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On Letting the Field Lie Fallow
1.1k Plays4 months ago
Well, friends, we’ve made it to the end of another amazing year here on The Modern Lady Podcast and it’s time to wrap things up. But as we’ve been winding down this season, we’ve been sensing that perhaps we’re being called to take another longer break from producing the podcast. It’s a natural pull that we seem to collectively sense as summer comes upon us: this desire to pull back, draw ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of the ordinary year, and… breathe! As we wrap up the sixth season of The Modern Lady Podcast, this familiar pull is also accompanied by something else: an invitation to consider the idea of a sabbatical, and letting the fields lie fallow.
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Transcript
Opening Remarks and Podcast Format Discussion
00:00:01
Speaker
it be is just share it. I don't know. I see I overthink things. Well, when they find the find the raw footage for this podcast, then they'll all know. It's like the Blair Witch Project when we're dead and they find the found footage of the podcast. All of our deepest thoughts. Yes. To all of you listening. Hello from beyond. If you're listening to this, we are no longer with you. Cheers.
00:00:31
Speaker
Oh my goodness please put that as the cold open.
00:00:44
Speaker
Welcome
Seasonal Slowing and Listener Engagement
00:00:45
Speaker
back to the Modern Lady podcast. You're listening to episode 154. Hi, I'm Michelle. And I'm Lindsay, and today we are winding down for the summer. It's a natural pull that we seem to collectively sense as summer comes upon us. This desire to pull back, draw ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of the ordinary year, and breathe. As we wrap up the sixth season of the Modern Lady podcast, this familiar pull is also accompanied by something else, an invitation to consider the idea of a sabbatical and letting the field's life follow. But first, the best way that you can support the Modern Lady is by subscribing to our podcast on whatever app you use to listen to podcasts and by sharing us with your friends.
00:01:32
Speaker
We also welcome you to join us over at Patreon, where for just $5 a month, you will get exclusive and extra content. We want to remind our listeners that we have now activated a free trial option on Patreon. So while you can just follow the page for free, if you actually sign up for a free trial, you will have access to all of our extra content for seven days. And then you can decide if you'd like to join us as a paid member. Find us at patreon.com forward slash the modern lady podcast. And if you can't join us on Patreon at this time, a free way to support our show is by leaving in a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. It's a chance to tell us what you love about the show and it helps others discover it too.
Influence on Personal Life: Beth Winchell
00:02:17
Speaker
This week's shout out goes to listener Beth Winchell who sent us a message on Instagram and said, quote, the podcast has inspired me to be more intentional about the atmosphere I cultivate in my home and how I contribute to that atmosphere. It has pushed me to ask myself what culture I aspire to create for my family and to put deliberate attention and energy into that. On another note, I am on the verge of having my second child tomorrow, and hearing from women with multiple children has helped me feel ready to take on this major transition and know that I can do it. I have really been hugely influenced by your podcast." end quote
00:02:56
Speaker
Well thank you so much Beth for your lovely message. We're so glad that you enjoy tuning in and spending time with us here on the podcast and many congratulations on welcoming your newest little one into the world. If you would like to leave us a comment or message us about today's episode, the best way to get in touch with us is on Instagram at the Modern Lady podcast. But be sure to stay tuned to the end of the episode for other ways to connect because we would love to hear from you.
00:03:29
Speaker
But before we get into today's chat, Lindsay has our Modern Lady Tip of the Week.
The Tradition of Cheers
00:03:45
Speaker
This tip of the week was suggested by you, Michelle, and I feel like there isn't a better way to wrap up this season than with a quick deep dive into the history of clinking glasses and saying cheers in whatever language you prefer. Michelle, you had come across a post that said that one of the reasons people clink their glasses together is to prevent death by poisoning, and you're right! There are plenty of sources to back up this tradition, but I chose the Farmer's Almanac because I have always had such a fondness towards that book.
00:04:17
Speaker
So what did you just say, Lindsay? Well, death by drinking poison was a convenient way to murder people back in the day. And so one way to safeguard against this was to fill everyone's c cups to the brink and then clink them hard against each other's, which in theory will spill a little from each glass into the other glasses, which would make a poisoner think twice about the potential for poisoning themselves. But this was just one of the reasons we clink glasses. Here's another one. It engages all of the senses, which makes it a pleasant gesture. We hear the sound of the vessels make when they connect. We feel the physical connection of touching our glass to another. We see everyone's hands moving towards each other. And then we hear everyone yell, cheers. And we sip our drink. We taste it.
00:05:05
Speaker
Let's face it, preventing death by poisoning or not is a fun thing to do, which is why it has continued for centuries. Okay, so it's fun, but does it ward off evil? Medieval people believe that it did. When they clinked glasses, some of the drink would fall onto the floor for the evil spirits, and hopefully that would be enough of a treat for them to leave the humans alone. The farmer's almanac also says that a German tradition is to bang mugs of alcohol on the table and yell loudly to scare away ghosts or evil spirits.
00:05:37
Speaker
And finally, there is the action of lifting our glasses upwards. Well, that comes from the ancient pagan tradition of offering glasses of alcohol or blood to the gods, and this was done across cultures. The glass is elevated and the drink is offered to the gods in exchange for good health or wishes granted. Today, we often elevate our glasses to toast the health of the living. Well, what about that word, toast? In Shakespeare's play, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff calls for a quart of wine and says, put a toast in it. Well, in the 16th century, a piece of spiced toast was added to the wine to soak up some of the acidity and perhaps to improve upon the flavor. And finally, let's get back to that word, cheers. It comes from an old French word, chiere, which meant head or face.
