How often do we get the chance to meet the people we see on television, much less date them in real life and then marry them? This scenario is the stuff of dreams, but Ben Seewald was lucky enough to fall in love in real life with the girl on TV.
Seewald shared the story of how he met his wife, "Counting On" star Jessa Duggar, in the new book "Growing Up Duggar." In an excerpt shared by TLC, Seewald confessed that he already had a huge crush on Jessa prior to meeting her. However, he became even more impressed when he saw how godly and kind she truly is in real life.
"Once we met, I witnessed firsthand that she was very caring to her mother and helpful with her younger siblings. I had a few conversations with her and quickly realized that she liked to read and learn and that she had a considerable amount of knowledge on subjects I was interested in, such as theology, the family, church, education, etc. She seemed hungry to learn, and I perceived that she was a motivated individual," said Seewald.
"As I got to know Jessa even more, I saw her maturity and her grasp of what was really important in life. She shared my love of studying the Bible and wanted to know what I believed. Seeing her in real-life situations, I learned that she wasn't putting on an act. She was the real deal," he continued.
Seewald was probably very nervous when he first met Jessa, but he was even more of a mess when he first met her dad, Jim Bob. He shared their hilarious first encounter in the Seewald Family Blog.
"Funny story about my first meeting with Jessa's Dad," he wrote. "Well, I'd been playing football with some guys (including Jessa's bros) and hadn't drank much water and was cramping up badly."
He had borrowed a bike from the Duggars to ride to and from the football field, and it was not until he was on the bike peddling back that he realised he was cramping, and quite painfully too. So Seewald rode as fast as he could, thinking of ways he could stop his cramps.
When he finally got back to the Duggars' campsite, he hopped off so fast from the bike that he left his cleats there. As he was moving towards his own family's campsite, Jim Bob finally made his appearance. He gave Seewald a warm smile and hello, but the young man could do nothing but say, "Hi! I'm cramping!" and walked straight past Jim Bob.
