John David and Abbie Duggar may not be the most famous couple
in the ever-expanding reality TV family, but they just might be the most likable.
Their secret? It could have something to do with who paints whose nails.
Although John David and Abbie Duggar knew each other for a long time they didn't make a love
connection until 2018 when John David's parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar,
were invited to speak at Abbie's church in Ada, Oklahoma with John David flying in for the event.
As they explained on "Counting On," Abbie and John David chose to forgo some of the typical Duggar
courtship rules in favor of establishing their own set of relationship guidelines. They decided
that it was okay to take a more relaxed approach to courting due to their advanced ages, as 26 is
practically ancient in the world of Duggar love and marriage. Don't be too scandalized, though
— the couple maintained the family tradition of not kissing before their wedding ceremony.
If you followed John David Duggar's journey to the altar, perhaps you got the impression
that although he took courtship seriously, he wasn't interested in doing it forever. He made
it pretty clear to Abbie Burnett that he wanted to skip straight to kissing the bride rather than
drag their minimal-touching courtship on for too long. Mere weeks after his courtship announcement,
John David got down on one knee inside an airplane hangar and asked Abbie to marry him.
"Our relationship from the time we met to the
time we were married was just a few days shy of six months."
Although the two concepts may look similar to viewers of "Counting On," John David and Abbie
maintain that engagement is very different from courtship. John David explained in a TLC video -
"A courtship is more of a I'm getting to know
this person with the idea of the possibility of marriage."
On the other hand, an engagement is more of a commitment towards getting married.
For most Duggars, courting and getting engaged have the same end result.
Most of the Duggar family's numerous courtships and marriages seem to happen
at a breakneck pace. However, Abbie and John David got hitched even quicker than the other
Duggar siblings — so why do they seem to have the best relationship of the bunch?
Even comment boards dedicated to slamming the family find it hard to dislike John David and
Abbie, saying that their relationship seems more authentic than those of some of the other
siblings. The couple appears to be happy when the TLC cameras aren't rolling, too — a look
at their Instagram page shows post after post featuring genuine smiles and fun family outings.
Both John David and Abbie Duggar were raised in large evangelical Christian
families organized along strict traditional gender lines. We didn't watch Abbie and her
siblings grow up on television like the Duggars did, but the now-defunct family blog 10Burnetts
gives us a pretty good idea of the kind of upbringing Abbie had. According to the blog,
she and her seven siblings were homeschooled, so her mother seemingly avoided prospects
of a career outside of the home to work as a full-time housewife, just like Michelle Duggar.
While Abbie doesn't appear to be working outside of the home as of this video, she has something
most of the other Duggar women don't — a degree, which is in nursing. She's even entertained the
notion of someday returning to work — in 2019, she told Us Weekly that she plans to keep her
nursing license and that she and John David have discussed options about Abbie taking a job.
Unlike his father, brothers, brothers-in-law, and even his sister Jana, John David Duggar's
interests extend beyond real estate or contracting. The Duggar Family Fan Blog reported
in 2012 that John David had earned his pilot's license, a move that family members Jeremiah
Duggar, Josiah Duggar, and Austin Forsyth have copied, according to The U.S. Sun. For years, John
David has shuttled family members around in the fleet of small aircraft purchased by his father.
After moving in with Abbie, John David was once again the sole pilot in the house — but not for
long, according to The U.S. Sun. In August 2020, Abbie Duggar earned her student pilot certificate.
The Duggars have gained fame for their enormous family. For matriarch Michelle Duggar, having
children isn't just a hobby — it's a mandate. She and Jim Bob Duggar are followers of the Quiverfull
movement, an evangelical Christian crusade popularized by churches such as the Institute
for Basic Life Principles, an institute with which both the Duggar and Burnett families are involved.
According to Patheos [PATH-ee-ohs], one of the basic goals of the Quiverfull movement is for
its adherents to out-populate those who don't share their religious views by having as many
children as possible. Many of these fundamentalist evangelical Christian families try as hard as
possible to gain a platform or following outside of their immediate social circle in order to
evangelize to others. So while Abbie didn't grow up in front of TLC's ever-present cameras, she was
likely raised with an understanding that publicity isn't just the goal — it's the expectation.
Over the years, we've learned that John David is less outspoken than some of his siblings,
like his sister, the no-filter tomboy Joy-Anna. Instead, he has earned a reputation as a
go-with-the-flow guy who gets along with pretty much all of his siblings, particularly twin Jana.
Jana appears to return the sentiment, writing in an Instagram post that she, quote,
"couldn't have asked for a better twin to go through life with."
Luckily for John David, there's no sister-in-law drama here.
From the get-go, Abbie fit right in with John David's sisters,
particularly Jana. Both Jana and Abbie are low-key older siblings who understand what it's like to
be the last man standing — in a September 2020 "Counting On" confessional, Abbie shared that she,
too, was the oldest unmarried sibling in her family before meeting John David.
"I'm just super excited right now. It's so exciting - it's like
'it's my turn, I'm the bride this time!'"
Their friendship at least gives Jana the chance to get out of the house — after
raising her siblings, babysitting one baby probably seems like a well-earned break.
