63: The Sacred Work of Motherhood with Anna Ouimet

What if the most sacred work you do happens at your kitchen sink? In this heartfelt conversation with Anna—a military spouse and mom of eight—we peel back the layers of daily life to uncover how prayer, Scripture, and steady rhythms can transform ordinary chores into holy ground. Anna shares how her mother’s joyful vision of parenting shaped her own calling, and how a simple decision to pray over a sink full of dishes reframed resentment into worship and unexpected joy.

We get practical and honest about excellence versus perfection. Sometimes faithfulness looks like closing the math book to shepherd a child’s heart; other times it’s digging in and finishing the hard task anyway. Anna describes how she discerns the difference through quick prayers and a life rooted in God’s Word, especially John 15’s call to abide in Christ. We also dive into routines that stabilize a large, military family: mealtimes as anchors, predictable snack times, and evening rituals that bring calm. For her own sanity, she leans on small acts of “soul care”—a shower, a quiet cup of tea, two pages of a book—so she can pour out with patience again.

Homeschooling takes center stage as Anna revisits a written why each year, keeping her core purpose clear: point her children to Christ first, then trust the academics to follow. We talk about read-alouds and tea that build warmth, as well as the messy, tearful conversations that plant deeper seeds of character. Galatians 6:9 reminds her not to grow weary, and the promise of a future harvest steadies her in slow seasons when fruit feels far off. For the mom who feels invisible, Anna offers a gentle but firm hope: God sees the hidden work. That unseen faithfulness is precious to Him and will bear fruit in due time.

If you’re tired of the grind and hungry for meaning in the repetitive tasks of home, this episode will give you perspective, Scripture, and practical rhythms to renew your heart. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review to tell us where you’re learning to find the sacred in the ordinary.

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Transcript

Leanne Tuggle 0:51

Friends, I am so excited to introduce you to my dear friend Anna. As a military spouse and as a busy mom, it isn't always easy to make close friends. Friends who see you and understand you on a deeper level. And so when Anna walked into my life, I knew she was a friend I needed to hang on to. And so I am so thankful for you, Anna, and I am thrilled to share to share you with this amazing audience today. You are someone who is full of wisdom and life experiences. And I can't wait to hear what God places on your heart to share with us today. So thank you for joining me here. Today, Anna and I are going to be talking about the sacred work of motherhood. Anna, can you share just a little bit about yourself

Meet Anna And Her Story

Leanne Tuggle 1:41

and perhaps even share what moments have most shaped your understanding of motherhood as a calling from the Lord?

Anna Ouimet 1:49

Yeah. I'd love to start off by saying also thank you for having me on your podcast. And everything you just shared was super humbling, but sweet to hear. And right back at you because I I still remember the day we met, and it just was like meant to be. God definitely ordained our friendship. And absolutely. Excited to be here. So yeah, we I've been married to my husband for 21 years, and we have eight kids. And as you shared, we're military family. So we've moved around a little. We actually spent a lot of time in San Diego up front for his, I think the first 13 years of his career, and then went out to Japan, which is where I met you. And then now we're in Washington. So we've done some of the moving around, but maybe not as much as most military families. But we still had a lot of friends coming and going through our lives because we were in military housing. So but so that's kind of just us. And then more of the meat of your question of what shaped my understanding of motherhood. And I would just have to first and foremost go back to like my own mother watching her as our mom. And then she also just like told us all the time that her as a kid, she played with dolls and she just dreamt of being a mom. And that was like her whole childhood was someday I'm gonna grow up and get to be a mom of kids. And so she was always speaking into us that motherhood was this thing that she was excited to get to and to do and to be a mom. And so just growing up with that being a super positive conversation, always. And she would tell us our birth stories and just yeah, it was always just

