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January 8, 2025 44 mins

What happens when you take the leap from a stationary life to a mobile one with a dozen kids in tow? Emmy Maynor joins us to share her incredible journey of faith, family, and the pursuit of biblical living through "Manor Manor". Married for 20 years and a mom to 12, Emmy offers an intimate glimpse into her family's transition to a life on the move, emphasizing the importance of nurturing a deep friendship with God and staying true to spiritual rhythms amidst chaos. She provides practical insights on how daily scripture reading—even those often-overlooked genealogies—can fortify your relationship with the Lord.

Parenting, as we all know, doesn't come with a manual, and Emmy opens up about the trials and triumphs of expanding her family from two to three children. Through personal stories, she highlights the invaluable role of community support and mentorship, sharing how influence from positive role models, like the Duggars, helped her find peace during challenging times. You'll discover the power of surrounding yourself with a diverse group of people, drawing from their experiences and perspectives to enrich your own parenting journey, particularly during the demanding days of seminary life.

In a world where differences in faith interpretations can often divide, Emmy explores the beauty and complexity of finding unity within a diverse Christian community. She reflects on the importance of working through conflicts with love and service, drawing on biblical examples like Paul and Barnabas. Emmy also shares heartfelt advice on prioritizing rest, especially for new parents, and underscores the necessity of setting daily rhythms that align with one's values. Trusting God's guidance, she reveals, has been a transformative force in her life, offering a reassuring reminder of the clarity and understanding that faith can bring even in the most uncertain times.

Connect with Emmie Manor:

Bible Study Toolkit: https://to.themanormanor.com/lead-magnet-2950-7789

The Manor Manor Community (off FB): https://themanormanor.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/the-manor-manor-community/home

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themanormanor

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/emmie.manor/  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themanor.manor

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the.manor.manor

Grab the Healthy Sustainable Weekly Rhythm Guide for Busy Moms ► ► https://aliesehalcomb.com/weeklyrhythms

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Okay, hello, we're so glad that you guys are here.
All right, so I want tointroduce you to my sweet friend
, emmy Maynor, and I said itright, so I'm very excited about
that.
So she is.
I met her through a mutualfriend and I just think that
she's going to have so muchwisdom to offer and instead of
introducing her myself, I'mgoing to let her introduce

(00:22):
herself.
So, emmy, tell us about yourfamily, your business, like
where the God is leading you,and, yeah, all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yeah, thank you for having me.
I'm really excited to be here.
My name is Emmy Maynor and, yes, it has been a really
interesting few years.
I am married to Jim and we have12 living children 15 down to
almost one in just a few daysand we are.
We're from Georgia and we'reactually getting ready to go

(00:53):
mobile, which I'm really excitedabout and we are the Mainer
Manor and we disciple familiesin biblical living, helping you
to hear God's voice in the midstof all the noise, and we walk
alongside you from birth intoeternal life.
We cover a lot in that, but ourprimary focus is Bible study

(01:14):
and discipleship, because it allstarts there.
We need to know God's word.
We need to know what he saysand know and get guided by him
on how to live that out, so thatwe are doing what God calls us
to do, not just whatever anyoneelse calls you to do or thinks
you should do.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
So yeah, that's great .
That's great.
So, ok, so you have you'remarried, yes, 20 years.
How many?
20.
20 years Congratulations,that's super exciting.
Okay so you've been married for20 years, you have 12 living
children and you guys arerunning a full-time business,
right Well?

Speaker 2 (01:51):
we're still in the beginning stages, but yes, yes,
yes.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
All right, so that is a serious plate, right?
So how do you do this withoutlosing your mind?
Well, I occasionally lose mymind and I scream at God right
and go.
What am I doing?

Speaker 2 (02:10):
And then I go okay, you know what?
No, he has given us a lot oftools.
He's given us a lot of wisdom.
Over the years.
We have been very gracious,like he's been very gracious to
us.
Our family did get built really, really fast after we started
having children.
Our average is like 15 monthsapart for all of our children
and in the early stages of thatwe did have my sister live with

(02:33):
us for a few years, so thatactually helped a lot.
That was a really big blessingwhen we had a bunch of littles
and that helped, but a lot of ithas just been pressing into God
.
One of the things that I havebeen very blessed with in my
life is to have a deepfriendship with the Lord and um,

(02:53):
I think that is is really keyand it's one of those things
that's really hard to teach.
It's just one of those thingsthat you have to practice, and
there are days, there are timesI'm a horrible, one of those
things that you have to practice, and there are days, there are
times I'm a horrible friend, ahorrible daughter to the king
and I like I just keep goingalong and then after a while
he's like excuse me, what areyou doing and um, and then I

(03:14):
come back and I'm like you'reright, I'm sorry, okay, I'm not
hearing clearly, I need to sitdown and I just take a minute
and pause.
Um, and a lot of it, too, hasbeen learning how to have the
rhythms that we need and for ourfamily, so that we're all
getting filled as much as we can, and that's been especially

(03:35):
crucial in the last year or so,with just some things that
happen, but it's been such ablessing to grow together as a
family in the Lord, and so thathelps a lot too.
Now that we have older ones,it's also changed the dynamic.
So, um, it looks different ineach season.
We're definitely unique in thefact that we have every season
from, you know, teen down to towell, she's not really an infant