00:06:26
Speaker
but by the 18th century, it meant gladness, which is pretty much the same sentiment it carries today when we say cheers, wishing happiness and good health, and hopefully not death by poisoning, to our gathered loved ones. So cheers, Michelle. well cheers to you too. That was an awesome tip. I love that my my discovery checked out, but i I love the romance to it. Obviously not if you're the one being poisoned, right but I was like, it just seems like something we do. Like, yeah you know, one of those many things in our culture that we just do because
00:07:04
Speaker
everyone does it or everyone has always done it but I love that there is always such a history and when there's other meanings connected and associated with things it just kind of the next time I raise my glass I'm gonna be thinking about sticking a piece of bread in it.
00:07:23
Speaker
Well friends, we've made it to the end of another amazing year here on the Modern Lady podcast and it's time to wrap things up.
Reflecting on Six Years of Podcasting
00:07:30
Speaker
But as we've been winding down this season, we've been sensing that perhaps we're being called to take another longer break from producing the podcast. We wanted to wrap up our sixth season by sharing some of our thoughts on the matter with you. It is pretty hard to believe that we've all been together chatting about all the things for six years. Isn't that such a crazy thought, Lindsay? It is so crazy. And I've been listening. I've been listening to a lot of podcasts lately and some of that we're talking about, you know, how long they've been on. And they talk about like way back in 2018. And I'm like, that's when we started. Like we're old school podcasts now.
00:08:07
Speaker
um Which is incredible and we only are still speaking into these microphones mine is still held together by duct tape um In our closets. Thanks to you guys, right? You keep tuning in and episode after episode and we are just so thankful that because of you we're still here and Yeah, it's been a very very special and wonderful six years and we're so grateful Mm-hmm. Okay, so Michelle you had mentioned like things wrapping up, right? And so it yeah, it's no surprise that we're moving towards this natural wrapping up of things and and people can listen back to our episodes at this time of the year right over the last six years and they're very very similar themes and
00:08:47
Speaker
It's like we're desperately needing some silence a bit of a change of pace um We've had really hard work right at some points. I've been homeschooling your homeschooling like different things But we're busy moms and so even though life doesn't somehow get like less busy in the summer There's that different change of tone and we're both like so craving and the lazy summer days and the slow mornings and cozy twilight beaches and patios and bonfires. This is me trying to create a love for summer. If anybody's listened to our Patreon episode, you'll know I don't love summer. But when I was writing that out, I was like, okay, I like those things. But we're tired, right? and And that was made clear in our last episode on burnout for anybody who picked up on the hint.
Biblical Rest and Personal Significance
00:09:29
Speaker
Yeah, this is a, this podcast is often like art imitates life. Absolutely. yeah And so you came across something, right? Cause we were like, okay, so we're feeling the same thing we feel every year at this time. But you came across a concept, um, on the blessed is she blog where they talk about like seven year breaks, like the sabbatical fallow fields. And you're like, Oh my goodness, Lindsay, we're feeling it so much stronger right now because we're going into our seventh year. and so this just like blew our minds and so like this was something that immediately appealed to us because we have been actively discerning the future of this podcast for quite a while now and it's been a roller coaster ride and um I'll take the blame for that because I'm a roller coaster ride but like
00:10:13
Speaker
We would talk we'd go from the highs of like, let's write books right and host conferences and sell merch and create a media empire down to let's wrap it all up. We're done. We have nothing else to say. that We're just thankful for these years. like It's literally like up like that and down. and That's what life is like when this is something that has been a hobby right that we've tried to to squeeze into our regular lives as we've been busy wives and mothers. Um, but it has been like up and down like that. We're like, Hey Lord, what are we supposed to do with this? But then this idea, this idea that you came across of the seventh year, well, it's all started to make sense about why we've been feeling this pull.
00:10:52
Speaker
ha Yeah, I know what you mean because the podcast has always been such a beautiful outlet for us, but we've always, and we've talked about it so many times on the podcast too, about how like we're very aware or try to be aware of what our vocation is, yeah right? And how the podcast fits into that, not the other way around. And so I think it's natural as the seasons change and family life changes, The call to re-examine and re-evaluate where our energy and focus is being spent is so natural. So um sometimes it's something you're feeling, sometimes like ah right now it's something I've really been feeling myself too. yeah
00:11:36
Speaker
And so when we finally did have the conversation this time around, most recently, I think we were both really understanding um that this was something we needed to investigate further. And we're starting to get the sense that perhaps God is calling us into another long break like we did a couple of years ago, right? I always feel a little bit doubtful and a little bit nervous about ending things just because I love, I love doing this so, so much. um But you know know, God is always good. And He reminded me one day out of the blue with that blog post that you mentioned, um or it was actually a letter written in February, 2023 by Blessed Is She founder, Jenna Gizar,
00:12:21
Speaker
So Blessed Is She is a ah ministry online, a Catholic Christian ministry that does so many amazing things. But one of the biggest things they do is they um have a variety of writers that produce daily devotionals. And they'll send reflections on the daily mass readings to their email subscribers. And they produce planners and studies and devotionals. um and They do amazing work. So Jenna, the founder, wrote this letter in 2023 to just let people know that they were not going to be posting their usual daily devotions or printing any Lenten devotional at all for Lent that year. And the reason she said was given to her in a passage from scripture that she read one day from Exodus that said
00:13:11
Speaker
quote for six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow end quote. So Jenna takes that and goes on to write that she was surprised when this jumped out at her because it happened to be blessed is she's seventh year producing beautiful resources and meditations. um And she has a beautiful faith. She jumped on that idea. And so last year during Lent, the whole ministry lay fallow. um And she ended her letter with this quote, and I really loved it. So she says, quote, I invite you, the readers, to rest alongside me to let the ground of your heart lie fallow from consumption and creating, from rushing and reacting.
