For the second time since entering rehab after admitting to infidelity and a pornography addiction, Josh Duggar received a visit from his wife, Anna Duggar, who expressed hope that their marriage could be saved.
According to a report from People Magazine, the 27-year-old mother-of-four flew to the faith-based rehab in Rockford, Illinois to visit her embattled husband, who in August admitted to cheating amid reports he had active accounts on Ashley Madison, a website created to facilitate adulterous affairs.
Less than three months earlier, a 2006 police report revealed that he had also been accused of inappropriately touching five underage girls, (including sisters Jill and Jessa) as a teen, leading to the cancellation of the hit TLC show "19 Kids and Counting" and his resignation from the conservative group Family Research Council.
Despite experiencing a devastating year, the couple and their four young children, Mackynzie, Marcus, Michael and Meredith Grace, attempted to enjoy the holiday season together.
"Everyone just had fun and seemed to be high spirits, including Anna," the source told the news outlet.
While it's unclear how long Josh will remain at Reformers Unanimous for his "long journey toward wholeness and recovery," the holiday visit isn't the first time he has seen members of his family in Illinois, as Anna reportedly took their youngest daughter to see her dad a month ago on the family's private plane.
As reported by the Gospel Herald, Anna recently opened up about the heartache she's experienced over the past couple months following her husband's confessions, comparing it to the pains of childbirth.
"At one point, I was like, 'I feel like I've been in labor for like days,'" she said during Sunday's episode of the mini-series "Jill & Jessa: Counting On". "It's like when you're in labor, you just make it through the next contraction and go on, and I think there's been a lot of that lately, of just taking the next step and going on."
She also discussed the shock of discovering her husband had engaged in affairs with multiple women, as he was her "one and only."
"How could this happen in our marriage?" she asked. "Josh is my first love, he's my one and only."
"I didn't know what to do, I knew we needed help," she continued. "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."
However, the young mother expressed hope in "what God has in store for the future," emphasizing that it's her "heart's desire" to see her marriage restored.
"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. 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.
