# Monday Motivation #66, Creator Spotlight | Laura Coppinger, Heavenly Homemakers

An episode of [The Art of Home: A Podcast for Homemakers](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1557993655), 10 Aug 2026, 37 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1587457/episodes/19615773-monday-motivation-66-creator-spotlight-laura-coppinger-heavenly-homemakers.mp3

Send me a text about this episode! I have another creator spotlight for you today with seasoned homemaker, wife, and mama to 11, Laura Coppinger who has been blogging over at HeavenlyHomemakers.com for nearly 2 decades. In This Episode: • Get to know Laura with some classic Homemaker Portrait questions • Heavenly Homemaker resources for practical daily help • Simple Meals Planning Service • FREE 7-Day Summer Meal Plan • Heavenly Homemaker Membership to access nearly 20 YEARS of helpful content Laura says that everything she’s created for the blog over the years has grown out of her own need, and she figured if it was helpful to her it may be helpful to other homemakers. Through her resources, blog and newsletter, Laura shares the wealth of knowledge grown out of a deep commitment to and love for the Kingdom building work of the home. SHOW NOTES Connect with Laura Website | heavenlyhomemakers.com Instagram | @heavenlyhomemaker Facebook | @heavenlyhomemakers Resources Mentioned 7-Day Meal Plan: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/free-7-day-summer-menu-plan Simple Meals Planning Service: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/simple-meals-half-price Club Membership: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/membership-join Laura's Free newsletter: https://awesome-grass-96679.myflodesk.com/u484ab003m Get recipes, make friends & support The Art of Home! Leave your tip of $5 or more by October 31, 2026!! https://www.theartofhomepodcast.com/recipe Support the show HOMEMAKING RESOURCES • Homemaker's Journal, AoH Seasonal Magazine • Private Facebook Group, Homemaker Forum • JR Miller's Homemaking Study Guide SUPPORT & CONNECT • Review | Love The Podcast • Contact | Text/Voicemail-use the link at top of description | Website | Email • Follow | Follow The Podcast • Support | theartofhomepodcast.com/support DISCLOSURE • **Buy | as an Amazon affiliate, AoH receives a small commission at no extra cost to you when you use our links to purchase items we recommend • AI Content | Portions of this episode’s copy and/or show notes may have been drafted with the assistance of AI and then reviewed and edited by a human, Allison Weeks.

## Transcript

[1:12] Allison: Happy Monday, homemakers! Welcome to Monday Motivation, brought to you by the Art of Home Podcast, where we are exploring how homemakers cultivate a place to belong.
[1:22] Allison: I'm your host, Alison Wheats.
[1:24] Allison: I'm a wife, a mom, a granny, and I've been practicing the Art of Home for over 30 years.
[1:30] Allison: Thank you so much for joining me for a little Monday motivation today.
[1:34] Allison: Every Monday, you can meet me here for homemaking tips, ideas, and encouragement in this short form episode.
[1:43] Allison: If you like what you hear today, be sure to check out our long form episodes that come out every Wednesday, where we feature stories of homemakers just like you and deep dives into topics related to homemaking.
[1:57] Allison: I have another creator spotlight for you today with Seasoned Homemaker, wife, and Mama to Eleven, Laura Coppinger, who has been blogging over at heavenlyhomakers.com for nearly two decades.
[2:11] Allison: You will get to know Laura and hear some of her story of home as we work through a few classic homemaker portrait questions at the beginning.
[2:18] Allison: And then Laura shares about some resources that will help you in the everyday work of homemaking.
[2:23] Allison: She says that everything she's created for the blog over the years has always grown out of a need she had herself, and she figured if it was helpful to her, it may be helpful to other homemakers.
[2:35] Allison: Through her blog, Laura shares the wealth of knowledge that has grown out of a deep commitment to and love for the kingdom building work of the home.
[2:45] Allison: Welcome to the Art of Home.
[2:47] Allison: This is a special summer Monday motivation.
