Joy-Anna Duggar has opened up about how she managed to cope with her miscarriage. She and Austin mourn the daughter who might have been.
Now, Joy has revealed the touching gift that she received to honor Annabell Elise.
"I’ve always said 'My little girl is in the arms of Jesus,'" Joy-Anna Duggar remarks on Instagram.
Her caption continues: "But this visual always makes me tear up!"
"Such a good reminder," Joy-Anna expresses. "Thankful for this sweet gift!"
Beside her caption is a photograph of a simple, sweet painting of Gideon, Joy, Austin, and Jesus holding a baby.
That baby is symbolic of Joy-Anna's miscarried, would-have-been daughter, Annabell Elise Forsyth.
Jesus stands apart both visually -- in different garb and with brown skin -- and physically from the living Forsyth family.
Here, the symbolism is that Anabell Elise is safely and happily existing within the Christian afterlife, heaven.
We are sure that the bittersweet artwork is a comfort to the couple, whose religious views instruct them that the unborn are not unlike living persons.
"Where is it from?" one inquisitive fan asked in the comments.
Whether you're looking for your own miscarriage memorial artwork or not, it makes sense to be curious about the artist of work on the internet.
Joy replied: "A friend gifted it to me!"
We are to assume that the artist behind the gift wanted anonymity, because otherwise it would be proper to credit the artist, perhaps even link to them.
Different families grieve miscarriages in different ways, and it is never our place to tell someone that they mourn too much or too little.
As we noted, Joy-Anna and Austin believe that their unborn daughter was a living person who died.
The painting is not only a tribute to their loss, but a reminder that, in their religion, it is promised that they will be reunited after death.
We hope that this generous gift brings them comfort in the coming months and years.
Of course, some Duggar fans think that Joy-Anna has more to celebrate than a painting in which she's holding hands with Jesus.
Fans are convinced that Joy-Anna is pregnant again.
It's not so much about what fans are seeing in Joy's recent photos as about what they're not seeing.
When was the last time that you saw a full-body photo of Joy-Anna?
It's been a while -- long enough to make cyber-sleuths on the Duggar subreddit conclude that she may be hiding a baby bump.
If that really is the case, however, don't expect Joy to spill the beans right away.
That same subreddit's discussion concluded that she likely wouldn't announce a pregnancy right away.
After last summer's heartbreaking miscarriage, it's expected that Joy-Anna and Austin would wait until 20 weeks until they share the news.
The baby-making machine that is the Duggar family appears to be slowing down for the moment.
It wasn't so long ago that it seemed like every couple was preggo at the same time.
Now, that's not the case. People's bodies are healing and they're a little too busy caring for newborns to work getting another baby started.
There's no rush, of course. We hope that Joy-Anna takes all of the time that she needs to heal, emotionally and spiritually.
