Sarah Molitor
10 min read ⭑
“I don’t want to wish away a season just because it doesn’t fit what I think I need. I want God to take even the folding of laundry and turn it into a way to glorify him.”
Sarah Molitor leads a busy life. She’s not only a wife and homeschooling mom to seven kids, but she also encourages women online through her family lifestyle blog and social media. Ever the go-getter, she’s added the title “author” to her resume with several children’s books and a few for adults: Well Said: Choosing Words that Speak Life, Give Grace, and Strengthen Your Faith and Family and her latest, Any Given Moment, a devotional for busy moms like her.
Today, Sarah’s peeling back the curtain to give us a glimpse at what life is really like behind the Instagram photos. Join us for a conversation about rediscovering her love for volleyball after 16 years, why doing anything without the Holy Spirit’s help feels like pulling teeth, and the unconventional spiritual habits that are revitalizing her faith.
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
Food is always about more than food; it’s also about home and people and love. So how does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?
Growing up in a smaller town, then getting married and moving to a small town that is only slightly bigger, food options were limited, and Mom’s home cooking was always a better choice. As I grew and traveled a bit, I realized just how much I loved good food — so much so that I’m always up for a challenge to replicate a recipe I love at a restaurant and make it my own at home.
However, there is something to be said about having someone else make it for you. There is a restaurant in our town that you know will always serve good food, even if it isn’t the cutting edge of culinary. The funny thing is, despite my love for trying all sorts of food, whenever we go to this restaurant, my husband and I tend to get the same thing. It’s like our unspoken tradition. Call me consistent, but there is something satisfying about knowing you will like what you bite into, no matter what. It also means we fuss less over the food and have more time to connect on the things that matter most or sometimes sit in the quiet of our chewing.
I suppose it also offers a glimpse into my personality: consistent, steady, faithful to the things I love (yet still willing to branch out and try something different when the opportunity comes).
Yuri Antonenko; Unsplash
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
What “nonspiritual” activity have you found to be quite spiritual, after all? What quirky proclivity, out-of-the-way interest or unexpected pursuit refreshes your soul?
A couple of years ago, someone asked me to play on their women’s league volleyball team. I hadn’t played in years (over 16 years since high school), and I said no. I still had a 4-month-old in my arms, and typically, during the first year of having a baby, I know it just doesn’t work to commit to something long term due to breastfeeding. Months later, they were desperate and needed a sub for one night. My husband nodded yes, the baby was fed, and off I went to play.
Back in high school, I loved volleyball. I played three sports with a goal to play softball in college, so volleyball was my season to just have fun and play. No pressure to perform. As I stepped back onto a court, many years later, dusted off the knee pads and played that first match, I fell back in love. The camaraderie, the excitement of each point, the rallying behind each other — it’s pretty contagious.
The next year, as we formed our own team full of friends who love Jesus and volleyball, it felt like a bonus. I get to play something I love with people I love while cheering others on and exercising my competitive spirit a bit. It’s not only refreshing; it’s refining, fun, challenging, invigorating and a good opportunity to build others up while doing something I love. I’m built up in the process, too!
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness; every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you confront its power?
Do you know how hard it is to stop something when you are making so much progress? It’s like turning off a water spigot that’s flowing at just the right amount to always keep the garden green and growing. You might think, This is so fruitful, so why would I want to stop? Yet you can’t just keep going. Despite goodness and bearing fruit, the spigot eventually runs dry, gets creaky or just needs a break!
That’s me.
I’ll keep going, going, going at my own expense. I’ll run on exhaustion and fumes (or in my case, fruit snacks) and think I can keep up that pace. But eventually, I get creaky … er grumpy … and despite my best efforts, I run out of steam. Sometimes the crash isn’t too bad, and sometimes it’s a mini eruption that comes in various forms.
I’d like to do better at this. I suppose I’ve said that for years. And although I do see some improvement in myself, I know the cycle still cycles for a good portion of the time. But you know what I’ve found helps? Telling someone. Eating real food. Drinking non-sugary drinks. Sitting, sleeping, resting. Holding myself accountable. The better I do, the more I can really pour out effectively into my family and whatever else I have going on in life. And that feels good — for me and everyone else.
So I will keep improving and taking care of myself so I can keep taking care of those who need me!
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?
I joke with my husband that nothing I do feels like a job — it feels like a hobby! And a joyful one at that. So I suppose we can settle on “jobby.” I’m first and foremost a wife to my husband, Tim, who is the most hospitable and friendly human being and my biggest encourager. We also have seven children. First came six boys, then the shock of a sweet girl for number seven. Our house is a blast — truly.
Somewhere along motherhood, I’ve written two children’s books — “I Grew With You” and “The Song That Goes On and On and On and On” — one book for adults, “Well Said,” and now I am releasing my first devotional titled “Any Given Moment.”
I’m thrilled about this devotional. I recognize that those I get to know, whether in person or on social media, are usually moms or women in the thick of life’s busyness. I’m right there with you. And having the spare time to sit down and read for 30 minutes just isn’t happening in these seasons of life. I needed something easier to digest that still encouraged me on any given day. So “Any Given Moment” was born out of a heart to share and be encouraged in the best way but in bite-size chunks of time!