[2:50] Allison: I am going to be highlighting homemaking content creators.
[2:53] Allison: Today I have a very special guest, Laura Coppinger.
[2:57] Allison: And Laura uh was nominated to be on the show by a friend, and I read her story and I said, okay, we have to have her on the show because there's so much here.
[3:09] Allison: Laura is a mom.
[3:11] Allison: She is a homemaker.
[3:12] Allison: She is married to Matt.
[3:14] Allison: They have 11 kids, four biological, seven adopted through foster care.
[3:19] Allison: Five of her kids are on the autism spectrum, and several have some learning disabilities and some trauma issues.
[3:26] Allison: So she has got, I'm sure, a wealth of knowledge to share with us about some of those things.
[3:32] Allison: Um I would like to talk to you, Laura, uh, today about homemaking and what you have to offer the homemaking community because you haven't just sat on your knowledge.
[3:43] Allison: You've been blogging for many years and you've been putting stuff out there to help other moms.
[3:47] Allison: So that was a big long intro, but welcome to the show, Laura.
[3:51] SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
[3:51] SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
[3:52] SPEAKER_00: I'm really honored that you're taking the time to spend with me here.
[3:57] SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
[3:57] Allison: You're welcome.
[3:58] Allison: It's absolutely my pleasure.
[4:00] Allison: So we're gonna do a little abbreviated version of the homemaker portrait questions that all the listeners out there are very familiar with.
[4:07] Allison: And then we're gonna spend some time talking about specifically what you have to offer homemakers that would help them in their journey of homemaking.
[4:14] Allison: So, sounds good.
[4:16] Allison: How long have you been keeping a home, would you say?
[4:20] SPEAKER_00: Well, over 31 years.
[4:23] SPEAKER_00: My husband and I got married in the summer of 94.
[4:26] SPEAKER_00: So I kind of can't believe that when I think about it.
[4:30] SPEAKER_00: Like 31 years, because I kind of still feel like I am 31.
[4:33] SPEAKER_00: I don't know how to explain that, but probably because I have little kids.
[4:38] SPEAKER_00: So I'm like pretending to be a young mom, but in fact, I also have adult kids.
[4:42] SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of a funny, you know, we're living kind of a different scenario here at our house, but um 31 years.
[4:51] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so yeah.
[4:52] Allison: So I remind me again the ages.
[4:56] Allison: Remind me again the ages of your kids, the range.
[4:59] SPEAKER_00: Our oldest, yeah.
[5:00] SPEAKER_00: Our oldest is 29, okay, and then our youngest is three.
[5:04] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[5:04] SPEAKER_00: So we have four adult sons that are our biological kids, and so 29 down to 21 are their ages.
[5:15] SPEAKER_00: And then um, our younger set, I kind of talk as if I have two sets of kids because that's sort of the reality.
[5:22] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[5:22] SPEAKER_00: For us, our younger set is 12 down to three, and there are seven of them, actually, eight right now, because we're guardians for an eighth one.
[5:31] SPEAKER_00: So throw that into the mix for our summer.
[5:33] SPEAKER_00: But we've we've been praying for that guy.
[5:35] SPEAKER_00: So we're really glad he's with us.
[5:37] SPEAKER_00: And um, so yes, wide age range there.
[5:42] Allison: Yeah, but I can understand what you're saying about you know, feeling like you're still in your 30s because it's like that's the age that I was when my kids were that age, you know.
[5:52] Allison: Yes.
[5:53] Allison: Um, yes.
[5:54] Allison: I guess it keeps you on your toes and it keeps you young, doesn't it?
[5:56] SPEAKER_00: It kind of does.
[5:58] SPEAKER_00: It's also we're like, yeah, I have to kind of remind myself, Laura, you're 52 now.
[6:03] SPEAKER_00: But also, um, it does, it keeps us kind of young.
[6:08] SPEAKER_00: We're we're still happy.
[6:09] SPEAKER_00: God keeps giving us the energy, you know, and people are like, I don't know how you do it.