A Positive Vision Of Motherhood

Anna Ouimet 3:38

a very positive outlook on getting to be a mother. And then also, I'm really grateful to have been raised in a Christian home where both my parents were always turning us to the Lord and to his word. And we also were homeschooled growing up. So my mom would read the Bible to us every morning before starting the school day. And so growing up, hearing all of the stories through the Bible from Old Testament through to New Testament, it, you know, sometimes you think your kids aren't listening because they're distracted and they're rolling off the couch and everything's getting interrupted, and someone has to go to the bathroom. But that consistency over the years, it just kind of gets infused into who you are. And so I you start to see those patterns through scripture that God is always speaking to the blessing of children and the beauty of motherhood, whether it be through the stories where he talks about opening and closing of the womb, or when he's giving a child to someone who has been waiting and longing, you know, like with Hannah giving Samuel, things like that. Like you just see his heart behind the beauty of motherhood. So yeah, I would think that was definitely a huge part of the shape, what shaped my view of it growing up and into becoming a mom myself.

Leanne Tuggle 4:59

I love one of the things that you said, I think is really important for our world today, is that your mom shared such a positive opinion of what motherhood was. And I think that there it there's just there's a bit of a narrative out in our world now that it's like motherhood is a burden or is this chore, or you know, that you you don't get to have a life, or all those kind of things. And for you to be able to grow up in a home where motherhood was seen as a huge blessing, I think is really, really wonderful. And it's also a reminder to me to to let my kids see how much I love being their mom and to make that a big part of my day-to-day and not see them as interruptions or a burden or anything like that, but to really embrace that. I think that's a really cool point that you shared in there. And and speaking of like just motherhood in general, there's so many aspects of it. When do you feel in your motherhood journey did you begin to see the ordinary tasks like meals or laundry or routines as sacred opportunities to serve the Lord?

Anna Ouimet 6:09

Yeah. I have a very clear memory of when that happened, and it was over dishes. I it was when I was with my older two, because there's a bit of a gap between my older two and the younger six. And so when they were in like their preschool age, just you know, some of the harder years where you're still maybe have one in diapers and bedtime routine is a whole thing, and that. And my husband was working a lot or gone a lot. So everything fell on my shoulders, the whole, you know, care of the home and the day-to-day. And so I do remember night after night, it's just like you finally get to the end

From Mundane To Sacred Through Prayer

Anna Ouimet 6:48

of the day and you make the meal and you get the kids off to, you know, baths and bedtime, and finally get them in bed, and then I'd come down, and the kitchen is dirty because I am only just now getting to do to where you can clean up dinner and do the dishes. So I was in that season and it was just hard. And I would, I'd found myself grumbling a lot internally, but like just sitting there like stewing over the dishes like super negative and grumpy. And I don't honestly remember if it was something I read or a conversation with like my mom or a sister or something, but at some point I was challenged to use that time to pray instead of feeling negative, just to pray over my day or thank the Lord for the blessings or whatever it was. And so I set myself that challenge of like, okay, I'm just gonna use this as a time to pray. And it completely transformed my view of everything because God does that, right? Like he comes in, he changes our worldview. And so with that, I thought I would do a quick word overview of the words mundane versus the word sacred. Okay. So mundane, when we look up the definition, it says lacking interest or excitement, dull. And uh it also said of this earthly world rather than a heavenly or spiritual one. So that we view as mundane, the dishes, the laundry, the regular day in, day out things, they you know, they're earthly things, right? And they can be very dull and lacking of excitement.

Leanne Tuggle 8:27

Right.

