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Before Jana Duggar tied the knot with husband Stephen Wissmann on Aug. 15, she worried that she might never find “the one”
Jana Duggar is getting candid about her fears of never finding the right person before she tied the knot with her new husband Stephen Wissmann.
Jana Duggar an exclusive interview with PEOPLE
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the former Counting On star, 34, opened up about her relationship with Wissmann, 31, whom she married in a “classic, elegant” ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 15. in Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
The couple first connected through their large families who have have been longtime friends. They dated briefly a few years ago before going their separate ways. Despite breaking things off, Jana says she and Wissmann remained in touch and “talked to each other on and off over the years.” Jana’s brother Jeremiah Duggar is married Wissmann’s sister Hannah.
It wasn’t until earlier this year, when they reconnected again and fell in love. “It was like, ‘What are we doing? We still enjoy each other. We still really appreciate each other,’ ” she recalls. Wissmann popped the question on June 15.
Over the years, Jana, who is the eldest daughter of Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar, says she worried that getting married might not be in the cards for her.
“I think as I got older, it definitely came on more and more and it felt like, ‘Okay, this isn’t happening. Let me figure out something else, maybe I’m supposed to be doing something else,’ ” she says.
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Part of that “something else” included going to college. Last year Jana enrolled in nursing school.
“That’s been another interest of mine. And I was like, ‘You know what? Maybe this is more of the calling that I would be doing, and let me just pour myself into something,’ ” she adds.
Over the years, Jana says she “dated around,” but nothing ever materialized. “I’m just like, ‘What is it? Is it me? Do I have a problem?’ “
Then during her second semester of nursing school, she reconnected with Wissmann. “I had been a slower mover on it, but just over time, his character, his coming back, still loving me no matter what,” she says. “I know we have a big crazy family and still kind of putting up with a lot of things. I’m like, my goodness, there are not too many people that do that. He must really, genuinely care about me.”
The journey to marriage, she adds, “looks different for everyone.”
“I know I’ve prayed for this for years and years and yeah, definitely been like, ‘What’s the matter? Why can’t I just…’ All of my siblings, most of them have been married in their early 20s,” Jana says, noting that she is by far “the oldest” of her siblings to get married.
And while she says the journey “has been disheartening at times,” it’s also had its upsides.
“I’ve been able to connect with so many of my other siblings, or friends, or do things that a lot of married people have not been able to do as they’ve gotten married young,” she says. “I’ve tried to look at the positive, yet you long for that person, that someone that you can spend life with. It has been hard, but it has been good and God’s taught me a lot through it all.”
Related: Where Are the Duggar Sisters Now? All About the Former TLC Stars’ Lives After 19 Kids and Counting
Jana adds, “I haven’t always understood what the bigger picture is, but I know that God knows what is best for all of us. And so for me, it’s getting married later,” she says. “Each of our stories will be written differently. If we were all the exact same, it would be a boring life. So I think it’s neat how God orchestrates.”
Now the newlyweds are excited about starting their next chapter together as they move to Nebraska.
“Just doing life together with Stephen and being together,” says Jana. “It’s been a challenge being long distance, so I think just being together, being able to just have someone that you do everyday life. It’s a sweet time that I’ve hoped for and wanted for a while.”
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