Thursday, April 12, 2018

'Another Beautiful Season of Blessings' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "Another Beautiful Season of Blessings"
  • As the show opens, the Websters and Zach and Whitney are sitting on the porch at Papa Bill and Mama Jane’s house in Honea Path, South Carolina, waiting for the rest of the family to arrive for Thanksgiving.
  • Is Gil’s mom ready for the chaos? “I don’t think you ever get ready,” says Mama Jane, chuckling. “Having Thanksgiving here with all the children, it really is a wonderful thing. I know the children love it, and I know they want to keep coming, but I don’t know how much longer I can lift that turkey.”
  • Papa Bill needs help building a barn, so the Bates guys get to work immediately. “I like to see them working together…but I don’t stay long because I get a little bit nervous,” admits Kelly. “I’m just seeing an accident waiting to happen.”
  • The guys are hoping to finish the project before they leave. “My family, we love to help,” says Zach. “We can bite off a great project and leave you hanging right in the middle of it.”
  • Kelton pulls Evan aside and asks for pointers, as he is planning to seek Gil and Kelly’s permission to court Josie.
  • “During our building project, we had some other people competing for our workers,” says Nathan. “Every few minutes, I’d see some little pretty girl walking over there, like one of my sisters…and off they go.”
  • Meanwhile, the ladies and kids pick pecans, a Bates family Thanksgiving tradition. They also help Mama Jane make brownies. “Mama Jane has a reputation for being quick to fuss about people being in her kitchen,” says Kelly. “She likes a clean house. But deep down, she loves the kids being there.”
  • The following day, Alyssa and Whitney help Mama Jane with supper. Mama Jane asks Alyssa if she’s following in her parents’ footsteps with a baby every year. “This might be the end,” says Alyssa. “Jane, I ain’t having 19 kids. This body needs time to heal.” She also says that she definitely plans to stop if she ends up with four girls. “It’s the drama,” says Alyssa. “I can’t handle it.”
  • At lunchtime, the ladies bring food to the workers. “I don’t like to stop work for many things, but I’ll stop anything I’m doing for food,” says Zach. While they eat, the engage in a competition to see who can climb a big tree in the least amount of time.
  • “There’s all levels of crazy, and the Bates crazy is on the top level,” says Nathan.
  • In the midst of all the chaos, Gil and Kelly sit down with Josie and Kelton for a relationship check-in. “We definitely feel like God is leading us toward the courtship,” says Kelton. He wants to ease into it and asks for permission to make it official around New Year’s.
  • Josie and Kelton have been talking for three years, but when things started getting serious early on, Gil asked Josie if she would be okay with “putting the breaks” on the relationship until she got a little older. They ended up taking a break, but Kelton stuck around, and it has been about a year since they got back together. Gil and Kelly grant their permission for the couple to court.
  • After the barn is finished, the guys play football (another Bates family tradition). When Mama Jane calls everyone in for supper, they sit down and share what they are thankful for before eating. Gil gets emotional: “I just thank the Lord for getting to grow up here, for my mom and dad and all they did to invest in me, to have a brother like Greg, a sister like Jenny. And I’m just grateful that Mom and Dad are still here, and praise God we get to all be together as a family.”

18 comments:

  1. I think Zach has really grown into a super responsible young man. He was front and center in the barn building project, taking the lead even over Gil. And I'm happy Alyssa is planning a pause in having babies to give her body time to rest and heal. Kelton and Josie seem so mature and grounded. I think they will do well.

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  2. Time 4:00AM Fri 4/13/18
    Great recap Kelton & Josie are now a courting couple. Waiting for the Bates men to court.

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  3. I had a feeling that Mr.& Mrs. Bates wouldn't give Kelton a hard time when he asked to court Josie, they have known him for a long time. Kelton seems like a really good guy. I'm sure his family is very proud of him- such a bright future ahead for Kelton & Josie! I liked this up-beat episode. So much to be thankful for!!

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  4. I’m loving these hour long programs. Wish they had them all year long.
    I appreciate how they include so many different aspects of their lives each week. That barn building part looked dangerous though! The hour flew by!

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  5. If Alyssa wants a break after Zoey, then she should get on birth control. It makes family planning extremely easy and is more reliable than the rhythm method, which is very easy to mess up.

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    1. Birth control is a known carcinogen (cancer causer) which may be a reason she doesn’t use it. It can also make it difficult to get pregnant later on if they want another child.

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    2. 2:55- Hormonal birth control is not the only form of contraception.

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    3. 2:25 PM -- What birth control are you talking about? There are many kinds.

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    4. 2:25 you are so wrong. There are non hormonal options (copper IUD) and the risk of breast cancer from estrogen is minimal. Ovarian cancer risk also decreases on hormonal birth control. Birth control does not make it more difficult to have more children.

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  6. I am very curious about Alyssa's comment about stopping after 4 girls and her body needing to heal. What are they going to do if they feel the children they already have 'are enough" to handle....use birth control? A family who has stated that they believe it to be a sin, has really no other alternative. They need to elaborate on this.

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    1. The Bates May believe that but I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Webster’s (John and Alyssa) day it. There are also other natural methods.

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    2. She should use birth control.

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  7. Wow, if Josie met Kelton 3 years ago she was only 15 and he must have been 18 or 19, likely already in college. I can certainly understand why the Bates would be concerned. It's not just an age gap but a big experience gap. Kudos to Kelton for sticking around, though. 18 and 22 (or is it 23) isn't as much of a gap. Especially since Josie's finished her cosmetology program.

    I also think it's prudent how the Bates tend to take at least a couple of years to discern a relationship before deciding to marry. Also interesting how Kelly Jo herself is comfortable using the "Dating" word now. Before it was just the kids.

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  8. Serious question. I know the Bates & others like them place such high priority on a woman have child after child. But when a woman can’t get pregnant for whatever reason, as in the case of their eldest daughter, I think it’s so insensitive to continually talk about it. A woman has so much more to offer than just being a birthing machine. God gave us all so much that I will never understand why these women are taught their main priority as a woman and her main reason for being on this earth is to have children. My heart broke for their oldest daughter when they were all on the beach and the mom said, “well with marriage comes babies”. As a woman who has a family member who can’t have children and I know the pain she lives with because of it, we all try so hard to be sensitive to her. I just wish these women especially the mom, would be a lot more sensitive to their daughter’s feelings. She may have been raised to ALWAYS have a smile on, which is ridiculous in its own right, but I have zero doubt that beautiful woman sits there silently crying inside. Please be more sensitive to her emotional needs. She has much more to give than birthing a child.

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    1. Yes I so agree with you I know that Michael and Brandon hurt with all the new babies and the excitement they bring. I too hurt for that beautiful couple.

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    2. 10:16- It's possible that they really do believe that if they just pray fervently, trust in the Lord, and are patient for "God's timing" to unfold, Michaela will get pregnant and have her own child.

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    3. Anon at 3:48PM: Actually, the Keillens are doing more than just praying for a baby, they are seeking out medical help to diagnose and possibly treat what the issue is. The Paines also sought out why Erin had miscarriages and did find out why, it was actually good for her that she did as she turned out to have a blood clotting disorder.

      Now some people will say it is inconsistent to turn to the medical system to treat infertility but not for birth control. But I assume they see a difference between fixing what is broken and purposefully breaking something that is functioning correctly.

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    4. 10:16 The Bates put a lot of value on having children because God says that children are a blessing and He also also says to be fruitful and multiply ( I also know that God does not call everyone to have a big family). But, the Bates do not beleive, nor have they ever claimed, that having children is the first priority of women. They would say that having a relationship with the Lord and following his path for them is the most important:)

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