After more than 16 years of blogging about the Duggar family, it is time to bring this chapter to a close. We may post occasional updates but will not be blogging regularly.
We want to thank all of you from the very bottom of our hearts for being loyal readers. Thank you to those who have been with us since December 2009, and thank to those who have found us along the way. Your support has meant the world. Thank you for the 219,000 comments and the 287 million page views. Thank you to our 446,000 Facebook followers. Thank you to our readers from the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, England, and nearly every other country across the globe. Thank you to those who shared their thoughts as comments, and thank you to those who read silently but faithfully.
We are deeply saddened and shocked by the actions of Joseph and Josh. It goes without saying that we condemn these actions. May they beg the forgiveness of all those whom they have hurt. May they also beg for God’s forgiveness. God’s limitless grace is available to all who sincerely repent of and turn from their sins. No sin is too large for God’s redemption.
We pray for Joseph’s victim, that God would bring about true healing and restoration in her life and allow her to move forward in confidence. As the court proceedings begin, may the truth be brought to light.
We pray for the rest of the Duggars, for healing and strength to press on. It is unkind to blame or punish the entire family for the wrongs committed by two individuals.
Thank you for the information.
ReplyDeleteAmen. Very sad this chapter must close, but I understand, however, if the family is willing I'd still love to get any baby or wedding news. Been following the Duggar's for some 13 years.
ReplyDeleteI would also love to hear any baby, or wedding news, from any of the other 17 Duggar Siblings. (Posted by Here's Hoping.)
DeleteThank you for sharing all the news with us. It was good while it lasted.
ReplyDeleteLily and Ellie, you have done an amazing job with this blog, thank you. You deserve to concentrate on your own family. I imagine all the heartaches you have reported on has been hard. You have also shared so many happy Duggar moments.. thank you and God bless
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for bringing us news of the Duggars for so many years. I completely understand your need to step away in light of the fact that two of the sons have now committed shocking crimes against innocent children. I wholeheartedly agree that sinful people do not take away the greatness of our God.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been here since the beginning. Thank you for posting all these years. I can understand that it’s time to draw it to a close. I agree that we need to separate wrongdoing out and put the blame where it belongs, on the perpetrators and not on the family or faith. I hope that healing can come for the victims and family members. Best wishes to you and your family!
ReplyDeletei have read your blog for years. I have commented a few times. Your words above are beautifully written - beautiful because they are true.
ReplyDeleteSame!
DeleteThat was very well written, and I believe it was time to stop blogging about this family. More arrests will probably happen as things are brought to light.
ReplyDelete11:13 we have no reason to believe more arrests will happen, that’s a pessimistic comment with no evidence.
DeleteI hope no more arrests like that happen. However, I wouldn't be surprised if more personal problems came to light. Everyone in the family should be examining their life choices right now. Victims should always feel they can come forward without repercussion, too.
DeleteThank You Lily & Ellie! I agree with everything you wrote! It was a Beautiful! ending to close this blog! So true and encouraging to hold on to God and trust Him because He is our Hope and our Help in times of trouble and we can trust Him to see us through! I will also pray for all the victims and for the innocent Duggar family members like you mentioned. God Bless You Both and your families!
ReplyDeleteEllie and Lily your words on everything were perfect from talking about the actions of Joshua and Joseph to praying for their victims to praying for all the Duggars and everything else was perfect
DeleteGoing to miss the blog very much. Thank you for doing it!!!! Brightened my days.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Lily & Ellie. I been here since begin when on the show and read on recap for all of episodes.
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting us know and not just keep us guessing. I find it odd all the posts from now until last summer were removed though.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all you have done and I understand your reasons for moving on. I wish you and your family all the best. I will miss you.
ReplyDeleteI have been reading this blog since day one and I’m really going to miss it.
ReplyDeleteI am going to miss this blog, but I understand your reasons for stepping away.
ReplyDeleteThank you for everything you shared! I agree with what you said!
ReplyDeleteWhile I can imagine this has been a trying time for all concerned, I'm sorry that the blog will be shutting down. As someone who loves the Duggar family, I would much prefer reading their news and updates (good and bad) from a source that genuinely cares about them rather than hearing from outlets that can be exploitive and hyperbolic. At any rate, thank you for sharing, Lily and Ellie!
