Change is Coming

Over the last number of years, we have posted a ton of articles, resources and family helps here on the website. We have shared family adventures, moments and memories. We have done this with the hopes of encouraging other families..

We love the blessing God has give to us through our five kids, our marriage, our family, and our ministry. Family is important to us. We have spent the last 24 years trying hard to raise a God-honoring family; kids who love and pursue the Lord, who work hard, get along, serve others, and live with integrity, character, compassion, love, and grace. We will be the first to admit that we didn't always do it right, but we try and we trust that when we fail, God's faithfulness and goodness is what prevails.

These last couple of weeks we have talked a lot about the blog, the family vlog, and what comes next. We also talked about how we might, as a family, continue to encourage other families, especially as the country continues to deal with covid-19. And what we've decided is we want to keep encouraging families the best we can. But, to move forward, we're going to have to make some changes to the vlog, the blog, and what we do as a family.

Our kids are getting older, life is changing. The kids are all teenagers, and with the exception of our youngest, no one really wants to continue with the family vlog as it is; capturing random family events to share. While we never really mastered daily vlogging, accept during the summer months when we almost made it as daily vloggers, we enjoyed sharing our lives on YouTube. YouTube is also changing. Daily family vlogging isn't what it used to be.

Same with the blog, while we are still enjoying those sweet family moments, our kids are less inclined to see those moments shared with the world. In fact, if you have been following us for awhile, you might have noticed that we didn't share our vacation the way we have in the past. While we will share some of our vacation, there will be parts that we'll keep for ourselves.

So that brings us to what happens next.

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We realize the reality that our teens are quickly becoming adults, we want to create memories and experiences that will later result in the laughter and story telling as we gather around the dinner table. 

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First, we're not going anywhere. The blog and website, the family vlog, and our social media accounts will all continue to share content. Our goal will be to post a mix of family activity and encouragement. Instagram will host pictures of family activities, promotional graphics, and encouraging thoughts and ideas. We'd love to have more interaction with our followers so you might find a few post that give you a chance to respond, ask questions, or share comments.

The blog will slowly make the shift to sharing more ideas, resources, stories, and content that encourages intentionality within the family. We have learned that when we (Amy and Jay) take some time to think about how we want our time with the kids to look; what goals, hopes, outcomes, we often get more out of the activity. Even more, as we realize the reality that our teens are quickly becoming adults, we want to create memories and experiences that will later result in the laughter and story telling as we gather around the dinner table. 

The vlog will also take on some new features. With our recent move to a new state, we've made the decision to try to explore as much of the state as possible. With state parks, hiking trails, gorges, overlooks, historical and cultural sights, and new towns and cities to see, (not to mention the plethora of areas just over our closest state lines) we hope to make several mini-adventure vlogs featuring these amazing locations. For example, not long ago, we visited Coopers Rock, a state park with hiking trails, picnic groves, and incredible scenic views. That vlog should be coming shortly.

The boys climbing the boulders at Cooper's Rock State Park.

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KidsTalk will continue with ongoing challenges, recipes, activities, projects, and fun. While Asher has outgrown the idea of KidsTalk, Breya loves to create fun videos to share! We hope to make a series of new videos with fresh content starting this month. Most videos will probably be Breya and Jay, but when we can, we'll try to include the rest of the family.

We're still talking over the possibilities of a podcast or LIVE Q&A's that focus on parenting, marriage, ministry, and family life. While we think a podcast would be helpful and fun, we're waiting to see how these changes to the website and vlog take. But Jay hopes a podcast is in our future.

​Here we go, life changes. The family continues to grow, and with that growth comes change. So, we're adapting to the change and learning from. Our hope is that the new direction of the site and the vlog will continue to helpful and encouraging!

In the meantime, thank you. Thank you for the many years of continued support for the site, the vlog, and our family. We love sharing our lives and what God is teaching us with you and look forward to growing with you. Feel free to reach out to us. Comments, questions; whatever. We'd love to hear from you.

​- The Higham Family

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