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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 2: Welcome to the Christian
homemaking podcast, Simply Convivial.
I'm Misty Winkler, homemaker,
homeschooling mom of five, grandma
of two so far, author of Simplified
Organization: Learn to Love What Must be
Done, and host here at Simply Convivial.
Convivial means enjoying life
together, and that's the kind of
homes that we want to be building.
My mission is to see as many women as
possible become engaged, competent,
cheerful Christian homemakers.
And today I'm joined by another
longtime homemaker, blogger,
and podcaster, Marci Farrell.
Marci is a follower of Jesus who
shares gospel-driven encouragement
for homemakers through her blog and
podcast at thankfulhomemaker.com.
Her debut book is just now out.
It's called Homemaking Matters: Living
for God's Glory in the Ordinary.
She's been married to her husband,
Doug, since 1986, and they have two
grown children and three grandchildren.
Marci enjoys caring for her home,
studying God's Word, reading, and
helping women embrace the eternal
purpose in their everyday homemaking.
So thank you so much for
c- coming today, Marci.
Speaker 3: It's so good to
be here with you, Misty.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah.
It's an honor for me to be here with you.
Speaker 2: So I would love to just start
with you sharing- Your, your testimony
about- Mm-hmm ⦠coming to the Lord,
but also then in the context of the home.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna come and come
in the middle of it a little bit
maybe- Yeah ⦠and bring that in.
But, um, because Iâ¦
Homemaking was something thatâ¦
I come from thisâ¦
I always laugh.
I come from this line of full-time
homemakers, like it was my mom and
my grandmother and my aunts, and
then even my mother-in-law were
just, they were full-time homemakers.
And of all of them, I always say
my grandmother probably had the
biggest influence on me, and then
later in life, my husband's mom
because she was, she was a believer.
So, but my grandma was the big
one because my mom and I lived
with her for quite a few years.
My, my parents were divorced, and my
mom and I moved in with my grandma.
And sheâ¦
My mom went to work, and
Grandma took care of me.
So I just got to hang with her in
the kitchen, and she loved to cook
and clean and s- feed people, and
just, um, she was just a delight.
Sheâ¦
I just neverâ¦
One thing about my grandma that has always
stuck with me, especially as a believer,
because as far as I know, my grandma was,
was not a believer, which always makes my
heart sad, but I always have hope there.
I don't know what happened
in her final moments of life.
But she was so cheerful, soâ¦
And so content, and never
complained about anything.
Mm-hmm.
So when I was a little girl, I
always looked forward to having my
own home, and I always thought of
living like my grandma, just caring
for my home and loving my family.
And so when I married my husband,
Doug, I was 20 years old, and I just
really felt like I was stepping into
that dream of Grandma's life, right?
I loved tidying the house before
he came home and planning our meals
and caring just for all the little
details of our life together.
So, but as our family grew and became
fuller, I learned that all that enthusiasm
was really not enough to sustain me.
So, um, my Doug traveled a lot
for work, and I would find myself
just in this panic of getting
things ready before he came home.
Um, meal planning and cleaning, it just
started to become really stressful.
And my grandmother, as a married
woman, was super practical for me.
Sheâ¦
I could call herâ¦
I think I did call her almost
every day, Misty, like just- Yeah
for those early years because w- weâ¦
I always laugh and say we had no
internet then, so it was- Right.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 3: You know,
that's, you called family.
So I did become better at
managing my home and my tasks.
Um- But it took me a lot longer
to understand that homemaking
wasn't just about my productivity
and everything looking good.
It was about the posture of my heart.
And this is where for the first 15 years
of my marriage, I was not a believer.
So my home was void of Christ.
I lived without Jesus.
And I, I probably would have said before
that, that about homemaking, I guess,
that it would be, um, it would have
been about me and how my home looked and
what that looked like to others outside.
And if my, my identity would have been
tied up to being a homemaker and a
wife and a mom and how well I did that.
That's what I would have looked at.
But when God, in His mercy, when He
saved me, He simply didn't help me to
just become a better homemaker or just
give me that positive enthusiasticness
about the work necessarily,
because the work didn't change.
