EP 28: The Nature of Rest with Eryn Lynum

In today’s conversation, I’m joined by Eryn Lynum — author of The Nature of Rest: What the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living, host of the top-ranked family podcast Nat Theo, and certified master naturalist.

Eryn shares how her family embraced Sabbath rhythms after hitting burnout, and how rest — both biblically and biologically — has become a life-giving anchor in their home. We explore the theology behind rest, how nature points us to God’s design, what Sabbath actually looks like with kids, and why even five minutes of silence outside can be holy.

Whether you’re in a season of hurry or just longing for more margin, this episode is a breath of fresh air. It’s an invitation to slow down, notice beauty, and reconnect with both your Creator and your children.

What we cover:

• Why Sabbath is a gift, not a burden
• What nature teaches us about God’s rest rhythms
• How Eryn’s kids have come to crave Sabbath
• Practical ways to “lose track of time” in nature
• Why rest isn’t laziness — it’s kingdom work

Where to find Eryn:

• Website: erynlynum.com
• New Book: The Nature of Rest
• Podcast: Nat Theo

Where you can find me: 

Show notes: 

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*Some of the links in this  post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you decide to make a purchase. I only share products and brands I genuinely love and use with my own family. Thanks for supporting My Outdoorsy Mom!

Transcript

Julianne Nienberg (00:00)

Today's guest is Erin Linum. Erin is the host of the Nat Theo podcast, a certified master naturalist, a homeschool mom, and the author of a brand new book called The Nature of Rest What the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living. Erin's work sits at the beautiful intersection of scripture, nature, and intentional parenting. And I think you're going to walk away from this episode feeling both grounded and inspired. Erin, welcome to the podcast.

Eryn Lynum (00:25)

Thank you. Thanks so much for having me.

Julianne Nienberg (00:27)

I want to kick things off by hearing a lot more about your story and what exactly led you to explore Sabbath living as a parent and what led you to exploring biblical truths through nature specifically.

Eryn Lynum (00:43)

Well, my husband and I, homeschool our four kids and we're actually both second generation homeschool parents. So we grew up homeschooled and knew how messy it is when we got into it. And so, you know, we came up to this point where we were just so tired. We were homeschooling and running three businesses between the two of us. But really, no matter where you are, no matter your situation, we all face this very real human experience of fatigue.

and overwhelm. Like if our schedules are not busy and most of ours are, our minds are busy, our hearts are busy. And so we just got to this point about three and a half years ago where we were burnt out and we recognized that rest was no longer optional. It was critical. It was vital for our family. And so we took this big risk and it always feels risky stepping into something like rest because it's so countercultural and society tells us we have to keep

doing and producing and going. And so we took this risk and God richly blessed it. And we found that we became so much more productive and effective and creative. Rest brought new life to our family and to our faith and to our work. And so as we stepped into this, I was working as a master naturalist, which is basically a nature teacher. And so I was curious, OK, I started to see rest all throughout scripture.

But I thought, OK, well, rest certainly has to be in creation also and not just hibernating animals. And what I found was that it's also all throughout creation that God has given us many countless examples of rest throughout nature.

Julianne Nienberg (02:25)

I loved when I read your book that the thought of that, that God has created these seasons of rest in animals, in the seasons and the way that he's ordered seasons. have to say it was really encouraging to me because as I sat reading it, I was outside and it was like I was having this aha moment that you know what? God did create seasons of rest for all of creation, for the animals. And it was encouraging because

As a parent, like you said, you experience this season of just feeling burnt out. And I think so many parents listening can relate to that. But if God could create seasons of rest for animals, what more could he do for us, right? In terms of giving us this gift of rest, you talk about him giving us this gift of rest. And I want you to kind of dive into that a little bit more because I have to tell you, I bought one of those.

like smart rings recently because I wanted to track my sleep. And so often I think as parents, we measure our rest by the amount of sleep or restful periods that we're able to get. But rest can simply be sitting outside for 10 minutes. So can you dive a little bit more into that? how busy parents can intentionally seek rest?

Eryn Lynum (03:35)

Yeah, well, that's a very valid point that 10 minutes is powerful because I think we do have this mindset around rest has to be a nap or Sabbath is a day of doing nothing. And so first, we really have to adopt a new mindset around this. And for me, a big part is allowing my mind to rest because if my mind is not at rest, no other part of me

can be at rest. And so in the book, one thing we dive into is decluttering our minds. And I use the analogy in that chapter of this crazy creature called the great frigate bird. And it's this amazing seabird, massive bird. Its wingspan is like seven feet. But unlike other seabirds, it can't swim. Its feathers are not waterproof. And so when it's making its incredible migration journeys, it can't stop on the water to land.

And so God has designed this bird with something called a unihemispheric sleep, where it quite literally turns off part of its brain while in flight so that, you know, enough of its brain is alert that it can stay safe from predators and obstacles, but enough of its brain is at rest so it can filter out anything it doesn't need to know any of that extra stimuli.

And so in this way, like we need to become like a great frigate bird and start filtering what is coming into our minds because one thing that keeps us from rest, a massive barrier to rest is just the information overload coming at us. We have access to endless amounts of information. And if we are not careful, if we are not filtering that information coming in, then no, we can't rest.

because all of this information, some of it good, some of it not, but it brings overwhelm and anxiety and distraction. And so we need to start filtering so that we can really get to a place where we can rest.

Julianne Nienberg (05:30)

I love that image of that bird. I'm going to sit outside now and I'm going to tell my kids I need to be like a great frigate bird. You know.

Eryn Lynum (05:35)

Yes, yes. My kids are so funny.