And I believe not just women will benefit. Everyone will because the encouragements are biblically based and for anyone. If you struggle to pray, I even spent time writing out a prayer at the end of each devotional as a way to connect with the Lord and make it real in my own life. I’m so excited for how this is going to speak to the personal spaces of your life and leave you feeling challenged, built up and encouraged all at the same time. That’s my hope!
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Whether we’re cashiers or CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need God’s love flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
Goodness, I have to rely on the Lord for everything! I can always tell that anything I try to make happen on my own feels like pulling teeth. But as soon as I let God in, it’s like light bulb moments come back. It may sound cheesy, but the more I’m in him, the more he’s in me, and that’s always a good thing.
I really sense the Lord in all I do, starting in the tiniest moments. I often have conversations with my kids that seem so small at the time, yet when I process them later, I realize they were the kind of “a-ha” moments that change my heart and encourage me to keep letting the Lord grow and prune me.
For example, my son asked me how I know what to write when I sit at my computer, and I told him, “If the writing isn’t flowing, it’s probably not the Lord, and I’m forcing it. But when it flows from the Lord, it’s almost hard to stop.” That’s when I know it’s God and not my own doing, and that’s when I know it will have the most impact. I just want to be a vessel!
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?
You know what I have always struggled with the most? Time with the Lord. And I don’t like that. I would get it in my head that time with God had to look and feel a certain way. Boy, was I in for a wake-up call. I was folding the laundry one day — one of about six loads — and I thought, This takes a lot of time.
Immediately after that thought, the Lord plopped the idea of touchpoints in my head. Here I am, spending all this time folding laundry, doing dishes, helping make beds, preparing lunch and everything else. What if every time I touch something of someone’s, I pray for them? Wow! I tried it and loved it. It was doable and kept me accountable. Most of all, it gives me lots of opportunities to pray over my husband and my children. What a beautiful gift in the middle of the mundane. It might not always be this way. But for now, it fits. I don’t want to wish away a season just because it doesn’t fit what I think I need. I want God to take even the folding of laundry and turn it into a way to glorify him.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed reality and changed your heart?
There was a series of sermons by Chris Hodges called “The Holy Bible” that took on the question of why reading the Bible is important. That series was so life-giving to me. Sometimes growing up as a Christian, you know all the motions, so they become just that — motions. But I don’t want that to be the case. I want to yearn to read and grow closer to God constantly as I serve him. Having someone talk about the Bible in such a fresh and inspiring way encouraged me to keep going because there is always something new to discover. The Bible is alive and active when we allow it to be.
Throughout my life, I’ve also enjoyed anything put out by John Bevere. His books have been life- and perspective-changing for me. His book “The Bait of Satan” talks about how Satan’s main tactic is to cause division and offense. It’s so easy to get offended, and then guess what? The enemy wins. He doesn’t even have to do more because the offense will fester and cause other things, such as bitterness and isolation. Forget about it! I’m not willing to live that way and give the devil that hold in my life. This book is one I believe everyone should read.
My heart was changed, and my aim is to live as Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people.” Will people wrong you? Yes! But two wrongs don’t make a right, so we don’t have to feed into the wrong. Let’s change the course!
QUESTION #8: dream
God’s continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
Four years ago, God did the coolest thing! Out of nowhere and only in a way he could do it, an opportunity opened up to distribute over 2,500 Bibles worldwide to people who had never had a Bible. It was incredible to see it unfold. Sometimes when those big dreams happen, and then nothing happens for a while, it can feel like God isn’t doing much. But I want to encourage you (and myself) that he is always up to something. We just don’t often see all the pieces moving into place for what he has next. And sometimes we do see it so obviously. My devotional, “Any Given Moment,” has been a long time coming. A lot of faithfulness in the little until I hear God say, ‘Now.’ And that’s been hard. Sometimes it has felt silent and lonely. But I know he’s there in all of it.
Recently, there has been a stirring in my heart to address the need of family in this generation and our culture. Family has become abstract and divided. It’s become a commodity that people aren’t interested in buying into because it takes work and intentionality. It’s not microwave ready. But I believe that we as a society need to get back to a sense of family — in all areas of our lives. And I believe the Lord has given me thoughts and ideas to speak into that by tapping into my own extended family and all the richness they bring to our lives just by being who God has called them to be. Ordinary people make intentional decisions to create an extraordinary legacy. But in the meantime, I’ll keep encouraging people online every day and be faithful to do what God has called me to do in the little so that my momentum for his kingdom doesn’t stop!
In particularly busy seasons of life, long, uninterrupted times with God may not always be a realistic option. If that’s the case for you, consider opportunities for quick yet meaningful connection with Jesus throughout the day.
For Sarah, that meant praying for someone whenever she touched something that belonged to them — such as her kids’ toys or her husband’s clothes. What could it mean for you? Praying every time you open the refrigerator? Telling Jesus you love him each time you get in the car, or pausing to listen for his voice whenever you turn on the oven?
Let’s remember that God isn’t bound by rituals or physical spaces. He can — and eagerly desires to — meet with us anytime, anywhere.
Sarah Molitor is a wife, mom to seven kids and author. She has a passion for serving others and enjoys authentically and consistently engaging with her growing social media community, where she encourages, challenges and inspires women daily. Sarah connects with individuals all over the world, frequently sharing bits of her family, home and everyday life. She loves candy (but dislikes chocolate) and finds extra joy in homeschooling and in hosting others. Visit Sarah online at modernfarmhousefamily.com and on Instagram @modernfarmhousefamily.
