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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.
Speaker: Welcome to the Christian
homemaking podcast, Simply Convivial.
I'm Misty Winkler, homemaker,
homeschooling mom of five, grandma,
and author of 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 today I'm delighted to
be joined by Nancy Wilson.
Nancy is a pastor's wife and
homemaker in Moscow, Idaho.
She's the author of Single and Satisfied,
The Fruit of Her Hands, Praise Her
in the Gates, and Building Her House.
She and her husband Douglas have three
married children and a teeming horde of
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
So thank you so much for
joining me today, Nancy.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
It's fun to be with you.
How many grandkids do you have, Misty?
Speaker: I have two so far, almost two
years old and about six months old.
Speaker 2: Oh, congratulations.
You're off to a good start.
Speaker: And you're off to a good
start with great-grandchildren.
How many are you-
Speaker 2: Yes.
Well, we have five greats
with two more on the way.
Speaker: Oh, exciting.
Speaker 2: It can happen really fast.
Yes.
I, I'm fastening my seatbelt.
Speaker: So we're talking today
'cause you have a new upcoming
book called Future Women.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker: And I don't know if people
have seen before, there's the Family
series that this is gonna be a part of.
Reforming Marriage, I
think, was the first one.
Speaker 2: Um, it could've been.
It could've been.
It's been a while.
It has.
It's been a while.
But Doug wrote Future Men.
Yeah.
And so this is sort of the companion.
It's been a long time coming.
Speaker: 20 years later.
Basically.
Future Women.
Well, in your experience, not just
as a mom, but also a grandma and
great-grandma, what are the biggest
differences that you've seen between
raising boys and raising girls?
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness.
All right.
Yeah.
Well, I'm not raising my grandkids.
Yeah.
Like, some grandmas actually
need to help with that.
Um, but what's the difference
in how you bring them up?
It's just they're different creatures.
Um, boys are hungry for respect.
Girls are hungry for love and security.
Mm.
And so you lean into that, what
their needs are, and in the, into
their strengths as well, and train.
And so, uh, uh, we just bestowed on
our son and on our daughters just
differently, the same in many ways,
but just leaning into their need.
Nate didn't have the need
for security and love, but he
wanted to just be an authority.
Just when he was two, basically.
So, so I justâ¦
The, this book is for raising the
girls, and so that's what it focuses on.
But raising our son and then seeing our
grandsons, it's just boys are fantastic.
And in many ways they're
more straightforward.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So, but anyway, this
one is about raising daughters.
Speaker: So what would giving
them love and security look
like, maybe at different stages?
Speaker 2: Okay.
Well, I mean, of course
your sons need love too.
I mean, it's not like we
Speaker: Can ignore them.
Speaker 2: We're not,
we're not suggesting that.
But little girls need to
get lots of affection.
They need to feel secure.
Um, we had sort of danger signals, yeah,
on our mind, like on the lookout for.
Uh, for instance, when our first little
girl was pretty little, Dike still had
a lot of single friends, guy friends
who would drop by from the Navy or
school, and some of them would try so
hard, and we'd say, "You know what?
She's not gonna come to you.
She's not gonna be friendly,
and we're actually really glad."
"Because if she was climbing
on you, it would be like,
okay, what are we doing wrong?
We need to pour it on.
Um, she's looking for male
attention, and that's a bad sign."
So we would, we would tell
them, "Don't be offended."
Mm-hmm.
"This is the way we like it- ⦠that
she won't give you the time of day."
You know, of course, we wanted our
girls to be polite and friendly,
but especially the little ones.
You know, if you see a little girl
being friendly with just men, random
men, that's a big, that's a big alarm.
So, um, I think- Right
single moms have to work harder because
there isn't dad there, and dad is the,
such a security for little girls, and
h- her protector, and just that need for
security is really met in that kind of a
household, Everybody understands, like,
these are the barriers, and it just makes
the little girl feel secure and happy.
And when she's secure,
she's gonna flourish.
If she's insecure, then she turns
into a little flirt, you know,
looking for attention, whining.