According to Duggar Data, John David and Abbie Duggar live in a single-wide trailer parked on
land owned by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar in Springdale, Arkansas. It's not clear exactly how
much John David and Abbie are worth, but Celebrity Net Worth puts the number around $500,000.
Even if their real worth is much lower than that, the couple has several sources of income,
including proceeds from "Counting On" and John David's towing company,
and they appear to be doing just fine. It helps that Abbie has learned how to cut
John David's hair, which helps cut down on posh things like, you know, going out for haircuts.
The couple's home is a stark difference from the living situations of some of
the other Duggar children. Jill Duggar and her husband Derick Dillard, for example,
own a four-bedroom Arkansas home, according to the Dillard Family Blog.
And although they aren't homeowners, Jinger Duggar and her husband Jeremy
Vuolo [VWOH-loh] live in a Los Angeles residence worth around $700,000, per Radar.
Fans of the Duggar family may have noticed that the idea of manliness appears to be important
to members of the clan. However, John David bucked the trend of adhering to pre-defined
gender roles by adding something unexpected to his honey do list: giving his wife a manicure. as he
prepared to buff and polish Abbie Duggar's nails on Counting On, John David quipped -
"I'd rather be the one spending time with
my wife versus paying someone else to spend time with her."
It's a sweet gesture, and Abbie must not find John David's lacquer skills lacking
since according to him she's put the fate of her cuticles in his hands many times.
She's praised her husband on his skills and his continual improvement.
He's even developed his own opinions about her manicures, saying -
"French tips are more romantic-looking."
Abbie and John David Duggar saw their lives change forever in January 2020 when Abbie gave
birth to daughter Grace Annette Duggar after a 36-hour labor. The birth came after a long and
difficult pregnancy, during which Abbie suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum which is a condition
that causes debilitating nausea, and ended up in the emergency room, according to Us Weekly.
Bucking the Duggar tradition of filming all of life's bloody, intimate moments,
Abbie and John David kept TLC's cameras out of the delivery room. They still starred in
a birth special, however, and they filmed their own footage at the hospital after Grace arrived.
"It feels great to now be a family of 3. It's a- It's a big change but it's a
good change and we're excited to go on adventures with our little girl now."
Despite a tumultuous beginning to their life as parents, Abbie and John David seem to be
enjoying the experience of raising just one child at a time. Their shared Instagram is
jam-packed with photos of cozy family outings, including weekend air shows, trips to the beach,
and berry-picking adventures. There's been no news of a second baby as of now — perhaps
there are enough nieces, nephews, and siblings between them to tamper down the baby fever.
Unlike some of the other Duggar couples, Abbie and John David Duggar don't appear
to be too concerned with their social media stats. In fact, according to Romper,
John David didn't even have a public Instagram page before he began courting his future wife.
His first was a joint account with Abbie, where the couple shares just a few pics a
month of their extended family, air shows, and their daughter, Grace.
Compare that to the accounts of, say,
Jessa or Jinger, who appear to have fully launched themselves into the influencer lifestyle,
complete with promotional posts for smart vacuums and pillows. Abbie's frequent posts on her
family's defunct 10Burnetts blog shows us she's not afraid of sharing her life with the world.
So by avoiding social media, she and John David appear to be making a conscious effort to minimize
their exposure to the public eye. Can't say we blame them — for a couple of shy homebodies,
the constant expectation to share intimate details with the camera was probably more than enough.
Abbie and John David Duggar's hesitancy to share more information about their
home lives is particularly odd considering that they both came
from families known for publicizing their association with their religion.
Both Abbie and John David grew up in the Institute for Basic Life Principles.
Besides wanting their members to have as many children as possible, the extreme subsect of
conservative evangelical Christianity has even more guidelines for its followers. An
exposé published by Chicago claims that IBLP adherents are encouraged to homeschool their
children using a series of pamphlets produced by the church, in which every school subject
is integrated with passages from the Bible and subjects are explained, quote, "through the prism
of male superiority and female obedience." For IBLP followers, women exist to serve the needs
of men and children, and are, quote, "discouraged from attaining higher education of any kind."
Some might find IBLP teachings rather questionable — according to the organization,
Cabbage Patch Kids are symbols of evil, as are jeans and the concept of a woman winking.
The ultimate goal of the church is to evangelize by integrating disgraced founder Bill Gothard's
extremely conservative interpretation of the Bible into every aspect of public and private life.
Despite their upbringing, Abbie and John David Duggar appear to be taking a less conservative
approach to religion than Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. For example, Abbie went to school to get
a nursing degree and worked outside of the home before she was married — something that the IBLP
discourages. Abbie also frequently wears pants. And unlike some of the other Duggar siblings,
Abbie and John David don't seem to be in a rush to grow their little family.
The couple has remained mostly silent amidst the news of TLC's cancellation of "Counting
On," and they left on a family trip to an air show shortly after the news broke.
Perhaps they're relieved that the cameras will no longer be on them — while it doesn't seem like
they're headed for a full-on rebellion against the IBLP, Abbie and John David appear to have a desire
to negotiate their own relationship with their Christian faith. So as Grace Duggar grows up,
fans will be watching to see just how much her upbringing differs from her parents'.
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