Jill Dillard Returns To Arkansas This Weekend, Jennifer Duggar Postpones Birthday Party For Sister’s Return
Jill Dillard is taking time away from the mission field in Central America and returning to Arkansas. The Dillards are slated to return to Arkansas this weekend, and it seems that sister Jennifer Duggar was so excited about Jill’s return that she decided to postpone her birthday party until then. While Jill and Derick have not revealed how long they will be staying in the states, chances are the family will be here until after Jinger Duggar’s wedding and until filming for the next season of Counting On is complete.
The Duggar family took to Facebook to reveal that Jill and Derick Dillard, along with their son Israel, will be returning to Arkansas this weekend. In a birthday message to Jennifer Duggar, Michelle notes that Jenni wanted to wait for her “buddy” Jill before holding her official birthday party. Therefore, instead of a big celebration, Jenni opted for ice cream and will have her real party this weekend.
The Dillards revealed that they would be returning to Arkansas for a “short stateside stay. Jill and Derick reveal that they will be returning in August and that the stay will “extend into the fall.”
“We are so excited to share that we will be returning in August for a short stateside term that will extend into the fall.”
The Dillards reveal that they look forward to seeing family members and spending time in Arkansas after “10 months on foreign soil.” Once home, the Dillards say they will be taking more bible classes and that they plan to continue working for the ministry from the United States. In fact, Derick notes that the pair will continue to work on behalf of the Central America ministry from Arkansas and that the work in Central America will continue in their short absence.
“Even while we are in the United States we will continue to work on behalf of the ministry and the work in Central America will continue.”
While the nature of the Dillards return has not been revealed, the pair are likely here for a short period of time to allow for more filming of the family for the TLC series Counting On. While Jill Dillard was featured on the show via Skype and a small filming session in Central America, she was not featured as heavily as some fans would have liked. Therefore, it seems the young family may be back in Arkansas to film, catch up with family, and potentially attend Jinger Duggar’s wedding to Jeremy Vuolo.
See the moment Jinger Duggar said yes to fiancé Jeremy Vuolo https://t.co/MvDJDNtiDb pic.twitter.com/iK12JEeAs4
— People Magazine (@people) August 3, 2016
Watch Jinger Duggar get engaged to pro soccer player beau in #CountingOn clip: https://t.co/wK7VEgL097 pic.twitter.com/v94L81FFUv
— ExtraTV (@extratv) August 3, 2016
Although Jinger just announced her engagement, the Duggars are known for incredibly short engagement periods. Jessa and Jill both had weddings within a few months of making their engagement announcement; therefore, it is likely Jinger Duggar will follow suit. Jill Dillard notes that the Duggar women chose short engagement periods so that they remain pure for marriage. Fox News reports that Jill believes the longer a couple waits to marry, the more likely it is for them to hit a stumbling block in purity.
“We prayed a lot, prepared and really didn’t see any reason to have a long courtship and engagement. Once we knew we wanted to get married, we didn’t want to put off the wedding for a long time and provide a stumbling block for ourselves; We purposed to save ourselves physically for each other within marriage (even our first kiss for our wedding day!), so we had a short engagement period. You may not wanna push the wedding date out too far, as those natural God-given desires with too much time between engagement and marriage can make it harder to remain pure. If you are financially ready, and things are in place (which should be at the time the question is popped), we believe an engagement should only be long enough to plan a wedding!”
Do you think Jill and Derick Dillard are returning to Arkansas for Jinger’s wedding?
[Image via Instagram/Jill Dillard]
