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Happy New Year! 2026 is here, and we are so excited for this new year. 2025 was great. We moved, started new jobs, our kids moved, some of our kids got married, we moved again; it was a year of change and growth. It really was great. But, with all the change and transition, 2025 still felt a little unstable. 

As we step into 2026, however, we are doing so with a renewed sense of calling, purpose, and joy. From our callings to serve our church, to the new season of family life, to our new ventures, we're looking forward to what God is doing as He continues to lead us through this amazing journey. We want to jump into 2026, and share a little about what we believe God is calling us to, and what we hope, through His grace, to see happen.

We have been sharing a lot about the transition from being a house of 7 (2 parents and 5 kids)  to a house of 3. With all 4 boys living on their own or with their families, our once busy and active home has been become significantly quiet and less busy. As we think of our parenting, that too is changing. We are now parents of adult kids, and we learning what that means.

Amy and I are getting older. We're both in our 50's. In some ways, that's exciting. We once looked up to folks in their 50's as mentors and coaches. We saw them as experienced, wise, and respected. They helped to shape us as, our faith, our parenting, our marriage, and our ministry. Will we now have a chance to be that for someone else? 

But, 50? We're getting older. Our bodies are changing. We have readers. We can't eat certain foods. Our knees, backs, and hands remind us that we're not as flexible or athletic as we once were. We're learning how to adapt and care for ourselves. At our church they is a ministry to "older" folks. The age to be welcomed into that group is 55. We're almost there, and we're not ready for that!

Yes, we're grandparents. And, we love it! Embrace the role is something we are looking forward. But with grandparenting comes new responsibilities, expectations, hopes, and commitments. We are navigating what it looks like to be supportive, available, helpful, and encouraging, while recognizing boundaries and learning when (and how) to step in and when to step back.

This May we celebrate 30 years of marriage. God has been so good to us in our marriage. In so many ways we have been blessed. 30 years and we are still in love, we are still our favorite people to be with, with are still looking to be better and do better. We still want to be the best for one another. We look forward to seeing each other. And, we still get "weak in the knees" when we're around each other. 30 years of ups and downs, and yet we're still crazy in love.

We have long welcomed the idea of encouraging and supporting families. As youth workers, we recognize that serving students also means your serving the family. More than ever, we want to partner with and walk along side parents as they raise up their families. As we step into 2026, not only are we excited about the opportunities to serve families in our church, but we are also looking to expand that ministry beyond the church walls. For the longest time, our online presence has been sharing our lives as a family. From the blog to the vlog to our social media, we shared our story as we were living it. But life is different now.

This year we hope to dive a little deeper into our why? Why is family so important to us? Why do we feel called to serve students AND their families? This past fall we started our podcast called, Gathered in the Higham House. Our hope was and is to encourage and support families through sharing the story that God has given to us. The first 7 episodes are already live, with at least 8 more coming in this new year.

The blog will also continue to share what we have learned and what we are continuing to learn as husband and wife, as parents and grandparents, and as Jesus followers. We recognize that we are not experts on all family related topics, but we have a story, and we are experts at sharing our story.

Where 2025 was a year of transition and change, 2026 is set to be a year growth. We're excited to see what God has in store for the new year. As always, we are inviting you to come along and join us. As the new year takes shape, we will share the things we're learning, what our family is doing, and offer encouragement and hope to your family. So here we go. Let's officially kick off the new year. 2026 is here. 

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It's crazy to think that we are here at the end of 2023. It's was a year that started out with a little excitement and a little trepidation. We were about to begin a new chapter. 2022 was a year of trials with wins and losses. And in the midst of it all, a sense that God was at work.

2022 ended with a life changing decision. After 25 years of full-time youth ministry, Jay stepped down from his role as a family ministry director. We were sensing that God was beginning to lead us in a new direction. What that direction was, we didn't fully know, but we had a lot to sort out and we needed time to do so. 2023 launched us into a year of seeking God for guidance and wisdom. We also prayed for His provision, to which He blessed us with freelance and remote work. He also began showing us a possible ministry opportunity.

2023 also brought tremendous time of family togetherness and ministry growth. Being able to work remotely offered a new flexibility that allowed us to take advantage of our time and spend it with the kids. There were plenty of day trips and weekend get-aways; kayaking, fishing, and exploring the community around us.

We had to to care for our chickens and duck, work in the garden, and tackle a few projects around the house and property. We incubated and hatched 13 duck eggs, enjoyed homegrown veggies and herbs, processed our first 2 meat birds, and gathered lots and lot of fresh eggs. We made and froze our own tomato sauce, learned how to make a few new dishes and watched as our first pumpkins came into color.

