Wondering about beginning homeschooling? Have a potty training question? Have a question about how to manage your larger than average family? Want your homeschool to be more relational? Did you know that you can discuss these and any other questions with other Raising Olives readers? You don’t have to wait until I get around to posting about it and you get a much wider range of experience and ideas than I can offer.
But, I’m asking for your help on this one.
Before I started Raising Olives, I had no real idea what blogging was all about. I was spending several hours each week answering questions and/or encouraging other mothers in parenting, homeschooling and home making. This was good work, but Mark and I decided that if I wrote down the answers to the most common questions that it would save time and prevent me giving the same answers over and over. Thus Raising Olives was born.
I figured that I would refer some of the women who were asking me questions to the blog, hoped to record some of our family events in a sort of online journal and dreamed that maybe some other mothers who needed help or encouragement might find the blog and be encouraged.
God had other plans. Raising Olives grew. Today an average of 1,200-1,500 people visit Raising Olives daily and several hundred more get posts delivered via email. I’ve been blessed to have a couple women email to let me know that they are expecting a baby that they never would have conceived because of reading about the blessing of children and getting a glimpse into our family. Others have made a decision to begin homeschooling and still more are trying to build stronger relationships with their children by changing the way that they homeschool.
So why am I asking for your help? Because of Raising Olives I see a need much greater than the one that Mark and I saw when we discussed starting a blog. I can not meet this need alone. I have a home, husband and family in addition to other commitments and I’m often behind on laundry (just ask Mark).
I would love to see Raising Olives become a place where homeschooling families and families with more than the average 2.07 children can come to be encouraged and have their questions answered. To this end, there is a Raising Olives Community where readers may interact with each other, ask and answer questions and start discussions. This is where I would love to have your help.
I’m asking for readers who have something to offer to take some of your time and share of yourselves and help by answering questions, offering encouragement and engaging in discussions. You may be surprised at how God uses it to bless and teach you as you walk the road that he has called you.
If you have asked questions in the community and haven’t gotten answers, I hope that you won’t give up and that you’ll continue to visit and be involved.
The Raising Olives Community is powered by The BlogFrog and today they launched many new features that make the community easier to use and navigate. You may see the most recent discussions or visit the Raising Olives Community at any time via the widget in the near right sidebar of the blog.
Here are some discussions that could use a response or that you may be interested in:
- Thinking about Homeschooling and very overwhelmed
- How do you make Sunday a day of rest?
- I could use some advice on what to expect of my kids at this age
- Questions for a large, homeschool family?
If you are interested in being more involved and/or helping to build this community there is an option to subscribe to the community. This will send you a once daily email digest of the newest community activity.
Do you have suggestions for Raising Olives? (Shorter post? Longer posts? More posts on a certain topic? More Q & A posts? More or less personal posts?) You are the reason that I do this, so please let me know how I can make it better!
Not sure how to get started in the Raising Olives Community? View this 3 minute video.
How to Participate in a BlogFrog Community from Holly Hamann on Vimeo.
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Hi, I'm Kimberly. 