00:13:59
Speaker
and instead to enter into this season with an expectation of deeper intimacy, fresh faith, and a heart even more open to what God is calling you into." So all of that, like I read that in February 2023. And then I was like, Oh, I'm so glad they're doing that. That's an interesting thing. I never knew that before, but fellow fields. And then I just went on with my day. But this popped into my head after we recently talked about perhaps taking a longer break, stepping back from the podcast next year, what that all means. And I realized was surprised that next year is our seventh year of producing The Modern Lady. And I was like, Oh,
00:14:39
Speaker
God, you were so good. That was a good one. He wasn't surprised. He was not at all shocked. I knew it was your seventh year. Or sometimes I think, God, he knows it's coming and he's so excited for the shoe to drop. Yes, yes. And he's like, ah, ah, and we're all pointing at each other. so Yeah, it was definitely one of those moments where i was I was feeling also as well as you called to consider it, called to discern it and where everything stands, but nervous to do so, kind of reticent to do so fully until, um yeah, he just put that reminder in my mind that this
00:15:22
Speaker
not only is a biblical thing but look other people have considered the same things and I've had their back in Exodus and I had blessed issues back in 2023 and I'm going to have your back now as you consider taking this break. Oh my goodness, I love that portion that you just read from her letter that is absolutely beautiful and it's exactly like I think what you and I are both desiring. And so yeah, as soon as you unlocked that part of my brain about this idea of a fallow field, which I'm a little familiar with due to all of those farm videos that we've watched, right? Where I think I'm an expert farmer at a Bordian farm, Victorian farm, wartime farm, you guys know we've talked about them.
00:16:03
Speaker
And I've learned like how fields have to rest. And then I'm like, hey, there's that. And then we're like, well, that idea of a sabbatical, right? And professor's taking a sabbatical and we're like, okay, let's dig into this a little bit. So this whole thing about the farmlands and needing a rest, which is called, and I'm going to butcher this, but it's like shmita, I think in Hebrew. So we'll just read the quote again. So it's six years thou shalt sow thy field and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard and gather in the fruit thereof. But in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord. Thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest, thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed, for it is a year of rest unto the land.
00:16:51
Speaker
And just reading that, like it is breathtaking because I look at my body, my very life as that field. Like thinking about, especially as as mothers, of pouring out of our bodies um for the years that we're pregnant, the years that we're breastfeeding, the years we're not sleeping, the years we're educating and homeschooling our children. Like my body feels like an over toiled piece of land sometimes. Yes, over toiled is a good word. Yes. And when I read those words, it's so comforting to know that just like that field needs to be nurtured and well tended and watered and cared for in order for it to produce good fruits, to produce good things, right? And then every and and even with that regular care, that regular daily self care that a field requires that every seven years it needs a total rest.
00:17:44
Speaker
I'm like, oh my goodness, this is beautiful. And I just see such a calling for us to do this in our lives. I love that. Yeah. And it kind of goes along with the idea of taking a sabbatical, right? And I found, because I was looking at the definitions for both yeah and the definition on ah the Catholic Encyclopedia at newadvent.org kind of ties the two together, right? So they say that sabbatical came from this cessation of agriculture on the seventh year. And on the page it says, quote, the main object for which the sabbatical year was instituted was to bring home to the people that the land was the Lord's and that they were merely tenants at will. In that year, he exercised his right of sovereign dominion. And secondarily, it was to excite their faith and reliance on God.
00:18:37
Speaker
wow So like in the one sense, I found it so interesting because when I hear sabbatical, I do naturally assume we're talking about rest yeah and we are, but in that quote, it's not necessarily for the laborer. yeah You're letting the fields rest. Yes, yes right because actually the prescriptions for um sabbaticals and letting the land fly fallow was not a cessation from work. It's just a cessation from agriculture in that specific field. When we are supposed to produce fruit, like with our lives,
00:19:12
Speaker
perhaps we need that break to restore them being nurtured and having nutrients and having something to give when the work picks up again.
Family Focus and Vocational Clarity
00:19:22
Speaker
That's exactly right. It's like we want to give over this time to God and to see what he wants to plant back in, right? So it's like letting go of those things that are pulling us away from our vocation right now. And sometimes the only way that you know that it's time for you to do that um is by being so dialed into your family that you are picking up on sometimes very subtle changes that are going on. um You have to be so intentional about really seeing where your family is at, which can change day to day. And you and I were both feeling, and I think you a little bit more right now, you're kind of at where I was at a couple of years ago. um You're really noticing that your family needs like the best of you in a really unique way right now, right?
