'We are Meant to Forgive and Move Forward'

Today's story of how the Duggars have impacted our readers comes from Brenda P. 

I've been mostly immobile since August of 2013 with an MS Diagnosis and discovered I very much had been left to accept that my whole life just took a 180º turn. Anger is a big part of it. I came from a loud and not so kind household. There was love, but there was yelling and more. Much more. Including pretty much exactly what I've heard Josh did. Plus I was beaten on a regular basis.

I've been watching the Duggars for 10 years. For religion or politics, not at all; I have my faith and nobody can change it. But I was learning so much that I couldn't learn from my own family, such as how to be soft-spoken more, how to discipline in a more loving tone, and how to be more understanding of the other person's limitations. I fell in love with the kids. I wanted to see Jessa and Ben's baby reveal and watch Jessa with her first pregnancy. I wanted to see Jill and Derick during their first year as parents to Baby Israel, who she spent 70 hours in labor with and then had to have a C-section. I wanted to see Jill's little sisters learn how to care for Baby Israel.

We are meant to forgive and move forward and hand it to God and correct our mistakes. The Duggars are doing exactly that. By the girls speaking out, I've been involved in discussions where a few of us women spoke up about what happened to us when we were kids and a lot about forgiveness. Just Jessa and Jill speaking out has helped many women. The Duggars were helping me relearn how to handle my temper, thanks to MS. I was soothed by Michelle's voice.

I own videos and books, but I wanted to keep growing with them.  And in my world where everything just keeps getting taken away from me, this one was the straw that really hurt that camel's back. I was just so very hurt and disappointed for the Duggars and selfishly for myself, too. 

That's how the Duggars have affect my life, and I'm sure if I had more time I could come up with more.

Our family will be offline during the week-and-a-half surrounding Ellie's wedding (June 20th-July 1st). During this time, we will be posting the stories you emailed to us about how the Duggars have impacted your lives.