My kids know exactly what I mean when I say that now. ⁓

Julianne Nienberg (05:43)

I think another thing that was so encouraging when I read through some of these passages in your book was that, we are now at the time of this recording, we are in summer. And so as a parent, it's one of my busiest seasons. it's always a blessing as someone who has lived in the Midwest. We wait for this beautiful, gorgeous, warm weather all year long. And I always tell people, my kids and I, go hard like now, especially that they're older. We're outside almost, you know, for.

a good portion of the day, if not the entire day, and we are just having a blast. And then as we transition to fall and around the time that this podcast will be published, have noticed over the years and in this wisdom that you gain only as time goes on as a mom, that naturally our rhythms slow down. You know, my kids go to school outside of the home, but for a long time I used to feel a lot of guilt about how our rhythm would slow down because it felt like we were not being

productive, but I know that our family needed to have that rest. And so to read your book, it reminded me that, absolutely, God has a season for everything, right? And that rest needs to be prioritized. And it just reminded me that although we're not as busy as we are in the summer, or maybe we're not even outside as much as we are in the summer, that we can have a season that is abundant.

while also being restful. And I know you talk a lot about that in your book. Can you kind of dive into that a little bit more?

Eryn Lynum (07:02)

Hmm.

Yeah, I think I love this idea of abundance is tied to rest because one thing that keeps us from rest is FOMO, fear of missing out. Because society, again, it's telling us you need to produce, you need to create, you need to get ahead. And so we feel like we're gonna fall behind if we do something like rest. But when you think about the first mention of Sabbath is in Exodus 16. And this is where God calls the Israelites like.

Julianne Nienberg (07:24)

Mm-hmm.

Eryn Lynum (07:34)

They're mumbling, they're grumbling, they're hangry, and God shows mercy and gives them quail and manna. But with that, he gives them a very interesting instruction. And he says, don't gather on the seventh day. It is a holy day, a Sabbath set aside to the Lord. And that's the first mention of Sabbath. And so the Israelites had very little context for what God was calling them to. Like, surely they could think back to, OK, God created and then rested, but there was no

structure or framework for this. And what we see in that is that God was calling them to an act of faith. And the same is true for us today, because their tendency and certainly our tendency is to gather, gather, gather. And God was saying, stop gathering. I will provide. And so we have to trust. And this is what my family and I came up against. You know, when we started our Sabbath practice, I had all these doubts of how are we going to get everything done? Like,

Julianne Nienberg (08:19)

Hmm.

Mm-hmm. ⁓

Eryn Lynum (08:30)

It's not going to

work. But we took that step of faith that felt so risky. And we found that God does faithfully show up, that his math works, his design works. And not only does he show up, but he shows up abundantly. Again, like we just saw this incredible increase of fruit, also an incredible increase of capacity. I was just talking with my husband about this the other day because we

Julianne Nienberg (08:35)

Hmm.

Hmm.

Eryn Lynum (08:59)

did a seven week podcast show just for the launch of this book, The Nature of Rest. So it's The Nature of Rest podcast. It's where we're discussing everything in the book and our own practices of rest. And I noticed that as we were doing this, we were looking at the introduction to the book. And I say in the book, I wrote this book during the busiest time of our life. Right now, we're much busier than when I wrote that book.

like in this launch and in my husband's business and just where we're at in our parenting and work. And it's incredible to look back and see, I thought that was the capacity back then. Now we're doing much more, but it's much more of the right things. And it is upheld through these practices of rest. It's not just that we're busier, it's that God has actually increased our capacity as we have trusted Him by resting one day a week.

Julianne Nienberg (09:34)

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Wow. You know, I'm curious because you mentioned how many kids do you have, Erin? Four. Four, okay. I'm sure many other listeners are curious to know what does Sabbath living look like in a modern household? When you have four kids, I'm not sure how old your kids are, of varying ages, walk us through what Sabbath living looks like for the family as a whole.

Eryn Lynum (09:57)

for

Julianne Nienberg (10:16)

I think listeners would love to hear what Sabbath living looks like for each of your kids as well.

Eryn Lynum (10:21)

Well, first I'll start with, it's gonna look different home to home because we all have different situations and it can change and grow over time. There is so much grace in Sabbath. It is meant to be a gift to us and meant to refresh us and fuel us and inspire us. And so that's gonna look different season to season. So our kids are almost 14, 12, 10 and seven. And we started Sabbath eight about three and a half years ago and

right now what it looks like, we've always, the best we can, followed the traditional Hebrew model of Friday evening to Saturday evening. And people ask me, well, why not Sunday? Like, isn't Sunday the Sabbath? And that's a whole nother conversation. But for us, like, Sunday is set aside for fellowship and worship and church community and family. And that is so important. But getting for children up and ready and to church, like, that's not actually restful to me as a mom.

It fills me up spiritually, but I usually come home tired from church. And so we needed a separate day set aside for rest. And I always encourage families, know, that full day is ideal. That's the goal. That's God's design. If you can't start there, find four hours, even if it's during the week, depending on work schedule, or if you're a single parent or two parents working, like find four hours. That should be the minimum. If you can't find four hours, I would just challenge you that

Julianne Nienberg (11:18)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Eryn Lynum (11:44)

some pruning needs to be done in your schedule. You need to be able to find at least that time. And so for us, we do the full day and it is a day of delighting. The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which can mean to both stop and delight. And so we're thinking about both of those. We're going to stop our regular activities, stop our regular work, stop the things that feel heavy or that send us into hustle. And so that might be, you know, any kind of regular work emails.

text messages, social media, screens, spending money, driving in traffic. Our first full year, we didn't even get into the car. We had to learn to stay. And so we just stayed home and it was so sweet. And so what are those things, even right out of list, what are those things you're going to stop and set aside? And then what are those things that you delight in? And this might be hard at first, because a lot of us, we don't know what it is that we delight in. And so much of this is just learning to be human again.

