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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: Hello, and 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.
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 one of our
members inside Convivial Circle, Victoria.
Victoria is a Christian wife and
mom who's been married to her
husband, George, for 20 years.
They currently have eight kids
ranging in age from one to 14
they spend most of their days
growing together in their faith,
homeschooling Charlotte Mason style,
and spending time with family.
They have a chubby orange cat, a
working line- ⦠German shepherd,
and Victoria has recently taken on
the surprising vocation of, I don't
know if I'm gonna say this right-
Speaker 3: No, you're gonna
go for it ⦠Schutzhund?
I think it's Schutzhund.
It, they also call it IGP, so either one.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Schutzhund trainer.
Yes.
So it's a new puppy?
Speaker 3: Um, new-ish, yes.
Yeah.
We got him when, eight
weeks before I had my baby.
Speaker 2: All right.
Wow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
That's intense.
Go big or go home, yes.
Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you
so much for joining me today.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So you've been in, a
member inside Convivial Circle
off and on for a few years.
Mm-hmm.
And I'd love for you to tell us a bit
about what made you join the first
time a few years ago- Mm-hmm ⦠and
then quit, which is totally fine.
Mm-hmm, yeah.
And I think that a lot of
women will relate to that.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, I know you have a few, some
definite helpful things to share.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
So, um, when I joined in, um, we live in
the northeast so the weather gets really
nasty in, like, the January-ish timeframe.
And, um, I'd had baby number
seven in June, the end of June the
previous year, and our homeschooling
had been super inconsistent.
Um, we started with the Abeka,
and then we moved to kind ofâ¦
I don't remember if we had
moved to Charlotte Mason yet.
I think we had tried Charlotte Mason.
And, um, I realized that we
were having a lot of problems,
especially with my one son.
Um, and so we tried Abeka again
during my pregnancy 'cause I was
like, "Oh, we need to get this right."
And so kind of have this new baby, school
is feeling a little all over the place.
I'm not sure what's going on.
Side note, that fast-forward, like,
a year later, we found out my oldest
three, um, deal with dyslexia, and I did
not know because it's the oldest three.
So I thought from the get-go, this
is the way kids learn to read.
And I was always an avid reader, my
kids weren't, and I just figured,
you know, everybody's different.
Um, but my third deals with
dyslexia severely to profoundly,
so, like, we were going nowhere.
Um, so anyways, just to kinda
set the scene, I'm kind of in
this, like, feeling s- feeling
messy, it's feeling overwhelming.
Um, and I can't remember if I heard
about you through Pam Barnhill or
I get a lot of my, like, homeschool
inspiration through YouTube.
Found out about you, and I thought,
"Okay, I'm gonna give this a go.
I'm gonna get things organized.
We're gonna get things, you
know, down pat and flowing."
And I am an overanalyzer, and Iâ¦
Pretty sure I'm, like, a, a,
not a super perfectionist.
I am such a bad perfectionist I
didn't think I was a perfectionist.
Um, and I was getting tripped up over a
lot of the things, like the brain dumps.
Like, am I doing this right?
And I just, I really wanted these
systems 'cause I wanted, you know, to
get things in order around my house.
Um, and I kept getting tripped up.
And my husband's like, "You know what?"
He's like, "If this is causing you,
like, more stress than it is, you know,
helping you, like, things are okay.
Like, you know," He's
like, "You do a good job.
Like, just put it to the side."
And I was like, "Okay."
And again, though, my focus was get
me a system, get me up and running,
tell me what I need to do that
I already don't know how to do.
Um, and I was finding, like, a lot ofâ¦
I did sweep and smile,
but, like, on my own.
And, um, I didn't join, like, SOCC
or I forget the other group, um,
the one that, like, runs in tandem.
I was just kind of doing it on my own,
and I felt like a lot of these things I
already have in place or know how to do.
And it's funny because a lot of your
videos where you talked about heart
issues, in my head, I was just kind
of like, "Yeah, I don't, you know, I
don't know why she's talking about that.
Just, like, show me what I need to do."
And in retrospect, I was like, "Those are
the ones I actually needed to listen to."
Um, so I dropped out.
And fast-forward, um, through
that year, we kind of got
school underway and in line.
Praise the Lord.
