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Christian homemakers need encouragement and motivation to stay the course. Homemaking and homeschooling can feel overwhelming, but they don’t have to be. If you’re a Christian mom longing for a well-ordered home, a peaceful homeschool, and a joyful heart—without the stress or burnout—you’re in the right place. Moms can be productive and peaceful when grounded in Scriptural truth.
I’m Mystie Winckler, homeschooling mom of five, founder of Simply Convivial, and your guide to managing both home and heart with faith and focus. Here, we talk about biblical homemaking, sustainable homeschooling, and cheerful productivity—all through the lens of organizing your attitude and embracing your God-given calling.
In each episode, you’ll find practical homemaking systems, homeschooling strategies, and mindset shifts that will help you manage your home without perfectionism or frustration. We’ll tackle topics like:
✔️ Christian homemaking routines that actually work
✔️ Productivity, mom-style
✔️ Homeschooling with peace—even when life gets messy
✔️ Time management for moms (without rigid schedules)
✔️ Decluttering your home & your attitude
✔️ How to be diligent, not just busy
Motherhood is a marathon, not a sprint. You don’t need more willpower—you need a grace-filled, biblical approach to managing life at home. Let’s cultivate faithfulness, embrace joy, and build habits that make home a place of peace and purpose.
👉 Subscribe now and start organizing your home and heart—cheerfully.
If you have ever felt that life is just
too much, you can't handle that one
little thing that went wrong, you're at
your max and you can't take it anymore,
then today's conversation is for you.
Convivial Circle member Cara Leone has
tells us exactly what she did to move from
feeling overwhelmed at every little thing
To not only handling her everyday
life, but actually having increased
capacity, so much so that her husband
noticed and called her out on it.
I can't wait to share
this interview with you
Speaker: welcome to the Christian
homemaking podcast, Simply Convivial.
I'm Misty Winkler, homemaker,
homeschooling mom of five,
grandma, and author of the book
Home Is For Hospitality: Why
Your Home And Homemaking Matter.
Convivial means living together with joy,
and that's the kind of home atmosphere
that we want to create in our homes,
and that's why I run Convivial Circle,
a community helping women to excel
at homemaking and do life cheerfully.
And today, I'm joined by a member
of Convivial Circle, Cara Leone.
Cara has been married to
her husband for 13 years.
She's a homeschooling mom
of four adventure-seeking
children from 11 to 5 years old.
She's a recovering
perfectionist, saved by grace.
Cara lives in the Sonoran
Desert, where she enjoys hiking,
warm winters, and hot coffee.
So, thank you so much for
joining me today, Cara.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker: I'm so excited to hear your story
face to face when I've read a little bit
about it, and I'm excited to chat today.
Yeah, me too.
So first, how did you find Convivial
Circle, and what made you want to join?
What was going on that made
you think like, "Oh, yeah,
I need something like this"?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Um, well, I found the podcast, I
think, through Scolé Sisters or,
um, maybe the Literary Life podcast.
You know, there was a little crossover.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Um, yeah, so I found that
about the spring of 2025 and just
started listening to all of your podcasts
that I could and implementing, you
know, what I could kind of figure out.
Um, and then we were on vacation
one summer that, that summer in
July, and I had the opportunity
to go take a walk every day.
I had some help with the kids,
so I'd go take a walk, I'd listen
to your podcasts, make a bunch of
notes in my phone, and then when we
got home from vacation, everything
was going to change, and I wasâ¦
you know, had all these ideas.
It was- Was the plan ⦠it
was gonna be great.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Obviously, it did not all change at once.
Um, and then really, really what
happened, well, it was one sort
of particularly difficult day.
My husband talked to me at the end of
the day, like, like, "What can we do?
How can I help?
You know, we gotta make s-
make some changes here."
And I told him, I'm like, "Well,
I've been listening to this thing,
and I could join, but I don't
know if I should spend the money."
And, um, I think it was the
next morning he sent me a link.
He's like, "Here you go," like,
"Set up your profile and," "⦠you
know, let's, let's do this."
Um, yeah, so that's how I joined, but Iâ¦
That first homemaking, I think it's
Homemaking 101, and I was realizing
everything I would tell myself,
either in my head and often out loud,
was, "I'm failing at everything.
There's too much.
It's all too much.
Nothing is going right."
Um, just everything is wrong.
It's all too much.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And I couldn't,
I couldn't handle, like, the
slightest, maybe the slightest
hiccup or interruption in the day.
I would be, you know, kind of
annoyed if it was our week for,
you know, to bring snack to soccer.
It was like, "Oh, I gotta do this now.
One more thing.
How can Iâ¦"
You know, and just little things like
that that just, just put me over the
edge into overwhelm, complaining.
Um, yeah, I justâ¦
That's just where I was, and I would
have thought that I was organized.
Um, you know, I look organized, but
really what I had was one long running
list where everything looked like
it was the same level of importance.
So planning our homeschool year
would look the same as, "I need
to clean the bathroom today."