Julianne Nienberg (12:19)

Hmm.

Hmm.

Eryn Lynum (12:44)

finding

what God wants to use to refresh our souls, to restore us. So that might be creative projects, painting, creating music, creating great food in the kitchen. It might be gardening. It might be taking a nap. It might be journaling or reading good books or playing outside or going on a hike. Again, there's so much grace for this. And it really is like make a list of those things that you're always like,

Man, I wish I could get to that. wish we had time for that. Sabbath is your time for that. And so our family, we start Friday evening with communion and just breaking bread together and celebrating what Christ has done for us. And then we pour sparkling juice and we just toast to the week and talk about what did we see God do this week? What milestones did we meet? What can we celebrate? And then we'll have a fun, easy meal. So pizza, spaghetti, tacos, something super easy.

Julianne Nienberg (13:16)

Hmm.

Eryn Lynum (13:40)

And then Saturday, we wake up slow. And again, that's going to look different if you have newborns or young children. There are seasons. But then it is a day just set aside for delight. So we'll read good books. The kids will listen to audiobooks. Those have been huge for Sabbath because we put away screens for the day. And we'll just play outside and play games together. It is this built-in day for connectivity together.

Julianne Nienberg (13:56)

Hmm.

I love that you use the word delight because I read it often in your book in this idea of what do you delight in but also this reminder that God delights in time with you and So much of what keeps us busy I think keeps us away from our time with the Lord, right? There are seasons where I'm like, ⁓ my I have not sat down. I have not prayed today. I have not said thank you to Jesus for

for the abundance of blessings He's bestowed upon me today. And I catch myself sometimes in those seasons or in those days where I've been so busy and so in my head or so running around doing this and that that I have not had time to simply thank the Lord for all that He has done for the day. And so I think as I hear you talking about making even a list, there is a season of life where I did not know what.

I delighted in because I was in the season of littles that I had three under three at one point and you just kind of sometimes get bogged down by the day to day and the mundane. And I always say, well, sometimes, you know, the mundane is beautiful. There was definitely a season where I just, forgot what I enjoyed doing other than delighting in my children. But I loved how in the book you remind us that the Lord delights in spending time with us.

and the Lord delights in us seeking a personal relationship with Him. And I think sometimes if we forget anything else, like what we delight in, let us be reminded that the seasons change and our interests change the Lord, He wants time with us. wants to, He delights in a personal relationship with us and time with us, whether that's praying when you're outside or going on a hike and simply

being in awe of his creation. ⁓ And there is so much that comes out from acknowledgement of just God wanting time with us. We talk a lot about sometimes intentional parenting, and simply our children want time with us, right? They don't care what that time looks like. sometimes when I, as a parent,

Eryn Lynum (15:58)

Yes.

Julianne Nienberg (16:08)

I have that FOMO of, I should be running around and doing this with them. I should be going here. Even nature related, like, I should be exploring this new area or I should be going out and doing this. And my kids just want time with me. And that's all God wants, right? for us to have time with Him. And I loved that encouragement in your book. And I just want to thank you for that because it really encouraged me on a day where I was reminded that.

Eryn Lynum (16:14)

Hmm.

Yeah.

Julianne Nienberg (16:30)

Julianne, my, you have not even said thank you to the Lord for anything today, you know? And so that was such an encouragement to me.

Eryn Lynum (16:35)

Yeah.

Hmm, I'm so glad.

Julianne Nienberg (16:40)

I love that also that in each chapter you have a rest and reflect section where you challenge the reader to think differently about rest, whether it's journaling outside or looking for the characteristics of God found in nature or just simply turning to scripture. What has been the fruit of your Sabbath journey when it comes to resting and reflecting?

Eryn Lynum (17:03)

You think about that word reflect, and it makes me think about the scriptural word meditate, which is very different than the world's definition of meditate. Because society tells us meditation is clearing your mind. Scripture tells us meditation is filling your mind. That word meditate in the scripture, means to think deeply on and to study, to search out. And what I have found is that resting

Julianne Nienberg (17:18)

Hmm.

Eryn Lynum (17:31)

and living a life at rest and living these rest practices with the weekly Sabbath and daily rest and these rhythms, it allows me to so much better, more deeply reflect on God's word and his truth and his love and his delight. Because when we are rushing, when we are hustling, when we are in hurry mode, we miss all these opportunities to connect with God. And what I have found is that God provides not only for rest,

Like I was talking about earlier, taking that risk and seeing, OK, he provides for that. He also provides through rest. And at one point in the book, I pose the question. ask, what is that thing that you've been asking God for? Put it in your mind. What is that request that you have been asking him for? Could his gift of rest be a readily available answer to that request? Because I believe that his gift of rest

is the answer to so many of our prayer requests, whether it be for peace, whether it be for wisdom, whether it be for perspective. Because what I have found is that when I have these pauses throughout my day, when my life is built around this structure of regular rest, I have much deeper perspective and clarity and vision and wisdom. Like how many times do we ask God, Lord, just give me wisdom for this situation. Like what am I supposed to do?

And if we were to practice resting in him, abiding in him, then he would bring that answer. It would be clear. And this even is backed up scientifically, because what we see in science is that our brains operate optimally when they're allowed to rest. That consecutive functioning, problem solving, communication, all of it, turning short-term memories or new knowledge into long-term memories, all of it works better.

when we rest. And so rest and reflect, those go together because we're better able to reflect and respond and live more fruitfully as we learn to rest.

