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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.
So what encouragement would you
give homeschooling moms who feel
like there's just too much to
do, too much to keep track of?
Speaker 2: I would say they're right.
There is too much to do.
There's too much to do.
The mission is bigger than us.
And so, you know, I, I don't think that
overwhelm is necessarily a bad thing.
It's what you do with the overwhelm.
Speaker: Hello, and welcome to
the Simply Convivial Podcast.
Convivial means enjoying life
together, and that's the kind
of hospitable atmosphere that
we want to create in our homes.
I'm Misty Winkler, homemaker, homeschool
mom to five, grandma to two, and founder
of Convivial Circle, a community where
we help women organize their attitudes
and build cheerful, flexible routines
so they can love their lives at home.
And today I'm joined by one of our members
inside Convivial Circle, Nicole Anderson.
Nicole is a wife, second-generation
homeschooling mom of three,
and a recovering perfectionist
living in the Seattle area.
She's passionate about the Gospel
and how it transforms our marriages,
parenting, and hospitality.
In the middle of homeschooling and
homemaking, she practices hospitality,
dabbles in micro homesteading,
and looks for opportunities to
connect with and encourage other
moms who are new to homeschooling.
So thank you so much for
coming on today, Nicole.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
Speaker: So you are spinning a lot of
plates, homeschooling, just the, running
a household, homesteading- Mm-hmm
hospitality.
How do you keep track of what needs
to be done without letting it all
feel overwhelming and burdensome?
Have, do you have rhythms-
Yeah ⦠or methods?
How do you manage all those moving parts?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think that
one of the biggest things that's
been helpful is knowing I'm just
not doing everything every day.
And so, um, the only thing that I am
doing every day, even on the weekends,
is discipling my kids, because that's
happening conversation, it's happening in
correction, it's happening as we do our
work, it's happening as we do our play.
Um, and so that's really the
only thing I'm doing every day.
But, um, you know, homemaking,
like, that's ki- there's a portion
of that happening every day, not
as much as I would like, right?
There's no perfection, no perfectionism
happening in the homemaking department.
Not everything is getting done every day.
Um, homesteading, we actually haveâ¦
So we live in the city, um, and we have
suburban deer that make it really hard
to, to homestead or garden on our own
property, and so we do it on two sites.
My parents live out in the country,
and so I can't do that every day.
I have two afternoons a week set aside
for that, and I have a running list
of things to, you know, tasks to do,
and I just kinda go down the list.
And if something doesn't get done, like,
it'll get done later in the week or it
won't, and then it'll be done, like,
the next week or something like that.
So, um, that's not happening every day.
Um, hospitality isn't happening every day.
It is happening probably once a week.
I mean, hospitality towards guests
that don't- live in my home.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker 2: Um, so I think I
average about four to seven,
like, hospitality events a month.
Um, but it's not an everyday thing.
And so, um, that would be the first
thing is I don't do everything every day.
Um, another thing that really helped
me, um, was I changed from, like,
a two-spread monthly calendar,
two-page spread, to a one page.
Every, um, month is on one
8 and a half by 11 page.
And I was amazed at how much
that resolved my overwhelm.
Mm.
Um, because you can only
fit so much on this.
And the top third of that says
homeschooling on most days.
And so then it's like, okay, well, I,
I have afternoon and I have evening.
Like, it, my af- my day is
bri- split into three things.
Morning, which is homeschooling,
afternoon, and evening.
And so knowing, like, I just can't, I
just can't fit all of it on one day.
Um, when it was, like, this big because,
you know, each space we had two pages,
then I was, like, overfilling my days.
Um, so that was a big game changer.
Um, I think another, one other thing I
will say, kinda going to the hospitality
thing, but this could be for projects,
this could be for homeschooling, this
could be any sort of planning piece,
um, I try to take, like, 15 minutes
to- plan a thing and just, you know,
like if I'm gonna have it- neighbors
over for dinner, like I take 10 to 15
minutes and just think about that thing
instead of, you know, I write out a
project list or a hospitality list or
whatever, and that includes what are we
eating, what time are they coming over,
who's coming over, how many people,
what, you know, what do I need to do
to get that done, um, so that I'm not
thinking about it throughout the week.
I feel like I waste a lot more
time thinking about it in trickles
than in just like, "Hey, I'm
setting a timer for 10 minutes.
We're just gonna nail this down."