Spring led to summer, and summer led to fall as we welcomed a new furry friend into the family. The boys took Jay fly fishing for the first time and we attended a Nascar-like race. We spent a week at one of our favorite places, Pine Springs Camp, serving as volunteer directors while Breya enjoyed a week of camp.

We also spent a lot of time working with our Capernaum students. This past year, Amy has poured her heart into the ministry, and we have watched God grow the program with new friends/students, new activities, new leaders and buddies, and new supporters. As we wrapped up the 2023 year, we celebrated with almost 80 guests (friends/students, leaders, buddies, and families) at our annual Family Christmas party in December.

​As for the Higham family, in January, we welcomed a new grand-daughter, Worthy Jae. Parents, Nate and Amaris, continue to make a life for themselves as they raise Ace and Worthy, care for the home, and rescue the community from the wildlife that invade the businesses and homes around them.

Logan is doing well in Florida, working as a banker and developing some original fly's, while producing fly's for a local fly shop. We got to see him a handful of times this past year, making a certain mom's heart very happy. We're looking forward to visiting with him later in the year!

Aiden is working construction in both WV and Florida, and mastering photography in his free time. And when he's not doing either of those activities, he's spending time with Asher or his friends fishing, snowboarding, hanging out, playing video games, and loving on Rex (his new puppy).

Asher is a senior! He's killing it at school maintaining a place among the top of his class, while also working as a shift leader at our local Chick-fil-A. He is a great leader among his peers and his work-mates. He plays lacrosse, serves as a student leader with his youth group and as a buddy with Capernaum, and loves to be in a stream or creek catching native Brook Trout.

Breya started her freshman year and is doing great academically. She rocked her freshman volleyball season learn how to dominate the net. There's nothing better than getting a solid block over the net. Breya also serves as a buddy with Capernaum, babysits, and held her first summer job at our local park. 

2023 was a great year. But as we look ahead towards 2024, we are excited for what God is doing. We are planning for more ministry and growth with Capernaum, more partnerships with area student ministries, and new adventures for us as a family. There are a number of projects on the drawing board that we look forward to sharing with you in the months to come.

We're reminded of Jeremiah 29. We shared some thoughts on these verse in two blog posts towards the end of last year (Happy Thanksgiving & A Heart For Your Community). 

Jeremiah 29: 11-13 reads, " For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:11-13 ESV)

If 2023 was a year of seeking God, asking for wisdom and guidance, waiting on His 'what's next' for us, then 2024 is going to be a year for hopes and plans. God has been so good. So faithful. So dependable. And the dreams and hopes and plans that he has put on our hearts, well, we can't wait to see the fruits of them.

Our prayer for you this year, no matter where you are in life, is that you would seek God with all your heart. Know that the plans that you has for you are His plans for you. They might not be the plans that you would choose for yourself, but they are His plans for your good.

Welcome to 2024! Let's see what the year holds together.

- jay & amy
​

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Happy New Year!

Quick question for you, Do you set new years resolutions for yourself? How about yearly goals? 

As the year gets started, I would like to have your consider joining my this year to live according to the word. What's that mean? Check out today's Almost Daily Vlog. Then check out the resources at the bottom of the post.

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We tried something new this Christmas. We've never been a Christmas dinner family. We've always seen Christmas day as an opportunity to be together as a family. The thought of someone having to go and prepare a fancy dinner, taking them away from the fun, just didn't seem fair.  So instead of Christmas dinner, we would pick a few of our favorite appetizers and set them out for everyone to sample as the day wore on. This left plenty of space to try different traditions and meal ideas.

For example there were years where Jay would meet up with the family on Christmas eve at a local restaurant. Jay would be working at the church to get ready for the Christmas Eve services; lunch made for a nice break in the middle of what would be a very long day. Then there were years where we enjoyed Chinese Food for dinner. It all just depended on the day, services times, where we lived, and Jay's role on Christmas Eve. Last Christmas, we did try a Christmas dinner on Christmas day, but it just wasn't the same as our appetizer buffet.

This year we wanted to try something different. As our kids grow, so do their palettes and food interests. We heard friends of ours talking about a brisket that they smoked and ate on Christmas. It sound delicious. The problem was, we don't own a smoker. Nor have we ever smoked meat before. In fact, we didn't know anything about smoking meat. But hey, why not give it a try.

First things first, we needed the meat. For that, we picked up a 12 lb. brisket from the meat department of our local grocer. We weren't totally sure what we were looking for, but it was a nice piece of meat for a nice price. Because of our lack of experience, we knew we didn't want to spend a ton of money on something we might ruin. We got the meat.