Julianne Nienberg (19:34)

love that you point that out, even going back to science that is tied to the benefits of rest. I've been going through this season where I have admittedly, I have not been prioritizing rest and sleep specifically. I mentioned earlier, I'm trying to establish better habits. And the other night I got eight hours of solid deep sleep.

And I woke up so refreshed and my husband and I were talking and I said, praise the Lord. I am so grateful. I woke up with just a heart of.

gladness, a heart of gratefulness for this blessing of sleep because I felt like I was able to function so much more optimally with a good night's rest. And I said to my husband, how do I replicate that every single night? And it just ties back to what you mentioned earlier, in that when we are rested, not only can we,

Eryn Lynum (20:24)

⁓

Julianne Nienberg (20:32)

to live life more optimally, but we are creative. Our executive functioning skills, these short-term memories, then convert to longer term memories. know, nowadays we are just fed information at such rapid rates that it's hard for anyone to retain anything. Our attention spans, not to mention our children's attention spans, when they're exposed to fast moving graphics or information, it's just all these dopamine hits and,

it's a state of unrest, right? That is not how our brains are designed to synthesize information, to process information. And so I want to transition into, how do we withdraw to a quiet place? And that was one of the chapters in your book where you talk about withdrawing to a quiet place. And as we read in the Bible,

Eryn Lynum (21:01)

Mm-hmm.

Julianne Nienberg (21:21)

you mentioned and you stated in the book, Jesus was exceptionally busy. And I love this picture that you painted that his ministry was so powerful, yet also very short lived, right? It was in a matter of three years. And I think a lot of moms can relate, but we often don't think about what you point out in Nature of Rest when it says in John 21, 25, now there were also many other things that Jesus did. So many that it would take probably other volumes of books to write about.

And I think as moms and as parents, there are many things that mothers do that I think of a lot of us feel go unnoticed by others. And it demands a lot of our time and attention. And so a man, even as busy as Jesus was in his three-year ministry, even he sought out silence and solitude. So what encouragement would you give to moms listening who are feeling like they are doing, they are serving their families, right? They are serving with a joyful heart, but a lot of what they're doing is things

that happen behind the scenes that oftentimes many don't see.

Eryn Lynum (22:22)

I would encourage them that Jesus wants to support you in all of that unseen work, that he sees it, that he values it, that he calls it kingdom work, and then he wants to support you in that. And one way that he wants to do that is through rest. You know, there's so much wisdom in looking at the life of Christ, and especially when he was in ministry, and saying, okay, how Jesus lived, that's probably how we should live. That is how we should live.

Julianne Nienberg (22:29)

you

Mm-hmm.

Eryn Lynum (22:51)

And

one thing we see is he did, he had these rhythms of retreating to the Greek word is eremos and it is the quiet place or solitary, or most often it's translated as wilderness. And Jesus would go away into these quiet places. He would withdraw even amidst the busyness. Like he had constant demands. People would be seeking him out. Like in this one instance in Mark chapter one.

Julianne Nienberg (23:03)

Mm-hmm.

Eryn Lynum (23:16)

which Mark chapter one is just a whirlwind. is Jesus is starting his ministry, calling his first disciples. So building a team, starting the most long standing startup or movement of all of history, the most successful. And so like he is getting moving. He's teaching, he's traveling, he's casting out demons, he's healing the sick. And then all of a sudden he's nowhere to be found. And Simon and the others, they go looking for him and they find him.

Julianne Nienberg (23:28)

Thank

you

Eryn Lynum (23:46)

and he is in Eremos. He's in a quiet place praying to the Father. This was his way. And then in Mark 631, he invited the disciples. They're coming off this really busy season of teaching and casting out demons, and they're busy in ministry, and they're exhausted. And they come to Jesus, and Jesus says, come away by yourselves to a quiet place, Eremos, and rest awhile. And he says the same to us.

in the midst of busyness. Jesus created, God created us for this work, for this busy, fruitful work. Work came before the curse. But what we see is that rest brings new life to that work. In the book, I open with an analogy of a hummingbird. And I think this beautifully paints the picture of work and rest together. Because when we think about a hummingbird, you picture constant motion. These little itty bitty birds are visiting 1,000 to 2,000 flowers every day.

And their tiny little hearts beat about 1,200 times a minute so that their little wings can flap about 70 times every second, constant motion. But what supports them is a beautiful strategy called torpor, where they lower their body temperature by about 50 degrees and they become so deep at rest that they're unresponsive. People have found them in torpor before and thought that they were dead because they're so unresponsive. But it's this regular rhythmic rest that allows them to continue.

the fruitful God-given work of gardening and of spreading pollen so that more plants can grow. And the same is true for us. God created us for specific, purposeful, fruitful work. And He has this beautiful design to support all of our work through deep, intentional rest.

Julianne Nienberg (25:31)

I love that image of the hummingbird because it's, as you mentioned, it's early on in your book and to think about how fast and how busy that little bird is, but to know that they go into this state of deep rest so that they can go out and continue to do their work. I love that beautiful imagery. So one of the things that you said also too is that five minutes matters.

a lot of what I share helps parents get outside in whatever pockets of their day that they can. And so I've always said, five, 10, 15 minutes, all of that matters. When you talk about five minutes matters, what could some parents do in five minutes that is restful?

