Anna Duggar, the wife of embattled reality star Josh Duggar, is looking forward to a peaceful 2016 after a year of heartbreak and pain resulting from her husband's infidelity and pornography addiction.
In a statement on the Duggar family's blog, the 27-year-old mother of four wrote, "2015 was the most difficult year of my life. Yet, amazingly I've found that in my own life crisis God has drawn near to me..."
As reported by The Gospel Herald, the hit TLC show 19 Kids and Counting was canceled in May after initial reports that Josh had molested five underage girls as a young teen. The eldest Duggar son also resigned from his position at the conservative lobbying group Family Research Council in light of the revelations.
Just a few months later, Josh admitted to cheating and a pornography addiction amid reports he had active accounts on Ashley Madison, a website created to facilitate adulterous affairs.The disgraced reality star is currently receiving treatment at a faith-based rehab center and is not expected to return home for quite some time.
In her blog post, Anna said she and her four young children, Mackynzie, Marcus, Michael and Meredith Grace, visited Josh over the holiday season, describing it as "an important step on a long difficult road,"
The young mother concluded by thanking those who have stood by her side and offered prayers and support amid her husband's indiscretions. "I can never express how your kindness and prayers have brought encouragement when I needed it most," she said.
After disappearing from the public eye for several months, Anna has recently attended several events with her in-laws, including a recent March for Life event.
She appeared in an episode of the mini-series Jill & Jessa: Counting On, where she further opened up about the heartbreak resulting from her husband's infidelity and compared it to severe labor pains but expressed hope in God's faithfulness for the future.
I didn't know what to do, I knew we needed help," she recalled. "My only hope was to cling to my faith ... If I went off of what I was feeling, I would turn a mess into a disaster."
"In my heart, when I got married, I vowed to God first and then to Joshua, 'For better or for worse. 'Til death do we part," Anna said. "I pray that through all of this that I would be an extension of God's love to Joshua, that I would love him and forgive him and wait patiently and allow God to work through our hearts."
"My prayer and my heart's desire is for our marriage to be restored," she added.