Got some things kind of working there.
Um, then we're into, like, 2025.
I had a baby in, at the end of August,
and things were, were going well.
Like, I wasn'tâ¦
I was dealing with a little
bit of overwhelm from time to
time, um, but not horrible.
And something that-
Speaker 2: It would be amazing if
a homeschool mom of eight didn't
feel some overwhelm sometimes.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, it's funny.
I don't know.
I had, like, much more of a peace.
Like, oh, and we did a- a- add in the
dog, who, by the way, at first, we thought
was, like, a complete mistake 'cause he
started, like, nipping at our children.
Um, long story, but it was kind
of my husband's idea to get a
dog, and we didn't want aâ¦
We wanted to be careful with the breeding
because, you know, German shepherds
can have a lot of health issues.
And he got a working line German
shepherd, which is, like, what
the police use for their dogs.
Like, he's, like, a, he could be bred to
be, like, a police dog, which is great,
and it doesn't mean he's aggressive.
It means he needs a job, and
he needs to be busy, and he's
like a really smart toddler boy.
And so he was, like, nipping my toddler
boy, so we even have a picture of, likeâ¦
I took the picture, mom moment, but,
like, the child was fine, the dog was
fine, of, like, three of my kids holding
the dog, and the dog literally has the
rear end seat of my son's pajama pants,
and he's, like, pulling, kind of likeâ¦
And it's like, this was my life.
But, uh, surprisingly, I felt relaxed.
Um, or not relaxed.
I was doing okay.
So yeah, all these moving pieces.
Um, but again, I felt pretty okay, but
also, the other thing kind of going
along in tandem in terms of wanting
to get our homeschool consistent
and whatnot was I followed some
different people on YouTube, and they
always talked about, not fellowship.
It is fellowship.
But, um, I listened to your most recent
video where you talked about homeschool,
so that's what I'm thinking of.
But, like, connecting
with your children, right?
Having that connection connection,
and that's what I really wanted,
and that's why we dropped the
Abeka individual video school and
went Charlotte Mason and all this.
Um- And really at one point
too, along the line, the Lord
had shown me I'm a list person.
Like, before having kids, I was
a project manager at a software
company, and I used to joke, "Oh,
that was a perfect, like, intro to
me because now I'm managing people."
But the thing is, people aren't like,
like clients and aren't like companies.
And so I was good at managing to-do
lists, but children aren't to-do lists.
And that sounds really, like, harsh,
but, like, in my mind, I was just kinda
like, you know, this is what we do.
So all this is kinda swirling around,
like connection, and I felt like
the Lord was showing me I needed
to see people and not checklists.
Um, and somewhere along the line, I wasâ¦
I listen to a lot of
stuff on, um, YouTube.
It's kinda like I just like to have
something kinda going in the background
while I'm doing, like, chores and stuff.
And I remember I was, like, sitting
in the laundry room, and I heard your-
one of your clips where you talked
about organizing your attitude, and
you said, "Tell yourself a true story,"
and I was like, "Oh, my goodness."
And it just, again, like, I remember
where I was when I heard it, and it
made me think so- about so many of the
things in my life, like my marriage,
my kids, everything that I was looking
at from a negative, "Oh, my goodness,
poor me, I'm so overwhelmed," da,
da, da, da, da, and it completely,
um, just reframed it all for me.
And so I listened to a couple more
episodes, and I started saving them
because I was like, "Wow, these
are really, like, convicting."
And, um, I talked to my husband.
I was like, "Remember that, like,
homeschooling," not homeschooling,
"like, homemaking group I was in?"
I was like, "I think I might
join it again," and, you know, I
was like, "Okay, I'm just gonna
take a stab at it," and I did.
Um, and I joined in December,
where we were talking aboutâ¦
Not renew.
Renew was my word of the year.
Mm.
What's the December- Ready
Speaker 2: five?
Speaker 3: Ready five, yes.
And again, a lot of that is like, you
know, look at the past year, um, you
know, look at it as, like, a true story
and, you know, how do you look at things?
And that really, I was like, "I need to
be doing this," and that's kinda where
I picked the ball back up, so to speak.
So- Yeah.
Speaker 2: Uh, that's so great.