00:20:07
Speaker
And so it's like, in doing that, you're also taking kind of this leap of faith to be like, hey, Lord, I'm going to put on the back burner the things that I really enjoy doing. And I'm going to have to say no to some other things. But my greater yes is to my family right now. And I i will lay fallow, like myself, right? Like it's a bit of a self sacrifice here. I will lay fallow to see that, like then my soil. I love this imagery. And I'm sorry, I'm going to keep indulging in it. That the soil in my body. will be nourished again as it rests. The minerals in the soil become replenished. I'm so sorry. and um But this is what happens when we don't keep stripping the soil of its nutrients and its minerals as we continue to plant and harvest, plant and harvest. Those things have to get but built back up again through the environment, through the rain, through the sunshine.
00:20:58
Speaker
And so this is what we're doing for ourselves that we're kind of laying bare those other things, but we're doing that so that we can nurture our families better. And and so this, this next part of the conversation for me is like, okay, how have I been really dialed into my family's needs over the 18 years that I've been a mom? Like when have I, how have I listened to that calling? It might not be every seven years, right? It might be the Sunday rest, the original Sabbath, like the every seven days. Um, but it's like this idea for me is being dialed in and really listening to my family's needs. And like, how do I do that? So that I know when it's time that I, that I let myself, let the field go fallow. Do you know what I mean, Michelle? Yep. Yep. I know what you mean.
00:21:44
Speaker
It all kind of speaks to me about that that term of surrender, yeah like the word surrender, right? ah To take a sabbatical and even in the corporate sense, sometimes you have to step into the unknown and that's going to take a ah level of trust and surrender um to be able to step into uncertainty. but you your why and your reason that you want to do it ah is going to supersede that in a way, right? And for those of us and living in our faith, um we have the assurance that when we were open to the Holy Spirit, those little check-ins, those little times that were being called
00:22:26
Speaker
away. But all this to say, that a side note about the fallow fields, like that's still in practice today, but it can look many different ways. So what you're talking about how sometimes it's a smaller sabbatical, a smaller Sabbath with the OG Sunday, um ah which done an episode on. We'll just say if you want to learn more about Sunday rest, yeah. And sometimes it's bigger the same way that farmers these days in agriculture, they might they might let a field life follow the whole year. yeah But other times it might be crop rotation yeah and they'll plant just different things so that the other nutrients can grow and replenish. that's right um Sometimes it will be at once every two years instead of every seven. it It really is an openness and a surrender to what you said, whatever the needs are.
00:23:16
Speaker
in that season, and the key is openness and yeah surrender to it. and And being observant to going, okay, this field isn't producing the quality of food it was producing producing before, right? So that's looking at your family and being like, okay, you know what? I see this kid struggling, or I haven't felt as connected with my husband, or I'm feeling so worn down. Like, I feel like I'm losing myself. It could be all of those things. And I feel like so many people are feeling this right now. um And so, first of all, it's really being observant um and being really, again, dialed in to where your family is at and then going, okay, if if it's not thriving, right? This field isn't thriving. um What can we do here? What action can we take?
00:24:01
Speaker
And it's been so funny because i've been Jason and I have been kind of obsessed with this family of robins in our backyard. And first of all, for the record, I'm terrified of birds. Okay, so I'm fine watching them from a distance. but Don't you dare swoop too close to my head. But um we have had in our hose, right, that's attached on our fence for the last four years, a couple times a summer, a nest, a robin's nest. and try as I might to not have it happen because i'm like we can't even use that side of our house when the the babies are there. um I really don't want it there, but I'm always too tender hearted to like take down the nest after I've seen them build the most beautiful nest. The effort that goes into building this nest of the mom and the dad blows my mind every year. And so what what I've been noticing is that Jason and I will sit out back because we're elderly now and we sit with our little dog cocktail and we watch birds and we talk about the birds.
00:24:55
Speaker
And the we've been watching them as the babies left the nest and we're like literally fumbling around on our deck and in the bat and in the grass and the parents kind of like watching they were standing guard. They were on the fence and on the um one was on the fence one was on the roof. and they were watching and they were yelling at everybody else to stay away from their children. As these babies, one even got stuck in between our screen door and our patio door and watching these babies try to move. And then every day we watched as these babies become stronger and stronger and the parents are perched
00:25:27
Speaker
The father looks so ragged. He's so thin right now. His feathers are stuck up on the top of his head. He looks so stressed out. The mama looks tired. She's a little heavy. She's laying down everywhere she goes. I'm like, this is so my family and bird form. She'll like take three steps and then she lays back down and the father is rushing around trying to get the food and then them the mom was laying down and the kids were behind her and they were kind of like coming closer to her and she was like edging away from them needing a break and they were like still coming closer and this has been so fascinating and the reason I'm saying so much right now about these robins is I'm seeing myself
00:26:04
Speaker
and Jason and these birds and I'm watching the biological rep response of animals okay this is programmed into them biologically they don't have a soul I feel like they love their babies like in ah in a sense like we do but they science doesn't say that, um but I'm like, okay, I'm watching ourselves. And I'm like, this is how we're performing all of these very same tasks, right? You and I were talking before we started recording about our children and how protective we are over them and when to let them have a little bit more freedom. I'm literally watching this happen in bird form. And and as I'm watching this, and I think, okay, you combine our biological tendencies then with our with our um capacity to love, with our souls, with the nurturing of our children, and being so tuned in to all of these needs in our families, especially as moms. God gave us this wonderful gift of intuition, of empathy, the special fine tuning and fine honing of these gifts that he gave us as wives and mothers to take care of everyone else.