But He, but He rescued me from my sin,
and He gave me a new heart, and then He
began to renew my mind through His Word.
And I, as I read Scripture and I grew
in my walk, I really began to understand
that all of my life belonged to Christ,
that homemaking w- wasn't something
separate from my Christian life, but
things like the meals and the laundry
and those relationships and those
lovely interruptions that we have were
just some of the very places where
I was learning to live out my faith.
So again, the, the outward work,
it's not like that became easier,
but the Lord began changing my
heart and the way that I saw it.
And so He showed me how often frustration
was rooted from me wanting my own
way or when work went unnoticed,
which we all know as wives and moms,
most of our work does go unnoticed.
People don't see what we're doing.
But I could see my selfishness, like
how much I wanted appreciation or
that pat on the back or great job, so.
Or even things like when my day
didn't go as planned, that I could see
how tightly I wanted to control it.
So, and again, this, I'm st- I
say it's not an overnight change.
It's, it's still not a change.
The Lord's still patiently working
in my heart and showing me within
every season of homemaking now,
even, even this empty nest season
I'm in, um, I think about that.
Just after 40 years of marriage,
He's still, He's still using my home
to show me where I'm holding too
tightly to my comfort, um, or having
things a certain way or my plans.
But, but what I love is that God,
He doesn't leave us there, right?
And that He graciously brings you
back to Christ, and I'm so grateful.
I, I always say like one of the
things as wives and moms is that
we need good, sound theology.
I always love that in Titus 2
where Timothy talks about sound
doctrine before he gets to Titus
2, because that really grounds us.
And I know that when I've failed, I can
come back to Christ, I can confess my sin,
I can receive forgiveness, and I can ask
Him to keep making me more like Christ.
So Through the Lord saving me, one of
the aspects is that was my homemaking
became more than just, just a checklist,
it, or, or a way to express myself.
But it was now a way to serve my family
and love the people God had given me,
and to bring Him glory in and through it.
And I know in, in the midst of that,
He was making me more like Christ.
So I know that was probably
longer than you wanted there.
No, that- But that just, it justâ¦
Yeah, I'm just kinda grateful that, um,
just the reminder He's not just working
in our homes, He's working in us too.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
It's so easy to compartmentalize our life.
And it's like, "Okay, well, you
know, I did my 30 minutes of
devotions, and then I have to do my
30-minute checklist, and then we're
gonna go do these other things."
And sometimes they don't tie together
in the way that we live things
out or the way we even think about
them, but they do all tie together.
We, we are the same person in all
of those different areas of life.
And Christ is Lord of them all, and
working through- Mm-hmm ⦠all those
different responsibilities in our lives.
Um-
Speaker 3: I love that
⦠Speaker 2: so to just let
that all touch and flow.
Speaker 3: It's so good because He does.
There's purpose in everything that we're
doing, and sometimes we, we miss it.
You know, we take our eyes off of Him.
And it was, um, Jerry Bridges had
such a good quote where he talked
about that even as believers, we're
all, we're all guilty of ungodliness.
And really, what all that is is that
I'm just going about my day and I'm,
I'm not thinking about the Lord,
that I'm not focused on Him at all.
And weâ¦
You know, I fall into that really often,
especially on busy days when you're just
going from task to task or thing to thing,
and I'm not taking a moment to really even
just stop and love the person in front
of me sometimes- Mm-hmm ⦠well, you
know, to give them my undivided attention.
I can get very task-focused, and
I know that's an area of mine
that I have to be cautious of, so.
Yeah.
I'm sure there's other
people out there like me.
Speaker 2: Yes.
So y- in your book, you talk about
the home being more a place for
ministry and sanctification, and
not just personal expression.
And you also just said s- the
work still stays the same.
So what is that perspective
shift, and what does change even
with, you know, still scrubbing
toilets, still making dinner?
What is that real shift in seeing it as a
ministry rather than personal expression?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Iâ¦
Like, when I think of that, I
think there's nothing wrong with
we want beauty in our homes, right?
And ourâ¦
We can show, like, our
different personalities.
Um, they can show in our
homes how we do things, andâ¦
'Cause I enjoy those things.