Eryn Lynum (26:12)

I totally, huge proponent of Sabbath. This is God's design. The ideal is a full day. Sometimes that's super overwhelming. Or what if you miss the Sabbath? Well, we can work into our days, punctuate our days with these little rhythms of rest. I call them salah pauses in the book, salah like in the Psalms, which means to pause, this deep pause and reflection and redirect, to think deeply on. And so I'll share it to you.

that I'm practicing in my life right now. And the first is first thing in the morning, I'll pour my cup of coffee and I'll sit by my window and listen to the birds singing. And I just take a few moments to be completely silent before the Lord. I'm actually trying not to pray, which is really hard to still my mind. And what helps is what I'm trying to do there is just sense God's delight in me, his daughter, and just to remember he delights in me.

He likes me. Before I go into a request, before my mind starts whirling with the demands of the day or the comparison or the discouragements, to take every thought captive right at the beginning of the day and to just sit there with my hands open, ready to receive whatever the Lord has for me and then surrender and just to sense His delight. And so I'll just stay like that for a few minutes before moving into prayer and reading and then work.

And then another one I love to do is, and you can do this, it can take two minutes. So think about Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leaves me beside still quiet. That word means restful waters. Well, what I do is I'll recite Psalm 23 and you can read it or you can memorize it or you can sing it or you can write it. And what I do is I take that first stanza. When you think the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Julianne Nienberg (27:47)

video.

Eryn Lynum (28:03)

I add that phrase, I shall not want to the end of every stanza. So I say, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. I shall not want. He leads me besides still, quiet, restful waters. I shall not want. And you go through the whole Psalm like that and just takes a couple of minutes. But what we're doing there is we remove ourselves from a place of discontent.

or distraction or comparison, because those things, discontent, distraction, comparison, those will drive us to hustle and hurry like nothing else. When we are scrolling through our phones and we see something or someone else's opportunity or someone else's vacation, and it sends us into this hustle, like, I need to do this, or I need to do what they're doing or sign up for that activity or work to get ahead so we can take a vacation. Like that's just the way.

Julianne Nienberg (29:00)

Mm-hmm.

Eryn Lynum (29:00)

culture messes

with our minds and because we're in a fallen world, like that's how we respond often. And so when we say, I shall not want, we are declaring God's sovereignty and his provision. We are saying, I don't need to want because God is enough. And through rest, he is providing for me.

Julianne Nienberg (29:10)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Eryn Lynum (29:23)

And so just reciting Psalm 23 in that way is a great way, especially in the midst of the day when the chaos and the frenzy rise to just come back to God's rest, to His presence and say, I don't need to want, I have everything I need.

Julianne Nienberg (29:36)

Hmm.

I love that. What a beautiful way to take an already beautiful, scripture and remind ourselves that he provides for our every need and then some, right? And that's the blessing and the grace of God is that he provides for our every need and then some. One of the questions that I wanted to ask you is how have you seen rhythms of rest?

change or evolve in your children?

Eryn Lynum (30:03)

This is such a great question because a lot of times there's there's this fear, this hesitation because we think, oh, my kid's not going to be on board with this, especially if your Sabbath includes putting away screens. And if your child's very accustomed to screens, that's going to be a very real challenge. And I just want to encourage listeners that, you know, this is God's design. And so he's going to bless it. And we've seen that in our family. You know, I remember specifically a year and a half into our Sabbath practice,

Julianne Nienberg (30:27)

Mm-hmm.

Eryn Lynum (30:34)

We experienced a loss in our family. And so for three weeks, we're traveling and grieving and completely out of our normal rhythms and memorial service. And so three weeks without a Sabbath. And after that third missed Sabbath, our son came to us. He was 11 at the time. And he said, Mom, Dad, can we please Sabbath this weekend? He longs for it. They ache for it because

God designed our families for this. And so yes, there's going to be, there probably will be some pushback, but you know, there's so much again, getting back to delight. Your children are going to sense that delight. Our kids love like the little things, like we usually have ice cream Friday night to kick off Sabbath, but I think they love communion just as much as they love the ice cream. Like they love these special marks of Sabbath that it's set aside that it's different.

They love that it's a day that they know mom and dad are not working, that they're more available than normal, that they can sit down and read a story, that they can sit and play a game, that they can go on a walk outside. And so just knowing like your children are going to respond to this, yes, maybe at first it won't be easy, but God designed them for this. So we've just seen this, yeah, incredible desire for it from our kids and also

growth, I think in their faith, because they see that this is a step of faith for us and that they're in on this journey with us. And we've seen just this confidence grow in them as well, because they have a sense of belonging. You know, they, I think we always create that in our home, but they feel it even more on the Sabbath, this sense of belonging, the sense of home, this sense of place. And someone asked me a similar question recently.

Julianne Nienberg (32:00)

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Eryn Lynum (32:26)

And it made me just think deeply on how I responded to them was, my kids are not anxious. They're just not. And I know a lot goes into that with personality and situations, upbringing, all the things. So much plays into our sense of peace or anxiety, physical and psychological and emotional. But.

Julianne Nienberg (32:34)

Hmm.

Eryn Lynum (32:52)

I 100 % believe that a big reason my kids are not anxious is because of our Sabbath practice. They are never more than six days away from a day of rest and connectivity and peace.

Julianne Nienberg (33:02)

Hmm.

That's so powerful. mentioned just being in communion, setting aside time to have time with each other to rest in the Lord. And I love that you paint the picture that Sabbath, know, sometimes I think when we hear the word Sabbath, we're hearing, you know, what I envision sometimes is just kind of laying around and not doing anything, but that simply is not it. Right. you paint this beautiful picture, Sabbath is delighting in the Lord and what the

God has designed, God has designed for us to rest in delighting in that. And so that can look like having ice cream with your kids. That can look like reading a book together. I started reading your book a few weeks ago and my son was with me outside and he was just kind of tinkering and my other two, I think they were still at school. And I began reading your book out loud to my four and a half year old. And this is not four and a half year old reading material, but he stayed near me for 20 minutes just

Eryn Lynum (33:54)

Oh, pray it.