(03:57):
anymore, since she's crawling,but but yeah, so, um, but a lot
of it is just having that deepfriendship with the Lord and
learning to hear his voice and,yeah, and just trusting that he
knows what he's doing, even whenit feels like everything is out
of control.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
That is a good point, yeah.
So it's like we have toremember, like the things that
we say is that we trust the Lord.
Right Now you can say it, butare you living it out?
Do you believe it?
And that is like that's a jumpsometimes.
But sometimes you just have tostart with saying like I trust
you and saying it a lot, likeyour heart and your ass will

(04:33):
follow.
So, speaking of that and I knowyou said it's not an easy thing
to teach somebody but if someonewas gonna say like, okay, I
need a practical step, can yougive me like one to three things
like I can start doing today,right?
Um, when we're recording this,it is the brand new year, right?
And so here we are in the newyear.
What can I do to grow thatrelationship with the Lord?

(04:55):
Just something very, verypractical, very practical.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Read the Bible, read scripture every day.
If it's one verse or a wholepassage or a whole book, read
something.
Once we get, once we realizewe're reading the words of God,
that the, and you hold fast.
Okay, this is the word of God.
Even when you're reading thegenealogies yes, they are
important, okay, but trust, butknow that, know that it's

(05:20):
important.
He's telling us thatgenerations are important.
He's telling us that family isimportant.
He is showing us all of thesethings.
He's showing us.
I mean particularly the line ofyeshua, right of jesus, and um,
and yeah, like those, eventhose are important.
So if all you read is thegenealogy, that day, like, just
sit in that, like that's cool,right, and then pray, um.

(05:42):
Dr whitney, donald whitney, hasa book called praying the
scriptures.
It's super practical um, uh,and you just just look at the
scripture and pray whatever,whatever it is you write about,
even if all you read was agenealogy and I like to use
something obscure like that,because people are like what?
But like it's like that, it'slike thank you for my family and
start praying for your familymembers um and uh.

(06:04):
And then the next thing is do,especially in those passages
that have commands in them, dothem.
What does it mean to do that?
And then I know there are a lotof questions throughout the
Bible about well, what does thatlook like today?
You know versus like then.
But I mean, step into that andpray, say you know, what do you
want me to do with this God?

Speaker 1 (06:29):
How am I to live this out right now?
That's perfect, that's.
I love that because it's not ascomplicated we were talking
about that before, as make itright, it's not the Lord.
Read your word, pray that wordand ask him to help you live it
out.
Like that is what Christianityis Like.
We believe that Jesus is who hesays he is and we want to do
what he said to do.
Right, yeah exactly.
That's beautiful.
I love that Very practical Bigfan.
Okay, so let's talk about theearly years, like when you first

(06:53):
started having lots of littles,so a lot of people that watch
this.
They have littles, and so we'retrying to figure out how to
create that foundation that yourchildren will grow up in the
Lord, first and foremost, butalso that you'll have this
peaceful home that sometimes ischaos, absolutely, cause there's
little people, but your mind isat peace, your family is at
peace, even when there'sscreaming and yelling and juice

(07:16):
or milk on the floor.
You know like the life thatpeople with lots of littles have
.
So what is that piece look likefor you?
How did you cultivate that inthe early years?

Speaker 2 (07:27):
I know you talked about having your sister there,
so community was, yes, deal, um,just just anything about early
years, um, when you just startedhaving all these little babies
okay, so early years, we so wemoved actually from our hometown
in Georgia to, uh, kentucky toattend seminary, from our
hometown in Georgia to Kentuckyto attend seminary with two

(07:50):
littles in tow.
So that was so at the beginning.
We lived right across from myparents, so we had them nearby.
We definitely had a lot ofpeople who loved us at the time
and so, yeah, we had what weneeded.
I was able to stop working whenour first was seven months old
or so, um, which was a hugeblessing because I cried when I

(08:13):
had to go back, so, um, so thatthat's a huge part of it was
just being able to be at homewith them.
And then, after moving, um,yeah, we, we were able to
develop some community veryquickly.
It's interesting, our very firstfriends there were actually
Iraqi Muslims and they, so theywould come and help us.

(08:33):
The women in that family wouldcome and help me occasionally,
and we met some others that hadjust moved to the area for
seminary at the same time and weended up in the same
congregation, so, and we livedin the same complex, so we would
do things together, um, andthat helped a lot.
Uh, I am not very domestic, sothat was a learning curve for me

(08:54):
personally and that did causeme a lot of stress.
But God put these women in mylife who are very domestic and I
learned from them, was able totry things out and they, like,
they showed me, you know, how tomake bread and how to, you know
, just put a meal together, um.
So, yeah, like early in thoseearly years, uh, it was a fact.