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And it was just
all one big- To do project.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
So any little thing added onto
there just feels like anotherâ¦
Could be as big as planning-
Right ⦠the whole year.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah, the, the small thing, you know, the
spills, the, the kid that cries, just-
Speaker: The things
Speaker 2: that- You know ⦠don't
Speaker: make it on the list.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Exactly, and that just, yeah,
I think I, I would always say
that it's just, it's too much.
It's all too much.
Um, and I felt like I
was failing at all of it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker: So what were some- Mm ⦠of
the practices or ideas inside Convivial
Circle that helped you the most?
Speaker 2: There were so many.
Um, the first one was
telling myself true stories.
So, like I said before, I was always
telling myself I was a failure, there was
too much to do, and, you know, I'veâ¦
You hear all the time, the best lies
have a little bit of truth in them.
And so, I mean, there really is,
you know, as moms and homeschoolers,
there is too much to do.
Um, but I would writeâ¦
I wrote, well, I guess alignment
cards kind of go with that, um, and
I wrote that alignment card of, you
know, "My grace is sufficient for you.
My power is made perfect in weakness."
So I was only telling
myself half of that story.
Speaker: Mm.
Speaker 2: Um, whereas really getting
that full, that full attitude change,
that full, um, that full story in my head
instead of the first, the first part.
So that was a really big, um,
attitude shift that I had.
Um, that first brain dump I did was
so eye-opening, and I, I was very
resistant to brain dumps at first.
You know, you don't wanna take the time,
and, and they've just been so, so helpful,
just to know what's really happening
in my head, what's really going on.
Um, and just made it very clear as to
why I have, why I had a bad attitude,
why, why I felt the way I felt, if that's
what I was telling myself all the time.
Um, yeah, I guess that,
the alignment cards.
I wrote down, one that I still
use is, there's a George MacDonald
poem, and the end of it goesâ¦
I have it written down, I'm gonna read it.
Um, it says, "O victorious
one, give strength to rise.
Go out and meet thee in the night."
Speaker: Mm.
Speaker 2: And that helps me all
the time, your saying of smile and
start, of maybe there's a lot of
things that need to happen and I don't
wanna do any of it, and I just get up
and do the one thing and just- Yeah
move forward and get that momentum.
Um- Yeah, so those, those alignment cards,
reading those and, and praying over them,
even just for a minute, you know, in
the middle of a homeschool day, just to
change my focus and change my attitude.
Um, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
I love to talk to women who were resistant
to the brain dump ideas but then tried it
and found it helpful, because that is the
most common response I hear is, um, that
resistance stage where I say like, "Try
a brain dump," and they go s- "No way.
That sounds terrible."
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker: So what was it,
um, that's helpful aboutâ¦
'Cause it does sound like, oh, you
just want me to make my list bigger.
Like, youâ¦
I'm already overwhelmed, and
if I brain dump, I'm just
gonna end up more overwhelmed.
That's how it feels
before you've tried it.
Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
Well, that first one I
did, I think I criedâ¦
I almost cried at the end of it,
of, oh my goodness, like, this
is what's going through my head.
Um, but then you just see
so much that doesn't matter-
Speaker: Hmm
⦠Speaker 2: or so much that-
Or, or you think it's so much,
and then you put it on paper
and it's not that big of a deal.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Um, but my head make it,
made it, you know, either a big project
or just something that seemedâ¦
You know, I thought, "Oh, there's 100
things I have to do," and then I, I
go down, I write it down, and it's
like, here's five, five things, and
they'll each take 10 minutes to do,
and this isn't that big of a deal.
Um, and then really, y- you know,
I just see how I can make sense
of What would be chaos inside of
my head, you see it written down
and you can do something about it.
It gives you an action, um, a
way forward- Mm-hmm ⦠I guess.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Now, you told me that your husband noticed
that things- Yeah ⦠were different.
And so I love that you started
off the story with like, your
husband basically told you, "Join."
You're like, "Do something."
Right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker: Join this thing,
and then he noticed lateâ¦
H- like, how much later was it where you
had that conversation, and what was it
that he was noticing that was different?
Speaker 2: Well, one of the things he
noticed right away, I would say within
the first month, um, I had implemented
a stop time at the end of my day.
I forget which module you do it in,
but I was very resistant to that.
I was resistant to a lot.
But I did it.
Um, and I, instead of continuing my
to-do list, I had the kitchen cleanâ¦
You know, we did dinner, I
had the kitchen cleaned up.
That- that's the end, and I was
able to go outside and go to the
park with my husband and my kids.
Speaker: Mm.
Speaker 2: And he was like, "Oh, why?"
Like, "Why are you here?"
You know?
Like, this isn't, this this
isn't your time, you know?
And, um, so I could just
explain, you know, explain that.
That was just one of the first, the first
little wins I had of I could prioritize
relationships over my to-do list, and say,
"The real work is my family, my children."
Um-
Speaker: Mm-hmm
⦠Speaker 2: and saying,
"Here's when my day is done.
I can spend this time with you," um, was-
Speaker: Yeah, 'cause the
Speaker 2: to-do list- ⦠that
Speaker: first thing he- ⦠is never
going to be all the way complete.
Speaker 2: Right.
Right.