Julianne Nienberg (34:01)

going about his own play while I read your words aloud. And I thought, what a ⁓ beautiful picture. I said, thank you Jesus for this time. I wanted to read your book. I wanted to have a ⁓ time set aside to read your book. And also I thought, you know what? My son is near me. He delights in hearing my voice. So I thought, I'm just gonna start reading your book out loud. And I thought, I don't know how long this is gonna last for.

Eryn Lynum (34:05)

my

Julianne Nienberg (34:22)

But the Lord blessed me with 20 whole minutes that he stayed near me. He played, but he also just listened to the beautiful words of your book. And I thought that was just such a beautiful moment for us. I think a rest can look, or Sabbath can look so many different ways for families. just to that, to the root of spending time together as a family.

to delight in what the Lord has designed and it could be playing games, right? there are times we have a family game night and we bust out like Uno and my kids are learning how to play dominoes and you know what they take away from it? They may not remember the rules of the game but they delight in having mom and dad together and having mom and dad and their brothers and their sister near and just giggling and laughing and that is something that.

I think that we can be making more time for. your children, above all, I know in your house, you're teaching them who they belong to, right, that they are children of the Lord, but that they also have an important place in your family. And I know that that's something that we're in our home and in our family, that our children are not just, you know, when it comes to chores or helping out around the house, we do this because we are.

a member of our family and we do this to help one another. So I love that picture that you painted. I want to transition to talking about how you became a master naturalist, how Nat Theo was born. So take me back. You're a homeschool mom. You're raising them up. And then where did this love of nature come from that led you to become A master naturalist.

Eryn Lynum (35:56)

My kids really,

no, my kids, they really like reawakened within me this interest in nature. And I grew up, when I was a child, we spent a lot of time outdoors. That was kind of just a lot how culture was like set back then, back then, like way back then, you know. But I grew up in the Midwest. And so like we were just out in the woods and exploring ponds. And my family spent a lot of time camping and hiking.

But somewhere along the way, I just lost that intrigue. And so was really as my kids were starting to get older and wanted to be outside, they reawakened that within me. And so my passion and my degree are in biblical theology. And so I've always just had this desire to share truth and to rightly uphold the word of truth from 2 Timothy 2.15. And what I saw is we were going outside and we had moved to Colorado, so we were spending more time outside.

was that God has given us so many materials in nature with which we can teach his truth. And so I thought, okay, if I can better understand those materials, then I can share his truth in a deeper way. And my mom had actually certified as a naturalist where she lives in Arkansas. And so, you know, I had thought at the time when she was doing that, I was like, that's cool. That's great thing for her to do in retirement and be out finding flowers and community. It's great.

Well, then I was interested. And so I called her. was like, Mom, tell me about this thing you did. And it ends up that our city had a program, a similar program. And so I went through them and certified as a naturalist, which is basically learning all about your local flora and fauna and ecosystems and then using that knowledge to create curriculum and lessons. So I taught their children's programs for four years. And then I started moving toward my own work and guiding my own hikes.

That's where my second book, Rooted in Wonder, came out of. Because again, I saw we can use these materials. This is how Jesus taught in the Gospels. He used sand and sparrows and wildflowers and mustard seeds. And so I wanted to just fully embrace that method of teaching. So I began doing that in our own home, in our family, but also through my books and guided hikes. And then the podcast was kind of a natural. It kind of just naturally came from that. I actually never

Julianne Nienberg (37:51)

Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

Eryn Lynum (38:13)

planned on podcasting at all. And when Rooted in Wonder launched, I just had this little idea for what Jesus's favorite bird might have been. And I wrote up a little script and I recorded it. I had no idea what I was doing. And all my equipment was off and wrong and everything. But I just put it out there. I was like, OK, Lord, whatever you want to do with this. And the response was completely unexpected. We saw families just.

so drawn to this method of teaching, of learning biblical truth alongside nature study, of encouraging that sense of awe and God giving curiosity in our kids while nurturing their faith and giving them evidence for what they believe. And so very quickly, after starting nat theo, God was like, this is your main ministry now. And so just really made a lot of pivots and shifts to be able to pour into that. And it, like,

Julianne Nienberg (39:03)

Hmm.

Eryn Lynum (39:10)

Outside of the work in my home with my own family, it's the most purposeful work that God has ever allowed me to do. And it's been so sweet to see just how he gives you one little idea and then he makes the next step clear. And in retrospect, you see like he had a plan all along, even if you had no idea where it was going.

Julianne Nienberg (39:14)

Hmm.

I have to tell you, your podcast has been such a blessing, not only to our family, but to the students that I taught this past year in the class was called Time of Wonder. And it was just simply to give the kids a space to revel in God's creation and just wonder. We were able to get out most days, but on the days that we were not able to get outside for whatever reason, we would spend it inside the classroom and we'd listen to your podcast.

Eryn Lynum (39:40)

Hmm. ⁓

⁓

Julianne Nienberg (39:56)

And so

for listeners, if you have not listened yet to Nat Theo, I highly encourage you to take a listen with your kids. My children love it. My students loved it. And then you also offer printables and resources that parents can download that kids can do alongside with the lessons in your podcast. My kids love the quiz questions. You you usually ask a question for them to think about throughout the episode. And then at the end, I know they always want to hear if they're if they're

They were right, whatever the question was. the podcast has resulted in such fruitful dialogue with my kids and my students about God and about his design for, creation and all that we see. And so it has been something that we listen to regularly. We're always excited when you drop a new episode.