(09:15):
It's funny it's gonna soundfunny a lot of the ways the
early years are almost easierwhen it was just a couple of
them.
Now, when you add that third inthe third is the hardest and you
will almost find thatcompletely across the board,
like they're going to be a fewthat disagree with that because
the third, you're going.
Okay, all right, I have onlytwo hands.
There are only two adults inthis house and he's usually not

(09:39):
here because he's working in inclasses.
Um, but even that, I just Istayed home a little more than,
or I would just go stay in ourcomplex, the likes.
We lived in an apartment at thetime, um, and then we were
blessed to have my sister comeand live with us, um, not long
after that, and so that was,that was a huge blessing.
Um, she now she did work andwas in classes and all that, but

(10:00):
she, she helped out a lot.
And um, she, she likes to cook.
I do not.
So that helped because she wasable to help with some of that
when Jim was working, because hedoes like to cook.
He is really the chef in thehouse.
He is amazing and I'm soblessed by that.
So that helped too.
Like just having, in somerespects, what people would
consider nontraditional help,because just having that and God

(10:25):
knew I needed that, god knew heneeded that, and for him it's
an outlet.
He loves it.
So, um, yeah, so that helpedtoo.
Um, but yeah, a lot of a lot ofit, though, was just being
intentional about um, readingthe word praying, getting sleep
when I could cause we were inreally funky schedules so I
might nap or have some downtimewhen the children did.

(10:47):
That is a lot of it, too, ismaking sure you rest, and I know
everyone is always like what doyou mean rest?
I'm like the one thing I do nottell people is take care of
yourself.
If I can't do anything to helpthem, do that that I get so
tired of it.
Remember to take care ofyourself Well, what are you
going to do to help me do that?
So instead, you need to look at, like, what's going on and say,
okay, do I need to ask for help?

(11:09):
Right, and, like I said,thankfully God brought the right
people at the right time.
So, yes, having the communityaround you is lovely, but if you
don't like has been the casewith us in the last year um with
, with the littles is justtrusting god to give you the
strength that you need and totake those moments that he gives

(11:30):
you and not take them forgranted and be really
intentional with them.
Um, I love, I love movies, Ilove tv, all that.
So it's really easy for me tojust veg out um, but and
sometimes that's okay and I canrejuvenate like that but not
it's usually not good.
So it's like one of those savethose for like once every couple

(11:50):
weeks or something like that orbe very choosy in what you
watch um.
Now, I know it's a bitcontroversial now, but that at
the time when I had my third, Iwas watching um the 17 and
counting um with the Duggars andthat gave me a lot of
encouragement because I was like, if she can do it with 17, I

(12:11):
can do it with three.
Okay, like Lord, show me how todo this with three.
So I think it's important to toeat and, like I said, I know
it's controversial with them,but I mean, that's really
neither here nor there.
The point is she did, she diddo it with three and and 17, and
all that.
And look at others that havegone before you.
Find yourself a mentor and anddon't be weird about it like

(12:33):
just be, like, hey, I need somehelp.
And then don't argue eitherlike you can.
You can like say I'm not sureabout this, but like I mean that
that's a huge thing.
Is like ask for help and thenlike listen, process and then
say, ok, what can Irealistically take from this,
because we're not going to beable to do everything.
People give me suggestions allthe time and I have to sit there
and go, ok, I'm going to trythis one because you can't do it

(12:56):
all right.
So getting getting those thosegood suggestions from those that
have gone before you, and evenjust like someone, that's a step
ahead right.
Like if you're in the stagewith all littles and like I have
ones that are older and littles, so I can speak to you in a way
that someone that may only haveolder is not going to be able
to speak to you, but they alsomay have some good suggestions

(13:17):
because of the situation.
So it's just you get variouslife stages that's what I'm
looking for.
Get various life stages, that'swhat I'm looking for.
Having that in your life.
And that was really helpfulwhen we went to seminary,
because at the congregation wewere at, it was a lot of young
families, but they also had beenvery intentional in bringing in

(13:38):
older families as well.
So you did have several lifestages to tap into there.
So that was that, I think, is areally big thing.
If you're in a congregation,that's all one life stage.
Something's wrong and you needto go find someone that's that's
older and younger too, becausethose younger singles you get to
be a blessing to them and theycan be a blessing to you by you

(14:00):
allowing them into their homeand them getting to practice
their skills, and then and thenthey're helping you with things
too.
So that's another greatresource that's happened to you
if you have it in your area.
And all of that, yeah, all ofthat helps bring peace right.
Okay, and that was the originalquestion, but it's like I mean
it really.
It really boils down to thelike asking it's I mean the

(14:21):
peace comes from trusting God,right, okay.
Ultimately, that's the Likeasking I mean the peace comes
from trusting God, right, okay,ultimately, the peace comes from
trusting God and trusting Godin the process.
So if you're surrounded bypeople and you're able to do all
that, amazing.
If you're not, it's stillamazing and God will give you
the strength to do it.
And that's the peace.
The peace comes from the trustI mean.