Well- Yeah ⦠but even though the
first time, you still did do quite a
bit, and you picked up- A little bit,
Speaker 3: yeah
⦠Speaker 2: on the alignment card piece.
Speaker 3: Oh, yes, I did.
And I know you added- Oh, yes ⦠to it.
Sorry.
So, yeah.
Yes, exactly.
Well, I did, but I didn't,
'cause I was likeâ¦
It's funny because the, umâ¦
We're nondenominational, but a lot of
the teaching we listen to is always
about, you know, what does the Word say?
What does the Word say?
And that's what I tell my kids.
Like, well for instance, when my son,
when they gave him the dyslexia diagnosis
of severe to profound, and heâ¦
I can't rem- can't remember
what he said aboutâ¦
You know, he was obviously like
bummed out, and I was like, "Honey,"
I was like, "you are not dyslexia.
You are a child of God.
You can do all things through Christ."
So I'm doing this with my kids, but
I wasn't really doing it with myself.
Mm.
Um, so I did though, to your point,
briefly, and it is so sad and like
faded looking, it's like a smudge, but
um, this is my 2023 alignment card.
Um, I did pick up on that the first time
in Convivio, and because I think, umâ¦
What's like the intro
course, Homemaking 101?
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: Think you briefly
touch on it in there, 'cause I did
Homemaking 101 and Speak and Smile.
So I went on Etsy.
Again, it was like gross here, and
I was feeling super overwhelmed,
and I really picked up on that.
Like, I need something, I look at the
back of my phone all the time, I need
something to get my thoughts right.
And I got, um, "God is within
her, she will not fall."
Mm.
And, um, I just put it like
inside the phone case, and
it's been there ever since.
And I was actually thinking of ordering
a new one, 'cause again, it's like-
you know, it's a smudge.
It's sad.
But I've still like looked at it ever
since, and then I was going through kind
of like another rough period not too long
after that, and my husband told meâ¦
Hmm, I can't remember which part of
the verse, but I think it was the
one about, um, maybe joyful and hope.
So, and I'mâ¦
But I do know a lot
more verses than I'mâ¦
This is horrible.
I can't ever remember this one, maybe
because it's on my phone, but it's like
Romans 12:12, "Be joyful in hope, patient
in affliction, faithful in prayer."
And I was able to squeeze
that one on the back too.
So yeah.
So that's where I started, and so even
though I left, um, and now I have a lot
more alignment cards, that one has stayed.
Mm.
It kinda remains, so.
Speaker 2: I love that as a spot
for an alignment card, you know,
something that you ac- Yeah ⦠have
with you everywhere you go.
Yes, yes.
So you can always flip it over and see it.
Speaker 3: Yes, exactly.
Exactly, yeah.
Absolutely.
Speaker 2: And so those were
custom-made stickers, or you just found-
Speaker 3: Yes ⦠a sticker with that on?
No, I just, um, I think I lookedâ¦
Oh, geez, it's been a while.
But I think the "God is within
her, she will not fall," I used to
think it was fail, but I believe
it is fall, 'cause he's obviously
talking about, um, Jerusalem.
But I'm pretty sure that one I looked
up the verse specifically and I found
a sticker, and then same thing with
the other one, I looked up the verse
on Etsy, like you know, a sticker
for this verse, and it came up, so.
Speaker 2: Awesome.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Yes.
Speaker 2: And so then maybe you could
explain how that works or how that helps
to people who, where this is a new idea.
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely.
So, um, again, I do it with my kids a lot.
Um, we'll go back to the example
of my son with the dyslexia.
You know, I think when somebodyâ¦
And this is where I've really struggled,
um, and this is, you know, everybody
has their own path, and they have to,
you know, be led to the Lord themselves.
But when, you know, we found out my
kids were dealing with dyslexia, I was
kind of like, like, no, this is not,
like, a sentence on them, or this is
not, um, we're not gonna, like, camp
out here, if that makes sense, you know?
And so that whole idea that when you're
faced with a challenge or we'll go
back to, like, um, when I rejoined
Convefeel and started listening to all,
um, your Organize Your Attitude, uh,
videos I would deal with an anxiety
or a worry, and it's like, okay, what
does, what does the word say about this?
