Dear Reader,

I am just an ordinary mom. I wash clothes and dishes like everyone else. I monitor homework, pay bills and try to exercise. I tend to cuts and bruises, and I have frequent flier miles at our local pediatrician’s office. I, like you, am an ordinary person doing everyday, ordinary things. So why did I start the Family Soup?

When I married 8 years ago, I thought I had all the right tools I needed for a successful, happy marriage and family. Yet somehow, somewhere along the road, we found ourselves in need of help. Serious help. Perhaps I am so passionate about this subject because I personally experienced the pain of watching my little family hang on for dear life, threatened by our own weaknesses and influenced by the disintegrating family values in the world.

Statistically, we didn’t stand much of a chance. Thankfully I believe in miracles more than statistics, and we clung to the wisdom, hope and knowledge of others. I attribute the patience of family, the kindness of friends, and the grace of God to our survival. With that support we declared war and revived our family.

Since then, I have had dozens of friends confess family struggles to me. Most people experience, or will soon experience real family difficulty, yet seeking support openly or even admitting its existence seems taboo. I am not a counselor, nor do I have the wisdom or knowledge to be one. But I do have a passion for families and their success. There is no doubt in my mind that families are under fire. You cannot passively stand by and expect to be handed family happiness on a silver platter, not with the realities of today’s challenges.

It is my hope that The Family Soup will be a place where people can come (single, married, divorced, widowed, etc.) and gain strength and wisdom from other ordinary people who have ‘been there.’ Because in the end, no matter how important you are out there in the world, when you lay your head down at night, it’s your ordinary interactions with the ordinary people in your own home, that make the most extraordinary difference.

Bethany Cory

Editor