Apparently, my mother and her friends attended Jubilee Duggar's memorial. My brother sent me a forward of the e-mail my mother sent him about the event. My feelings and comments follow.
God is good! Praise Him in his absolute perfect wisdom and compassion. ************ and I attended the beautiful memorial for little Jubilee Shalom Duggar. Hundreds of people were there to life them up in prayer. If you know and walk with our Lord you know HE has her in his Kingdom and he only chooses those that have spirits too pure for this earth. Jubilee is at perfect peace in HIS arms while she waits for that time in which her mother and father will greet her in heaven. I'm sure J.L. is holding his granddaughter on his knee right now and they are smiling down at the Duggar family and their kin. What we witnessed today was a family living the WORD of GOD. They could've been like many of today's families in their heartbroken grief, wailing and gnashing at the world and being angry at God for HIS decision. Oh yes they could have been. We know that this is not how a true believer reacts to a situation even as hard as this. We praise God during bad times and we will elevate HIM in the bad and that is what the Duggars did today. Proud were they of this little life that God blessed them to have that they related the memories of finding they had been chosen to carry this angel-baby. Michelle and Jim Bob spoke of her impact on their faith after Josie's struggle. Jubilee gave them a renewed hope and purpose to continue his commandment to accept children willingly and at HIS timing. They are to be applauded for this unpopular steadfastness to LIFE! In honor of the Duggars and their new angel, let us all remember them during fellowship and spread their message of faith. Let us praise them in our daily lives as we praise HIM. If we spread this beautiful family's message to one person and they spread that grace to another person, we can pray a circle of protection around them to scare off any negative, unGODLY persons who are attacking them on vicious websites and the devil's media. Please add the following passages to your prayer tonight. Psalms 127:3, Titus 2:11In humble prayerful fellowship-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Where to start with this?
Mom, I understand you didn't intend for me to read this or post this. I apologize if what I'm about to say hurts/disappoints you.
Mom,I have found no biblical support for a 200+ person funeral for a miscarried infant. When you miscarried, did Bros. Gothard or any of your ATI/VF people arrange such a "celebration of life" for you? What about the miscarriage of your daughter in law? Did you send out a note asking for prayerful support? I remember hearing that they asked you and Dad to come mourn the loss with them and dad said he was too busy. Is it because the Duggars are on television? What would make you treat them better than your own family? I have more compassion for Josie Duggar. Why hasn't the ATI crowd rallied around a cause to make sure she receives the earthly needs that she undoubtedly has after her premature birth?
You won't come to my wedding, but you'll go to the funeral of a 16 week fetus?
I agree Ruth. The Duggar family are full of hypocrites! They will have a huge ordeal for their miscarried child but they will not give premature Josie the care she needs when she clearly is not healthy. I hope you have the wedding you have always wanted with or without your parents.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry if this hurts you Ruth, but I find these comments particularly distasteful:
ReplyDelete"In honor of the Duggars and their new angel, let us all remember them during fellowship and spread their message of faith. Let us praise them in our daily lives as we praise HIM. If we spread this beautiful family's message to one person and they spread that grace to another person, we can pray a circle of protection around them to scare off any negative, unGODLY persons who are attacking them on vicious websites and the devil's media."
Let us praise them? Praise the Duggars? Way to keep the focus on God...
The world is filled with women who have lost very wanted children prenatally. Jim Bob and Michelle are not special or "chosen". In fact, it makes them quite ordinary.
Wishing and praying for continued health, prosperity, peace, and happiness for you Ruth. I'm very happy that you escaped such Godless madness.
This stuff makes me sick...too many memories of growing up in ATI/ATIA and IBLP I guess.
ReplyDeleteThe thing with these people is just like they see Satan and his fiery darts behind every bush, they also see God everywhere, so they pick and chose who is responsible for what based on what they wish.
God didn't do anything here any more than the devil; this was nature taking it's course. Crap happens, as the saying kinda goes.
It's also an insult to everyone else that lives to state that "so and so was too special for God to leave on this Earth", as it of course is saying that all of us God can do with out for awhile.
The saddest thing is that people just don't see this for what it is; a mental coping mechanism that is baseless in reality.