00:27:11
Speaker
And it's going to become exhausting. We've talked about this. We talked about burnout and carrying that emotional load. And he's given us this ability to be so intentional about making sure everyone else is thriving. That's what I'm seeing these ropins at right now. The dad's so burned out. And I will say last year, the dad was so burned out. My husband went and bought worms. so like It's like he picked up takeout for the family. Because they were so tired. Jason went to the store and bought worms and fed the family. Look at you. I'm like a provider for two families. I said you have eight children now.
00:27:54
Speaker
Four of them are feathered. ah
00:27:58
Speaker
So anyways, I know I'm going on. No, no. But my whole point is that we have that instinct in us, right? And then we have so much more of a capacity to watch after our children. What is going to happen is we are going to need at different times to focus, laser focus that energy on our family as we're watching them struggling, as we watch them grow hungry. And so you and I are in this constant discussion as friends about like, okay, what does my family need right now? This kid needs this. My marriage needs this. I need this. And this is where we can step back and go, okay, I need a break from these other things. So I can dial back in at this crucial moment, like the crucial moment of the Robbins right now is this short period of them launching them out of the nest.
00:28:44
Speaker
Yes, this critical time. This critical time. This critical avian time for us all.
00:28:52
Speaker
I'm so sorry. Goodness you're going to edit that down, Michelle, right? We'll see what the spirit leads me to. I'm open. I surrender and I'm open. Oh but the sentiment though is so true and I think that a lot of us are at this point like noticing this going on. I've had conversations with several people recently from different spheres of our life um about this fleeting time with our kids young and at home and it is so true. so I have been feeling that pull in my heart to like level up my focus
00:29:27
Speaker
my role as mother and in my vocation, because like it's my job, along with their fathers, yeah like to train and to raise these kids. And I desire so much good for them and God even more so. And at certain phases and in different seasons, that requires oh more from us, maybe energy wise, maybe focus wise. And we we have to be open to that. But it actually reminded me this whole thing. I was like, I feel like I've seen this before. okay And actually, even professionally, we've seen um fellow Catholic business, business women and influencers over the last couple of years taking a break. um from their endeavors to focus on their family life at that time. And the Instagram post that stood out for me was also again from a couple of years ago. So I think God was like starting the work on me early, but it stayed with me and it was by a woman named Nicole Caruso. Do you know who she is? she She founded the ministry worthy of wearing.
00:30:35
Speaker
Oh, no, I don't. On Instagram. It's a beautiful ministry. um But she took a step back from this business and ministry. And what she wrote back then, um like I said, has stuck in my mind ever since. So she starts by laying out all the ways her family has been changing and how the ministry has been going. um And over that last year, it hasn't always been the way it was, quote, supposed to or how she had planned. And after all that, she says, and this is a quote from her, my ideas to create are endless and often take up most of my thoughts in the shower. But God is calling me to the people right in front of me. There's a chapter in my book on the seasonality of style and more importantly, life, and I'm living it. End quote.
00:31:24
Speaker
And then right at the very end, she ends with, quote, I won't be in this season of life forever. But for now, most of my days look like this, referring to the photo of her snuggling her baby. And I wouldn't change a thing, end quote. And I remember reading that at the time. And I admired Nicole so much. It's such a radical idea in today's world to recognize a need, yeah to step back and refocus on important matters, even when or yeah especially when you're seeing success in your endeavors, yeah as Nicole was. I remember, worthy of wearing at that time, was climbing and growing and attention and popularity. And I remember thinking, how brave? And now as i but I'm finding myself it's in a similar mind frame, that post has come back to me.
00:32:17
Speaker
But I just wanted to also say like some of the comments on that post have also stuck in my mind. And I think I've shared one of them with you. The one comment was from a woman named Catherine Whittaker, who we love and we've actually had on the podcast right many, many years ago. And she commented on that post of Nicole's and she said, you're never going to regret leaning into your season. Trust me on that. And I'm like, man, that is so good. You won't regret leaning into your season. It's so wise. It's that bird's eye view of your life again. right yeah right And so one of the main things that I'm now today, like two years later, leaning from this particular post and the comments under it is
00:33:04
Speaker
the reminder of a faithful God who takes everything we offer to Him, but gives it back 100 folds.
Trusting Divine Guidance
00:33:11
Speaker
So whether that is the gift of our talents and our strengths to serve Him and others, or it's the gift of our surrender and our obedience, ah when our eyes are fixed on Him, on Christ, He doesn't let us sink. And so like in this season for us, after prayer and the support of these women who actually showed up for Nicole but who are now unknowingly supporting me, ah it's more of a curiosity and an excitement to take a step back as opposed to that hesitancy that I may have felt before.
00:33:49
Speaker
ah A couple of years ago, you'll recall when I felt that calling to um cocoon my family, right? It was so overwhelming. And I felt such peace about it. And that's what you're talking about too, this peace of knowing that you're following what our Lord is calling you to, that the movements of the Holy Spirit. And Jason was feeling it too. And we did two years of being pretty cocooned and I saw at the very beginning that my kids were really needing that. That they were needing almost the same attention they got when they were babies as they were becoming teenagers and it proved so fruitful for my family. It was exactly what we needed those two years and so I love that you're really listening to that call in your heart and that you're feeling that peace.