I love that you are faithful and listening to God's plan and to this nudge in your heart to continue on with this because

there, I felt there was such a need for something like this. You know, there's a lot of, podcasts about teaching kids about cool things in science and nature, but yours was the first one to tie things back from a theological perspective to biblical truths and to what is true and good and beautiful. And I love that kids now have this podcast to listen to. How can parents, when perhaps they're listening to Nat Theo with their kids and they're noticing

these lessons, how can you help them have a dialogue about, some of these spiritual lessons that can be had outside? What would you say to encourage them or just to give any advice or maybe some questions that they could ask their kids to get them thinking about God's design in nature

Eryn Lynum (41:34)

Well, so much of this is really, we need to redeem nature study. We need to bring it back to its proper place as theology and the study of God. And it all goes back to something called natural theology. And that's what Nat Theo is short for, natural theology. Natural theology is what science came from. It started with these natural historians and natural philosophers. They were the first scientists before there was even a word for it.

And they were looking closely at the details of nature to see God's designs. And so that's what we're bringing it back to, reconnecting the dots between creation and creator. And you can do that very simply. And like we talked about with Sabbath and the whole five minutes is powerful, I would say the same here. You can start very small. You can go for a walk along the block and see what draws your child's attention. It can be something as small as an ant.

carrying a little crumb back to a hole or a little weed growing out of a crack and just changing the way we talk about these things, asking, what do you think God was thinking when he designed that ant? Like it's so powerful. How does it, how does it carry that? I'm working on an episode on ants right now and it's just insane. They can carry some of them up to 50 times their body weight, but you don't even have to know all that. Now listen to Nat Theo so that maybe you have a little more to like work with, but even if you don't know how much the ant can carry, just ask.

Julianne Nienberg (42:28)

Mm-hmm.

Eryn Lynum (42:58)

Wow, God made that ant so strong and so smart to know like it needs to go carry the food back to its ant hill to help the other ants. And just changing your language like that or asking when you see a bird in the air, like, ⁓ what does that show you about God? Do you think God was just wanting to play with colors when he gave that bird yellow wings? And just talking about God as the painter and the architect and the engineer so that our kids begin to see.

all of these things that are intriguing to them. Because again, they're just naturally drawn to it. Like we read in Job, stop and consider the wondrous works of God. It's this act of stopping and allowing your child to stop when they say, hey, come look at this. When your child says that, hey, mom, dad, come look at this, they are inviting you into their world of wonder. Go with them into that.

One game I love playing with my kids, it's based off a method from the late educator Charlotte Mason. And she was very big on teaching our kids to observe and look at the details of things and to describe things as they are without omission or exaggeration, because that's pretty prevalent in our culture. There's a lot of omission, a lot of exaggeration. And so we can actually use experiences in nature to train those skills of observation and description.

And in that way, our kids are actually seeing that there's absolute truth, that God designed things in a very specific way. And so the game I play with my kids is when they come to me and they say, mom, come see this, come see this. Sometimes I'll just go, but other times I'll say, well, can you describe it to me? And I want them to give really good descriptors like what color is it? How big is it? What's around it? What is it doing? Is it singing? Is it climbing? Is it swaying? I want them to describe it to me.

And then when they've given me a good description, then I'll be like, OK, yeah, let me come see it. And then I'll go and see it with them. And that's kind of their reward. And then you can even offer them more language. Say, yeah, and look how smooth it is. Look how shiny it is, or iridescent if you want to get fancy. And so giving them that, building their language. And then it's your turn. Go find something that interests you. Actually, after this podcast, I'm going to do that because I found something last night walking with my husband. And I want to take the kids to see it. It's these really cool.

We found out that their beetle pupa, so ⁓ this beetle larva, they look like yellow ladybugs, have gone into their pupa state, kind of like you think about a butterfly and its chrysalis. And they're inside there right now turning into these yellow beetles. And so I'm taking my kids after to go see them. And so you can say, hey, I found this cool thing. Let me describe it to you and then take them to see it. And even take it a step further if you want to use a field guide book from the library or a free app like iNaturalist to really see.

Okay, well, this is so cool that we found this. Let's find out what kind of caterpillar or what kind of butterfly it is and find a name for it. So just training that observation and always bringing it back to, man, God must have been, he must have been thinking about beauty and wonder when he made this or with silly things like the axolotl. We have three axolotls and they're so goofy looking and they always look like they're smiling. And so God must have had such a sense of humor when he made this creature, like always drawing their mind back to their creator.

Julianne Nienberg (46:12)

I love that you give these examples that help us to have a discussion on sharing the characteristics of God. That God has humor, He experienced joy, all of these things and that point back to the different characteristics of God. And also along the lines of Charlotte Mason, I know she was a big proponent for living books. And when you talk about encouraging your kids to use descriptive words, there is such a connection with their exposure to

living books and rich language and the words and the language that can be found in books that are good. And a lot of times those classic children's literature I have seen in my own kids because we spend a lot of time reading and just their propensity for vivid words, know, for vivid and beautiful words that are filled with beautiful imagery. And it is such a blessing, you know, when my kids can tell me

Eryn Lynum (47:02)

Yeah.

Julianne Nienberg (47:10)

when they respond back with something that is, that has a little bit more depth and not just kind of surface layer. I'm, I'm, I'm drawing a blank. It's, know, we've had conversations recently, but I have been blessed and just astonished with the vocabulary that my kids have come up with. But I know that that's because they have, they have been exposed to literature and books that

have this rich language in it. So I love that you encourage that. I would encourage parents to seek out good works at the library for their kids and books that lean towards the classic children's literature that have these beautiful images and just rich language in it. And so, you know, they can go to the library and get field guides and things like that. I know my kids love their own personal field guides.