The celebrity factor just makes it worse, and any person that would go to a strangers funeral and not their own child's wedding is got something seriously wrong with their head.
And please, for the love of god, can we stop with the incessant use of exclamation marks? Fundy punctuation drives me crazy.
I heard it was the social event of the season. Everyone got to wear their fanciest frumpers.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, I'm sorry about your Mom, Ruth. What a horrible set of priorities she seems to have.
Further confirmation that the fundies are pro-life from the moment of conception to the moment of birth. After that, who cares?
ReplyDeleteThis is simply a hammer over the head to everyone regarding their pro-life stance - in case we haven't gotten the Duggar's message in the past. It's heavy-handed to the max, however, I have to admit they are great PR for the pro-life position. They appear to be a loving, close family.
ReplyDeleteRuth, you do know that something's very wrong with your parents, right, hon? It's not you. They're seriously messed up and it's got nothing to do with you.
ReplyDeleteOh Ruth. The reason she went to the service and isn't attending your wedding is because you are a godless whore. Unborn Duggar 20 (or is it 21 or 2.0 or what?) was lifted up to heaven, which makes it special, unlike your wedding.
ReplyDeleteI'm being facetious, of course. It's pathetic that she can work up so much fervor about a fetus but not care about your wedding plans. What a great example of Christian motherhood she is.
I'm very happy you got away from these people. There simply are no words for such fame-whoredom.
Words fail me. I hope you have a happy life, Ruth.
ReplyDeletemy husband suffered the loss of his first child, who died moments after birth. he did not gnash his teeth at god, neither is he a "true believer." but i know many people who are not believers who mourn the loss of a child with grace and dignity, not unlike believers who mourn. a large part of the illusion is that Christians are so different from other people- that is simply not the case. non-believers are not evil, we live and love just as strongly as Christians, and we live life in the serenity of knowing that we have a purpose to our life- a purpose that was not dictated to us by authority figures, but a purpose that we discovered on our own personal journeys.
ReplyDeleteIf you ask me, it's all a bunch of propaganda, your mom is saying what Gothard said she should say, it's based on man's word, not God's. I am a Catholic and as pro-life as they come, but this did not look like true mourning to me but more bunch of hype for the media. I'm sure that they do mourn Jubilee, anyone would, but most wouldn't take it this far. Miscarriages could become quite common for the Duggars for awhile, will they do this every time? After 45, if a woman conceives, there is a 50 to 75% chance she will miscarry, and that's just a fact of life.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me? So I assuming by this comment "he only chooses those that have spirits too pure for this earth." that she does not believe in original sin. I was pretty sure ATI families see children as sinners... my gracious, the mothers who make their six month olds sit on a towel for long periods of time and swat them when they get off. So when did there little spirits turn from too pure for this earth to little sinners.
ReplyDeleteSuch a sad weird twisted view of Gods unfathomable grace. I am so sad for the oppression and lack of freedom your mother must experience daily.
I'm so glad you are out of there Ruth.
Enjoy your wedding, but more so the life you and Harris have afterwards.
I understand wanting to have a memorial for a baby who died before birth-my son was born at 22 weeks and only lived a few minutes. And yes, we had a small memorial service-which I needed emotionally. And there is a yearly service at this time of year locally where parents who have lost babies get together and have a group memory service, where we put ornaments on a tree representing our little ones, and take an angel home, because the holidays are so hard as far as grief goes. I do NOT fault the Duggars for wanting to do something for Jubilee. But believe me, if they weren't on TV, and weren't ATI royalty, the service would be their family and maybe a few friends there out of loyalty. We even had to go outside our church to find a minister who was able to be supportive-ours had "never done that kind of funeral before", so the hospital chaplain recommended someone who was more experienced at dealing with infant loss.
ReplyDeleteBut the fact is that the worst people for condemning me and treating me like I was cursed were the QF folks. I did get the "perfect angel in heaven" line-but it was very heavily laden with "and you weren't good enough for God to let you raise him". Unstated, but clearly said nonetheless. Michelle is obviously given a pass that ordinary mortals don't get.