00:34:33
Speaker
I'm coming out of it a bit on the other end right now, but I want to see like when we first started this podcast, like my kids were homeschooled and they were 4, 6, 9, and 11. And they were babies and now they're 10, 12, 15, and 17 with my eldest starting university. And your kids, you know, how old were your kids when we started? Um, my, I think my oldest was about seven, seven, five, twin boys, five. And, um, I think two, I think my youngest was two years old. She was still napping. That's how I, that's how I measure how long we've been doing the podcast. Cause we used to record during her naps.
00:35:17
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And what a beautiful journey this has been on for both of us as friends, as people who are sharing this with you guys, looking at how our children um have grown over this period um and everything we've been through, what the world has been through the last six years. And so it's like this these movements of the Holy Spirit through our hearts, through our families, and about being so intentional about when He is calling us to focus. He takes us up in that bird's eye view and goes, okay, right now is really important. We're going to bring you back here, and I want you to just trust, to surrender, like you're saying, and to just really focus on your family at this time. And like Catherine Whitaker said,
00:35:58
Speaker
I've never regretted it. I have done a lot of radical pulling back from things over the years when I felt called to do it. And it has always been the right decision. Always. I have zero regrets. Zero regrets about all the time I poured into my family. And so this is why I'm calling us to all remember how important our role is as the heart of the home. I want to just, a this is something we've talked about on different episodes over the years, but I want to drive home again this imagery and this reminder of how important this role is. I've been thinking about this again lately because what does the image of being the heart of the home, what does this bring into our minds? Well, the heart is thoughtful and loving, supportive, gentle, tender, forgiving,
00:36:42
Speaker
sacrificial, constant, and cheerful. And I wasn't planning necessarily on talking about being cheerful in this episode because it didn't fully line up, but I shared a quote this week on my Instagram um from Archbishop Fulton Sheen, and i'll and I'll read it now. And I got messages from people saying, well, how have you managed to become more cheerful? Because I have, as I've gotten older. And how am I maintaining it? And this all comes back to, again, if we're kind of tuning out all of that other noise in our lives and we're focusing on our families right now, right, as we're letting ourselves become, um ten like, taken care of as we're letting things grow, um one of the things that we should really focus on is becoming more cheerful. And I'll tell you why. Well, Fulton Sheen will tell you why. Okay.
00:37:25
Speaker
He says, Cheerfulness is that quality which enables one to make others happy. It takes origin half in personal goodness and half in the belief of the personal goodness of others. It is the opposite of morbid, the morose, the fretful, the grumbling, the somber. And wow, there's a lot to say in that. This is something we need to keep very aware of if we are making it our intention to put our families first, to be the heart of the home, to take that on. um It's really hard to stay cheerful sometimes in the midst of all of that.
00:38:03
Speaker
But I have been reflecting a lot on that lately and I can honestly say that I'm pretty cheerful most of the time and my teens have actually said that to me lately, which means a lot because I would never expect that compliment from my teenagers. So how have I done that? Well, I let most things go now. Right. I am able to step back and look at my life, um, in a, in a broader picture now, because I've logged a few years. And so I've learned like what's important and what is not ultimately. So I let things go. I don't brood about things anymore. Um, I've really worked on trying to not be critical, um, in my daily life about myself, about my husband, about my kids. Um, I've trying so hard to work on not being so anxious every day, but I'm laughing saying that now thinking about the conversation you and I had about how anxious we are as moms.
00:38:50
Speaker
ah before we started recording, but I am really trying to not let it suck the joy out of my family's life. um I can still feel what I'm feeling, but I'm trying to really hard to still bring cheerfulness right to to my um encounters with people. um And I try to do things that make me so happy that I radiate that happiness. And this is a whole different type of self care. And we've talked about these things over the years, but like really doing things that feed my own soul so that I radiate. the cheerfulness that I want to bring to all of my interactions. And so finally, and I pray about it, right? I ask God to make the joy of Christ radiate from me. He wants to do this. It sounds like such a wild ask, but God wants nothing more than for us to radiate, to bring Jesus to people through ourselves.
00:39:40
Speaker
to our husbands and to our kids. um And so yeah, I think that taking this time away from the podcast for you and I, we can nurture our own hearts and we can therefore make ourselves as the heart of the home stronger. hu The cheerfulness, I really think that cheerfulness is born out of peace um when we have peace in our lives. And that's not to say like everything is like settled yeah necessarily, right? But the peace that comes when we trust God has got it, yeah right? And that we surrender these things to Him, like what you were saying.
00:40:15
Speaker
um That just takes so much off of our own shoulders that it cultivates peace in our hearts and in our souls. And that's where then the cheerfulness and the cheer and the good humor and the lightness can bubble back up to the surface. Otherwise it is a heavy weight to carry. But yeah, I'm just, I'm coming to know and understand more and more, I think, ah ah little by little. that God is not going to let me fall, right? um And this is for all of us. He's not going to let us fall. He's not going to forget us. i yeah He knows that we're here. He knows that we have desires, that we have dreams, but He's asking us to entrust them to Him. yeah Because in His plan, in His will,
00:41:03
Speaker
There may be a particular way that things work out and everything plays out that I can't fathom or see. And so when we offload all of that, we're taking kind of the responsibility for making our lives happen. off of our own shoulders and we're giving that to God. And so in that sense, we can take a step back ah from that work, from that grind to focus on the vocational, to focus on the family, to focus on the things that feed the soul once those surface level work areas are kind of taken care of.