Eryn Lynum (47:36)

Yeah.

Yeah, well, even like thinking about the classical literature, going back to the idea of observation, there's this beautiful scene. I think it's my favorite scene in the classic book, Heidi. And it's where Heidi, she's been living with her grandfather up on the mountain, and she loves to watch the mountains. And there's this beautiful imagery of like the glowing sunset cast on the mountain, making it look like it's on fire, and you can just picture it.

Julianne Nienberg (48:01)

Mm-hmm.

you

Eryn Lynum (48:22)

But she goes to her grandfather and she asks a very simple question, a very good question. She says, grandfather, why do the mountains not have names? And her grandfather says, they all have names. Tell me their shape and I'll tell you their name. And it's this beautiful description, like, no, I know these mountains. I know them by shape. I know them by name. You give me their description. He's challenging her. In my mind, I'm like, how?

Julianne Nienberg (48:27)

you

Eryn Lynum (48:51)

How would she describe the shape of the mountains? Like we have a mountain here that we love a couple hours away called Sleeping Elephant Mountain. And it is, when you see the profile of it, it's the exact shape of a sleeping elephant. And I just love that scene because it really draws you back to that idea of look at something long enough that you know its shape and its details.

Julianne Nienberg (48:54)

Mm.

you

You know, I have about three different copies of Heidi in our home and I have I've been strategically placing them all around my kids rooms and like my daughter has probably two copies in her room just waiting for the day that she'll have the interest and she's picked it up and dabbled but yes, I what a beautiful story and like you said just just this painting of this picture and this image that allows children to Naturally observe what's around them in nature. I love that. And so before we wrap up Eryn I love to ask

Eryn Lynum (49:16)

Yeah.

Yes.

Julianne Nienberg (49:42)

each of my guests to share an outdoorsy challenge with our listeners. It can be one small, simple thing, and I know you've given us so many throughout the episode, but what's one small, simple thing that listeners can try this week with their kids that can get them outside, connecting with the Lord, connecting with nature? What would you share?

Eryn Lynum (50:02)

OK, can I give two? OK, because you said simple. The one that first came to my mind, it might not fit in the simple category. So first, I'll do a simple one. Get friends involved, especially if your children are not as outdoorsy or not as enthusiastic about, going on a hike. Invite a friend with you. This is one reason we started our hiking group, I think it was almost four years ago now, is we just wanted friends to hike with. And what I found is that my kids are always excited to go.

Julianne Nienberg (50:03)

Of course, please.

Eryn Lynum (50:30)

and they'll always hike further when friends are along because they kind of feed off of each other's curiosity. And there's kind of that competitive edge for some of them as well, especially as they get older, they'll hike further if friends are along. The not as simple one, you might have to plan a day, even if it's a few weeks out. My challenge is lose sense of time in nature. That's one of the greatest gifts that God can give us through nature is, know, our lives are so time stamped.

One of my favorite, favorite things is to go to a natural area, preferably a wilderness area far from town, but it could even be at the beach. It could even be at the park down the street, but make sure there's nothing else on the schedule that day. Bring plenty of snacks, but really that's it. Like you don't need to bring all the toys and all the activities. Just make sure it's an area where your kids can explore. Maybe there's trees to climb. Maybe there's a creek to build a little dam in and

you know, build little stick boats and watch them go down. But just you'll know that you did it when you're like, what time is it? And no one knows.

Julianne Nienberg (51:37)

Yes, yes, I think back to some of these summer adventures that we've had with our family. We've spent a few summers up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and those are the days that we have where, ⁓ we are just, I'm excited for you. We are headed up there. Let's see, yeah, we're actually headed up there in a couple of weeks as well, and those are some of the memories that my kids and I have as well. was just being outside in the.

Eryn Lynum (51:46)

⁓ yes, we're heading there in a couple weeks.

fun.

Julianne Nienberg (52:01)

the time, the hours are flying, you know, they're moving along, but it almost feels as if time is standing still and you're just kind of savoring each and every adventure, each and every stick and rock and babbling brook and falls. And it's exactly as you just described that. So I'm excited for you to head on up. Have you been to the UP before? Okay. ⁓ that is...

Eryn Lynum (52:18)

Yes. Yeah, actually that's where my husband's parents live. So we have lots of

memories up there. We love it up there.

Julianne Nienberg (52:26)

that's amazing. Well, I didn't realize that we had something like that in common. We also have family up in the UP, so it's really a place that we have grown to. My kids have grown to love as well and cherish, and it sounds like your family has too. But before we take off, Erin, where can listeners find you and connect with you in your work?

Eryn Lynum (52:38)

Yes.

Thank you. So the new book, The Nature of Rest, What the Bible and Creation Teach Us About Sabbath Living is available wherever you buy books, including of course, Amazon or on my website. And my website is my name, which is spelled a little funny. It's E-R-Y-N-L-Y-N-U-M dot com. As well, we have a free page on there with tons of resources, including a family Sabbath guide. If you want just step by step to, okay, here's how we start or refresh a Sabbath practice.

And then the Nat Theo Nature Lessons, rooted in the Bible podcast for families, is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Of course, Apple podcasts on YouTube, we include visuals or you can listen straight on my website.

Julianne Nienberg (53:24)

Wonderful. Well, Erin, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been such a treat and a blessing to me. Our conversation was a breath of fresh air, like literally and figuratively. And I know so many moms listening are going to walk away encouraged to pause and to look around them and to welcome their kids into more rest, into their homes and hearts. So thank you so much for your time today, Erin.

Eryn Lynum (53:45)

Thank you, thanks so much for having me.