And so that has been a
helpful strategy as well.
I know that that's hard to do, and some
of that happens during the re- weekly
review, but some of it, like, just
happens, like, hey, I, I didn't get to it
in weekly review, or it came up after the
weekly review, and I just need to take
10 minutes and make my decisions so I'm
not trying to, like, make 'em throughout
the week and then second-guess myself.
So I think that those are some strategies
that have been really helpful for me.
Um, I do have a weekly dashboard.
There's seasons of, like, I'm really
good at checking things, I'm really good
at my routines, I'm really good at, you
know, um, checking the box, and then
there's other seasons where I'm just not.
And I think some of that is sanctification
because the Lord's, like, allowing me
not to check the box every day, you know?
Because then I'm not feeding into
that perfectionist, you know, bent.
So anyway, just I'm learning to
be okay with that, and I've grown
a lot in that, but, um, there's
still days where I'm like, "Did
anything get checked off the list?"
You know?
And, and that's okay.
Speaker: Yeah, I think we don't
realize how much planning really
is just making those decisions.
Yeah.
And when they're open and lingering-
Speaker 2: Yes
⦠Speaker: we don't realize how much
that's actually wearing down our
attention- Mm-hmm ⦠and our ability
to think about other things- Yeah
if that's just there.
Yeah.
That's big.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker: I find running lists
to be key also- Mm-hmm ⦠for
just keeping track of things.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker: So how do you
do your running list?
And maybe explain the running
list if, for the people who
aren't sure what that means.
Yes.
Speaker 2: Yes.
So a running list is kind of like what
it sounds like, where you have a sheet of
paper or a notes on your phone if youâ¦
I'm a paper gal, so, um, I need the
extra, um, for a couple of reasons.
I need the extra input of writing it,
um, and I also need to not be on my
phone as much, so I'm a paper gal.
Um, so my list, I have a
paper, but you could do it on
a notes app or whatever too.
Um, and I write the event or the project
or the category of work to be done, and
then I just brain dump, like, what are
all the things that are on my mind about
this thing, and I just write it all down.
Um, if I'm planning an event or something
like that and it's like a running list
of tasks for that event, then I will kind
of divide the paper up so that it's, you
know, I've got easy access to things like
time and date and who's invited and what
are we having and that kind of thing.
So there's a little bit of, um, I tweak
it a little bit for like a hospitality
thing, where I need to make food or be
somewhere at a certain time or whatever.
But, um, like for gardening,
it's literally just a bullet
point list of like this needs
to happen, this needs to happen.
And honestly, some things have been
on that running list for six months
or eight months, because guess what?
It's not really a big priority.
It's taking a lot of brain space if
it's not on the running list, but
once it's on the list, it's really
not that important, obviously, because
it's been on there for so long.
So kind of helps you see like, keep
things off of your brain, 'cause you
know it's written down somewhere.
And then I keep it in my, um- I keep
it in my binder, my household binder.
So I, yeah, I don't like theâ¦
I like- I moved to a binder system
because I got tired of having to throw
away planners every year, and like
tear out pages and like recycle it.
And so it just is easier if I've messed
up on a planner page, you know, and it's
chaotic and not helping me anymore, I can
simplify it, redo it, and stick it in.
And so I keep my running
lists in my binder.
Speaker: Nice.
So that, is that where your
monthly planner sheet and weekly-
Yeah ⦠dashboard are also?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
As well as some, um, like
homeschool checklists.
So not my homeschool dashboard.
I keep that with my homeschooling
stuff on my homeschooling clipboard.
But, um, like reading lists, um,
curriculum, like supply lists, stuff
like that, I stick that in my binder
too so that I know where it is.
I don't forget it, don't lose it.
So
Speaker: yeah.
So you said four to seven
hospitality times a month.
Is that, like, usually having people
over for dinner, or what are your
different categories of hospitality?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, um, I will just put
a plug in for Rosaria Butterfield's book,
The Ho- um, Gospel Comes With a House Key.
Yeah Because thatâ¦
um, I've heard it said, "Books don't
change your life, paragraphs do."
Well, that one did change my life.
I so, um, I will just put a plug in for
that for gospel-oriented, um, hospitality.
But one of the things in that book really
sh- like, that shook me up a little
bit was inviting people into your life.
And so for us, um, so I'm an introvert.
My husband is an extrovert.
I have extroverted children.
