The Rest of the Story

TLC stuffed over 50 hours of video into 44 minutes. We thought they did a marvelous job depicting our family for who we are, but getting all questions answered is an impossible feat. We’ve gotten a boatload of questions through posts on the website and through email. We’re not able to respond to all of them, so we’ve drummed up some new FAQs that go into some answers to popular questions. Click through for much of “the rest of the story”…

1. Shopping/Money Saving. This takes the cake as most popular response. We have a general FAQ posted “How do you keep your groceries below $600/month?” We admit, this is just a start to a host of ideas that we can post. (Check out the Google Video below of what was caught in Sam’s Club.) Another FAQ, “What do you do for a living?” goes into more detail of what our family businesses do and are all about. Many of these ideas will be in our book, Love in the House, due out in April.

2. Alicia’s Story. Both Alicia and we are pleased by how our story was portrayed. It was risky for both sides, but we all followed our convictions and told our perspectives for the camera. Save for the suspenseful background music (there is no background music in real life), we believe what was portrayed was on target. Some feedback assumed that our separation was still going on. It was when the filming ended in November 2006, but a lot has happened since then. In fact, check out our post here to see what happened the day before the episode broadcasted. Our final chapter in Love in the House goes into the most detail of this story, but we will flesh out an FAQ very soon (bookmark this page for the upcoming update).

3. Donations. Wow, we have received a considerable amount of emails from people wanting to help us financially. This is very touching. Truth be known, the best way to donate is to give to the ministry that I lead, Training Minds Ministry. The ministry has been going through a tremendous financial struggle and has been unable to pay me for several months. Visit Training Minds Ministry to find out how you can help support this exciting ministry (and it’s tax deductible, too!).

4. Church. We have gotten a lot of questions about our religious affiliation. We fellowship with a small group of about a dozen families. Yes, we are the largest family in our church. We would call ourselves “nondenominational.” We’re not Mormon or Catholic. While many of the people in our church made appearances on the TLC episode, the filming of our church service (as well as AWANA…see the movie below) was cut in the editing. Again, our upcoming book, Love in the House, goes into more detail on our spiritual perspective.

5. Love. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus gave a simple answer: love. We have received some hurtful emails and posts that accuse us of being unloving and judgmental of others, especially in relation to our story with Alicia. If anything comes out more strongly in our new book, it is the revelation of how significant the Greatest Commandment is. We believe TLC did a great job showing how we love one another, even through tough times, and we are still learning the Great Commandment in life. Some missed this, unfortunately, but our hope is that it comes through stronger next time.

Thank you for all the feedback! We love to hear more…please keep posting and letting us know your thoughts. God bless your family!

-Chris & Wendy

[gv data="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-8261658355664617503&hl=en"][/gv]

[gv data="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-8184113436201666005&hl=en"][/gv]

Michele

Thank you for adding more to FAQ’s! I am also interested in how to save money. Matter of fact when I first read about your family and how much you spent at the grocery store I did some higher math and figured how much that was per person, each week. I used that as the basis of how much I should be spending and so far I am getting very close! I was thrilled to know I too could do this, thank you! Now to talk my dear wonderful hubby into hunting! LOL
God Bless,
Michele
Becky

As people talk to me about the TLC episode, I’ve had similar feedback. Everyone is amazed at the ability to budget for such a large family; I hear
constantly “The kids are SO adorable!”; and everyone wants to hear the follow-up to the Alicia part of the story. Chris, you’ve put it well in your response, but I think it is important to point out that Love has “grown” out of this separation. Perhaps at the beginning, Love wasn’t the motivation at the onset of the separation, but over time, an evolution has happened, and Love emerged in the forefront- for everyone. I think this is SO important for people to understand- we can all react negatively, or with the “best intentions,” and then later we realize our “best intentions”
weren’t the best for everyone. It is in our mistakes, our weaknesses, that we can find some of the most powerful truths. It was during this dark time in your relationship with Alicia that out grew Love that helped Alicia grow and come to life as a wonderful young woman and mother. Love helped you and Wendy grow as parents to ALL your children. And Love helped soften your hearts, give you courage, and guide you through healing. It is all a beautiful, painful, necessary part of life, and, lucky you, your experience was broadcast for all to see… and judge. Love, your Big Sister
mommaroo2

Thanks for writing the new post. I’m grateful for all the tips you’ve shared, and I look forward to reading more. Thank you for taking the time to write them.
mommaroo2

By the way, what is the website Wendy refers to in the Sam’s Club clip?
Bryon

Class of ’88 wishes you all well. Imagine my surprise when I was scrolling through the guide on my TV and I ran across your name in the program description. Looks like you are healthy and happy. 20 year reunion is only a year and a half away…
Charlotte

We all loved the show. My almost 5 year old couldn’t wait to see the show, and loves to watch the Duggars! I promised him he could stay up to watch if he took a nap, and that is the best he has napped in forever! LOL! My sons favorite part was watching the children especially Cynthia do their chores. We all really enjoyed getting to know your family better. We feel like we know you because we keep up with your blog. We all appreciate you taking time share! Our best to you and yours!
By the way, has TLC let you know how popular the show was?
Cathy Tressider

God bless the Jeub family! My family and I enjoyed your show very much. I DVR’d it and my children have watched it several times already! My husband and I were totally inspired by Chris and Wendy’s calm, cheerful dispositions and the way they work together as a team. The children are absolutely adorable! Thanks for providing a wonderful example of a large, happy family!
Heather

I can’t believe they cut out AWANA. It’s a great program! Loved your show!