ReplyDeleteI didn't read Ang of the ladies' reasons for stopping this blog. Crimes allegedly committed by family members don't have anything to do with continuing here. Unless the Duggars don't want this to continue? What are your reasons? I have enjoyed this site for many years and was glad to read all opinions.
ReplyDeleteIt must be difficult keeping up a positive blog when the Duggars don't seem concerned about keeping a positive image any more.
DeleteI would imagine it being difficult given the decreasing amount of Duggars active on social media, Jinger, Joy, Jill, Jana and Jessa are usually the only ones all that active on social media and I suspect Jill is about to be a deal less active on social media given Derick going into the marines. Lack of Duggar content would be a good reason...lol
DeleteGonna miss it but well done ladies.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the reporting you have done for us over the years!
ReplyDeletefor the occasional updates i would like pregnacy and birth anouncements, and engagement and Wedding Anouncements
ReplyDeleteThat is assuming any of the Duggars announce their pregnancies, engagements or marriages, the only way we'd find out about any of them is if it leaks out or if Jinger and Jeremy mention it on their podcast and even then some of them might ask Jinger not to mention it.
DeleteI think this was a wise decision. If any of the Duggar family wish to share their lives, they have access to the same social media as everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!! BUT I DEEPLY UNDERSTAND, WE BOUGHT INTO IT, AND I AM DONE TOO!!!! I LOVE U ELLIE!!!!! WE GO BACK A LONG WAY, 16 YEARS!!!!!! BECAUSE OF JOSEY WAS BORN, I WANTED TO KNOW HOW SHE WAS DOING!!!!!!! I LOVE U 2, AND IT'S LIKE CRAZY WE ARE DONE, TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BYE, TAKE CARE OF YOUR FAMILY!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellie for all your hard work for so many years. I agree with you it's time to bring this blog to a close. Many blessings to you and your family. Jane
ReplyDeleteSorry, I meant to say Thank you Lily and Ellie. Jane
DeleteI applaud you for doing what’s best for your family. I agree with all you’ve said, and also feel it’s best to move on with more positive things in your life.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog. Yes, I agree with you. It's time for the Duggars to live their lives without the various issues related to Social Media. I appreciate your lovely farewell post.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's time to move on from the Bates Family blog too. I think both these families deserve privacy and normalcy in their lives.
Please continue the Bates blog. It’s great!
DeleteReally? A good chunk of the Bates family seem to be seeking out public attention rather than giving their families privacy.
DeleteThank you for all the information you have shared with us in the past 16 years! I appreciate how you always spoke the truth to us about what was going on with the Duggars. I imagine your heart feels a bit sad to be giving up blogging about them. But I understand and respect your decision.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellie and Lily for posting this blog. I.know it was a lot of work. May the Lord bless you in your future endeavors!
ReplyDeleteThis is soo true. The fact that humans choose to sin does not mean that God is any less good.
ReplyDeleteReally appreciate your updates over the years. How do we update an email for when you do post?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your years of sharing with us! Really appreciate you!
ReplyDeleteI have been reading this blog for years a good 14/15 years I would say! Best of luck Ellie & Lily x
ReplyDeleteToday I was able to find and open your blog. It took some searching and when I got to your blog page it opened to 2024 posts, but I noticed a previous arrow. So I clicked back again and again and got to the most recent post. Only to see the reality is the reason I thought was why the blog had not been letting me on lately. I'm glad I finally know what is going on with your blog. Your blog has been a good Duggar focused meeting place for many readers for years. It has been a good time. I'm am happy you are letting it go now and not continuing to give attention to what has happened. I think your words in this post are important and I want to maintain your final true thoughts in my mind. No one is above or beyond sinning and failure as we are all created by God and the Bible says all have sinned. Knowing the devasting effect of sin on others not just the person making the choices, it is so wonderful to get the good news that Jesus died for sins and in Jesus there are answers. If anyone dares to mock me for saying that I feel badly for them because Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We are all in the same boat as our friends the Duggars. Thank you Ellie and Lily for many years of posting the Duggar news.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much negative news reporting on the internet and on YouTube. It is good of you Lily and Ellie, to be only pay attention to the good news leaders by stopping your blog now. I need to work on that more consistently. Thank you for all your years of sharing the Duggar family news. The Duggars deserve to have peace now. They have been very generous in inviting film crews and all who watched the videos into their home and lives. Thanks ya'll for a heapin' helpin' of your Southern hospitality!