Anna Ouimet 8:27

In contrast with that, when we look at the definition of the word sacred, it says dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of God. Wow. And so when I began to pray over the dishes, it was impossible to feel resentful and negative and be throwing a pity party and be the victim of my circumstances because you when you're in the presence of the Lord, that whatever you're doing, the work of your hands, becomes sacred and holy work and just changes it completely. And so I saw that happening as I prayed. And you know, it doesn't mean it takes away the somewhat dullness of doing a task, right? But it gives you that perspective uh shift and it changes your heart attitude toward it. And attitude, I think, definitely was what needed to be worked on in me at the time. I still have, I shouldn't say that I've got that perfected, but but it definitely just really started to shift. And I started to view all of my chores and all of my tasks that felt just kind of like I'm just doing the same thing. And and I was a young mom, so the whole like, I just picked up the toys or I just put the pillows back on the couch and they're already on the floor again. Like, were you frustrated with those doing the same things over and over? I learned that in those moments when I want to get frustrated or feel annoyed or just really tired of doing it, that if I start to talk to the Lord about it, He starts to show me the beauty in those moments, starts to show me that it's not just mundane work, it's actually sacred, beautiful, holy work that is so it's it has a lot of value. Like it can be easy to feel like it doesn't have value, but that it does.

Leanne Tuggle 10:54

Yeah, it's such a beautiful description of that. And I love that you define both mundane and sacred, because they're words that we use a lot, but to see the difference between like earthly tasks and then like elevating them to be kingdom work, I think is just really, really cool. And to just those all of those little unseen tasks, those little things that add up to be big things when we look at them as worship. I think that's really cool. So you you mentioned perfection just briefly. And I'm curious to know what does excellence look like in your home? So not perfection, but that like faithfulness and intentionality when you are doing those everyday demands.

Anna Ouimet 11:38

Yeah. I think it looks different depending on the scenario. Sometimes it means doing the hard thing, doing it to the best of your ability and pushing through to accomplish that task. Sometimes it means you're, you know, we can get that tendency to be to perfection about something, and we need to just step away and enter into the moment with a child. Like what's coming to mind immediately is with school, being uh since I homeschool, there are there are days where the perfectionist in me wants to just plow on and get the school done, but a child is having a heart issue or an attitude issue, and that be addressed in a spiritual way. Like we have to step away from school completely and we need to pray and we have to have conversations, and we might not ever get back to school that day, or maybe we do, and most of our school gets done in the afternoon at that point, but it kind of can feel like it derailed my day because the me wants to, you know, get the work done and

Excellence Versus Perfection At Home

Anna Ouimet 12:45

check the the boxes. But what God is calling to me in that calling me to in that moment is doing my work in excellent means reaching the heart of my child and turning the heart of my child to Him, not getting the math work done. Right. You know, like will come eventually. But then there's also moments with that where we do need to dig in and do the hard work anyway. And you know, and not just go like, oh well, the day's a wash, and you have to go, no, this is what we're gonna do, and we have to do the hard thing. And I think that plays in just so many in so many aspects of parenting, not just within my homeschooling. It's just one that I face on a regular daily basis. Yeah. Whether it's chores or I have a couple kids that have a really hard time going to bed at night. So even the bedtime routine is like, mm-hmm. And you're kind of like, we do this every night. You do have to go to sleep. Yeah. So it can definitely swing both ways, with whether it means continuing to work on and you know, plow through or changing directions as to the Lord's leading. But I think also with that being, I think I mentioned it's very individualized. I do try to stop and you know, throw up a prayer to the Lord in those moments of just like, okay, what direction are we going with this? Because it can be hard to discern that at times. And I think that just again, through prayer and from the Lord. So yeah.

Leanne Tuggle 14:25

Yeah, that's so great. I was actually just gonna ask you, how do you discern the difference? So that's perfect through prayer. I mean, and I think that like you, you and I have talked about this before too, that as a busy mom and you know, homeschooling and all the different demands, says why being in the word is so important. Because I think that it is through your constant pursuit of who God is, is what helps us have that discernment to know which direction do we need to go in. And I think it does depend on the circumstances or the day or the child, even like which one do they need. But that discernment piece, I think is is hard, but it is made easier when we are listening for the Holy Spirit to nudge us in that direction. Yeah. That's really good. So we've talked about the military spouse background and kind of thing. And I'm curious to know what maybe you have a specific like rhythm or habits that have helped you create stability and peace in your home, especially with your large family and a spouse who may be deployed or away.