(14:42):
Yeah, absolutely that's perfect.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
No, that's absolutely true, right, so we are grounded
in Christ, absolutely, likethat is our first and foremost
thing.
He gave us people.
If he gives you people, um, usethose people, find people that
are around you, like, yeah,always learning, we never, ever
arrive.
And also, like you said, whichI really love, is you listen and

(15:06):
then you take the things thatyou can do.
Right, you don't have to doeverything that everybody does,
even if every person in yourlife does it a certain way and
it is not working for yourfamily.
If it's not not biblical, right, like, as long as it does not
align, then you don't have to doit the way they do it.
That's totally cool, right?
So I really love that.
So, taking from people,listening, not arguing, that's a

(15:29):
good key there.
And what works for your family,like, that's how we have.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
We're grounded in Christ and then we do what works
for our family, because welearn from other people Like
that is beautiful and that'sanother key too for the mentor
is, if you have someone that islike I'm trying to make you into
my image, they're not the rightmentor for you, you need to
tell.
You need to just like.
I just want to throw that inthere because that can come up a
lot with some of thegenerational gaps, so just yeah,

(15:56):
yeah, be wary of.
That is what you're saying.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah, if they think it's like my way or no way, like
they're not great for you, justpray for them and wander away.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Thank you for your advice.
I'm moving on now.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yes, absolutely, yeah , yeah, Good, that's very good
advice.
That's very good advice.
So, if someone um didn't have acommunity right, so they don't
have people around them, um, isthere a way, like a practical
way, that you think that theycould try to find that?

Speaker 2 (16:27):
Um, because it is important to have people, even
if you know it's just a couple.
Well, one of the blessings thatwe have in this digital age is
the fact that we can haveencouragement even from the
distance.
Is it great when you needphysical help in your home?
No, it's not great, but it issomething you can tap into and

(16:50):
that has been a huge blessingfor us over the last couple of
years, for our entire family,and we even had the blessing of
being able to go visit some ofthese friends during Tabernacles
this year.
So that was a lot of fun.
And we got our camper thatwe're going to be living in and
just went out there and enjoyedfellowship with them, bird that
we're going to be living in andjust went out there and enjoyed
fellowship with them, and I mean, and that's like carrying us

(17:10):
through, because we're like well, oh yeah, remember when we did
this and remember when we didthat, you know and like, and
then they'll send messages backand forth.
So it's it's great for thatspiritual and mental and
emotional health and which leadsto really the physical health,
because when you're doing wellmentally and you're doing well
spiritually and you're doingwell emotionally, you're more

(17:31):
likely to do well physically andyou can handle more of the
stress, the physical stressthat's coming at you.
We, I know, and physical isimportant.
I'm not saying that the physicalhelp is not important, so that
that is one thing.
I mean I don't, I don't knowthat I have really great.
I mean you can, I mean you cancongregation, hop and see if you

(17:54):
, if, like there's people that,um, that are I don't want to say
click with, because that's notright, like we want, we want
diversity in the body, rightthat's.
We're not looking for peoplethat we're identical with, but
at least ones that are not goingto sit there and um act like
there's something wrong with youbecause you're following

(18:14):
scripture, um, this way andthey're understanding it that
way, and you know, and it's notof it's not of the like, the top
tier importance, right, right,yeah, so does that make sense?

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yes, I think it hopefully makes sense to
everybody else.
I don't know what you'retalking about.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
Yeah, I know I'm trying to be delicate because we
I mean, we were told many timeslike, well, like you're,
basically your convictions arevery visible and it's like is
that, is that a problem, likeright?
So it's like you know that.
It's like is that a problem,like right?
So it's like you know that it'sone of those things that, just
like you want, if it's a problemthat your convictions are
visible, then yeah, then that'sa problem for them, not for you.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yeah, exactly Like they don't.
You're not like making them doit.
They calm it down over there.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
And I think that's what it is you're like.
Okay, we've read the bible andthis is how we're holding to and
we don't mind disagreeing withyou, but you know, we just would
like some community, you know,and that's something you have to
work through and it's somethingwe should work through as a
body, I mean you see it, withPaul and Barnabas and Mark and
Peter, I mean, they hadconflicts.
So why do we act like we can't,you know, work through these

(19:30):
things?

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, there's a lot there's.
There's stuff in there thattalks about how to work through
Right and so and you're right,like the body of Christ is a
beautiful thing because thereare a group of people that would
not otherwise not be friends,yeah, our our.
The thing holding us togetheris Jesus.
And you don't get along withpeople from every walk of life

(19:51):
unless you have Jesus.
And so, yes, I agree 100%, likeyou don't want to have you're
not trying to find a group ofpeople that are exactly like you
, but you're finding it, tryingto find a group of people that
love the Lord enough to bewilling to walk in life with you
the way scripture says.
And you know, love you well andyou can serve them and they can

(20:15):
serve you.
People are people are crazy,like everybody is so different
and it's such a good time, andit's like whenever I'm
frustrated with people who Iknow love the Lord, but are
we're not on the same page.
I'm like who I know love theLord, but we're not on the same
page.
I'm like this is what the bodyof Christ looks like Like.
Would it be easier if, like Ileft, or they left?
Probably, but it would not begood for the body of Christ, you

(20:40):
know.
And so that's where we want tolive and that's what we want to
do.
Something I did.
I know I asked you the question, but I'm going to share this
anyway Very early on whenever.
So my husband and I we gotmarried.
We were safe when we were inhigh school, or he was earlier,
but still when I was in highschool.
But we were not living for theLord when we first got married,
like we were doing whatever wewanted.

(21:00):
And when I first came, we firststarted coming back to the Lord
.
I didn't have any Christianfriends.
I had one, but we weren't closeright, she was around but I
didn't really know her.
Um, well, yet I do now, um andso, but I didn't really have a
lot.
And so I asked the Lord.