You know, I feel this way,
I'm afraid this might happen,
but what does God have to say?
Or, um, do you want me to go into telling
myself a true story a little bit or
stay in the- Yeah, that'd be great.
Yeah ⦠Yeah.
So unless, let's pick on my husband.
You know, my husband, he never
thinks of me, and this is gonna sound
silly, but this is, like, a recent
thing 'cause it gets me every time.
I've been getting my nails done recently.
I have, like, really
horrible, like, real nails.
Like, they crumble, right?
They'reâ¦
I'm a mom, like, they're gross.
So I've been getting acrylic
nails, so I'll be like, "Ugh,
my husband doesn't ever care.
He doesn't ever think about me."
And I'll look down, I'll be
like, "Mm, he sends me to get
my nails done from time to time.
Like, he wants me to do this for myself.
Maybe he actually does care."
But, you know, just that
whole, um, wake-up call.
And I think there's more
than one way to go about it.
Um, again, definitely, like, as
Christians, you know, scripture is huge.
And back to the example of my
son, like, we can't go withâ¦
We definitely can't go with our feelings.
You know, feelings can be reallyâ¦
I like Priscilla Shirer.
Um, I've done a couple
of her Bible studies.
And I think in one of them she's
like, "Feelings are stupid."
And granted, good feelings, you
know, love, joy, peace, you know,
happiness, that's more of a feeling.
But yeah, feelings can be great,
but they're usually not very smart.
That was her point.
Mm-hmm.
Like, they can lead you in a
bad direction if you just take
your feelings and run with them.
So if somebody says, "Well, you know,
you deal with dyslexia," um, you could
get really bummed out and say, "Well,
I guess I'm working at McDonald's for
the rest of my life, and, you know, I
guess this is the path I have," or you
can look at the word and says, and say,
"I can do all things through Christ.
And, you know, again, I'm a child of God.
I'm not this diagnosis or I'm not
this, like, you know, definition."
Um, you know, again, with things in the
home, I know my pregnancy with my eighth,
I was super sick, and I was convinced
she was gonna be really large and a
boy, and she was a she, and she was ve-
like, smaller compared to my other kids.
But I was super sick.
Um, and you know, just that, like,
debilitating nausea where you're like,
"Ugh, I can't even, like, function."
And it's like, yes, I feel
this way, but you know what?
I can do all things through Christ.
That was, like, my first trimester
alignment card to myself.
Um, so yeah, those areâ¦
And again, you know, telling
yourself a true story, just reallyâ¦
We were talking, I was talking to my
kids about this recently too, and it's so
funny how I feel like the Lord uses what
they're dealing with, and a lot of times
it's similar to what you're dealing with.
Yes.
And it's like he's
showing you, like, "Hey."
Rachel Carman, by the way,
the lady that does Apologia,
actually has a book on that.
I got it for free because, like, I
ordered, I forget how much, science
curriculum, and it's called, I
think it's called What Did I Say?
But it's actually a devotional, and
she goes through that very thing.
Oh.
Like, the things that we're telling our
kids that the Lord is actually telling us.
So it's really good.
Um- But anyway, yeah, just the idea
that, um, like for my kids, um, you
know, "Man, I have all this schoolwork.
I don't wanna do the schoolwork."
And I'm like, "Honey, you
know, schoolwork is a blessing.
Like, work is a blessing.
Like, your dad goes to work, and he
works really hard, but he's able to
provide a house for us to live in,
and, you know, we have food to eat,
and you're able to go and do things."
Or, so again, it's just stepping back
from your feelings and not only aligning
them with truth and God's truth, but
then also taking an objective look
at what your situation really is.
Because so many times, I think
especially as stay-at-home moms,
you're just in your head all day.
Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3: Um, and it's really
easy to believe lies that kind of
get, you know, tossed your way.
So- Yeah.
Yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Oh, that's so great
Speaker 3: Yeah.
It'sâ¦
And especially add in you're
tired or, you know, there's a lot
of noise or, you know, whatever.
And, um, I love the story about,
I think it was John andâ¦
Was it Charles Wesley?
His brother.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Their mother used to throw
her apron over her head
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 3: And, yeah, and pray, and
that is so good because that is so true.
Like, as moms, we're busy.