Anna Ouimet 15:33

Yeah, definitely. It looked different when I just had two. We would when I just had two, we would kind of pack up and leave and do different things very differently when dad was gone. So I would try to like make it fun. So we would take trips to go visit grandma and grandpa or do some fun things with friends that we weren't normally saying yes to. Some things like that, because it was really easy to do. But as we've as our family has grown and we've been further away from family, those things have gotten harder to do. So in more recent years, it's looked more like keeping things very consistent. Not a lot actually changes between when dad is home or when dad is gone, and trying just to stick to our routines. And those oftentimes center around meals like morning time getting up and breakfast, the same time every day. We actually have snack times at the same time every day, and then dinner and evening

Routines That Anchor A Military Family

Anna Ouimet 16:31

routines just to kind of bring it back. And even if we do choose to go out and do something, you can always kind of come back home and settle back into those routines. And that structure definitely helps everybody just feel a little bit more emotionally regulated and um things like that. But I know for myself, my routines are making sure I'm spending time with the Lord, making sure I'm getting a few minutes to go take a shower, things like that, to keep grounded and sane. So just trying to prioritize some of that because it can be hard. I still have a baby, so there's you know, there's nights where I'm not sleeping and you're up a lot, and then you're you've got kids, and then I have a teenage daughter. And so there are definitely moments where I can stretch myself too thin, and I have to allow myself to go, hey, I need to go take a shower. This is important because I know I'm gonna feel so much better, feeling clean and fresh for the day, kind of a thing.

Leanne Tuggle 17:33

So I think that's such a helpful reminder that yes, motherhood is a lot about dying to self and taking care of the people that God has placed in front of you and that kind of thing, but also being able to take a few moments for yourself so that you can better serve. So it's not um, I've heard people call it like soul care as opposed to self-care or something like that, where you're nourishing your soul in a God-honoring way so that you can empty yourself again before the people as you're serving.

Anna Ouimet 18:08

So applicable too, because you know, it's when you have a young child and they're having a meltdown, what do we do? We're like, okay, let's come over here and take a break, right? Like you pull a stressful situation and you help them calm down. And so we can model that for our children, right? Like even mommy needs to maybe take a minute and go and calm down. And so, even in the midst of moments where there's a lot of noise and I feel really overwhelmed, I might choose to just turn the TV on and let the kids watch a quick 20-minute show so that I can go sip a cup of tea and read a book so that we all just kind of get like some downtime and that like refreshes. And so yeah, I think there is a lot to say about yeah, sacrificing for your children is so important, but I think we all naturally gravitate to that. And like obviously

Soul Care That Fuels Service

Anna Ouimet 19:01

always needs to be the balance there, but yeah, yeah, it is take minutes for herself.

Leanne Tuggle 19:08

Exactly. I think that's really good, and that's such a good example of cultivating that Christ-centered character and showing your children that really good example. I think that that's really great. So you've you've mentioned that you are a homeschooling mom. How do you stay rooted in your purpose, like homeschooling or you know, whatever that may be, on the hard days and maybe when it feels overwhelming? And you've kind of touched on that a little bit already. I'm just curious if you have any more thoughts on that.

Anna Ouimet 19:40

I think for me, it's so almost every year when I start my homeschool planning, I sit down and kind of review. I have sort of like a like a statement of why we homeschool that I've like written out to remind myself of why I'm doing it, that I then pray over and revise as needed. But pretty much every year I go I go back to that and I read through it and give myself that reminder of like, why am I doing this and why is it important? And every time, and even if I were to sit down and write it brand new off the top of my head, the the number one thing for me is that my job first and foremost as a mother and as a follower of Christ is to point my children to Christ, to show them to them about who he is and his love for us, and that that matters more than anything else, academics. And so, you know, if it's if we ever come to a point where I feel like we're needing to put a child in school or something like that, I

