Alicia: My brothers and sisters were always asking us questions about family life and how we handled things during family gatherings. One of my brothers was involved in a podcast and knew that it wasn't that hard to do, so he encouraged us. It took us two years to finally do it! We started January 2014 on a getaway weekend for our anniversary. We gave it a shot and recorded three podcasts that weekend. After that we committed to doing two a month, which we continue to do. Within a year the audience grew to 10,000 listeners per month and now we are at 20,000 listeners every month… things just grew by word of mouth. Now we have turned this into a full-time family ministry with resources on our website, courses, videos, as well as the podcast.
Family is the soil in which grows the most amazing creation ‑‑ the human person. All persons come from families. No school, charity, or organization can have the effect on a child that a family can have. If we want to renew our world, we must start with the family.
This is a very important theme for us. We realize that we do not have the perfect answer for every problem or the perfect method of doing things for every family. What we do believe is that EVERY couple has the capacity (the grace, in religious terms) to lead their family and to parent their children in a unique way. We want couples to believe in each other more than they believe in a method or philosophy.
Having solid relationships with all our children from 23 to six years old is our greatest achievement. It has not been easy, and we have had to think long and work hard to intentionally build this family culture, which we continue to do every day. Our marriage is the foundation of our family and our children know that. We have tried to communicate that we, together, are a solid bedrock on which our family is built.
Be vulnerable in what you say to your spouse and how you say it. This is a skill that you need to work on. You will fail, but you have to keep trying.
Never settle. Many people get into a routine within their marriage and "just get by" but that can't be good enough. If you are not actively working on your marriage and it is not growing, you need to realize that you are setting yourself up for temptation.
Mike has always wanted to visit Australia so this trip is a childhood dream come true! We just want to experience the people of Australia and learn more about the culture and history of this amazing continent that is so incredibly multicultural, much like the US.