Um, it just can have a lot of,
there can be a lot of bad signs
if your little girl's tank is low.
That's what we call it.
Mm.
Their tank is low.
And whiny, complainy.
You know, so much- Bad fruit can come
from that lack of love and security.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Now, one thing that I love about your
books is how you, like, just lay out
a scripture verse, and then it's like,
"And we believe this, so let's apply
it in really- Okay ⦠practical ways."
Speaker 2: Yeah.
It's
Speaker: just- So I'm sure
you're ready with these.
What does scripture teach about
girls and women specifically, like
temptations and character that
we can apply as moms of girls?
Okay.
Speaker 2: Well, the women are
encouraged not to be gossipy, wandering
around house to house, the widows are.
The women are supposed to be reverent, uh,
not drinking too much, the older women.
They're supposed to be able to teach.
You know, so we wanted our daughters
to have the best education we could
provide, and not any different
from what we were giving our son.
So we believe women need to be
educated in the word, and just in,
uh, in school, being brought up to
think like Christians and under-
understanding Christian worldview.
It's just, there's so many
wonderful resources, and you know.
So, um, Doug was instrumental, starting
Logos School, and this is back before
we had ever even heard of homeschooling.
I think it was probably just
getting started about the same
time that we were starting Logos.
And we used to, uh, well, we still
joke that we were homeschooling
too, we were just doing it at Logos.
Because, um, because we were both so
hands-on there, helping get it going.
But at any rate, uh, I would say as,
of course, each age is different, but
you're gonna teach your daughter modesty
and why from the time they're really
little, how to, um, have good manners,
how to sit, how to stand, how not to sit-
not to stand.
You know, when I was in elementary
school, we all had those big, full
dresses and petticoats, and so
we had to really pay attention.
And I remember my mom teaching me,
you know, "This is how you sit, how
you stand, how you g-," you know,
because that's the world we lived in.
Um, I just saw a picture of my eighth
birthday, and there were all these little
girls lined up with the great big skirts,
you know, the little s- short dresses.
So glad we're beyond that.
Yeah.
But, um, they were cute.
But still, it's just teaching
modesty from a very little age.
Um, and that builds security, too,
knowing where the boundaries are and
flourishing within those biblical
boundaries and being thankful.
Speaker: Yeah, I think, and really
some of those modesty things you
mentioned are, um, like self-control.
It's not just what to wear and
what not- For sure ⦠to wear-
Absolutely ⦠with a dress.
It's like you can keep- Yeah ⦠your
legs together while you're sitting and
Speaker 2: Right.
Absolutely ⦠it's body control.
All, all that.
Absolutely.
And how you talk.
Speaker: Mm.
Speaker 2: Uh, I did mention one of
the bad things that can happen to
little insecure girls is they become
flirty, and so you put them in a school
with boys and girls, you know, and
mom and dad need to pay attention-
Speaker: Mm-hmm
Speaker 2: and not just drop them off
and hope everything's going great.
Speaker: Right.
Right.
Which is true of schools or co-ops
or park days or any of those- Oh,
Speaker 2: oh
Speaker: sure ⦠social situations.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Yeah.
So I called it snoopervising.
When the kids would have friends
over, I was, just had an eye out
and an ear out, paying attention.
And I remember having a couple of new
little girls over to play one time.
I think probably Rachel was seven or
eight, something like that, and after
she left, I said, "You know, I want you
to always be really nice to her, but I
don't want you to be friends with her."
You know, it's just, I could see it
wouldn't be a good friendship, and there
are times you just have to say that.
And so And you know what?
I was right years later.
Speaker: Yep.
Yep.
That mother intuition
and gut on those things-
Speaker 2: Yes
⦠Speaker: is-
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think- Yeah
⦠parents have to be careful because in
a big community, you can think it's
fine, the kids are fine, they can
just run around and with all the kids.
It's like, hang on.
Who are they talking to?
You know, who is that person talking?
You know, it'sâ¦
Even at church, it's just I wanna know
where you are and what's going on.
Speaker: Uh-huh.