00:41:40
Speaker
and taken care of by someone far more capable than we are. Yeah, and it is a somewhat radical act of faith. And you and I have had a moderate amount of success with this podcast, especially for something we've never advertised, we've never marketed, we barely talk about. And we are at almost 300,000 downloads. And this is with taking some pretty big breaks over the last couple of years. And so for this is something that people ask you and I separately and together all the time. Like, what are you guys doing next? Like, when are books coming out? When is the merch coming out? And we've really had to go back and forth and
00:42:14
Speaker
We have this amazing opportunity to use those talents, right? We don't want to put our cover our light with a basket. Like we're trying to use the talents, but this is where it takes that radical faith to be like, but God is calling us to something different right now and trusting in that. And that if he wants us to continue in this podcast in the future, to continue speaking about the good things he's doing in our lives, then that opportunity will be made very clear to us. The Holy Spirit has always been our greatest producer. and right And he has made it so clear to us when this when we need to speak, when we don't need to speak, when we need to be quiet about something, um gently nudging us in the direction of the topics. It's been in this incredible experience over these six years. um So finally, we want to just wrap up and talk about this idea ah about stepping away.
Creative Burnout and Refreshment
00:43:02
Speaker
And I came across an article on a website called actionable dot com um dot.co, actually.
00:43:08
Speaker
And it's called the article is called The Power of Stepping Away, and it's written by Andy Budgel. And in it, he says that stepping back provides clarity and a fresh perspective on most situations. We all know how great it feels to go on a vacation, right? Even if it's just a staycation, Jason and I just had his vacation and we didn't do anything but projects around our house for two weeks, and we felt so refreshed. We felt recreated recreation. We've talked about that in our leisure episode. I love the word um recreation when we think about it, it's to be a chance to become recreated. um And so this idea of stepping away, I was looking into it a little bit further as a creative, as a person, right, who create who creates content, you and I are content creators.
00:43:54
Speaker
And so we work in a creative field and the potential to burn out for people who are creatives, who are literally making an income, when I make a very small amount of money that we're very thankful because it's what keeps the podcast going via Patreon. um So we do make a little bit of money from this. And so when you are coming up with your own original ideas all of the time, that there's a greater chance of burnout in that field. And that I read that the creative process involves four steps, research, you then you brainstorm, you let it incubate and then aha you're you're you're have something creative to share and this is so true and so this is kind of basically the process i never thought about it in that way but that's basically a process we go through for each episode um and so sometimes we get into this period like we kind of feel like we're in right now where we're producing more than we're taking in and so it's that chance to step back and and when we first started this podcast and we've talked about this before
00:44:51
Speaker
But when we first started, it kind of was an overflowing of everything that we were bursting with, with everything we had read, that we had watched, that we had listened to. We had so much we wanted to say because we were taking in so much information. It was a wellspring. And so now it's time to fill that back up again, right? For us to take in the content of other creatives and to fill that back up and to engage in conversations with those right in front of our faces, right? Like we were saying, like the people right there. um And then see where God takes us with that. But there is power in stepping back and becoming refreshed and be getting a fresh perspective on things. And when you look back, when you were just talking about how, you know, our our beginnings and our expectations and our goals, there's there's just nothing but gratitude. yeah
00:45:45
Speaker
yeah Right, for all the people, all of you that we've met, listening the podcast, the conversations we've been able to have and the things that we've all learned, that in and of itself is going to give me a lot of fodder to think about and to process. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. And just as I'm sitting here reflecting on the beginnings of this podcast, you and I sitting in my living room with the notebook out and scribbles all over a page and I'm getting a little emotional thinking about it. But we our whole point was we thought we never thought anyone would listen. We never, beyond our wildest dreams, thought maybe like five people, like maybe our moms.
00:46:25
Speaker
Um, and but our whole purpose was my, you know, in the back of my mind, I always thought our daughters one day can hear our voices at this period in our lives. And when they're there as well, they can, you know, hear what our reflections were. But then I think that it's been so wonderful and we've connected with so many of you, right? 300,000 times. women all around the world at all different stages of life and you've all reached out to us and just it's been incredible and Now we're gonna take a break and we're gonna talk to our daughters face-to-face We're gonna put our attention back into our children for this next year and then we'll see where God takes us
00:47:03
Speaker
Oh my gosh, that is so beautiful. Yes, you're right. That was our beginning intention. It's like, let's leave something. It's so romantic. It's so on brand for us, right? Let's leave something for our daughters from when we're gone. ah For future generations of the women in our family. Yeah. Oh, that's so awesome. And look what has come of it. it's It's just incredible. It's just been such an amazing ride. And so all of this, I keep coming back to the verse from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. um It's well-loved. I'm sure many of you have heard it before, but it perfectly sums up everything that we're feeling and everything that we're going to take into this year of sabbatical with us.
