Raising Stronger Families Together

There is no greater joy or responsibility like raising a family. Whether you have one child or 10, the goal is the same, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 ESV)

It’s this idea of preparing our children to be faithful adults that moves us to a place where we can pass down our faith and our hopes. To see them grow and fulfill God’s calling in their lives. To watch them learn, achieve and glorify God in all they do.

It’s a lot of work; being a parent. And too often we feel overwhelmed and out numbered. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We don’t have to feel overwhelmed or out numbered. In fact, the help you need might be just a click away.

You see, I think there is a way to raise up our kids and build stronger families without being overwhelmed. And honestly, that’s why we started this blog. We wanted to share our lives with families with the hope that perhaps, we might encourage other families to keep on, keeping on. And we wanted to do it all from a Biblical perspective.

This blog not only hosts the stories and latest news from the Higham house, but it serves to provide families, specifically the parents, with hope, resources, tips, ideas, lessons-learned, how to’s, and an ongoing conversation about raising families in today’s culture.

But we’d like to take it one step further. We’ve been praying about how to do a couple of things.

1. We want to provide a consistent family resource through weekly blog posts, with helpful content coming your way at least 3 times a week.

2. We want to create a Facebook community where parents can share thoughts and ideas about those in-the-moment experiences we all have throughout the day.

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We don’t have to feel overwhelmed or out numbered. 

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3. We want to develop a trusted resource library made up of some of the most incredible materials that are available in the marketplace.

Now, we’re thinking about adding another component to the blog; a weekly question and answer video with Jay and Amy!

Here is what we’re thinking.

We have been praying about this blog for quite awhile. At the start of the year, we set out to begin building a new family-centered community. But all the while, I (Jay) have felt like there was something more; a niche that hasn’t been filled. A web-based program where parents can ask questions about parenting, family-life, faith, and marriage. A community of mom’s and dad’s who are looking to each other for the kind of advice and support that real-life issues require.

And while we don’t claim to be experts, we have served for over 20 years in full time ministry. We have been blessed and fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a part of some amazingly fruitful ministries that focused on mothering, parenting, working with children and students, and marriage; all while raising 5 kids. We have had wiser couples pour into our lives, and we have tried to pour our experiences into younger families. We have made a lot of mistakes along the way. And we have learned some valuable lessons too. But most of all, we are constantly looking for the point at which what the Bible teaches intersects with faith, life, raising kids, and being married. From the very beginning of our relationship, we have been passionate about family and the importance of doing our best as we raised ours.

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We have made a lot of mistakes along the way. And we have learned some valuable lessons too.

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Our vision is simple. Each week we would look for questions that would come from parents like you, that we could discuss in a 30 minute video that we would post here on the blog via our Youtube channel. Because we are NOT experts, we would open up the opportunity for our viewers and blog followers to join the discussion, and share their experiences and ideas. We would also discuss resources and tools that we have found helpful, or that others have recommended. In between our weekly videos we would continue to share fresh content on the blog, while looking to engage more parents and families on our Facebook and Twitter accounts. The whole idea is still in the planning and praying stage right now, but we want to share this with you to see if we could get a little feedback from you.

So here is what we would like to hear from you…

To our friends who know us well, would you join us in prayer as we continue to pray and think about a “vlog-like” program for families and parents. What do you think? Would it be helpful to be part of a community like we’ve described? A community that understands that not every answer is found in a book and that sometimes someone else’s experience can really be helpful. That dialog and the sharing of ideas might help us become better parents.

And if you are thinking, YES, would you be willing to help us with our grassroots promotions and marketing? Would you help get us started by sending us some questions? Would you help us get the word out and share the Facebook page, blog, Twitter, and Youtube channel with your friends, and encourage them to engage?

We would love to hear from you, really! What do you think? Share you thoughts and comments below. After a couple of days, if God confirms what we’ve been praying, we will set up a way for you to send your questions and comments. Till then, we hope that you will pray for us.

– the higham family