Jinger Vuolo recalls losing her grandmother, enduring a painful miscarriage: ‘God carries me through’

EXCLUSIVE: Jinger (Duggar) Vuolo and Jeremy Vuolo’s married life is an open book.

The couple reflected on their relationship and faith in "The Hope We Hold: Finding Peace in the Promises of God," which details their romance along with the challenges – and tragedies – they faced along the way.

But more recently, the pair spoke out about Jinger’s older brother Josh Duggar. The 33-year-old was released from jail as he awaits trial on federal charges that he possessed and downloaded child pornography. The former reality TV star pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

In a joint statement shared on Instagram, the couple wrote: "We are disturbed to hear of the charges against Josh. While this case must go through the legal system, we want to make it clear that we absolutely condemn any form of child abuse and fully support the authorities and judicial process in their pursuit of justice."

In June 2016, People magazine reported that Jinger, one of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 children, was courting the former professional soccer player. The 27-year-old "Counting On" star married the 33-year-old that same year. They now reside in Los Angeles with their two daughters.

The couple spoke to Fox News about why they wrote their book now, how Jinger coped with a painful miscarriage, as well as how their faith in God has impacted their marriage.

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Fox News: What inspired the both of you to write "The Hope We Hold" now?

Jinger Vuolo: We thought about writing a book for quite some time, and we just want to give a deeper look into our lives and the hope that motivates us every day. We know that at times, things can seem so hopeless. And so that's what drove us to share what gives us hope, and how we faced the good circumstances and bad circumstances.

Jeremy Vuolo: We really wanted to write this book for everyone. We wanted it to be a book for everyone because regardless of our circumstances, I think everyone can feel hopeless. And yet there's hope offered for everyone, whether you're young, old, married, single, whether you're naturally an optimist or a pessimist - there's hope for you. And so that was really the motivating force.

Fox News: Jeremy, how has faith brought you and Jinger closer as a couple?

Jeremy Vuolo: Honestly, this hope that we hold is the reason that we're happily married, that we genuinely are delighted in one another. Though we disagree as any couple does, we can honestly say we've never had a fight. It really is the hope of Jesus. That's the foundation. That's how we face the ups and downs of life. And now with two little kids, we hope to share how Jesus inspires us with our children. We really need a foundation for our lives that's bigger than us, bigger than our circumstances… Our fortunes can change so quickly, but God never changes. What God says he will do, he does. So that is the foundation of our lives and the foundation of our marriage, the foundation of our parenting.

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Fox News: Jinger, how does your faith help you cope with tough times?

Jinger Vuolo: It's definitely the foundation of my life. Whatever circumstance I'm going through, I filter everything through God's word. When I walked through the loss of my grandma, who I love dearly, at that moment when I got the call from my mom, that's just how I handled that. It was so tough, but I knew that God was in control. He had taken my grandma home to be with him. Knowing that brought me peace.

I miscarried a baby. It was really, really tough. But in those moments, I see that God carries me through and that is when the rubber really meets the road. You see, it's not just talking about God and having this understanding from the Bible that's on paper. You need to know it's real. You need to feel and see the reality of Christ's love. He gives us love in those difficult circumstances even if we don't see it at that moment. But it's there. I have hope because of Christ. Even with my circumstances, when the world's turned upside down, everything's seemingly out of control - there is such peace in my heart.

Fox News: Jinger, how was it for you to be so open and honest with others about your painful miscarriage experience?

Jinger Vuolo: I think when we first walked through the miscarriage, we kept it quiet. Only shared it with a few close friends and family and just kind of walked through that time. It was months later that I actually shared what had taken place publicly. I think for us at that time, we wanted to grieve alone, but not entirely alone. Just a little bit out of the public. I think that was healthy for us. But I wanted to share about the miscarriage. Since sharing our story, I've heard from so many women who experienced the exact same thing. Many of them have not been able to share their experiences with others and haven't had people to fully understand how difficult it is.

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And so I really wanted to open up and share about that. And really also for others who feel shame about their miscarriages, that they know that there's no shame in sharing that… I  know how difficult it is to talk about it because it is very, very hard and emotionally taxing even to speak about it. But I wanted other women to feel that they weren't alone.

Fox News: What did it feel like to know you were carrying your second child?

