Jessa Seewald and Jill Dillard to update relationship advice book now that they’ve actually had relationships
Last March, the four oldest Duggar daughters released Growing Up Duggar: It’s All About Relationships, even though none of them had actually been in romantic relationships when they wrote the advice book. Now, since-married Jessa Seewald admits they may have jumped the gun.
“We did write a section in there about dating and finding the right guy and all that. But that was before any of us had really walked that road,” Jessa told The Beauford Gazette in Georgia, where she is to speak at a women’s conference. “It was just advice that other people had given us and things we assumed we would do when we came to that.”
In the book, Jessa, Jill Dillard, Jana Duggar and Jinger Duggar spoke about what they wanted in a husband and explained why they’re opposed to physical relationships before marriage.
“Physical intimacy in marriage is pure, wholesome, and beautiful. Outside of marriage, it spreads disease, death and destruction,” they said, adding chaperones are important because otherwise “it’s easy to put yourself into physical and moral danger and give in to those emotions or sensual thoughts that promise pleasant, but only temporary, fulfillment.”
Now that Jessa and older sister Jill have experienced courtships, engagements and the early stages of marriage, Jessa said they’ve learned more — and they want to pass that knowledge on to their fans.
“We actually are in the process of writing an additional chapter for the paperback version for a sort of updated edition,” she said. “We’ll share our story and different things we learned along the way.”
Just don’t expect any horror stories in the new edition: Jessa, who is taking a mini-vacation with husband Ben Seewald before the conference, seems to be very happy with her marriage.
“Married life is awesome. I’m loving getting to be married to my best friend and getting to spend each day together,” Jessa said. “I really couldn’t imagine anything else I’d rather do.”
She said the biggest challenge they’ve faced is just accepting the other person has other habits.
“Whenever people get married it’s two lives coming together, and you have different backgrounds. Even though Ben and I have a lot in common, there are still those differences and things you do differently,” she said. “You know, he squeezes the tube of toothpaste differently than I do! But you adjust to small things like that. It’s been good.”
Jessa is speaking at the Southern Women’s Show in Savannah tomorrow.
