do the things that God would want him to do. And he would have to be prepared to provide for his wife, which would mean he needs to have an income to support them and the stability to have a home, whether renting or owning. He’d also need to be a good protector for his wife and future family.

At this point, we’ve got a number of our older children that I think are ready for that next step in life. Our son John David has got a job and a home. He’s leasing that home out as rental income and putting the money aside. He’s also getting his pilot license right now and he’s been a fireman and a police officer, and now he’s a constable. So he’s definitely at that place in life where he’s ready to be a husband and a provider and he would be open to courting a young lady if he felt she would be the one for him.

Then our daughters, we’ve got Jana, Jill, Jessa and Jinger that are very capable of being married and having that close relationship with a special one. They manage a lot of our household; they like to do a lot of our shopping for clothes and food. That’s not a big deal for them, they love doing it anyway. But they’re good at it and good at managing things.

It’s just a matter of praying as different individuals come in to our lives. If they really sense that there’s an interest, the girls will study him and try to find out more about him in their time together. They need to get along really well and might get to know each other a little better through emailing or talking. There’s a lot of ways you can get to know somebody besides just being alone with them. They need to be a friend before they would even consider making a commitment to courtship.

And that’s kind of how it goes. It’s not just pairing off and going and doing things together alone, but getting to know them and their families too. Finding out from those that know the potential suitor, is this person quick to anger? How do they handle problems at work? Do they really have it together?

I think it’s probably going to be a little different for each of the kids. It’ll be interesting to see as time goes on how all of it pans out.

Have a burning question for Michelle Duggar? Send it to her and it could appear in an upcoming post!

some photos of big changes episode

trivia questions

These questions are from last night's episode. Be sure to read the episode summary to be able to answer these questions.

1. Where did Josh and Anna take Marcus for his first appointment?

2. How many houses did Josh and Anna look at while in D.C.?

3. What did Anna asked Josh not to put in the moving trucks?

4. Who put Marcus bouncing seat in the truck?

5. Who's house did the duggar family stop at?

Be sure to tune in next Monday for the trivia answers!

big changes recaps

During the first few minutes, the family introduces their new opening. 

Josh and Anna load up their three children for Marcus first doctor appointment. The doctor gives them the Okay to take him there. When they finally get to DC, they need to find a place to live.They show three places and now they need to make a choice.

The family decided to help out by packing up their old house and then move to DC within days. Anna has told her children that they are moving to D.C. Michelle gets some grandma time before the kids move away.Josh had gotten a label maker and the kids decided to get labels on everyone's back. They get everything pack and then it's time for lunch where they get a surprise visit from their trainer and manages to get his help loading up the truck. Steve accidentally took Marcus bouncing seat into the back of the truck. Josh and Anna say farewell to their old house and hits the road.

The family heads for DC and makes a pit stop to the Bates family. Jana and John were driving the moving trucks. Josiah and Josh were in the rv and jessa and Jinger were driving SUV. Joseph was driving the truck.  The family called the Bates family to see if they could come and see them which allow them to meet the new baby. The Bates gave them a surprising baby shower for them. The big families sat down and ate dinner. They spend the night there and decided to leave early the next morning. To give the kids some time to play, they stop and play for a good nap time. Afterwards, they 

They end up spending their first night in their motor home in front of their new home. 

Which house did they chose: they chose the third house that was shown! 

Tune in tomorrow for the trivia questions.

Getting mommy time

How Michelle Duggar Spends Her "Me Time"

SELF on 09.17.13

Michelle Duggar19 Kids and CountingBIO

 

Photo: DCL

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: What do you really like to do when you have a few minutes for a little “me” time? 

Well, sleep might be part of that! Maybe a power nap for 15 minutes or so. Of course, my absolute favorite thing to do when I have some free time is to spend one-on-one time with my hubby or my kids because they’re my most favorite people in the world.

But apart from that, typically when everyone goes to sleep and it’s quiet, I really enjoy catching up on studying or reading. I’ve got like 20 books sitting idle in my chair in my room that I’m trying to read. I try to get five or ten minutes into one book and then maybe read a little bit of another book. I love that quiet time. It’s really nice just to have time to read the Bible and pray and wait for the Lord to just speak to me in the quiet without any distractions. No one’s knocking on the door. And so I might actually get two hours of really good time alone with the Lord and not have one person interrupt. If I choose to lose some sleep that way, it’s well worth it because I really get energized by it.