I love a tidy home, and I love flowers,
and I think of how beauty is such
a gift from God, and to even create
that pleasant atmosphere for people.
But Iâ¦
Sometimes the problem can come
when that personal expression, um,
becomes the main purpose for my home.
And if I become too focused on having
everything look the way I want it to, then
I can begin treating the people in my home
as if they're kinda getting in the way.
Um , they are the very people I'm
supposed to be loving and serving.
So I have to come back and just, um-
Probably asks whether the way that I'm
caring for my home is helping me love the
people God has entrusted to me, or whether
this order and appearance have become
more important than the people themselves.
And I can see this in my life now
because I'm an empty nester now.
So with just Doug and I at home, um, it is
really easier to keep things picked up and
to have this fairly predictable pattern
of life right now, and I, I enjoy that.
I, I, I get used to having
things a certain way.
But then our grandchildren come over,
or this summer we had a, a missionary
family stay with us for a couple weeks
with little kids, and suddenly there's,
like, shoes by the door and games in
the living room and, and you know what?
Fingerprints all over
the patio door glass Yes.
More dishes, right?
And those are lovely things.
They mean my home is being lived
in, and it's used to love on and
welcome people, and I adoreâ¦
I love that.
I love having my grandchildren over.
But I can still notice that little
resistance in my heart sometimes, Misty,
like when, when my, the order that
I'm used to is disturbed a little bit.
So God begins to use those moments
in me to show me how easily that I
can value comforts or the condition
of my home more than the people.
And, um, again, it's not wrong to desire
a peaceful, orderly home, by all means.
I am so grateful for that.
But th- that good desire can quietly
become a demand to have things my way.
And I think of, um,
Philippians 2 so often.
Just it reminds us not to look to our own
interests but to the interests of others.
And, and then it points us to
the humility of Christ there.
So that applies really in our homes.
And, um, sometimes love means welcoming
the shoes and the games and the crumbs
and the fingerprints and all the other
things that come with loving on people
because they belong to the people thatâ¦
Actually, I think about we
get the joy of loving them.
Like, it's an honor to get to love them.
So m- my peace can't be in the
condition of my home, right?
It has to be found in Christ.
And because I belong to Him, then I can
hold that home He's given me with an
open hand, and I'm, I'm just learning
that more and more in my life with time.
So, um, the home is meant
to serve people, right?
And the people are there not to
maintain my vision of the home.
So I just, I want people at the end, even
though I can have my personal expression
and do that, I want people to remember
they were loved in my home and not
how carefully they had to live in it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right.
Speaker 3: I don't know that I
answered that fully, so let me-
Speaker 2: No ⦠yeah Yeah.
No, that's great, and I, I love how
you said that when you are using your
home for other people and loving other
people- Mm-hmm ⦠that that's actually
enjoyable You know, it's not just s- our
home being used for service isn't just,
isn't only giving things up in a way that
always subtracts or, um, makes it all a
drudgery for o- because we're, we're doing
it for other people and not ourselves.
But when we give ourselves in that
way- You know, we are also encouraged
and given the joy of the Lord in
that service and ministry too.
Speaker 3: I love that when you say that,
'cause I think when people, no different
when we're showing hospitality, usually
we're the ones that are more blessed- Yeah
⦠by the end of those evenings, you know?
Um, and the work, it, it
be- it becomes nothing.
You know, I get it.
It is work and it does take time
to plan and put things together,
but in the end, we probably gain
the most from it in those times.
So it's so good.
Mm-hmm.
It is so good.
Yeah.
Speaker 2: So does that approach
to homemaking as a ministry then
change anything practically in how
we go about it in serving others and
not just, you know, that control of
others or control of the situation?
How do we make that shift?
Or what does that look like practically?
Speaker 3: Yeah.
I'm working through,
think processing that.
So really when we hear, I think of
ministry because when we think of
ministry, we think of aspects outside
our home, but- Mm-hmm ⦠the homemaking,
the practical, and, and just stop me
if I'm not going the right way here.
But I'm c- what's coming to my mind is
thing like the meals and the laundry
and the cleaning and just the everyday
things we do so often that, you know,
we can picture teaching a Bible study is
ministry or- Right ⦠doing something
outside our home, uh, within the church,
where really our ministry is at home.
