Recently, the Duggars made a trip to Los Angeles to visit Jinger ar her new coastal home.
The thought of the Duggars at the beach is a ludicrous one, and sure enough, it seems there were some real "fish out of water" moments as the ultra-conservative Arkansas clan made their way through the bastion of West Coast liberalism that is LA.
But interestingly, one of the most awkward moments took place between Jinger and her mother, Michelle Duggar.
You’re probably aware that Jinger is the most independent thinker of all her siblings.
As a result, she’s been labeled the "the rebel Duggar" but most of her acts of defiance could hardly be described as rebellious.
In fact, for the most part, she’s simply engaging in typical behaviors that most of us never think twice about.
Sure, Jinger married a man her parents aren’t thrilled about it, and they definitely weren’t happy when she became the first Duggar woman of her generation to flee Arkansas.
But Jinger is a grown woman, a wife and mother who’s free to choose her own path in life — and the most thing shocking about her behavior has been her parents’ reaction.
Insiders say that after years of coping with her disobedience, Jim Bob and Michelle disowned Jinger following her move to LA.
We may never know for sure if that’s true, but whatever the case, it seems the three of them have since managed to bury the hatchet.
Of course, all of this tension began years ago with a now-infamous fashion statement.
Shortly after her wedding, Jinger began wearing pants in direct defiance of her family’s infamous dress code.
And believe it or not, it took until now for the family to discuss her decision openly.
On this week’s episode of Counting On, Jinger and Michelle finally addressed their differing views on "modest attire" — and of course, the fight was refereed by none other than the Jesus H. Christ:
One of the show’s producers broached the topic first, saying:
“We noticed on the hike that you were wearing pants. Tell us about that.”
Jinger replied, “I chose to wear pants for the hike. We were gonna be going down some steep hills and so I thought it would be best to wear pants.”
Yes, it seems there was a practical component to Jinger’s decision to start wearing pants — after all, they’re just easier to walk in.
But being a Duggar, and all — you can bet she prayed on the matter, as well:
“We had conversations before I started wearing pants and just shared my heart with them and where I saw the Lord leading me,” Jinger explained, reflecting on the moment that she came out to her parents as a Levi’s enthusiast.
“I was really grateful for their response," she continued, possibly giving her parents way too much credit.
Jinger added that her parents taught her to always “seek to honor God” and “maintain modesty” and that if she felt she could do that while wearing pants, they would try to understand.
“I’m really grateful for their hearts and how they’ve just instilled that in us kids,” she added.
“My parents always raised us just to honor Christ in everything that we do,” Jinger said, adding of her decision to wear pants:
“That’s where the Lord’s led me as of now.”
“It’s OK that my kids may have different convictions than me,” Michelle chimed in.
“I know that He’s leading them. And that’s the most important thing, is their walk, their relationship with God.”
From there, Michelle admitted that there’s nothing about the Lord’s preference for skirts over pants in the Bible and it’s just some nonsense she decided on a couple decades ago:
“I just dressed them in dresses and skirts as well. Being that that was my personal conviction," she said.
"I think that part of it was more of, you know, mama’s the mama and I’m raising my girls to be modest and honor the Lord and how they represent themselves.”
Ya know, we actually have to pay some grudging respect to Michelle here.
We wish more evangelicals would admit that some of their deeply-held beliefs are rooted in total BS.