(21:21):
I was like, please send mesomebody, please send me someone
.
And I'm telling you like,quickly, people started showing
up in my life and I made it veryawkward.
Like hey, you want to be myfriend?
Like literally, like sendingtexts, like, hey, I would love
to hang out with you.
I'm looking for Christianfriends, I would like to hang
out with you.
She said, yes, and we startedhanging out, like it may feel
awkward, but, being honest andupfront, people like that.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
So yeah, and something.
Something I would add to thistoo, now that I like that you
actually brought that up, isthere are life stages where
you're going to be able to domore and be around others more,
and it is why it's so necessaryfor us to have the different
life stages together, becausesomeone that's an empty nester
or retired, or someone that,like you know, high school

(22:06):
student, maybe a high schoolhomeschooler or, um, or a young
college girl, may be able tocome and help you with more
things and but we tend to nicheand this and that's like the
danger of niching so um andwithin community.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
So we want to it's not we.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
We need, like, we need those ladies that are like,
hey, you're going through thistoo, going on, but then you also
need okay, we don't know what'sgoing on, we need someone older
, that's walked through thisbefore, or we need someone, we
just need another set of hands.
Hey, so-and-so.
Could you come?
You know, come to my house, youknow, one or two days a week
and just for a couple hours, andhelp me with this so I can do
that.
Um, you know those kinds ofthings.

(22:43):
Um, I lost my thought but, um,it's all good.
Yeah, oh, the stages.
Yeah, cause, like there aregonna be times in your life when
you you need to be home more,and that's okay, and there are
gonna be times in your life youcan get out of the house more,
and that's okay.
When you've got a new baby athome, stay home, please, for the
love of all.
That is good and like, stayhome.

(23:06):
I, we, we act like it's suchsuch a bad thing.
But, as I have learned over theyears, like I did a lot of
damage to my body by getting outtoo early because I wanted to
get out and I wanted to seepeople and, oh, I have to take
my baby to the, to service andall like, and it was like I
always I had to instead of goingokay, no, I need to rest and
let my body heal, like there isa reason God tells women to wait

(23:31):
40 days like.
That's why the like, theinstructions from OBGYN is to
wait six weeks.
Six weeks, 40 days are almostthe same.
It's that rest period for yourbody to start, that initial
resting and so you can heal fromgiving birth.
Because it's a big deal, right,it's like it God's not being

(23:51):
mean.
He's saying hey, I'm, I'm, I'mhelping you out here, like I'm
telling everyone else, like youneed to help her and make sure
she's not stressing her body out.
That's what I'm telling you andand we've, we've come to come,
kind of come to the opposite inour, in our uh, in our society
today.
So that's something I learnedwith this last one and I
intentionally took my and I hada girl.

(24:13):
So I took the 80 days likerecommend this as as in the
Bible, and it made a hugedifference in my recovery.

Speaker 1 (24:22):
All right.
Well, that's great.
That's very good advice.
You're absolutely right.
Three people in my life thatjust had a baby in the last like
four days.
So yeah, so it happened realquick.
But it's all great.
All the babies are everywhere.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
So yeah, and so that's an opportunity for you
then to say, hey, what can I doto help you right now, like
within your whatever, withinyour ability, and making sure
they are resting, because wedon't, we don't do that.
And your ability and makingsure they are resting, cause we
don't, we don't do that, wedon't like it's, you know, it's
we.
We struggle.
I say we as a society.
We struggle to be like oh hey,they just had a baby, they need
to rest.

(24:56):
What can I do to help?

Speaker 1 (25:08):
Absolutely, yeah, yeah, we're, we are, uh, our
church and our gym friends.
We're like rallying around, soit's been very good, very good,
very yeah, we're very excited.
Um, okay, so we talked aboutthat.
Let's see.
So, in the season of stress orbusiness, how do you stay
grounded in your faith and avoidburnout?
Like, what does that look likefor you?

Speaker 2 (25:19):
For me, um, it does go with different seasons, like
again the seasonal thing, but alot of it is making sure I have
time to sit, read and write.
Um and read scripture is what Imean by read um, read scripture
and write.
I am a writer, it is.
It is how I am wired.
God made me that way.
I am unapologetically a writerand I I sit and I reflect and

(25:44):
when I, when I have, like myhusband can tell you when it has
been about five to six dayssince I've written something, he
can tell you there's adifference in my demeanor and
how I handle things, because Ihaven't had time to sit down and
process out in written formlike I'm praying all the time in
my mind yeah but but when I sitdown and I'm intentionally like

(26:05):
praying and like eitherrecording the events or asking
God questions or telling him howI'm feeling, whatever, like,
there's something about thatprocess for me that really,
really helps.
So it is something that I needto make a priority.
And I do have seasons whereit's just hard to make it a
priority, like right afterhaving a baby.
That it does get challengingand so, yeah, then I just go, I

(26:28):
just I need to sit and I'll,even if it's five minutes, I
just sit down and write.
And another like another thing.
For me personally, it's justlike extended showers.
I just like the way the waterfeels on my like.
It's.
It's soothing or rain, if I can, if I can get out in the rain
if it happens to be rainingthat's perfect.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
I love that so much.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
I'm like just go, just go, get out in the rain,
it's so like with bare feet onthe ground on the grass and just
like soak in, like what God hasmade.
Um, yeah, like that's, it's so.
Yeah, it's little things likethat.
Um, I, as I said before, I'mvery blessed with a husband who
knows how to cook and take careof a lot of this stuff.