That’s how I refuel and get motivated to learn something new to share with the kids the next day or just for myself. I’ve got kids in every season of life. They’re all so different. There’s so much that can be learned, and you’re never going to learn it all. Life is a classroom. And so my “me” time is just that time to have a little quietness and read and learn more to share with my family.

As far as hobbies, when the kids were little I had lots of things that I was learning how to do: home decorating, sewing, flower arranging. I would teach the kids a lot of those things, too. Now my older kids are sharing those things with the younger ones. My real hobby is my children; I enjoy being with my kids most of all!

Have a burning question for Michelle Duggar? Send it to her and it could appear in an upcoming post!

Don't forget to watch tonight's season premiere!

the big event

Tonight the family returns with brand new episodes.

a courtship

Upcoming on 19 kids and counting!

Season 12[edit source | editbeta]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date	U.S. viewers (million)
1*	173	"Big Changes"	September 17, 2013	1.96[1]
Things are changing for the Duggars. Josh and Anna are moving to Washington, D.C., but they still are on a search for a house.
2	174	"An Emotional Goodbye"[2]	September 24, 2013	TBA
The Duggar family say goodbye to Josh and Anna as they head off to their new life in a new place.
3	175	"Farm Fresh Duggars"[3]	September 24, 2013	TBA
Jim Bob decides the family should try raising farm animals, so they spend the day at a working farm.
4	176	"A Big Idea"[4]	October 1, 2013	TBA
Josh and Anna adjust to life in D.C. and Anna decides to go and explore her new neighborhood. The rest of the family come up with another way to give back.
5	177	"Flea Market Challenge"[5]	October 1, 2013	TBA
The Duggars head to a flea market and then have a fundraiser for Arkansas Children's Hospital. Anna tries using the city subway system for the first time.
6	178	"TBA"[6]	October 8, 2013	TBA

tomorrow

Tomorrow the family returns for brand new episodes

2 days and counting

The duggars return in two days!

Michelle's trivia answers

1. How old was michelle in the first special? 37 years old.

2. How old was michelle when she married Jim Bob? 17

3. How old was she when she had Josh? 22

4. How old was she when she had Josie? 44

5. How old was she when her first granddaughter was born? 44

Michelle's birthday blog

I wanted to wish Michelle a very happy birthday.

Be sure to tune in Saturday for Michelle's trivia answers for her birthday

new season premiere episode

Duggars are back and this time, the duggars are saying goodbye to Josh and Anna with their grandchildren. The only thing left for Josh and Anna to do is find a new place to live.

Be sure to tune into 19 kids and counting on September 17th for their season premiere. Also don't forget to tune into our blog for summary of each episode and new trivia questions.

needs address

There is a hate page on Facebook called "Duggar Family News: Life is not all pickles and hairspray." That needs to be deleted. They are rude and cause drama that doesn't need to be that way.

Michelle birthday trivia

Michelle is turning 47 years old this year and so today I am posting trivia questions.

1. How old was michelle in the first special?

2. How old was michelle when she married Jim Bob?

3. How old was she when she had Josh?

4. How old was she when she had Josie?

5. How old was she when her first granddaughter was born?

9/11

Today's the anniversary of 9/11 and we want to encourage everyone to pray for the families that lost their love ones and friends.

one more week

One more week until the show returns to the tv....

blogs to come

Birthday trivia for michelle

Michelle's birthday blog

Michelle's trivia answers

Amy birthday trivia

Amy's birthday

Amy's trivia answers

The season episode summaries

Season Trivia questions

Season Trivia answers

There will be more blogs coming soon

Duggar buddies

Michelle Duggar on Her Family's Buddy System

FAMILY MATTERS on 09.09.13

Michelle Duggar19 Kids and CountingBIO

 

Photo: DCL

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: When did you start using the buddy system?

We came up with the idea years ago when we had a number of little ones, I don’t exactly remember what age the oldest one was -- maybe eight years old. We were trying to gather up all the shoes as we were walking out the door, getting them on the little feet and tying them, and buckling up all the car seats. And we realized it works much better if we’re trying to hurry to have one of the older ones help the little guys buckle their seatbelts.