There'sâ¦
And I have to watch myself, 'cause
sometimes I can get snippy about
it, but I'll be like, "Guys, Mommy
needs a minute just to think."
And literally, like, sometimes
you need a minute to say, "Okay,
like, what is really going on here?
Like, I'm feeling overwhelmed, things
feel loud, things feel this way and that,
but, you know, praise the Lord, I have
children in my home that love me, and,
you know, what is the true situation?"
So I think we all need to do that, like,
throwing our apron over our head moment,
and whether it's pray or, you know,
lean on a verse or just be objective
about our situation, it's so important.
It's crucial.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Yeah.
Some trigger, like the
alignment card can be a visual-
Mm-hmm ⦠thing to latch onto.
Yes Or that apron over your head as just
a rem- like, "Okay, I am reframing."
Speaker 3: Yes.
I jokeâ¦
I was reading a devotional, or,
um, no, it wasn't a devotional.
Forget.
The lady that wrote, umâ¦
Oh, Charlotte Ma- not a
Charlotte Mason companion.
Karen Glass.
I think it was Karen Glass.
No, another lady.
Bowden.
Leah Bowden.
I forget the name of the book.
Anyways, it was a Charlotte Mason book.
But she was talking about her, like, mom
sanctuary, and granted, like, she's an
older mother, like, her kids are grown,
and so she's got a little more buffer.
She's talking about, like, her pretty
chair with, like, the blanket and this
and that, and I'm really close with
my niece, and I texted her one day,
I was like, "My laundry room is my
sanctuary," 'cause I literally haveâ¦
But I don't have the, um, washer
and dryer on, like, the risers,
so they're, like, low, so I have a
stool on the floor, and especially,
like, in pregnancy, I can, like, sit
myself down and switch the laundry.
And sometimes I'llâ¦
It has a door, so, like, I'll
just sit there and I'll shut the
door, and then it's like- Yeah
I even sent her a picture one
time, like, from, from my view.
I was like, "This is my
sanctuary moment," you know?
Yeah.
Maybe I should hang some alignment
cards in my laundry room.
That wouldâ¦
I actually do.
Oh, my gosh.
Unintentionally, um, I had a bunch of,
like, scripture-type, um, uh, magnets,
and somehow one ended up in the laundry
room, so I stuck it on the washer, and
I can't remember what it is right now
off the top of my head, but it isâ¦
it's something encouraging, like, "The
Lord is with you" or something, and
every once in a while I'll be like,
"Oh," you know, 'cause it's right there.
So, good alignment card place, though.
That would be a good alignment card place.
Speaker 2: That is.
Even just having a stool right
there, I'm like, "Oh, that's smart."
Speaker 3: Yeah.
It's really nice.
You know, but then people take it, 'cause
of course, you know, people alwaysâ¦
I'm, I'm 5'2", so, like, I'mâ¦
We have multiple stools in the house
'cause I need things, and my husband's
6'5", so that's even more reason.
He puts things up high to, like,
get out of the way of the kids,
and I'm like, "Do you realize
now that I also can't access it?"
Um, but yeah, my kids take it sometimes,
but no, it has to, it has to stay there.
I get it back.
Speaker 2: But thank you so much,
Victoria- Yeah ⦠for coming and sharing
You're welcome This is very encouraging.
Speaker 3: Good.
Good.
I'm glad.
Yeah.
Great.
Whether you join for a month whether
you join for a month, or a year, or
indefinitely, Convivial Circle is here
to help you not establish checklist
systems to get it all done, but
rather handle life without losing it.
Handle the life that God is sending
you day by day with joy and clarity
and responsibility.
We'll help you tell a true story about
your life and notice the small steps
of progress that you can make when you
let go of your perfectionism and your
overwhelm, which we will help you do
If that sounds like the place you
wanna be, we would love to have you.
You can go to convivialcircle.com
and enroll today
We have a bunch of extra stuff
going on for organizing your
attitude inside Convivial Circle
this month as our monthly topic.
And Victoria mentioned Ready Five,
which we are going to start at theâ¦
Which we're gonna start
right after Thanksgiving.
So now is a great time to join.
Head on over to convivialcircle.com
to learn more.
And no matter what,
repent, rejoice, repeat