Second, we needed to procure a smoker. We were in no position to drop a couple hundred dollars for a new smoker, nor were we ready to make such a commitment at this point. Then I had an idea. I wondered if there might be a way to convert my gas grill into a temporary smoker. So off to YouTube I went. Sure enough, I found a number of videos that show how to convert a gas grill into a smoker with just a few simple modifications. 

Of all the videos I watch, there were two that stood out as informative and instructional. I want to share these videos here, because they were so helpful.

The first is by Jaxx Drinkwater Southern Cooking & BBQ. Jaxx does a great job walking you through the ​steps of both converting the grill and setting up your brisket.

The second video comes from Shane at Payne County Rust. I found this video incredibly helpful. Like Jaxx, Shane walks you step by step through the process. However, I found Shane's video to be easy to follow as a "beginner."

As I watched the videos, I made notes on what materials I needed. A smoker box, drip pans, wood, dry rub, mister, and flavor injector. With a list of items and ingredients, it was time to go shopping. I'll leave links to similar items I bought below. You can pick up these items through our partnership with Amazon.

For the most part, I followed the steps laid out in Shane's video. I defatted the brisket, added some injectable flavoring, and applied the dry rub. For the flavoring I found a recipe on MasterClass.com, titled, Brisket Injection Recipe: How to Inject Brisket With Marinade. It was a simple recipe, easy to make, and delicious in the brisket. The rub was from Kinders. We chose the Woodfired Garlic Rub, which was great on the brisket.

I left the brisket sit over night in the refrigerator. Then on Friday, we fired up the grill, lit the wood chips we bought and started the process of smoking our first brisket.  We followed Shane's instructions, turning, misting, and added wood chips every couple of hours. 

When the brisket reached the designated temperature, I wrapped it in foil and let it rest in the oven at 250˚ for about 3 hours. At the 3 hour mark, we shut down the heat, and allowed the brisket to rest and cool over night in the oven.  

The next day, we warmed the brisket and sliced it for dinner. For a first time brisket, it turned out pretty good, and might end up being a new Christmas Eve tradition. Take 3 minutes and watch the video of our first smoked brisket.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

​- jay & amy 

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Here we are, standing at the start of another new year. Like many others, we stayed up to midnight (EST) to ring in the new year with all the gusto, excitement, and zeal as the NYC revelers in Time Square. Well, kinda.

Yes, we stayed up, but it was a subdued scene at the Higham House. We celebrated with noise makers and poppers, appetizers, and Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. Not quite Times Square, but there was gusto, excitement, and zeal, mostly because we were plenty ready to say farewell to 2022.

2022 was a hard year, and as I sat down to think through this post, I thought about recapping the year, highlighting the ups and downs of the past 12 months. But as I remembered the major storylines that made the year so challenging, the less I wanted to write about them. And for you, our faithful readers who have followed along with our year, there's no need to recount the journey we traveled together. No, it's time to move on, and that what we want to do.

Not being a family big on resolutions, we sat down and asked our kids, what should be our family goals for 2023? What are the things that we want to accomplish, achieve, experience, or participate in. We try to do this each year as a way to look forward to the coming year and the adventure, moments, and memories we would like to make. By involving the kids, we see two benefits; 1. it gives them a chance to share their ideas, and 2. allows us to listen to their hearts.

Their number one hope for the new year was that we spend more time doing the things that we like doing as a family. Over the last couple of years the family has taken up interests in things like fishing, hiking, kayaking, camping, exploring, visiting new places, and simply enjoying the outdoors. As our family grows and spreads out, we want to set aside time to travel and visit.  And where our schedules and commitments have left us saying 'No' to some of the previous years requests, we want the freedom to be able to 'Yes' to opportunities that will allow us to explore and create memories together.

2023 is going to bring with it a number of big changes to the family, the first of which will be a granddaughter, due any day. Our #2 son and his wife are expecting a little girl, growing our family by one more. We are so excited for this new little life, and can't wait to welcome her into our family.

There will also be significant changes in the coming weeks. These changes will no doubt, alter much of our lives, our community, and our future. It's a scary and exciting journey that we are about to venture out on, filled with bitter-sweet moments to come. And we promise to share all the details in their proper time.

We hope you will join us on this adventure. We are truly excited, and can't wait to see all that God has planned for the Higham House! And of course, we look forward to sharing this adventure with you!

Come on 2023, let's do this!

- the higham family

Watch our annual Christmas Eve and Christmas Day vlog posts!