Ruth, thank you for sharing-and please, don't let your family ruin your wedding. You and Harris have a small bit of heaven on earth, and that's all anyone can hope for.
Well... I'm sorry your family is as asinine as my own in judgment. Of course, God says that we can treat family as badly as we want if we think they're ungodly.
ReplyDeleteFrom one fellow familial reject to another, Ruth, you are better than they are. You've done all you can - you even took Harris to meet your parents (which I would never subject my partner or myself to). Since they have rejected you, I'd say focus on Harris and the family you will create with him. Trust me, the love you create together and with any children you have will more than ease the pain. Not erase it, but ease it for sure.
What about the miscarriage Anna Duggar had or those Kelly Bates had or those of Jane Doe next door.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or does all of this seem to recycle so much of the 80s/90s anti abortion rhetoric--the photo of the unimaginably small baby, the recorded message that the baby was not "an interruption to a career" the screaming from every mountaintop possible that this was really a LIFE, a CHILD and not a "mistake" or a mere "fetus"????
I have no problem with the Duggars doing any of this PRIVATELY. But a made-for-tv extravaganza? Please.....
Ugh. The Duggars disgust me, and so does your mother. She is without excuse.
ReplyDeleteI greive for you Ruth! The very people that God hold's responsible for their care of you are saying one thing and doing another.How can they be so blind? Where is the love Jesus commanded? Where are the fruit's of the Holy Spirit? If they threw out all the book's and lectures on how to live a Godly life and went directly to the word of God..then there is hope that God will prevail in their lives and they will repent of their selfrighteousness and performance. The obediant games you had to play was brainwashing. unbelievable!Where is your parent's discernment? Just remember Jesus came to heal.to renew to restore. to heal.He never 'drives' He lead's gently and tenderly. Satan comes to destroy.decieve.divide.mislead and destroys.
ReplyDeleteYou know what bugs me about what your mother has said?
ReplyDeleteThey could've been like many of today's families in their heartbroken grief, wailing and gnashing at the world and being angry at God for HIS decision. Oh yes they could have been. We know that this is not how a true believer reacts to a situation even as hard as this. We praise God during bad times and we will elevate HIM in the bad and that is what the Duggars did today.
No one is allowed to grieve in ATI. They have to be praising God and happy and joyous at all times. They can't break down and be human. Which shows how little they know of scripture because Jesus mourned and wept. Fully God. Fully human.
They make my teeth itch...
I think the duggers are wonderful spiritual people, who where handling a loss with their family and friends. The rest of you who have nothing but crap to talk about them, go read the Duggar house Rules, you need to learn the age old lesson, if u can't say something nice don't say it at all! I am sorry ur mom is t coming to your wedding, my heart goes out to you
ReplyDeleteNice way to leave your name Anon. Easy to criticize without taking responsibility.
ReplyDeleteAnyway....
Just a word. I too, have lost an infant. He was born full term and we lost him at 3 days old.
I have never blamed God or held Him responsible for "choosing" my son to live in Heaven instead of with us, his mother, father, and his siblings. I don't believe a loving God would actually choose for his children to live with such loss and pain. I know I would never steal my grandchild away from one of my children, so that they could "choose" to love me more through sheer faith and the promise that they could see that child again when "I" chose.
I really don't think a loving Father/God works that way.
I also don't believe that God would want me to joyfully celebrate his little life and ignore the pain in my heart. Did Mary praise God while her Son was nailed to the cross? While He fulfilled prophesy? Did Simeon tell her to ignore the pain that was in her future or did he acknowledge and validate it, event though it had not yet come to pass?
I do grieve for little Jubilee and I am sure the Duggars are doing so as best they can. I can also imagine that there is some relief being felt in that family as well...after the trials that Josie has gone through. It's sad that they have allowed it to get to this point.
I know that this is an old post but I am kind of weirded out that they had anything for the child that lost and even more so that your mother went to the morial service.
ReplyDeletei buried my 20 week old preborn baby with a headstone. About 50 people came to his graveside service to support me, since I was in deep mourning. I held him in my arms, he looked just like my other children only smaller.
ReplyDeletethere is nothing wrong with mourning the child who died, even if he didnt make it to life outside the womb yet.