(27:11):
So I I, you know like you'llhear ladies like freak out about
leaving their husband home andI'm like I never, I've never
freaked out about that, ever,never it's.
I'm like I don't understand that.
I've no like.
So, um, yeah, that that's a lotof.
It is just like making sure I'm, I'm in the word and and also

(27:32):
having conversations withfriends, like whether whether
it's I communicate with myfriends like through an app or
something like that, and justhaving those conversations as
long as I'm doing is like doingthose things.
I am an extreme extrovert,which has made the season a
little challenging, but I havefound other ways to be able to

(27:53):
get that interaction that I needand God uses that and blesses
it, yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, so, speaking of what you were talking about,
you know you need to be writingmost days at least, right?
Um and so what strategies orrhythms have helped you build
that?
Like you know, know, this isimportant, so how do you make
sure that it shows up in yourday, especially with 12 children
?

Speaker 2 (28:15):
like, yeah, I have a daily journal that's I use as a
gratitude journal, and if I canwrite in that every day, that's
a good start.
So, um, it's.
It's not like I usually need todo more than that, but that is
that's kind of like my bareminimum, if I can get that in,
usually in the morning.
Um, now this morning, becauselast night was kind of chaotic

(28:36):
in our house, we woke up reallylate, so I have not done that
yet today.
But when we get off of here Iwill go do that and and get my,
get my.
Um, my thankful for is foryesterday written in and.
Um, yeah, but my, my, I am notan early bird, but God has
helped me to be able to get upearly.
Um, I am not going to be thatwoman that tells you you have to

(28:57):
have your Bible study in themorning, you don't, um, but I
have found that in this season,because of the ages and stages
of our children, it is.
It is good for me to get upbefore they get up and have 30
minutes to just sit down, read,write, reflect, pray.
That is my goal Now.
When I was, like nursing anewborn, it was usually between

(29:20):
naps, sorry, during a nap.
I would say, okay, like resthour in the afternoon, a lot of
the younger ones are resting orplaying with Legos or whatever,
and I that I will use that timethen.
So it, but it, I put it withthe season, that's, that's the.
That's.
The biggest part is you have tofind it in that season, and

(29:41):
sometimes it takes a couple daysof not doing it to go.
Oh, I haven't been doing this,all right, when does this?
Where does this need to go?
Now?
And you, just you, you findthat spot and you put it there.

Speaker 1 (29:51):
That's absolutely beautiful Cause I would totally
agree, right, like as theseasons change and, like I said,
I only have a two-year-old, butlike a lot happens in the first
two years, like naps change,things change, he can walk, he's
got full sentences Like how isthis person talking so much, um?
And so it's just like everyseason it's different and I have
to basically reevaluate whatlife looks like.

(30:12):
Like what, where am I going toread my Bible?
When am I going to do this?
And something early on, like Iwas very there was guilt.
It was not a conviction, theLord did not tell me this, it
came straight from me.
Like I felt so bad that Icouldn't get up in the morning
the way I used to before he wasborn, right, and I just could
not do it.

(30:32):
And then my husband's in themilitary, so he was gone for a
period of time.
Thankfully, the military has agood paternity leave process, so
that was fabulous.
He was very here early, butthen he had to leave and I'm
like what, this little personunder a year old and like I
can't get myself up in themorning, like here he is, like
all this stuff.
And so my best friend and Iwere talking and basically had

(30:55):
this like epiphany that I don'thave to do it in the morning, I
can do it before I go to bedLike.
I can just like turn stuff offand do it before I go to bed and
like that was such freedom.
And I realized like I was anidiot, Like there is nothing
says that I have to do it in themorning, and so I'm totally
with you.
Like I'll never tell somebodyyou have to do it at a certain
time as a look, a certain way.

(31:15):
You just have to fit it whereit fits.
And that means evaluating whereyou are looking at what's most
important, like figuring outyour priorities, making those
things actually show up in yourday and in your week.

Speaker 2 (31:30):
Yeah, and something and something to think about
that scripturally um cause Ilike to take everything back to
the scripture is during theBible.
During that Bible, during theBible times, the day started at
sunset.
So if you, you're reallystarting your day with the word,
when you do it right before bed, it's like it seems backward to
us because our day starts whenwe wake up, but their days

(31:51):
started before they went to bed.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
So perfect yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:55):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
Okay.
So I'm going to ask you onemore question Um, so what,
especially now, as you're movinginto this like business world,
and you guys are about to gomobile and and you're figuring
stuff out how, what kind ofrhythms have you put in place?
We're just talking about that,um, to be able to build your
business and allows you to serveother people, serve your
children, honor your values likewith and have boundaries right,

(32:20):
like, so what does that looklike for you guys right now?