[6:14] SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, we are not doing it.
[6:16] SPEAKER_00: We aren't.
[6:17] SPEAKER_00: It's kind of an impossible task that he's given us, and he's doing it.
[6:22] SPEAKER_00: And I'm so reminded of that all the time.
[6:25] unknown: Yeah.
[6:25] SPEAKER_00: When we're doing things that I'm like, this doesn't even really seem humanly possible.
[6:30] SPEAKER_00: And yet here we are.
[6:31] SPEAKER_00: And so it's just is God in every way.
[6:35] SPEAKER_00: We see it daily.
[6:36] Allison: Yeah.
[6:36] SPEAKER_00: Him at work through all of this.
[6:38] Allison: That's really awesome.
[6:40] Allison: So, what would you say is your biggest homemaking strength?
[6:46] SPEAKER_00: Well, I think food, if I had to land on where I'm where I feel so comfortable and gifted, it's food.
[6:54] SPEAKER_00: And I'm so thankful because we do eat a lot of that at our house.
[6:58] SPEAKER_00: And it's always just such a need.
[7:00] SPEAKER_00: And I think all the time, if I didn't love food and preparing meals and getting easy things on the table, I would, this would be a much harder task.
[7:10] SPEAKER_00: And especially with our younger set of kids, we have a lot of eating struggles with um autism and eating struggles often go together.
[7:19] SPEAKER_00: Trauma and eating struggles go together.
[7:21] SPEAKER_00: And so um, I'm really thankful that food has been a strength of mine so that I can, you know, keep revamping and retrying different things and figuring out what works for our family and how to make all that work.
[7:37] SPEAKER_00: So very thankful that food does come easy for me and I'm able to, and I enjoy it.
[7:44] SPEAKER_00: I enjoy food and feeding people.
[7:46] SPEAKER_00: So that is a gift that I'm thankful for.
[7:49] Allison: Yeah, yeah.
[7:50] Allison: And that's gonna come up when we talk about what you what you have out there for homemakers too.
[7:55] SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
[7:55] Allison: Um, okay, but what about weaknesses?
[7:57] Allison: What would you say is your homemaking weakness?
[7:59] SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm like, well, how long do you have for that?
[8:02] SPEAKER_00: But I realized when I was kind of thinking through what I would like nail down as my weaknesses is um kind of like seeing my the messes as failing or um just wreck like when my house is messy, um, which is now all the time.
[8:21] SPEAKER_00: I mean, I it's almost impossible to keep the house not messy with this many kids, but also now that I've really learned more about um our kids' needs matter way more than a perfect house that and you know, even like inviting people into our home, who cares about the mess?
[8:43] SPEAKER_00: Just invite people in.
[8:44] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do still recognize that I get edgy the more messy, you know, when it's like, oh, there's messes in every room of the house.
[8:54] SPEAKER_00: And so I do recognize that as a weakness.
[8:57] SPEAKER_00: I I have to um not let the messes affect my emotional mental state.
[9:04] SPEAKER_00: Um, I do my best, and my best is messy right now, and maybe it always will be, and yeah, or maybe just right now.
[9:14] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know.
[9:15] SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
[9:16] SPEAKER_00: I also don't know, you know, will we ever be empty nesters?
[9:20] SPEAKER_00: Will some of these kids need to be with us potentially um their entire life with uh, you know, as well, our entire life, whatever.
[9:28] SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
[9:28] SPEAKER_00: We we are kind of looking down the road at some of their needs, and we don't know.
[9:34] SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's just always gonna be messy.
[9:37] SPEAKER_00: Maybe I need to not let that affect me quite so much in you know, feeling like, oh, I should be doing better.
[9:46] SPEAKER_00: I I could do more.
[9:48] SPEAKER_00: Really, could I?
[9:49] SPEAKER_00: No, I am doing the best I can and it's messy.
[9:54] Allison: Yeah.
[9:55] Allison: I I like the way that you introduced that that weakness.