And so we have a lot of people over
all the time because they needâ¦
like, that is really important for
them, and it is also important for me.
I just wouldn't do it
if it was left up to me.
And so they're a gift to me to be
doing the work that I'm supposed
to be doing, because it would be a
lot more tempting to not do it if
I didn't have extroverts around me.
But, um, this last, um, this last
month, I think we've had, like,
four different, um, events so far.
Sporting events have been, um, something
that we've done, I think, three of.
And, um, so, like, football
games, stuff like that.
Um, I've hosted homeschooling events.
So, like, and h- by event,
event is kinda loosely.
It's more of a gathering.
But, um, we just did a
homeschool science day.
I've got a bunch of little kids who
have, um, little friends, and their
moms are fresh to homeschooling.
And so, um, we all decided
that, you know what?
We do science better when we're doing
it together because the mess is less.
I mean, the mess is still the same,
but the work or, and the stress is less
'cause you're doing it with friends.
And, um, also my attitude is better.
Yeah.
So, so we did, um, science day with that.
Um, some- sometimes hospitality
looks like bringing someone a meal.
Mm-hmm.
So we have a neighbor who is
battling cancer, and we gave her
and her family a meal this month.
Um, my sister's going through
some health complications.
I just took dinner to them last night.
So it doesn't necessarily
mean that you are, umâ¦
It doesn't necessarily mean that
you're in- having people in your home.
I know that there are some
people that have, like, um-
You know, space challenges.
And so it doesn't, there's no
pressure to have people in your home.
Um, sometimes hospitality for me
looks like, um, we had a group
meet at our church that was
like a homeschool hangout day.
Um, and the gal who heads it
up texted me a couple weeks and
she was like, "I can't doâ¦
I can't be there.
Will you make sure that people are
welcome, and doors are open, and snacks
are provided, and stuff like that?"
And so that was something I was h- like
practicing hospitality in my church-
Speaker: Yeah
⦠Speaker 2: um, that was not in my home.
And it was literally microwave
popcorn and small oranges.
You know, it was very simple.
And, um, we've also got, you know,
where you just call a friend up
and chat because you know they
need it, and so you're inviting
them into your life and your time.
And so I think that hospitality
looks, um- a lot of different ways.
For sure.
So for me, that's, that's
some of the, some of the ways.
Speaker: Yeah.
That's great to have that
broad category, too, 'cause it-
Speaker 2: Yeah
⦠Speaker: it really is just extending
that welcome to other people-
Yeah ⦠no matter where you are.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Yeah.
And I mean, we've had times where,
like, our neighbor girls have showed
up on our front porch, you know, and,
and their mom texted me as they wereâ¦
But they beat the text, right?
So they show up on my front door and
I'm like, "Come on in," you know?
And, and so it just really is
inviting people into your life.
Um, laundry can be on the
floor because guess what?
You live there.
And sometimes, especially if you're
homeschooling, like, it's not
all getting done, and people need
to see that because guess what?
It's not all getting done
at their house either.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: So there's a real, like, a
realism that comes from just inviting
people in, even if it's not perfect.
Speaker: Yes.
Yes.
So all these different pieces really
do still serve the same mission.
Yeah.
How would you express your mission as
you go about all these different things?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Well, I think, um, the
mission is make disciples.
I think it's, uh, it's just
plain and simple make disciples.
And so, um, for me, there's, likeâ¦
So homeschooling is making
disciples, like discipleship.
Um, hospitality really is also
making disciples, or being discipled.
Like, if I'm invitingâ¦
We had a, a couple who, um, from our
church that we didn't know, but they've
been homeschooling for a long time, and
when they left, my husband and I were
like, "Wow," like, "I think we just
found homeschooling mentors," you know?
So we were inviting them into
our home, but guess what?
We got blessed by that.
And so, um, you know, so there's, like,
this disciple-ling, d- being discipled
dynamic, um, it to hospitality.
And then everything else is stewardship.
And, and so, like, homemaking is taking
care of stewarding well the gifts and
tools that God has given us so that
we can make disciples in our home.
And homesteading for us is, um,
I keep going back to, like, it is
a hobby- Um, but it's also a way
that my husband and I have felt
like we are to steward our bodies.
Like, not the only way to steward your
body, but for us, it's been something
that we have felt like this is a way
we can steward our bodies so that we
are, um, better equipped to serve.
Like, I don't want to have faithfulness be
harder down the road because I was not a
good steward earlier, if that makes sense.