Speaker 2 (32:23):
It's actually really funny because my husband and I
have been like okay, this is ourum, uh, guinea pig week where
we're trying to figure that outokay, all right a really good
question because one of thethings that we, as I told him, I
was like we need to find arhythm that's going to work,
whether you're working anassignment or or not, like, so
we've got to to figure that outbecause he's a he's a nurse and

(32:45):
so we're gonna he's planning totake some travel assignments and
, um, so to just help us in thistransition and um, yeah, so I'm
like we need to have a basiclayout and right now it's pretty
much staying the same where wehave, um, my husband and I, our
goal is to get up at five.
Sometimes it's six, but betweenfive and six is we get up and

(33:09):
we've actually started readingthe bible together in the
morning, which has been such ablessing these last couple of
weeks.
We started that probably threeweeks ago and, um, and that's
just been a blessing get up andhave coffee and breakfast and
all that, and then the childrenget up and while they're eating,
we do Bible and breakfast withthem, so reading scripture and
talking about it, um, and then,then and this is where it's been

(33:34):
getting interesting, becausenow he's here, we're going, okay
, so what does this look like?
Because when he would go, wewould clean up from the morning,
do our morning tasks, geteverything taken care of, and
then we would sit down and haveextended Bible study and like
the time that we do all ourstudies together, because Bible
study always leads to historyand geography and all kinds of
other fun stuff.
So that would be like ourextended learning time, for you

(33:55):
know our hour and a half in themorning and so, yeah, we've been
exploring with that this week,with him here versus not here,
and and then, yeah, then theafternoons are going to be more
like we're still like right nowbecause we're trying to clean
our house and all that it's.
It's been a lot of that but alsoworking on getting the business
time in as well.
So, like Wednesday, wednesdayshave typically been business

(34:19):
days.
We set those aside for meetingsand you know, you know
interviews and getting makingsure, getting emails and stuff
like that done.
Um, so we'll probably continuethat forward and having a day
that's like set aside for likethat's.
We're going to hammer a lot ofthings on that day and then have
little things that we do theother five days because we do
Sabbath.
So, yeah, so like right now,that's kind of where we are and

(34:44):
then like having an evening time.
I think it's like working ongenerally having a good cut off.
I think that's something weneed to work on, and making sure
we go to bed earlier issomething that we I think we
need to incorporate, but wehaven't quite gotten there yet,
but I think it will help.
So, anyway, right now, becausewe're in this week, we had a
really good rhythm for the lastfew years and that what I'm
telling you is mostly what we'vebeen doing.

(35:05):
So like, take that time.
So I would take like one to twohours in the afternoon and
that's when I would get, um, youknow, like little business
things done.
Um, we also have our oldest sonactually writes our Bible study
guides, so, um, yeah, that'sbeen a blessing.
He writes them and then designsthem in Canva and all that.
He loves to do that, so that'sbeen a huge blessing.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Yeah, that is incredible.
Okay, I said that was the lastquestion, but I have one more
question for you.
Um, that was the last question,but I have one more question
for you before we start wrappingit up.
Okay, so you are homeschoolingright With the other kids?
Okay, this is my question foryou, and it's it's just kind of
a personal question too.
How are you handling having allthese little people still like

(35:45):
around when you're trying tohomeschool your like school-age
kids, your high schoolers, likemiddle schoolers, like you have
everybody all the ages.
So, like, what are the littlepeople doing?
What are you doing with them?
Or you know what I mean.
Like what does that look like?

Speaker 2 (35:58):
I actually primarily only work with the little ones.
I teach my children to read andonce they have a good knowledge
base and reading, then theytake on their own studies and
they come to me with questionsBecause you really want them
learning, you want to teach themhow to learn.
You don't want to teach themeverything.
That's that.
You know.
You're raising little adults,you're not raising, so you're

(36:18):
not, you're not raising manyme's um, so that's that's been.
Um, the the biggest part of itis getting them to that good
reading level that they can thentake on their own studies and
that I mean everyone is adifferent age and stage for that
um.
So it's just, it is what it is.
And um, I primarily will dothings with the little ones in

(36:40):
the morning, because that's whenthey're awake and really
wanting to learn, and by theafternoon they just want to play
where, and then the old, theother ones that are all older
than them, if they need help,they come and tell me, because
the little ones I mean under,really under, like 10.
They I mean it's like 30minutes, maybe an hour a day,
depending on the child, like Ihave some that really like to

(37:02):
study and will do like study allday long, if I let them, you
know, and I mean, and I don'tmean that like I wouldn't let
them, but I'm like go getoutside for a little bit.
But but yeah, and then I haveothers that it's like they need
to move around so much.
They learn better if they do.
So once they go and they, theyplay outside and whatever, then

(37:25):
they'll sit down and and work onreading for 30 minutes an hour
and, like I said, we do do ourbig time in the morning where we
all we re hit like a bunch oflike Bible history and are you
guys doing that as like a family, so like the older ones and the
smaller ones, you're alltalking about the same thing,
everything.