[9:58] Allison: What you said first was that see your weakness is seeing your messes as failure.
[10:03] Allison: So yes, seeing equating the mess with your failing, which is not necessarily true, you know.
[10:09] SPEAKER_00: It isn't true, and believing those lies is not really a good way to go about the day.
[10:15] SPEAKER_00: No, certainly because then I just see it in every room.
[10:18] SPEAKER_00: Oh, fail.
[10:19] SPEAKER_00: But of course, the enemy wants to make me feel that way and keep me from seeing the positives and the things that God is doing in our home.
[10:28] SPEAKER_00: And so he'll just use those tiles for his own gain, which I have to fight against.
[10:35] Allison: Yes, definitely.
[10:37] Allison: Um, tell me about someone who has helped influence and shape the homemaker that you are today.
[10:44] SPEAKER_00: I learned a ton from my mom.
[10:47] SPEAKER_00: My mom was a really good homemaker, but I have to probably give more of the credit to my grandma because I I see a lot of myself in her.
[10:58] SPEAKER_00: I see a lot of her in myself.
[10:59] SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure how I should say that best.
[11:01] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[11:02] SPEAKER_00: I spent so much time in her kitchen standing beside her.
[11:07] SPEAKER_00: And I learned so much.
[11:10] SPEAKER_00: I guess I, as I put together meals, I see that I'm doing it her way.
[11:15] SPEAKER_00: And I think it's just because her way really resonated with me.
[11:21] SPEAKER_00: And she just stood, she had a tiny kitchen.
[11:24] SPEAKER_00: She had nine kids, and she also fostered.
[11:27] SPEAKER_00: And I wish I could talk to her.
[11:29] SPEAKER_00: She died long ago, but it would be, I would love to, you know, just be like, Grandma, how did you survive this?
[11:35] SPEAKER_00: But she stood in her tiny kitchen and she put together so many meals and so much food, and she fed people from whatever she had.
[11:44] SPEAKER_00: And I don't remember ever watching her get out a cookbook.
[11:47] SPEAKER_00: I don't remember seeing her measure.
[11:50] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she just put together food.
[11:52] SPEAKER_00: And I see myself just doing that now.
[11:55] SPEAKER_00: It hasn't been like overnight.
[11:57] SPEAKER_00: I wasn't, I didn't get married and start doing it that way.
[11:59] SPEAKER_00: You know, it's I've been doing this for 31 years and now I've kind of landed in my ways.
[12:03] SPEAKER_00: But I see a lot of grandma in how I cook and feed people and my love of food.
[12:09] SPEAKER_00: And so I would say she really influenced.
[12:12] Allison: So tell me about your biggest homemaking fail.
[12:17] SPEAKER_00: I have a long list of those too.
[12:20] SPEAKER_00: But I think I I don't know, biggest one that the one that came to mind, as I was thinking about this, was um, I always buy in bulk.
[12:29] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[12:30] SPEAKER_00: And I even before we had this many kids, when we quote, only had four kids, we're they were all boys, so we went through a lot of food the first time around, too.
[12:39] SPEAKER_00: Um, but I always bought in bulk, which is great, except for if you don't use what you buy.
[12:43] Allison: Yeah.
[12:44] SPEAKER_00: And then also, it's not great if you don't um mouseproof.
[12:49] Allison: Oh yes.
[12:51] SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
[12:52] SPEAKER_00: And so there was times that I would buy this bulk, you know, wheat or flour pasta.
[12:59] SPEAKER_00: Pasta is the story I planned to tell you about because I bought bulk pasta and I was very proud.
[13:05] SPEAKER_00: And um our oldest son had started college, but he was in our our hometown.
[13:10] SPEAKER_00: And any chance I got, I'm like, Do you guys, you and your soccer friends want to come over for dinner?
[13:15] SPEAKER_00: But they didn't have much time.
[13:16] SPEAKER_00: And I was trying to like quickly put a meal together and they were like at the table waiting.