They’d climb over the seats to the back of the van and do it about as fast as we could say it. That’s how it started -- as we were getting ready or getting things done, one of the older ones would just jump in and help with one of the little ones. If they saw that a shoe wasn’t tied, well, they’d bend over and help tie the shoe. And we thought, wow that is so sweet because the little guys really look up to the bigger ones; they admire them and they want to be like them. They want to be big and they want to be able to do those things someday.

The older ones just loved it because they thought, “Wow, I’m big. I’m a helper. I get to be a helper for this little guy or this little girl.” And the little guys absolutely loved it because it’s like a mentoring relationship. It’s so much fun to have that older one to be your buddy. I have noticed the ones that were teamed up and worked together a lot have such a sweetness in their relationship. All of them love hanging out with each other, but I have found that those buddy teams, they really do a lot together even today.

When Josie was born, Jackson came to me after things calmed down with the hospital birth and said, “Mama, Josie – she’s going to be on my buddy team, isn’t she?” I hadn’t thought about it yet. “Well, it’s our turn to get another buddy,” he said. “And she’s got a dimple just like me. That means she’s on our team.” He said, “I’ll make sure that if you need anything for Josie, I’ll get it. You just tell me whatever she needs and I’ll go get it for you.”

He really wanted to be a good buddy because he was the smallest one. He was great. If she needed somebody to keep her from being fussy, he would get up there and talk to her and smile at her and she would just grin. And he would push her around in her little stroller and keep her content. It was his chance to big the big guy for a change and he loved it.

Have a burning question for Michelle Duggar? Send it to her and it could appear in an upcoming post!

Thanks

Thank you all for coming to help with the fundraiser. It was a big success for the family. TLC asked that there would be no photos of the event since they were going to show the fundraiser in an upcoming episode this season.

Josh and Amy posted a lot of photos of the event.

Happy grandparents day!

Wanted to wish every grandparents there a happy grandparents day.

back to school!

Back to Homeschooling with the Duggars

FAMILY MATTERS on 09.03.13

Michelle Duggar19 Kids and CountingBIO

 

Photo: DCL

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: How do you monitor how the kids are doing with homeschooling? Do they have tests that they take every year? And how do the kids feel about going “back to school” in the fall?

In the state of Arkansas, we take tests every year just like the public school kids do, so at the end of each school year, we will go and take our standardized tests. Every state is different on how their homeschool laws work, but we file our letter of intent to homeschool at the beginning of each school year. We start in August and do a little through the summer, to keep up with things like music lessons and reading. My kids are always reading. They’re usually reading either science or history books -- keeping their minds busy with good reading material, a lot of biographies and that sort of stuff.

Our schedule changes depending on the season of life that we’re in. Right now, we’ve got a lot of older children that are working, driving, and coming and going. Often, I will have a schedule on the wall and then six months later, I’ll switch it up a little bit and change the times that they’re going to be practicing their music or doing their science, history, or law, etc. I switch it up just because it makes it a little bit more interesting than always doing the same thing at the same time. Usually we do breakfast, lunch and dinner about the same time, but all those other things can move around in the schedule. And that makes it more fun for them.

Their excitement about going back to school is probably the same as everyone else’s kids. When they’re young, it’s always so exciting to get back or at least get started on schoolwork. The first time, they feel like big kids and they’re in school. They’re just thrilled.

My bigger ones that have been through it year after year see it more like going back to the grind. Once we’re in that routine, I can tell everybody really is glad to be back -- even though they might not say it! There is the comfort of being in that routine again. We’re checking off our list. We’re accomplishing this stuff. And we’re actually remembering all this great stuff we have learned!

Have a burning question for Michelle Duggar? Send it to her and it could appear in an upcoming post!

2 weeks and counting

Two more weeks until the show is back

labor day 2013!

Happy labor day to all of the fans.

15 days until 19 kids and counting returns

three months old!

Marcus is turning three months old and I can't believe that is happening.

Be sure to check out the fan page of duggar family!

September is here!

I can't believe that September is here and we have news that we all have waited for that 19 kids and counting is coming back soon. We are expected to see Josh and Anna's move to DC and their new home.