00:47:47
Speaker
So the passage goes, For everything there is a season, And a time for every matter under heaven, A time to be born and a time to die, A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted, A time to kill and a time to heal, A time to break down and a time to build up, A time to weep and a time to laugh, A time to mourn and a time to dance, A time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to seek and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to sew. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
00:48:37
Speaker
And so now it's time for us to go. And we just ask from the bottom of our hearts that you pray for us, that you pray for Michelle and I and for our families. And we will keep you guys in our hearts and in our thoughts and prayers. And we just want to say once again, thank you, thank you, thank you for every time you brought us along with you. as you rocked your babies and as you cleaned your houses and as you went on road trips and for all the times made your husbands listen and for all the times you shared us and for all the messages you have sent us from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you.
What We're Loving This Week: Recommendations
00:49:22
Speaker
Okay, it's time for our What We're Loving This Week segment of the show. So Lindsay, what have you been loving this week? I have a podcast to share, so I have my old standbys and I love them all, but I had some big like purging and cleaning ah projects to work on this week, so I asked my friends on Instagram And I said, okay, I need it to be, it could be like any topic, but I need it to be like so engaging that I keep clicking on the next episode. Right. So I don't get distracted. So I got some suggestions and my friend Maria suggested a podcast called the unobscured podcast season one. So I guess it does. I haven't even looked into the other seasons yet, but season one is all about the Salem witch trials.
00:50:02
Speaker
Um, as a former witch, people can go to my testimony episode on that one. Um, and as a lover of history, I've always been familiar with the Salem witch trials, um, but have never really done a deep dive into them. And wow, there is so much to learn. I think that It either gets like just blurred or obscured because we think it's all about witchcraft or we think it's all about religion, right? like it's like And there's actually so much more that went on politically about a town at war, about girls faking it and result this resulting in the deaths of many people.
00:50:37
Speaker
um And it's just about like who to believe and about ah um how the court system was working and what trial looked like, what kind of evidence was accepted. There's so much about the Salem Witch Trials that I think is so important to study um right now. so it It's so well produced. You will want to keep listening to every episode. There's original music that was written for it that the score is so beautiful. I'm going to look up the um um the um composer's work later. um I feel like the music just adds so much to the listening pleasure. It's well told. It's well researched. So Unobscured um season one is what I have been loving this week.
00:51:19
Speaker
Okay, that sounds so interesting. I love those podcasts where you just get like really swept away with them. Yeah. So is it kind of like a like documentary style? It is. Like a dramatized documentary style? It's documentary style. No one is like acting or recreating anything that like kind of pulls you out of it with their voices. 17th century accents. yeah yeah um But he does um interview a few people. So I like that you hear other people's voices come in every once in a while, but the main the main narrator, his voice is so calming. It's just great to listen to. Now you sent me a suggestion as well that I haven't had a chance to check out yet. Is that similar as well? The same type of documentary style?
00:52:00
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. So that one, I guess this is our like 2.5 recommendation. I haven't finished it though, but the podcast is called Hollywood ex hollywood Exiles. And it happens in Hollywood during the Red Scare. yep So during like the McCarthyism, yeah looking for communists um during those years of like the second first in the Second World War, actually. So it's narrated by Una Chaplin. who is the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin. Yes, because he was um he lived through that yeah and he was really targeted um by ah during the Red Scare in Hollywood. And so she really begins this look into what Hollywood was like and how politics factored into that too. And it is also a really well done documentary series. So i mean so far, I can recommend it. I think I have two episodes left and I
00:52:57
Speaker
haven't come across anything unsavory. yeah So yeah, there you go. I love the i love the documentary podcasts. They're so well done usually. And what have you been loving this week, Michelle? Well, Phil and I just finished watching the new TV series, A Gentleman in Moscow. Yes. Yes. It's streaming right now on Paramount Plus, um but we finished it. We loved it. And have you heard about the story? Yes. Do you know what the story is about? Yes. We started the show. Yes. Well, I'll give a brief synopsis just in case some of our listeners are unfamiliar, but the story revolves around a man named Count Rostov. He's part of the Russian aristocracy in the days immediately following the Russian Revolution. So while his family and friends are being hunted and executed by the revolutionaries,
00:53:47
Speaker
The Count has instead been sentenced to life imprisonment in the Metropol Hotel in the middle of Moscow. And the reason for this leniency is a poem he wrote while in university abroad that some high-level revolutionary leaders believe contain pro-revolutionary sentiments and therefore could have inspired and influenced the revolution. So if he stays in the hotel and behaves, then he's safe. But if he ever steps one foot out of the hotel, he will be shot immediately on sight. So he's still regarded highly suspiciously. He's under constant observation by the police. But ah this count still attempts to rise above the brutality of the revolution. He has to watch everything unfold from the hotel.
00:54:39
Speaker
And over the years, just, you know, you live with him this rather storied life within the Metropulse walls. And so, yeah, we were just charmed by his character and we loved the storyline, the setting in the hotel. It was very beautiful to watch. So there you go. We recommend you put on A Gentlemen in Moscow, which you and Jason are already doing, Lindsay, um for your to-be watch list for the summer.
00:55:09
Speaker
Okay, that's going to do it for us this week. If you want to get in touch and chat with us about our topic today, you can find us on our website, www.themodernlady1950.wordpress dot.com, or leave us a comment on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at the Modern Lady Podcast. I'm Michelle Sacks, and you can find me on Instagram at mmsacks. And I'm Lindsay Murray, and you can find me on Instagram at Lindsay Homemaker. Thank you so much for listening, have a great summer, and we will see you next time.