ABOUT
BELIEF #1
Life is too short to do something that doesn't bring you joy.
BELIEF #2
We are all perfectly imperfect beings and shouldn't be afraid to show our flaws.
BELIEF #3
You are in control of your thoughts, actions, and destiny.
WE'RE THE CABLES
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Hi! We are James and Angelica Cable. We were high school sweethearts, and we got married while still in college—at 19 and 20 years old (yes, we were babies), in 2007. Angelica got her BSN degree and worked as an L&D nurse while James got his Masters of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
James has worked as a youth pastor since 2013, and after we had our 3rd kid, I quit my job and stayed home with the kids. We have 3 girls: a 14-year-old, an 11-year-old, and an 8-year-old. We love Jesus and want our lives to count for the spread of the gospel to all nations.
A major way that we try to do this is through raising our daughters intentionally for Jesus Christ and his mission in the world. We get compliments on our family all the time, and our children are doing very well. But that is not because we are simply continuing what our parents did. In fact, we have intentionally done several things differently than how we were raised.
WHERE WE CAME FROM
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I remember a few years ago, we brought a teenager with us when we were going to visit family. She was absolutely blown away by our families of origin and how differently we raise our children from our nieces and nephews.
When we were new parents, we knew we could not copy the upbringing that we had, otherwise our children could not thrive today. Today's world requires very intentional parenting, so we needed to forge a new path that wasn’t solely based on our own childhood. What we have discovered is that parenting is not intended to be a rescue mission, but a formation mission.
What We’ve Seen in Youth Ministry
We love youth ministry and spending time with teenagers. I always say that teenagers are more fun than adults. :-D We love playing soccer and dodgeball, taking them on hikes and paddle-boarding. We love discussing the Scripture with teenagers, teaching them to think deeply about a main point of a Bible passage, or think critically about common issues like depression and anxiety. Â It is a joy to watch them maturing and take steps in their understanding of God and the way He has worked salvation through Jesus Christ. Â
One strange benefit of being in youth ministry is that we have a front row seat to watching how different families function and what fruit they bear as their children enter adulthood. Sadly, during these 13 years we have watched failure after failure in parenting with tragic result after tragic result. Every story we hear, we try to think: is there anything we can do to prevent this? Are we fortifying our children against this issue? We try to gain wisdom from these stories that God is working out before our eyes.
On the other hand, we have seen incredible families with amazing teenagers who have continued in the faith and born fruit for Jesus Christ even as young adults. We love studying these families too. What are they doing? How are they so close? How do the parents have such good lines of communication by which they shepherd their children's hearts? How are they preparing their children for the challenges they will face? How do they teach their children the Bible? Those are the ones we want to copy!
How We Parent Differently
The task of raising children is too serious to go about willy-nilly. We need a wise strategy. Our time is short, and the results are weighty. We cannot treat our children as guinea-pigs; we need to get this right (even for our oldest)!
We began by focusing on obedience. We read books on discipline and learned that the first lesson all children need to learn is to obey- this opens the door to all other lessons. We grew to read the actual Bible (not a children’s Bible that has cut out much of Scripture) with our kids every night. We googled: “Easiest books of the Bible to understand” and started with those. Also, we didn’t just attend church, we DUG into our relationships at church. We literally listed adults we wanted our kids to have relationships with and started to make sure they were around each other. We dropped our oldest off with an elderly lady once a week to help so that our daughter could learn to love the church and her neighbor.
As the years went on, we got more intentional about preparing our children to carry their weight in the world. When our children were young, we did chores together. As they grew up, they began doing their chores on their own. Over time we even added more difficult chores. We taught our kids (Even our 8-year-old!) to plan meals, to order the groceries, and to cook them. We started lighting candles at dinner, playing music and intentionally setting aside that time as special and valuable. We sought out adventures to build fortitude: hiking, paddleboarding, swimming, frog-catching. We read lots of books together and talk about them to build discernment and wisdom.
We are still on this journey of parenting, but we already are enjoying so much fruit. Our children are flourishing. They are hardworking, and now they feel comfortable and equipped to volunteer to help at someone else’s house. They can speak confidently in front of a group. They have strong social skills and know how to be welcoming. They all carry much of the responsibility at home and help support our family to be able to do the ministry we do in our home. Our 14-year-old says, “We have the happiest family I know.” “Our home is calm and peaceful.”
Our approach to parenting seems basic in one sense (any determined parent could do it!), but radical compared to what we commonly see in others. Here’s the key: You can’t wait for things to go wrong before you pour into your kids. What you need are structures in your home that guide your children in the way they should go. You need family habits - things you do every day that are shaping the way your children think and what they love. This requires intentionality and sustained effort. If you go with the flow and do what’s easy, you will fail as a parent to equip your children to love God and their neighbors. However, the great thing about focusing on family habits is that things get easier with time. That’s the beauty of habits. What routine(s) does your family currently have? How are these molding yourself and your children? If you continue in the way you are going, will the end of your story be tragic or glorious?
Join Us
We want to teach you how to structure your family for the flourishing of your children so that they will bear much fruit and prove to be disciples of Jesus. We will teach you how to focus on formation instead of waiting and panicking after tragedy strikes. We are sick and tired of watching preventable catastrophes play out before our eyes - we are ready to turn the tide for Christian families. We want to grow flourishing families for the glory of God and the spread of the gospel.
Will you join us in this mission? If you want our help, get our free webinar on How to Read the Bible With Your Family for Maximum Effect. Set your family up for success today and don’t wait until it is too late. We can’t wait to work on this together with you!
Our best friends are right here in the house with us (that means our family!). Our best moments are when we are together. We just recently completed our longest hike to date (up House Mountain with about an elevation gain of 1,000 ft and 4.5 miles in length), we finished reading through the book of Mark, we played disc golf and grilled burgers at the park with our dog, caught 2 frogs, saw 2 snakes, heard God’s word preached in church together, started a new evening read aloud, everyone planned and cooked a meal, ate many dinners together by candlelight, went to 2 funerals, and threw a birthday party for our 14 year old. All together and all wonderful times of connection and discipleship. We invite you to join us in setting up your own family for joy and purpose.