Speaker 1 (37:41):
So that that's interesting, right.
So you're kind of incorporatingeverybody's at different ages
and they're all gettingdifferent stuff out of them
because they're different ages.
But then in their moreindividual time, the older
people handle it because theycan read, and then the younger
ones you do more hands on, andthen so you still like you have
a one-year-old, you just like,hold her, she's just there.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
You know, I let, I let she just runs around and or
she sits in or she sits in herchair with a book like a book
that's not gonna tear up, um,but but one of the things I will
never forget from the tripsMargie and Ted trip they came
and did a parent conference whenwe were in seminary and they

(38:20):
said always teach to the olderones, because the younger ones
will pick it up later.
And they're so right, becausethe older ones are going to have
different questions.
And then the little ones arelistening, but they're just not
to that understanding yet.
But they're still here, they'restill there and they're hearing
it.
So they may be just coloring orbuilding with some blocks or
whatever, but they're there andthey're listening.

(38:42):
And it's probably one of the.
A great resource that I justread was this book called Think,
learn, succeed, from CarolineLeaf, and it has actually
changed the way I do a lot ofstuff, even in the big time,
because I have one.
He has to be working onsomething in order to retain.
Now he can be doing anything.

(39:03):
He can be working on his words,he can be drawing, he can be
doing math, he hears everythingwe say and we'll come back later
with, like, all these greatquestions.
So it looks like he's notlistening.
Like if you were, if he were inlike a classroom setting, he
would look like he's notlistening, but he takes in
everything.
So now that I have like likeI'm learning how my children
learn, it's actually changed alot of that as well.

(39:24):
So there's like this one sidewhere you teach these
expectations and then on theother side you're going OK, now
how do you learn best?
And you find a way to make thatwork so that everyone can learn
together, and that's been thetrick recently.
But figuring that out with yourchildren as soon as possible,
like little ones.
Little ones are not going tosee that yet.
They're still figuring out howthey learn.

(39:45):
But once they get to like youknow nine, 10, 11, what they
call the tween stage.
Once, like you know 9, 10, 11,what, what they call the tween
stage, um, once you get startgetting into there, you're going
to start seeing it more.
So it's like I have, like Ihave some that I'm like, no, you
need, like they have to sitnext to me.
And all that because I wasrealizing they're not listening
to anything, because they'rewatching the ones that need to
draw or need to do school workin order to listen.

(40:06):
So I like I have to separatethem now.
So I have a section for thosethat are and I'm not going to do
this in the camper, very well,but the ones that need to be
doing something because they'retake to take it in, and then,
you know, space over here forthe ones that need to be reading
the word alongside me orlooking at, or looking at
whatever we're looking at.
So, yeah, know your children.

(40:28):
That's like a large part of itis.
It's just like knowing yourchildren and then figuring out
how how to make it work.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
That's perfect.
I love that Okay.
That really was my lastquestion, except so tell
everybody, um, where they canfind you.
I know you have a resource thatyou want to provide for
everyone.
Tell us about that, and yeah,so like how they can get in
touch with you, how they can getthat resource, and I'll put it
in the description how they canget that resource and I'll put

(40:54):
it in the description yeah, okay, so our website is to like
tothemainermanorcom and it is mylast name.

Speaker 2 (40:57):
Twice um, like uh, com and um, yeah, so the
resource that we have as a Biblestudy toolkit and it is
questions that you can ask ofany text of scripture to help
you dig into it.
We always say the two mostimportant questions is what does
this teach me about God andwhat is he telling me to do?

(41:18):
And then, with that, is thereanything I need to repent of
because of that?
Like, if there's somethingthere.
But there are other questionstoo that can help you dig into
the scripture.
So, if you've got just a coupleminutes, just ask a, you know,
take those questions and ask acouple um.
Or if you've got like an hourand you want to dig into all of
them and just like, really delveinto a passage um, yeah, it's,

(41:39):
it's, it's great for all of that, um.
And then we've got likequestions to help you pray the
scripture, um, and it walks you.
The one that we have laid out islike the axe model is like so
what can you adore god for inthis passage?
What do you need to confessfrom this passage what do you
need to thank him for?
And what, then, do you need toask him for?
And it doesn't have tonecessarily be something from

(42:00):
the passage you need to ask himfor, but you know, like, let
that lead you into what you like, what, what do I need to pray
for?
And then, um, it also has achild's page that has, like your
basic questions and a drawingsheet.
So and I know some adults liketo draw too so you can print
that out for yourself if youwant like a little drawing box
on your page.
So yeah, it's, and it's just agreat little resource that

(42:22):
they're all questions that weask all the time when we're
reading scripture and we justjust put it into a nice packet
that that you can use and thatway you just start somewhere.
You know Genesis one, mark one,revelation one.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
That's super awesome, yeah, so I love that.
I will put that in thedescription.
Um, well, that is awesome.
Do you have anything else youwant to share with the audience?
Anybody?
Any wisdom, tips, things youthought about?

Speaker 2 (42:51):
honestly, the biggest wisdom I can give you is the
wisdom that God has given me thelast year, and it is do what he
says, no matter what.
It doesn't matter if like whowho you're dealing with, because
sometimes you don't know whoyou're dealing with and we'd
have to go back to God's wordand listening to his voice and

(43:11):
if you have trouble hearing hisvoice, take a step and see what
happens.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
Yep Perfect.
I love that.
I love it so much.
Okay, well, thank you so much,amy.
I'm glad that we got to do this.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
Yes, thank you so much.
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