Speaker 2: And, uh, I can remember when
our, our church was started, I mean, it
was so much smaller when we began, but
after the service, I would tell the kids,
'cause Doug was busy being a pastor, it's
like, "You have to stay right with me."
And so I would include them in
conversations and not expect them to just
stand there- ⦠you know, unentertained.
And so I would get them in a conversation,
or we'd go talk to somebody who had
kids so that they were not left out
and that it was a miserable time.
Or I could say, "Yeah, you can go over
there," but I'd keep an eye on them.
It wasn't a free-for-all.
I don't know who all is there.
Mm-hmm.
I, you know, I'm responsible.
So some people might think that's
over, like overdoing it, but I
would do it the same way again.
And when they were, had
friends over and were in the
backyard, it was the same thing.
My ear is tuned in.
Mm-hmm.
I'm looking out there, what's
going down, and if I wasn't
sure, I would go out and check.
So it's just a big job,
and it's nobody else's job.
Yeah.
It's mom's job, and dad's job obviously,
but mom's the one on the ground, so.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
And that's one thing
I didn't even realize.
It was kind of different.
I had two boys first and then a girl.
Yeah, yeah.
And when, you know, my boys got jobs
at 16, they were working retail- Yeah
and it never occurred to
me to go check on them.
Like, they were- Mm-hmm ⦠showing
up, they could keep their job.
That was good.
I went and bought- Mm-hmm
⦠something one just for the fun
of being checked out by my son.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker: But when my daughter got a job
at 16 at the coffee shop, like I'm like,
"I'm just gonna stop in for a coffee and
see," like "Is anyone else a regular that-
Speaker 2: Yeah
Speaker: is suspicious?"
Speaker 2: Right.
That's right, and you wanna ask questions.
Keep me posted-
Speaker: Mm-hmm
⦠Speaker 2: you know, with what's going on.
And, you know, we had plenty of ta-
of talks about what was going on.
And, and the kids were always wide open,
and Doug was very, you know, in the
game, and every night around the table
was debrief time about the whole day.
And sometimes they would, you know,
have lots of questions, and I'd
say, "Okay, save it for dinner.
We'll bring that up at dinner so you
can hear from Dad, too, on that."
So that's where a lot of things, a
lot of our culture building in our
home happened around the dinner table.
Yeah.
And we weren't watching
TV while we were eating.
I mean, we were justâ¦
We didn't have a TV for a long time.
, We sat and talked-
and debriefed, and it was, it was great.
Very formative.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Yeah, and I do think the girls need
that especially, that help processing-
Oh, yeah ⦠and evaluating.
Speaker 2: And, you know,
boys are interesting.
Yeah.
So it was nice to have Nate chiming in.
He actually would get the floor,
and his food would get cold.
Because he knew if he paused to
take a bite, one of the girls was
gonna jump in ⦠and take over.
So Doug would sometimes take a number.
You know, like- Yeah ⦠"Okay, now
you," and we'd hear all about the day,
and, you know, they just were very,
uh, attentive to what was going on and
had questions and- - as they got older,
it was theology, uh, as well as what
was going on- at school and elsewhere.
Speaker: Yeah.
As our kids, especially our girls,
get older, there are different stages
where they need to know- Mm-hmm ⦠and
practice different things, but what
kind of skills and knowledge in
particular should be, we be looking
to help our girls- Okay ⦠gain?
Speaker 2: Well, my girls wanted to be
in the kitchen when they were little.
I think Rachel was three when she would,
uh, help me with the bread, and, uh,
by that time, Becca was at school At
our new school . But, um, she wouldâ¦
We called it her baby loaf.
I just had a little tiny pan,
and I'd give her a lump of dough,
and she'd roll it out with her
little roller and put it in there.
Or, you know, so that was one thing,
being part up on a stool making bread.
And then I, I really tried to
lean into what their gifts were.
So- They both learned to sew, but
Becca really , leaned into that one.
And so I can remember buying her
pattern and buying her fabric.
She didn't want a pattern.
She was gonna make the pattern herself.
So she would sew it up.