Jinger Vuolo: When I found out that we were expecting again, after the miscarriage, I was just so excited. I think as anyone who's walked through a miscarriage, there's such joy knowing that you're expecting, but then also it's harder to get excited, really excited because you think, well, what if I lose this baby as well? I just gave my all to the Lord and prayed. Every time I felt fear or was worried, I would just pray and ask God for peace and thank him for this little one. I thanked God every day that I was able to carry her.

Fox News: Jeremy, could you recall a time in your relationship with Jinger where you may have questioned how the two of you were going to make this work? What kept the two of you going?

Jeremy Vuolo: We definitely had a lot of challenges before even dating... What kept me going was simply, I really believe that Jinger was the woman I wanted to marry. So I did not have faith to walk away, even when it seemed totally hopeless, even when it seemed like Jinger didn't want to be with me.  

There was just something. It's hard to explain, but there was something in my heart that kept me going and saying, "No, I need to continue to pursue her. I need to continue at this and not give up." I saw what an incredible woman she was. I really believed that we were made for each other. So I just didn't give up, even though there were some moments there where it seemed like it wasn't going to happen.

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Fox News: Jeremy, how was it getting the trust of Jinger’s father?

Jeremy Vuolo: I'll say this, Mr. Dugger has a tough job because he has so many daughters. And with them being in the public eye, a lot of different types of guys are looking at his daughters. So I think his vetting process is certainly a little harder than I think the regular vetting process is and understandably so. It was a real joy for me to get to know Mr. Dugger and I really appreciated the fact that he cared and wanted to know who was interested in his daughter. So we spent a long time getting to know each other. We talked about everything from all sorts of superficial life things, as well as the deeper things like theology and our theological differences. So it was really good for me to gain Mr. Duggar's trust.

I respect him for that. Now that I have two daughters of my own, I think I'm definitely going to be wanting to gain, or wanting to trust those guys that are later interested in my little girls. I don't even want to think about that right now. That's easier *laughs*. But yeah, it was good getting to know him and I respect that in a man, somebody who wants to get to know and be able to trust the guy that's interested in his girl.

Fox News: Jinger, the year 2020 tested a lot of relationships. What would you say has been the secret behind your relationship with Jeremy?

Jinger Vuolo: The foundation of our relationship and really any relationship, is founded in the word of God. So, as I said, the circumstances of 2020 have shown us that all the more. I think people spending so much time together as couples, that's the only person who we're spending time with. It really, you go through those difficult times with the circumstances outside.

I think for us, it was really sweet at the beginning because we just spent so much time together. We didn't have commitments outside of the home and it was really sweet for us. Actually, we kind of enjoyed it the first few months. And then following that, it's like, OK, we wish we could see some people now. I think for us, it was really, really good because we were able to spend this time together, read together and just even find some new hobbies. You know, it's finding things that we both enjoy doing together - that was really fun… As a couple, it makes you think about what matters the most and we had a lot of great conversations about that.

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Fox News: Jeremy, what advice would you give to a couple who wants to connect with God?

Jeremy Vuolo: I would say to open the Gospel of John. God is telling us about who he is and about what he has done. Really the entire Bible, but a good place to start might be the gospel of John because it tells us about who Jesus is, what he's done, and why and how we can have hope. Hope is very simply fixing our eyes on the promises of Jesus, knowing that what he says he will do. And so I would just encourage them together, individually, to open the Bible because it's God's speaking to you that he will reveal himself to you through it.

Fox News: Jinger, what’s life like for your family in Los Angeles?

Jinger Vuolo: It’s been a good change. I was in Texas for a little bit after we got married and that's definitely different than here as well [from Arkansas]. Huge change. But I think it's been a great adjustment. We both love the city. We both love trying new foods and exploring new places. So that's been something that we've enjoyed since we've been here… It's been really fun.

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Fox News: Jinger, do you see yourself having more children, or does two sound like a nice even number?

Jinger Vuolo: Two sounds like a nice number right now *laughs*. I just had Evie not too long ago, but I think we'll see, wait, and see.

Jeremy Vuolo: I wouldn't mind the little Jeremy junior running around.

Jinger Vuolo: But yeah, maybe there will be a boy in there. I don't know. We'll see, we're enjoying the girls right now. [But] that'd be cute.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.