Yeah.
So, um, that looks a lotâ¦
That looks different for everyone.
It's not like, you know, one size fits
all, but for us, that's how homesteading
fits in, is like we wanna take care
of our bodies so that we can do the
good works that God has called us to
do without shooting ourselves in the
foot 'cause we made poor choices.
So, um, so it all does tie
together is make disciples.
And, um, one of the things I've been
praying for this year is that we would
have more gospel conversations with
people, just natural gospel conversations,
because we have a lot of people in our
lives who don't know the Lord, and the
Lord just keeps bringing them, you know?
And, like, I, I even had a conversation
with, um, a new homeschool mom in the
YMCA locker room of all places after
swimming, and she was- we were talking
about the importance of the resurrection.
Hmm.
And she didn't think that was important.
She's like, "I think that's optional."
I'm like, "Eh, not really
optional," you know?
But that was a relationship
the Lord brought in.
I wasn't looking for it.
And, um, and so Iâ¦
You know, anyway, I just think
that there's a lot of discipleship.
I want those gospel conversations.
There's a lot of people
who don't know the Lord.
I want the gospel conversations, but I
don't wanna be forcing doors open because
the Lord knows when they're ready.
He knows- Mm ⦠what
the harvest looks like.
And so, um, anyway, that's-
Speaker: Yeah, and when you have
that expressed, it's like tuning your
radar for noticing those moments.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Yeah.
I was thinking about even, um, thinking
of the- some of the questions that you
had sent me was, it's kind of like,
you know, you look at the mission and
how the work fits with the mission,
and how that helps gl- you know,
it helps your perspective in, like,
wanting to glorify the Lord more.
And it's kind of a circle, where the Holy
Spirit, like, changes your hearts and
your desire to want to glorify the Lord.
You start seeing the Lord be glorified,
which makes you wanna do it more, which
makes him glorified more, and it's just
this beautiful circle that, um, you
know, He's getting glory and you're
getting excited about that, you know?
And so, um, I think the more I have
seen the Lord work in our home,
in our homeschool, and, um, in our
family, and opportunities toâ¦
Even that my husband has had to pray
for people at his work, um- It just,
God's bringing the people, and we just
wanna be faithful with the message.
Speaker: That's great.
So what encouragement would you
give homeschooling moms who feel
like there's just too much to
do, too much to keep track of?
Maybe they wonder if they're doing
enough or too much, and, like, one day
it feels like too much, and the other
day it feels like not enough, and, like,
that kind of rollercoaster feeling.
Speaker 2: I would say they're right.
There is too much to do.
There's too much to do.
The mission is bigger than us.
And so, you know, I, I don't think that
overwhelm is necessarily a bad thing.
It's what you do with the overwhelm.
Mm-hmm.
So if the overwhelm paralyzes you or
stops you or slows you down in the work
God's called you to do, that's a problem.
If it causes you to reevaluate,
like, "Okay, Lord, am I doing
what you have called me to do?"
And then either drop things that you've
taken on that He hasn't asked you to
do, or verified like, "Yep, we're on the
right track," either way, that causes
you to lean more heavily on the Lord
because really, the job is too hard.
It's too much for any of us.
Um, and, and it's His work.
You know, the results are up to Him.
And so I think for me, I have beenâ¦
I think the Lord has been shifting
my perspective from I have to do
all the things, which honestly is
kind of, it's antithetical to the
gospel really, because- It's not
just about, like, homeschooling.
You know, we think like, "Oh,
I've got to do all the things in
homeschooling," but really all of
that is just dis- discipleship, right?
It's the Lord's work to raise up
another generation of faithful people.
Um, it's not the only way He does
that, but it's a way He does that.
And so, um, but even
that, like, we can'tâ¦
We can teach the word to our kids,
but we can't make them love the Lord,
and we can't make them obey Him.
That's God's work.
And so, um, you know, so
the, "Am I doing enough?
Am I doing enough that my kids
would know and love the Lord?"
Like, well, sister, you don't
got any control over that.
Speaker: Yeah.
You
Speaker 2: know?
And, you know, I think with homeschooling,
too, like, "Am I doing enough?
Are my kids gonna be, you
know, educated enough?"
It's like, by whose standards?
Because we already know statistically
they're gonna be better off than their
public school peers or, you know, in
some cases even private school peers.
Um, but is that the point?