[13:20] SPEAKER_00: Like that's how much I was like trying to really hurry.
[13:22] SPEAKER_00: And I I got the water ready and then I poured pasta in and bugs like floated to the top.
[13:29] SPEAKER_00: And I was like, mmm, okay.
[13:32] SPEAKER_00: And I'm like ashamed to admit, like going through my head was, do I fish the bugs out?
[13:37] SPEAKER_00: Like, oh no, you don't fish the bugs out and serve it anyway.
[13:40] SPEAKER_00: But I was trying to hurry and I didn't feel like I was working well under pressure.
[13:44] SPEAKER_00: So anyway, I I don't remember actually what I did.
[13:47] SPEAKER_00: I didn't serve that pasta, but I quickly had to come up with a different plan and learned, okay, Lara, if you're gonna buy a book, you're gonna have to like do some preservation of that book and you know, do that right and check your pasta before you pour it into the boiling drink of water.
[14:05] SPEAKER_00: Shocker, there's bugs.
[14:07] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was no fun.
[14:08] Allison: Oh my goodness.
[14:09] Allison: Okay, how about a win?
[14:12] SPEAKER_00: Oh I I think I don't know, I I recognize that as I was thinking through this question, I was equating um like homemaking and hospitality start started to collide for me.
[14:31] SPEAKER_00: Because I I started wanting to answer all these questions about hospitality.
[14:34] SPEAKER_00: I'm like, wait, this is about homemaking.
[14:36] SPEAKER_00: But I guess in many ways, I for me they have come together.
[14:41] Allison: Sure.
[14:41] SPEAKER_00: Because um in our homes, we are meant to love people in whatever way that looks.
[14:49] SPEAKER_00: So if it if we're talking about just our family, outsiders, neighbors, whoever.
[14:55] SPEAKER_00: And so I would say um what I feel would be my biggest homemaking win at this point is um hosting Sunday lunches.
[15:06] SPEAKER_00: God has created something so cool, and it's been years in the making.
[15:11] SPEAKER_00: So again, I did this wasn't a newlywed thing, I was able to do well.
[15:15] Allison: Yeah.
[15:16] SPEAKER_00: Um, I did it some, you know, hosting people in general.
[15:19] SPEAKER_00: And I look back at some of that, I'm like, whoa, there weren't bugs in the pasta, but I, you know, I'm sorry, the orange juice was hot.
[15:27] SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't know.
[15:28] SPEAKER_00: I just I though through the years, we just started inviting people for Sunday lunch.
[15:34] SPEAKER_00: And um it, I would say Kelly, the one who nominated me to be a part of this, she was one of our Sunday lunchers.
[15:43] SPEAKER_00: And um we invited college students who, of course, were always open to a homemade meal.
[15:50] SPEAKER_00: Of course.
[15:50] SPEAKER_00: And then it evolved into just families and whoever, I don't know.
[15:57] SPEAKER_00: When I kind of think about who's coming to Sunday lunch, our family, like our extended family, our our adult sons and their families come, which is a great time to just have people together.
[16:07] SPEAKER_00: But then um, part of our church family.
[16:10] SPEAKER_00: I don't know, we we host between 30 to 50 every Sunday now.
[16:14] SPEAKER_00: Wow, God gave us the house for it.
[16:16] SPEAKER_00: We have a house that can handle that and a yard, you know, and et cetera.
[16:20] SPEAKER_00: But um, not because it's a fancy house, it's just big and functional.
[16:25] SPEAKER_00: And um, I've definitely learned it doesn't have to be fancy.
[16:29] SPEAKER_00: In fact, the less fancy the better because we're just a bunch of people getting together.
[16:33] SPEAKER_00: But Sunday lunch has been the biggest gift.
[16:37] SPEAKER_00: It's such a delight for me to be able to feed people in mass like that.
[16:43] SPEAKER_00: But and everyone contributes, you know, I kind of have a theme, and then I'm like, hey, do you want to bring guak, your your awesome guak to go with our burrito buffet, you know, kind of dole it out that way.
