A Duggar’s broken courtship may be the inspiration for his ex-girfriend’s new book — a book intended to teach young girls about different types of love. Marjorie Jackson hasn’t yet said whether her book will discuss her courtship with Josiah, and their breaking-off, but the announcement certainly has closely followed the short-lived relationship.
Of course, when you’re in your teens — Josiah just turned 19 in August — falling in and out of love isn’t exactly unusual. For a Duggar, however, it’s treated a bit differently. Duggar children aren’t allowed to “date” in the way most of us think of it. Instead, they enter into a “courtship,” a relationship that is supposed to be more serious and aimed at marriage.
In the TLC clip below, Duggar daughters Jill and Jessa talk about courtship, and Jim Bob and Michelle explain a bit of their views. The relevant point with regard to Josiah and Marjorie is this: courting does not always lead to engagement, so a broken courtship isn’t exactly impossible, but the family has made it quite clear that marriage is the usual aim.
Because marriage is the point, the breakup between Josiah Duggar and Marjorie Jackson sparked a lot of questions. (Okay, maybe some would have been aimed at any well-known television personality and his relationships, but the Duggars’ much-proclaimed beliefs on courtship added fuel to the fire in this case.)
The rumors were further fueled when Josiah Duggar deleted all the photos of his courtship from his Instagram page . What you see below it the entirety of his account now — a whole six photos. The same page used to bear a number of shots of the courting couple together.
Because of the timing, the standard speculation was this: Josiah had entered into courtship largely to have a storyline for the next season of 19 Kids and Counting, had created his Instagram to advertise the season and courtship, and had been dumpedwhen it became clear that there would be no next season.
The Duggars have said nothing to support that viewer theory and merely released a short statement , declaring that the two had decided to end their courtship and seek God’s will for their futures.
At the time of the break-up, new information about Josh Duggar’s various indiscretions was still leaking out, bit by bit, and viewers waited to see if Marjorie would be letting out secrets from behind the Duggar walls. She remained mostly quiet, though, only returning sporadically to her blog to update with posts about prayer and faith.
This week, though, a new post appeared on her blog, announcing that the young woman is releasing a new book — her second. Yes, Marjorie is already the author of one book, aimed (by her own description) at convincing young people that the Bible is gripping, exciting, and full of action.
Her next book, however, is on love. She says it’s as follows.
“… a book for girls that takes a look at what God says in the Bible about love!”
Will the book draw on her own experiences and let readers in on what lead to her broken courtship with Josiah Duggar? Will it contain any insights on the Duggar family, and what restrictions she felt while being in a relationship with a Duggar?
There’s no telling — so far, Marjorie says, she doesn’t even have a title for the book. However, TLC aired a clip months ago, with the two announcing their courtship. Check out a breathless and excited Marjorie, anxious to share her love with the world. (This clip also includes a startling cameo from Josh Duggar, discussing his moral stance, good looks, and strength of character in avoiding sexual temptation before marriage.)
Does this sound like someone who clams up and doesn’t tell the world what happened?
Every day, writers begin books that will never see completion, and perhaps this writing will never see the light of day. However, we do know that Marjorie is capable of completing a book, and that she’s a person who was willing and ready to talk about her courtship and have it filmed. With that in mind, it’s quite possible that the story behind one Duggar’s broken courtship may soon be public information.
[Image via TLC ]