And then, um, I guess it has been
since I had done Convivial for about a
year, and we were just talking and, um,
we've always had, you know, the same
goals and values and, you know, the
life we wanna build with our family.
Um, but he just said, he's like, "Yeah,
this last year has been a lot different."
He could see a change, and I think,
I think he noticed that I had beenâ¦
could change my priorities.
Um, I found my, my identity instead of,
instead of in how much can I cross off my
list, is in, um, serving my family well.
I have itâ¦
Oh, I wrote it down here.
Hang-
In one of the modules I'veâ¦
I can't, it was one of the organize your
attitude ones, and I wrote, "Because
I was made to glorify God and enjoy
him forever, God has called me to
serve my family and build his kingdom.
And so every day I will ask God to
help me trust him, work heartily
for the Lord, and make my attitude
one of cheerful obedience."
Speaker: Mm.
Speaker 2: And so I've seen, and
I think my husband has seen, my
attitude change, and then therefore
my, um, my capacity has increased.
I've been able to take on a lot more,
not get so discouraged or overwhelmed
by all the unexpected changes
that just happen in family life.
Um, I think he'd also
say I'm a lot calmer.
I'm more at peace, and I really
found that with if I can rest in what
Jesus has done and, and Jesus has,
you know, he said, "It is finished."
He's accomplished it.
Keep striving and trying to
finish, you know, reach a certain-
end point.
If he's done it, I can do my work
knowing I'm, I'm glorifying God.
Um, and that just brings a lot of peace
even when the house is chaotic, and
there's noise and, and all of that.
Speaker: Yes.
Yes.
And that, it's like working from rest.
It's like, it's not- Right ⦠just
like, "Oh, that means that I can
take it easy and not do anything."
It actually increases your
capacity because- Yeah ⦠you're
not working to earn something or
to- Mm-hmm ⦠prove something.
Um- Mm-hmm ⦠it's a different,
different perspective.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
And because of that, we've been able toâ¦
I have four kids in sports
right now, which is a lot.
You know, it's a lot of practices, and,
and games, and schedules to figure out.
Um, had to adjust my daily schedule.
You know, we do dinner
a little bit earlier.
It's just a lot of, a lot of
shuffling going on, and I don't think
I could have handled that before.
But now, um, well, with a working
planner actually, Um, and just that
increased capacity and attitude,
I can, I can take that on, um,
without turning into the mean mom.
Speaker: So if you were talking to
another woman who was feeling overwhelmed
right now with everything that's
going on at home and things not going
as planned what would be the first
thing you would recommend that she do?
Speaker 2: The 10-minute timers are- Yeah
⦠that's my new favorite- ⦠thing.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker 2: Um, I put that, I put
that to a test a long time ago.
Like, there's no way.
10 minutes, that's, you know,
that's wishful thinking.
There's no way.
And my, I think my first win with that
was, um, we were, we were going somewhere,
me and the kids had to go somewhere.
We were all ready, you know, everything
was packed, and we had 10 minutes
until we had to leave the house.
And so we have a lot of s- um,
sliding doors in our house,
and I knew they needed to beâ¦
the tracks needed to get vacuumed out and
wiped, and seems like a really big job.
I was like, "Well, I'm gonna try it.
Let's see."
And I got that whole job done in 10
minutes, and we left the house on time.
And it's like, okay, that wasn't
actually that big of a deal.
And then I did, um, the baby step
bingo- Mm-hmm ⦠where I think those
are even often less than 10 minutes.
Um, and you just get that momentum of, you
know, things maybe you see a list or it,
it feels like a lot, and it's like, oh, I
can clean one shelf in the closet or wipe
out one drawer and just work on something
10 minutes at a time, get some momentum.
You feel so much better, and the
progress really does build.
Um, yeah, it takes, you know, it
takes a little bit of time to see,
but now I'm like, oh, I can, I can
do anything in 10 minutes, you know?
Yeah.
So yeah, that would definitely
be my, my first advice.
Speaker: Yes.
Yeah, it's just that shift from being
able to quickly start and just say,
"Oh, I could do that," instead of that
default, like, "Oh, that's a big deal.
I'll never have time for that."
Yeah.
It just, like, it switch-
switches that script in our heads.
Speaker 2: Right.
Right.
Speaker: Well, thank you so
much, Kara, for joining me today.
It was so fun to talk to you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Yep.
Yeah.
Thank you for having me on.
Cara shared a lot of resources
here in this conversation, and
I put links to many of them in
the description for this episode
If you're listening to this when the
episode is brand new, then you, then you
have caught us during Organize October,
our month-long special on organizing
your attitude Be sure to sign up for
the Organize October Challenge, and not
only will you get links to the extra
podcast episodes and videos, and even
live conversations happening on Mondays
in October, but you'll also get some
brain dump prompts, just like Kara was
talking about, that will help you figure
out where you're really where you're
really going wrong in your head and
the story that you're telling yourself.
So get extra resources, bonuses, and
links to everything happening in October
by going to simplyconvivial.com/october
You can also find links to some of the
other things that Cara mentioned in
this conversation in the description
All of them will help you
to repent, rejoice, repeat
And next up, I think you'd really
enjoy this episode right here