[16:54] SPEAKER_00: And um, and there's people that maybe wouldn't get to know each other if they weren't sitting around the table there, you know.
[17:02] SPEAKER_00: Just I I sometimes just walk through the house um looking at what's going on during a Sunday lunch, and there's these pockets of people all throughout visiting and in community and engaging, and it's so incredible.
[17:19] SPEAKER_00: And we get to do that every week.
[17:20] SPEAKER_00: And I I just love it.
[17:22] SPEAKER_00: I I think that that would be the fact that God grew that ability in me and then gave us um a space to be able to do that and made me love it is um a homemaking win.
[17:39] SPEAKER_00: I just think that's one of the best parts of my week, and I just love it.
[17:43] Allison: Oh, that's a great win.
[17:45] Allison: I love that so much.
[17:46] Allison: Congratulations on hosting that many people.
[17:49] Allison: That's really awesome.
[17:51] Allison: So tell me a favorite homemaking hack or tip.
[17:53] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[17:54] SPEAKER_00: This one is not about food.
[17:55] SPEAKER_00: Shocker.
[17:57] SPEAKER_00: I realized that my favorite hack, and I don't know if this has worked for everyone.
[18:03] SPEAKER_00: And some people cringe when they hear this.
[18:05] SPEAKER_00: They're like, you what?
[18:07] SPEAKER_00: I do not fold laundry anymore.
[18:09] SPEAKER_00: Laundry folding is a no-go.
[18:12] SPEAKER_00: I don't have time, but also I realized um, why would I fold my little kids' shirts and put them into a drawer so that we could all rummage around looking for that shirt and that folding is like gone, right?
[18:29] SPEAKER_00: Like, what's even the point?
[18:30] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
[18:31] SPEAKER_00: And really, even for me, if I was gonna even try to be careful, I'm like, yeah, but I can't figure out which shirt I'm looking for.
[18:37] SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm even gonna mess it up.
[18:39] Allison: Yeah.
[18:40] SPEAKER_00: So I don't do that anymore.
[18:41] SPEAKER_00: I have in our laundry room, I have totes.
[18:44] SPEAKER_00: Nobody has dressers.
[18:45] SPEAKER_00: Our grown-ups have dressers, yeah.
[18:48] SPEAKER_00: But of our, of our eight kids, younger kids, we have totes in the laundry room.
[18:53] SPEAKER_00: The clothes go directly from the dryer to their totes.
[18:57] SPEAKER_00: I have a, you know, here at several of our kids wear the same size.
[19:00] SPEAKER_00: We have a lot of um age overlap and size overlap with our eight kids.
[19:04] SPEAKER_00: Those are all similar in age.
[19:07] SPEAKER_00: And so, like of we have three little girls all wear the same size.
[19:11] SPEAKER_00: So there's a little girl shirt tote, little girl's pants tote.
[19:15] SPEAKER_00: There's a pile of dresses over in the corner.
[19:19] SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't even hang those up.
[19:21] SPEAKER_00: I aspired to hang them up.
[19:23] SPEAKER_00: I do not hang them up, they're in a pile.
[19:25] SPEAKER_00: Go grab a dress.
[19:26] SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
[19:27] SPEAKER_00: It works great.
[19:29] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because little kids' clothes don't wrinkle, or if they do, that's I don't buy it if it's gonna wrinkle.
[19:34] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[19:35] SPEAKER_00: And so it has been a really good system.
[19:37] SPEAKER_00: I barely can keep up with laundry with this many.
[19:40] SPEAKER_00: So that helps me mostly stay caught up with laundry, just drier to tote.
[19:47] SPEAKER_00: And and I try to get the kids helping me with sure, sure.
[19:50] SPEAKER_00: The separation of those and like, here, you put all the shirts over there or whatever.
[19:53] SPEAKER_00: Right.
[19:54] SPEAKER_00: But um, that's been yeah, life saving.
[19:57] SPEAKER_00: And now I don't even like fold our kitchen towels.