And I, I know as a young wife and mother,
especially when I became to be a new
believer, I really ⦠You know, my kids
were young then, so my days were filled
with packing lunches and running errands
and doing the normal things we do.
And I felt like I was just trying to
keep up, and then I go to church, and
these women are doing all these things.
Yeah.
And I'm like, "What am I doing?
I'm not-- I'm just taking
care of my family."
But that, those are the times that God
is starting to show me that this family
is part of that ministry He's given me to
take care of, and it is very practical.
Um, I didn't need to get the household
basically work out of the way, m- the
household work was the meaningful work,
too, for Him, and caring for my family
and giving me opportunities to even
love my nearest neighbors and serve
Christ right where He had placed me.
And that was very freeing to come
to a point to understand, and
actually it was an older woman in
my church who helped me with that.
So I'm so grateful for her.
Yeah.
That was a good thing to,
um, to be pointed out to me,
and I was grateful for that.
I needed some correcting on
that as a young believer.
Um, so I always tell, I always
tell all of us we have to stay
teachable because it's so good.
We can have those logs in our eyes
and, you know, we just miss it.
So I'm grateful for that.
We may not like it right away, but when
we hear it and it's truth, it's good to
come to submit to it and, um- And make
those changes to line up with God's word.
But I- Misty, like we forget preparing
a meal is caring for someone, and- Yeah
washing clothes, you
know, that meets a need.
Um, making a home where my husband can
come home after a really long day and know
that he's loved and taken care of, and he
is looking forward to being there because
it is, it is sort of a, a, a respite for
him or a retreat that he can come to.
And when I say that, it doesn't
mean like there's not noise and
there's not toys on the floor.
All those things can still happen,
but it's really the love that we have
for one another and how to come home
to a place where you know you are
loved and cared for, and the people
there are so happy to be with you.
Um, and sometimes ministry can be as
simple as setting aside your to-do
list to just meet the needs of that
person in front of you, and that's
something that, um, God has really
continued to grow me in a little better
because as I shared earlier, I am very
task-focused and I can miss that slowing
down, and I t- I don't wanna do that
'cause I wanna love my people well.
So- Mm-hmm ⦠um, yeah.
I guess I would kind of
land there with that, just-
Speaker: Mm-hmm
⦠Speaker 3: how ministry begins really
loving the people closest to me is
a big- Yeah ⦠it's, that's huge.
Speaker: Um.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know I, I knew
theoretically when, you know, all the
kids were little and at home, and that's
so busy and intense that well, you
know, this is, this is my calling and
this is my job and this is loving them.
But it isâ¦
Once they're grown and then they're
off living their own lives, I think
that's when it kind of hits you
how much- You know, that pouring
into them really was an investment.
Like, you put in, um, you put in
a lot of yourself, but then you
see it, like it's what they're
drawing on and making more of.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, you know, more people out in
the world living, you know, for Christ
and then raising their own families.
And you're like, "Okay, wow . Like, all
those little meals, all the little peanut
butter sandwiches or whatever made a man.
Like, whoa, that was
actually really incredible."
Speaker 3: Oh, it was so worth it how God
used you in the life of your children,
and I'm sure there's so much they took
from you just watching and modeling.
And none of us does it
perfectly, like we know that.
Mm-hmm.
And that's r- I'm so grateful
for God's grace, that He, He
doesn't leave us where we're at.
He continues to change us and-
Yeah ⦠show us areas where we
need growth, and that is so good.
And those are good things
for our kids to see as we're
raising them, I think so often.
Um, to see that Mommy needs Jesus
as much as the next person does.
Mm-hmm.
That Mommy doesn't have it all together.
So.
Yes.
Speaker 2: Because the same is true
for them as well throughout their life.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Yep.
I did, you kinda touched
on the sanctifying.
Can we come back to that a little bit?
Yeah, yeah.
Just how the homeâ¦
I, because the, just talking through
that about Mommy needs Jesus was just-
Mm-hmm ⦠but I, uh, for me, my home and
my family, I mean, this is one of the most
sanctifying places of my life, really.
Yeah.