This is when she's older, probably
high school now, and then even in
college, but it would be almost cute.
Like it almost- But that's how
she learned, and I remember
thinking, "I'm investing in Becca,
not in her wardrobe," you know?
Speaker: Mm.
Speaker 2: Because that
dress almost made it.
But she did make, like, Calvin
Klein jeans from a pattern, so
she did use a pattern sometimes.
Um, you know, with all theâ¦
All those are really tough.
Yeah.
But that was when she was older.
But they were sewing, knitting, um,
but they were also riding bikes and
having fun outside, and they, they
didn't do a ton of babysitting.
We actually didn't want them
off in the evenings babysitting
other kids necessarily.
Um, it just depended on who they were
and how well we knew them and so forth.
They didn't do a ton of that.
They helped out other places, um, atâ¦
But I would say in the kitchen a lot.
Becca and a friend would get
together and make a dinner,
and for the parents, put it on.
You know, just things like
that, hospitality, cooking.
Um, Rachel ran track in high school.
We didn't have a track
team when Becca was there.
You, you know, so they have
different skills and different
interests, but they overlap a lot.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
So you're just investing in them,
developing them as people, both in
skills like, like domestic skills-
Speaker 2: Yeah ⦠which
Speaker: require a lot of stuff- Right
⦠and being comfortable with- Yes ⦠waste.
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, and decorating.
And decorating- Yeah
um, their rooms or whatever,
whatever I had for them to do.
Gardening a little bit, not very much.
Um- Helping with laundry,
just whatever I had going on.
But they were readers, and we
were a family of big readers,
and so that was also great.
It was always aâ¦
They would, they would
just be buried in a book.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And then we'd
often talk about it.
Um, when MTV first came out, the kids
were probably junior high, early high
school, and I remember Doug sat down with
them and he would play a video, not the
horrible raunchy one- Yeah ⦠but play
one, and then teach them what philosophy,
what worldview was happening here.
"Do you see this?
This is what it means."
And so, and then he, as they learned, he
would say, "Okay, tell me about this one."
And so that was a hands-on dad time,
just teaching Christian worldview.
And then I was teaching
it in lit at Logos.
So we just would talk about it,
obviously, in the classroom and at home,
and that was just an important piece-
Speaker: Mm-hmm
Speaker 2: of what we were doing.
Speaker: Yeah.
It's helping them grow
in wisdom and being able-
Speaker 2: Yes
⦠Speaker: to see what's going on.
Speaker 2: And not just
read 100 books this summer.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker 2: It's like,
no, what kind of books?
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: What areâ¦
So.
Speaker: Yeah.
'Cause you want them to be able
to notice patterns and see what,
Speaker 2: yeah.
Speaker: So the book Future Women,
um, which when this episode comes
out, will be available for purchase,
I'm sure on the Canon Press website,
on Amazon, wherever you get books.
But who, who did you write the book for,
or what's the purpose of the book overall?
Speaker 2: I would say for all the
Christian moms bringing up girls, anybody.
Uh, it's a obviously a Christian book
written to parents, but mostly to moms.
I'm not writing a book for men on
how to bring up their daughters,
but I can't help but bring dad
into it, you know, as I'm writing.
But it's to be an encouragement.
You know, you see little girls even
in the church community, and you
can tell they're just hurting units.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And you just want to throw
out as much help as you can and just lay
things out, um, to be an encouragement
and help, not to condemn, but to look
what God has provided all this wisdom
for us, and let's try to a- apply it in
this day and age, and especially with
so much resistance in the world and so
much hostility really toward children,
homemaking, marriage, the whole thing.
So it's being counter-cultural and
being Christian in our thinking.
So that's what it's for, is just to
help equip women to feel clear-headed
about what it is, what's their mission,
and how can they bring up their
daughters- Yeah ⦠to just embrace it.
Speaker: That's so good.
Thank you so much.
Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you.
Nice to see you.
Speaker: Yes, and we'll- I'll
have links for the book and
all of that in the show notes.
So thank you so much for joining us.
All right.
Thanks,
Speaker 2: Misty.