Homeschooling Purpose On Hard Days

Anna Ouimet 20:40

would be open to that. So far, he's called us to continue to be homeschooling. But point being that it my day-to-day goal is always to point my children to Christ. And so when I view homeschooling through that lens, it's again, I can have that perfectionist tendency on hard days to want to be like, no, we got to just get this done. But there are so many more important things in the souls of my children that I'm have been tasked with caring for and nurturing. I think on the hard days, again, I think I did already share kind of, but like there's moments where we do just step aside and put the school down. We we might be go take a walk or We pull out some crafts, or we just do a lot of read alouds that day. And I, you know, have the kids all make some tea or cocoa or something and we read or we color and you kind of shift gears if we need to. Or, you know, there are days where I have a particular child that's having a really hard struggle, and I end up in their room for like an hour having to have a conversation about attitude and heart issues, and chaos is erupting downstairs, children, you know. And then you got to kind of pick up the pieces after that. But in those moments, I feel like God has always been very faithful to remind me of the work that's going on. That even though it's messy and it's hard and people are crying, and it just feels like, well, this is not, you know, the little snapshots on Instagram that we see of all beautiful homeschooling, you know, like I just said, like, oh, we have tea and we read aloud, like that. And so, but that when we contrast the two, the one, the tea, and the read alouds, that's creating beautiful, like connecting memories of that our children will have, right? Of as siblings and you with them. But on the other side, the child that's having that really bad day, God is growing their soul, right? He's doing the work, he's planting those seeds, and those seeds will grow and blossom into a child who knows him and loves him and serves him with their life. And I've seen that happen with my older two already, just the growth that goes that they've gone through in their childhood. And I hope and pray that all of my children come to that fruition of knowing and loving the Lord in their lives. But it it makes it easier to go through the difficult days when we can remind ourselves and that God is at work the most in those and that he's taking those ugly hard days and he's going to use them to create beautiful things.

Leanne Tuggle 23:26

Oh, that's such a good reminder. It's just, it's a very humbling reminder, too. I think, because we all have those days where we're struggling, but that that's when the Lord is growing us the most. And I think that's where I mean, there's that the analogies of like a tree, or you know, it's like in the dark places that the seeds are growing and the roots are taking shape and all that kind of thing. So I think that's just a really good reminder. So I I can tell that you are walking with the Lord and you're in the word. I mean, I know that about you too. But what scriptures or biblical truths anchor you in the seasons when motherhood feels particularly exhausting? Yeah.

Anna Ouimet 24:05

I have a couple that I return to, Galatians 6, 9, and let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. And, you know, kind of self-explanatory why as a mom that is so encouraging, because

Scriptures That Sustain Tired Moms

Anna Ouimet 24:24

oftentimes we do not see the fruit of our labors until many, many years later. And I even remember for myself as an adult, I mean, I still do this to be honest, where you suddenly get to a phase in raising your own children where you're like, oh my gosh, I had no idea what my mom was doing or what my mom was. And you call her up and you say thank you. You know, like so my mom is still reaping the fruits of what she sowed years ago when we were young. And so that's encouraging to me in the in the hard moments that it doesn't go unseen that if I am faithful, God will use that. Um, and the other one was a passage in John. I'm gonna look that one up too. I have it marked. Hang on. In John 15, it says, Abide in me. This is Jesus speaking, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch, and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. And for me, that is very anchoring because it's it kind of just encompasses, I feel like, everything I just have shared. Like when we abide in the Lord, when we're walking with him and we're including him in our day, and we're inviting him into the hard moments, into the beautiful moments, into all of it through prayer and through reading his word and just being faithfully obedient to the things he's called us to, even when they're hard and they're overlooked, and we might feel like it's you know, unseen work that no one really cares about or appreciates, that he sees that. And then the other side of it is that we're not gonna be able to do it on our own. We can only really do these beautiful things. The living in excellence that you talk about is only done through Christ with abiding in him, you know, like love to ourselves on our own. We're gonna fall into sinful patterns, we're gonna make the mistakes, we're gonna handle the situations badly, we're gonna choose to be selfish or choose to be lazy, like every single time because we're sinful. But that when we abide in the Lord, that's when we're you know attached to Him. And then the fruit can come from that. And the fruit of the Spirit, as we know, is all the beautiful things that we talk about when we're talking about living a life of excellence in Him. And I especially love at the end of that passage that he just he speaks into like follow my commandments and love, and then you get joy. Like, and because it's so true, you know, when we live our lives faithfully committed to him and walking in obedience, even in the mundane things, he brings us joy. And you know, that circles all the way back to the dishes. When I was doing those dishes and I began to pray and it transformed me, I grew to love doing dishes. Oh, yeah. Because it became

