Jinger Duggar Shares Message For Jessa, Reveals Sad Struggles
Jinger Duggar and the other adult Duggar daughters who still live at home with Jim Bob and Michelle don’t get as much attention as Jill and Jessa because they aren’t getting married or popping out babies. However, there are many fans who are fascinated with 21-year-old Jinger, an aspiring photographer who is definitely the most fashionable member of the Duggar family.
Jinger Duggar stands out from her sisters because she looks like an art school student, not a follower of a cult-like religious sect. Unfortunately, no Duggar daughter has been allowed to enroll in a brick-and-mortar college. Because of her strict parents’ religious beliefs, Jinger is stuck living with them until she gets married.
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have 19 kids, so they can’t expect all their children to be accepting of these rules, and many fans of the Duggar family’s now-cancelled TV series, 19 Kids and Counting, were convinced that Jinger would be one of the first to defy them by striking out on her own. However, she’s shown no signs that she actually plans on leaving her parents’ home in rural Arkansas to pursue her dreams of living in a big city, even though it sounds like she’s struggling with the high expectations that Jim Bob and Michelle place on her. They seemingly want their kids to be models of Christian virtue, but Jinger has revealed that she hasn’t lived up to these standards.
Unlike married Duggar daughters Jessa and Jill, Jinger doesn’t have her own Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram page. However, she was allowed to post a birthday message for Jessa on the Duggar Family Facebook page. Her struggle with her faith was obviously on her mind when she wrote the message, and it sounds like Jessa was the one who used to talk her through any doubts that she had about her family’s beliefs.
“Happy Birthday, Jess!” Jinger wrote. “Oh, the memories we’ve shared throughout the years…you have always been there to inspire, encourage, and point me back to Jesus! Lots of love, Jinger.”
This isn’t the first time Jinger has hinted that being a believer didn’t come easy for her. In a video that was uploaded on the Duggar Studios YouTube page earlier this year, Jinger talked to Jessa’s husband, Ben Seewald, about being a sinner who struggled with truly believing in Jesus. She told Ben that she started praying when she was six years old, which is when she realized she was a sinner. However, Jinger revealed that her “heart was not changed” until the age of 14.
“I came in to my parents, and I was like, ‘I really need Jesus, because I know that, in my own self, I’m not going to be able to get to heaven. I’ve done so many bad deeds. I’ve sinned against God, and I cannot save myself from my sins.”
Based on Jinger Duggar’s recent birthday message for Jessa, she relied on her older sister to help her keep the faith after her “come to Jesus” moment. However,this isn’t the only reason Jinger had such a tough time saying goodbye to Jessa after she got married — Jessa was also her best friend.
During an episode of 19 Kids and Counting, Michelle Duggar said that Jinger and Jessa used to pray together a lot, and Jim Bob revealed that his daughters simply enjoyed spending time together no matter what they were doing.
“Jessa and Jinger love shopping together, they love cooking together, they love organizing together,” he said, according to E! News. “They love going on trips together. They just love being together.”
Jinger has explained that she’s so attached to Jessa because Jessa is a leader while she just likes “to follow people.”
Unfortunately for Jinger, now Jessa won’t have as much time to tell her younger sister how to live her life. As Entertainment Tonight reports, Jessa just became the proud mother of a very large baby boy. He’ll probably keep the first-time mom busy for awhile, and, because Jessa is a Duggar, it will only be a matter of time before he’s joined by a sibling who takes up even more of her time and attention.
Do you think Jinger Duggar would be happier if she broke the Duggar mold by leaving home as an unmarried woman, or would she struggle to adjust to life outside her family’s bubble?
[Image via TLC]