You know, is the point to raise
kids who love to learn, which
by the way, we can't control.
Mm.
That's the Lord's work, too.
And so I think the, "Am I doing enough?"
is kind of the wrong question.
And, um, I think a better question to
ask is, "Am I stewarding what God has
called me to do to the best of my ability?
Am I being faithful?"
Because, um, the results
aren't up to us, you know?
And if you look at the Parable of
the Talents, which is where we go
often for the, "Well done, good and
faithful servant," like, the first
servant, he had t- um, five talents.
Started out with five
talents, got five more.
He could have got 10 more.
He could have done more.
That wasn't the point.
The point was that he was
faithful, and he wanted to do
something with what he was given to
benefit, bless, make better hisâ¦
Not in like a, "I'm improving
on the Lord," but to, um,
just honor his master, right?
And, and so, so i- it was never
a question of if it was enough.
The master could have said,
"You could have done more.
Why didn't you do more?"
But it- the master was relating to
him based on grace, and so that's
how our master relates to us.
Um, and so he's not asking,
"Are you doing enough?"
He's asking, "Are you doing
what I called you to do?"
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And I don't think we like
that, because it doesn't feed our pride.
There'sâ¦
You know, we can't be
self-sufficient in that.
We have to rely on Him.
We have to get our
marching orders from Him.
We can't strong-arm our way
through faithfulness, you know?
And so, um, so I would encourage her,
like, remember that you were saved
by grace, and God doesn't relate
to you based on your good works.
He doesn't relate to you based on, umâ¦
You know, you're not sanctified by
the law after being saved by grace.
That's what the whole Book
of Galatians is about.
Um, and so I just encourage her,
like, just be thinking more in terms
of faithfulness and stewardship,
um, because that's what the Lord is
filtering our actions through, and so.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
That's so good.
Yeah.
It's just ongoing reliance and dependence.
Yes.
If the dependence on God goes away-
Speaker 2: Yes
⦠Speaker: like, what, what is it even for?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Well, and, and the other thing is is
that the Lord knows the good works
that He has planned for our kids.
Mm-hmm.
And so guess what?
Not all of them need calculus.
You know?
And, and you know, there's
the part of, like, I- I canâ¦
I was trying to put myself in
the shoes of the gals who haveâ¦
You know, I'm in Washington State.
We have pretty loose homeschooling laws.
I know not everyone does, and so I was
thinking, like- For the mom who's like,
"I have such strict homeschooling laws,"
like, okay, we honor the governing
authorities, but ultimately we still
need to trust the Lord with the results.
And so, um, so anyway, that
was, that's another facet of it.
It's like, yes, if you have, you
know, a checklist of things you
have to teach your kids, um, for
the state, like honor the state.
Honor the authorities put over you, and
make sure you're doing those things.
Um, but also, you're not gonna be able
to teach your kids everything they need
to know in the 18 years you have them.
The goal is that God would be taking
them so much farther than you could
take them in your home school.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And, um, and so, which even
those results are out of your control,
but that is like the focus is I getâ¦
I have 18 years with them, or, you
know, in some cases you do have
longer, but like just thinking of it
in terms of like, I have 18 years.
What are you wanting to equip them with,
Lord, for the good works that you have?
I don't know them yet.
I get to watch them unfold.
Mm-hmm.
And so what do you want me to teach them?
And it's gonna change from year to year.
Um, you know, I'veâ¦
Like, I know there's like a lot of
stress over like homeschool math, higher
math, and it's like, well, if they're
supposed to be an engineer, you're
probably not worried about it, you know?
They probably have this
natural affinity that God has
already given them to do that.
If they're supposed to be, you know,
in English or the sciences, like you're
probably not worried about those subjects.
Just relax.
The Lord has got this, and you do
what you've, he's called you to do for
the year, or the month, or whatever,
and trust the, trust the process.
He's got it.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
So.
Yeah.
That's so good.
Thank you so much, Nicole.
This has been so encouraging and helpful.
Speaker 3: If you struggle with
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This is a daily practical step that you
can take to get rid of your overwhelm
and your perfectionism and give yourself
a bias toward action, which will
lead you to becoming more organized
You can find this free training by
going to simplyconvivial.com/organized,
and I'll also have the link
in the description below.
Go from overwhelmed to organized
with this free training at
simplyconvivial.com/organized.
It will help you to
repent, rejoice, repeat