Encouragement For The Weary Mother

Anna Ouimet 28:20

this beautiful moment of my day where what I used to dread, and I'd come down and be like, Oh, the sink is full of dishes. I don't want to stand there, and I would just rather go read a book. Instead, I was like, Oh, I get to go do the dishes, I get to talk to God, and no one's gonna because I'm doing the dishes and they're all gonna leave me alone, you know. And so it became joy instead of this thing that was unpleasant before.

Leanne Tuggle 28:49

I love that. What a beautiful just testimony of the wonder and and beauty and like kind of like hidden gems of motherhood to be able to see these moments and and choose to look for the beauty in them instead of see the mess. Because there is a mess everywhere. But it is good to see that. So my my last question for you is if you could sit across from a weary mom who feels those mundane moments and just feels like all of her efforts just don't matter, what would you speak over her?

Anna Ouimet 29:28

I think I would want to share that that it absolutely does matter to God. And he tells us that in his word again and again, that he, you know, that he sees all those things and he actually values and prizes the work done in secret. He talks about that in multiple passages of I think I've read about it through like in the Proverbs, and then also again, Jesus Himself talks about like, hey, when you pray or when you fast or when you're doing good, like I think it's the when you're doing good, don't like don't let the one hand see what the other's doing. You know, he's so with God is telling you that the unseen work is actually a value, then we need to trust in that and believe in that and take him at his word for that. And if you're having a hard time seeing that, tell him so, you know. Like pray again, pray and talk to him about those things that you're struggling with and feeling. And because that's the beautiful thing about prayer, is you can talk to God anytime, anywhere, in whatever scenario you're in. And even when you feel like, well, my husband isn't appreciative and my kids don't even know or care, and just nobody's seeing what I'm doing, and why do I bother that that in that moment, who are we serving?

Leanne Tuggle 30:51

Right. Yeah.

Anna Ouimet 30:52

Who are we serving? We're trying to serve ourselves because we want praise, we want acknowledgement. And that's maybe a harsh thing to say to a mom who's struggling truth, you know, like, and I think, especially as Christians, there are moments when you are sitting across from a friend and you maybe do need to speak with love and so much grace, but speak a little hard truth into that of going, maybe you wish your husband paid a little more attention to all the things you're doing and said thank you more often. But who are you really doing the work for? And God asks us to do that work for him and not for others. And you he tells us not to serve more than one master and that he should be Lord and Master in everything we do. So yeah, I think those would be my things to share.

Leanne Tuggle 31:42

Oh, thank you so much, Anna. This is so many things just to kind of think about. I think you shared a lot of really lovely aspects of motherhood, and I can see where your your mom is still reaping those rewards of the seeds that she planted in your heart to see the beauty and the blessing of motherhood and being able to share that with your children. And I do pray that all of your beautiful children come back to you all the different times and say, thank you, mom, for all those good things you did. So thank you so much for sharing all of this wisdom with us today. And I'm sure um I know I will be listening again just to hear some of those truths that you shared and that beautiful passage from John 15 as well. So thank you so much for sharing with us today.

Anna Ouimet 32:27

Thank you again for having me. Uh