Um, because even after being a
homemaker for 40 years now, the,
God is still using it to show me my
heart and how much I need Christ.
And I, I can be easy to think
I'm really patient until someone
interrupts the plans I had for the day.
Well, that doesn't mean thatâ¦
I always say that that's just
showing what's already in
my heart that's coming out.
That, you know, that's not
somebody coming to me and they're
causing me to be impatient.
It's like, no, that was already
in there, and that came out,
and I'm grateful because now I
can do something with it, right?
Yeah.
I can repent of it and move
forward and grow from that.
Um, I, I think sometimes I may feel
content with my home, and I don't do
this as much as I used to, but when,
when Pinterest came out, that was
a big one for me as a younger mom.
Um, I'm notâ¦
I, I feel like as I've
aged, I'm trying toâ¦
I'm, I'm trying to get there.
We're trying to get rid of things,
so I don't really want- ⦠to
add more to my home anymore.
It's just I'm thinking about my poor
children when I'm not here one day.
So, but how easy people can
scroll, and you start comparing
your life to somebody else's.
And, um, again, that, that is just
revealing that there's something
there in your heart already.
And so as the Lord shows us those
things, whether it's discontentment
or our impatience or our desire for
control, um- I know for me sometimes
in, in those things, I can respond
with frustration or irritation first.
But as God brings me back to His
Word, it just reminds me that He's
doing something deeper in me than
just showing me what's not right.
He's showing me the right way.
And so when He shows me my sin,
He doesn't do it to drive me
away or shame me by any means.
I mean, that's when I need to draw close.
So for those of us in Christ,
again, we know Romans 8:1,
there is no more condemnation.
He, He is our Abba Father, and He's
our perfect Father who loves us.
And I, I love the doctrine of adoption
because that is such a comforting
one, along with His sovereignty.
But He, He lovingly brings me into the
light so I can confess those things,
repent, ask His forgiveness, and then
help ⦠Again, then the next time, ask
Him to help me respond more like Christ.
And that's part of sanctification.
It's just Him making us more like Jesus.
And the more we're like Jesus,
the more we're gonna reflect Jesus
to those within our own homes.
And that's where our lives
are lived for the most part.
It's, it's in the dishes and
the laundry and the raising our
children and loving our husbands.
So, um, that is just huge to just
be mindful of that, that I can't
measure my homemaking by did I
finish the laundry, or did I make the
meal, or did I get through the list.
Those things do matter, but God is doing
work in us that we don't see immediately.
So He's teaching us to depend on
Him, and I am grateful for that.
And it may be slow at
times, and that's okay.
We don't ⦠I always say even, um, a
lot of times when women compare, I, I
always come back to the truth that God
knows what's needed in my life to make
me more like Jesus, just like He knows
what's needed in your life, Misty.
Right.
And it's not the same thing.
Mm-hmm.
And I can trust Him in that.
So He's gonna be faithful to complete
the work that He began in me, basically.
Yes.
That's a great reminder to us.
Yes.
So, well, so good.
I'm so grateful.
I know.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
I, um, so these, you know,
homemaking as sanctification is,
uh, a key theme in your new book.
So tell people who the book is for
and then where they can find it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
So Homemaking Matters is really for women
in all different seasons because if we
have a home, we're a homemaker Mm-hmm
⦠and we're opening our homes to others.
So they can find it anywhere
books are sold really.
Amazon, um, Barnes & Noble, Walmart.
Wherever you buy your books
online they can find it.
Or they can go to homemakingmatters.com
and find it there too.
So I appreciate that, that Misty.
But it's really how God is working
in us to use our ordinary days to
bring him honor and glory, and in
the midst of that how he's molding us
more and more into Christ likeness.
Speaker 2: Yes, and we need that
encouragement- Mm ⦠over and over again
as we- Yeah ⦠every stage of the journey
because, yeah, God keeps revealing new
things and teaching us new things- Mm
all along the way.
So thank you so much.
So good.
And I'll have links for all of that in
the episode description, so be sure to
check those out and grab Marcy's new book.
So thank you so much
Marcy for coming today.
Speaker 3: Thank you so
much, Misty, for having me.
This was a treat to be here with you.
Thank you.