ReplyDeleteMaybe there's so much negative news reporting because there are so many negative things happening. Much as we'd like to pretend it isn't that way, we can't.
DeleteThe reason people go on TV is to become famous and earn lots of money, not generosity. I feel the Duggars traded their privacy for fame. Looking back and looking right now, was that wise?
DeleteThere are plenty of positive good things that happen and it is the wrong choices and things to dramatize that get focused on most in the media if anyone does something wrong. Some sites are just utilizing the problems to get views. Over the years this is not the first wrong thing that happened, as everyone knows, amongst all the normal milestones to be shared and celebrated by all. The people who run their lives into a ditch need help to get back on track not to be a feast for people who like bad news. Anyone the Duggars have been in the spotlight for it all good and some bad,for a long time now, these are really their God given human lives not entertainment for the masses and the shows over already.
Delete@4:37 I feel it's the Duggars who need to read your message the most. They have chosen to stay in the spotlight. Are they really working to get their lives back on track?
DeleteThank you for all the work you did on this blog for 16 years!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!!
ReplyDeleteSorry that you are ending the blog after 16 years. I've followed you ladies here about as long as this website has existed. I accidentally came across it looking for information on the Duggar Family birthday's and anniversary's and was hooked from that day on since I didn't do social media. Please continue to share the births and weddings of the family here occasionally. All other "news" I'll just see online or on the family members who do YouTube vlogs channels.
ReplyDeleteThank you for using this platform to speak the truth.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellie and Lily for doing this blog and thank you for the way you talked about Joshua and Joseph Duggars actions very encouraging words you’re right two people who make bad choices shouldn’t condemn an entire family
ReplyDelete6:05 Normally you could say that about a family but with multiple huge headlines now, you have to examine the roots of the problems and all the contributing factors. I think it's fair to say that a lot of us watching the family saw some sort of problems coming, we just didn't know what or when. So everything surprised but really didn't surprise.
Delete6:05 IMO, JimBob made a very poor choice many years ago when he agreed to have his family participate in a reality TV show.
DeleteWho knows the extent of their problems of any sort. You'd have thought it was just one person but it wasn't. There's a pattern, and there must be a reason for that.
DeleteThank you for your blog and all the hard work you have done. I hope the posts you have done over the years will stay at least? I don't blame you for stopping. It is sad what happened, and to the other Duggar siblings, I don't blame those who refuse to have any public updates. I will watch the ones who do have YouTube, or public IG, but won't blame them for stopping either. I wish you both well in future endeavors
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lily and Ellie! I have very much enjoyed this blog, also.
ReplyDeleteYes, the sins of Josh and Joseph are great, but may I just say as a reminder to all, that the Bible says that ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). The nature of the sin might be different for each one of us, but God still considers it sin (see James 2:10). Romans, chapter 3, goes on to say that we are justified freely by God‘s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (v.24), and it says that the means of receiving that grace is to believe in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for our sins (John 1:12, 3:16, 8:24, 20:31; Luke 8:12, Acts 16:31; Rom. 3:22, 4:24, etc. See also 2 Cor. 5:21). If Josh and Joseph have believed, and are children of God, they are experiencing the chastening and scourging of the Lord , according to Hebrews, Chapter 12, and Proverbs 3:11,12, etc. Guess the point I am trying to make is that, as heinous as their sin has been, in God’s eyes we are all guilty, even if the sin is different. The ideal is to believe God for salvation (achieved in the way He says we achieve it), then live in accordance with the Bible’s directives, so that we do not incur His chastening!
Thank you again for your efforts in bringing us this blog for all these years. I look forward to seeing any future updates that might be posted. Thanks again.
I WANT TO BE THE LAST ONE TO LEAVE A MESSAGE ON THIS PAGE!!!!!!! I WILL, SEND A SIMPLE MESSAGE OK!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI MISS THIS BLOG, AND U ELLIE!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all you have done with this blog. You worked hard. I appreciate it. I understand why you've made the.decision you have. I don't blame you at all. I'll miss this blog. I completely agree with what you wrote. God bless you both and your family.
ReplyDeleteHi I am so sad to hear this news and thank you so much for the updates that you have done for me and I will miss seeing the updates about the family and I will miss reading the updates about the family
ReplyDeleteArgh we miss you and your updates, especially with the latest wedding (Johanna!) and the new baby news !
ReplyDelete