Josiah Duggar and his ex, Marjorie Jackson, have chosen drastically different paths in life since their breakup in 2015. Josiah is now a married man who will likely become a father in the near future, while Marjorie is enjoying the single life and rocking clothing that no Duggar wife would dare to wear, as per Radar Online .
Josiah Duggar, 21, has been married to Lauren Swanson, 19, for almost a month, and the Counting On star still hasn’t shared any post-wedding photos on his Instagram page. However, he and his bride did recently give Us Weekly a brief update on their marriage. The couple said that they’re “loving every minute” of their new life as husband and wife, with Josiah adding that they “now understand why God considers marriage such a beautiful thing.”
The couple also said that they’re having “fun” setting up their love nest as they settle into married life, and they’ve been “enjoying dreaming and thinking of the future together.” The couple didn’t talk about their plans to start a family, but if Josiah follows in the footsteps of the last Duggar son who got married, 23-year-old Joseph, he could already be a dad by this time next year.
As reported by People , Josiah Duggar and Lauren Swanson tied the knot on June 30 at John Brown University Cathedral of the Ozarks in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. John Brown University just so happens to be the college that Josiah’s ex, 20-year-old Marjorie Jackson, is currently attending.
Josiah Duggar did not go to college, and he’ll likely support his new wife through the Duggar family business. According to In Touch Weekly , he was working on acquiring a real estate license in 2016 so that he could follow in his parents’ footsteps by flipping houses for a living. It’s never been revealed whether Lauren Swanson plans on working or going to school, but so far, all Duggar brides have decided to be stay-at-home moms who occasionally help their husbands with their various businesses.
Meanwhile, Marjorie Jackson is pursuing a career so that she won’t need a husband to support her. As reported by In Touch Weekly , she’s studying graphic design at John Brown University, and she’s already published a devotional book that she illustrated herself.
Marjorie Jackson’s interest in attending college and pursuing a career would have made her stand out from other Duggar brides, had she chosen to continue her courtship with Josiah and eventually marry him. Her fashion choices also would have made her stick out like a sore thumb. In one of her recent Instagram photos, she’s rocking a pair of short shorts that definitely would not meet the Duggars’ modesty standards. As noted by Romper , Michelle Duggar has said that leaving the thigh uncovered is “nakedness and shame.”
As you can see, Marjorie Jackson’s photo was taken in Las Vegas. It’s probably difficult for many Duggar fans to imagine any members of their favorite family traveling to Sin City, even if they changed the nickname for the gambling hot spot to “Salvation City” as Marjorie has done in the caption of her Instagram post.
While Marjorie might not fit the Duggar mold, Josiah didn’t decide to dump her because she’s so different from the women in his family. He told People that it was actually Marjorie who decided to end their relationship.
“We were just trying to follow God’s lead on everything,” Josiah said. “She didn’t feel that it was the right timing then, so we called it quits for a bit.”
Had Marjorie Jackson married Josiah Duggar, it’s possible that she’d be a stay-at-home mother to two kids by now, not going to school, and enjoying the freedom to make a spur-of-the-moment decision to take a trip to Las Vegas.