After nearly one full year of performing missionary work in Central America, Derick Dillard and Jill Duggar have returned to Arkansas.
The Dillards haven’t been as deeply embroiled in scandal as the rest of Jill’s family in recent years, but they certainly haven’t been without their share of controversy.
From the start of their time in El Salvador, there were questions about whether Jill and Derick were qualified to be missionaries.
(Some still believe they were axed from their post.)
Concerns about the Dillards not taking their position seriously and treating
Now that Jill and Derick are back home, they’re taking the usual Duggar approach to addressing criticism.
Namely, they’re not addressing the criticism at all, and are instead shifting the focus to the depth of their religious belief (which happens to be the one thing about them that no one ever calls into question).
It’s a formula that’s worked very well for them in the past, and we’re sure this time will be no exception.
Yesterday, on the Dillard clan’s website, Derick opened up about his "spiritual birthday," an event that he celebrates every year to commemorate the day that he "welcomed Christ into his life" when he was 14;
"Each person who believes in Jesus for their salvation and makes Him the new Master (rather than self) of their life will be saved from their sin and be born spiritually," Dillard writes on his family’s blog.
"I grew up in a home that honored the one true God, the God of the Bible.
"Because of this, I realized as a young child that I was spiritually dead and that I desperately needed Jesus to save me."
"The reason I am writing this is due in part to a particular practice of reflection that my parents encouraged me to engage in shortly after I became a Christian," Dillard adds.
"Every year, on my spiritual birthday, they encouraged me to reflect on and examine the past year of my life in order to identify ways that I was becoming more like Christ, but also to recognize areas of my life that I needed to be more diligent in striving to be Christ-like."
As for what’s going on in the adult Derick’s life these days, well, no one is really sure.
The Dillards being back in the States means they’ll likely be playing a bigger role in the family’s reality TV empire than ever before.
Of course, many fans are still wondering if Derick will supplement that income and support his family in more traditional wayd as well.
Dillard quit his job as an accountant to head to El Salvador with his wife and son shortly after the Josh Duggar sex scandals.
Will he return to crunching numbers now that he’s back in the US of A?
Only time (and TLC) will tell.
Watch Counting On online at TV Fanatic to get caught up in time for tonight’s new episode.