[19:59] SPEAKER_00: I'm like, just throw stuff it in the kitchen towel, drawer.
[20:01] SPEAKER_00: Just gonna grab it out anyway.
[20:02] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[20:02] SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
[20:03] SPEAKER_00: It's cringy for some, but man, I'm gonna do it forever.
[20:08] SPEAKER_00: I love it.
[20:08] Allison: It's a big time saver.
[20:09] Allison: And when you're doing that much laundry, yeah.
[20:11] Allison: It's yes, I've heard that one before.
[20:13] Allison: That's a really great, that's a really great tip.
[20:15] Allison: I like it.
[20:16] Allison: Okay, so you have some, you have some resources out there for for homemakers.
[20:22] Allison: Um, you have a website, you have a blog, yes, correct?
[20:25] SPEAKER_01: Yes.
[20:25] Allison: Okay, and you have some meal plans, and we're gonna talk about all of that.
[20:29] Allison: But I would like to know first of all, what motivated you to start making content, start blogging and putting this out there to the world for homemakers.
[20:38] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I started kind of when blogging was new-ish.
[20:43] SPEAKER_00: So I've been doing it for 19 years.
[20:45] SPEAKER_00: Um, when our youngest bio kiddo was two, he's 21 now.
[20:50] SPEAKER_00: And so I started a long time ago.
[20:54] SPEAKER_00: And um at that time, a friend of mine who knew things that I didn't know about blogging, technology, websites.
[21:02] SPEAKER_00: She's just real great with computers um and designing websites.
[21:08] SPEAKER_00: She was like, Laura, you know a lot about homemaking.
[21:11] SPEAKER_00: I think you need to get that information out there for people.
[21:14] SPEAKER_00: You should start a blog.
[21:16] SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I've never heard of a blog.
[21:19] SPEAKER_00: So that's how not ready for that I was.
[21:23] SPEAKER_00: So I really attribute it to Charlene uh at Delight Design.
[21:27] SPEAKER_00: I should give her a little shout out because she she's the one that made that happen for me.
[21:32] SPEAKER_00: And the more I talked to her, that vision started to grow.
[21:35] SPEAKER_00: And um I loved the idea because I love to write.
[21:40] SPEAKER_00: I am a writer.
[21:41] SPEAKER_00: I'm, you know, I'm a teacher by trade, um, as far as my degree goes.
[21:45] SPEAKER_00: And I have pretty much mostly just used that teaching skill in um raising our kids and homeschooling and then um teaching people homemaking skills online.
[21:57] SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, for 19 years it it grew and it grew.
[22:01] SPEAKER_00: And now um because of everything we have going on in our life, I love kind of looking back to see how God started it when he did and grew it to what he grew it to, and then um allowed me now to um work really minimally on it.
[22:19] SPEAKER_00: So much is on there, so much content, so many recipes, so many resources.
[22:24] SPEAKER_00: But right now I've got to pour most, all of my energy into our kids.
[22:29] SPEAKER_00: We've got a lot of high needs at our house, and um I can't stretch that thin anymore, but I don't have to because God started it when he started it, and now um it's a full-fledged website with with everything we need.
[22:47] SPEAKER_00: And so now I kind of um I mostly I try to create new things when I can because it really fulfills me and I love creating new and I learn new things and I want to share it.
[22:56] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[22:56] SPEAKER_00: But for the most part, now I share a weekly post in which I just I take pictures of what we're doing all the week all week.
[23:04] SPEAKER_00: I um share what we're eating through the week, how I feed all of us, what we eat for our Sunday lunches, how I host different things.
[23:11] SPEAKER_00: But I just share that on Sundays.
[23:14] SPEAKER_00: I write that post all throughout the week when I have 15 minutes here and 10 minutes there and 30 minutes there.
[23:20] SPEAKER_00: And then I put it all together and then I share it.
[23:22] SPEAKER_00: And I've had readers, longtime readers who have been following since my big boys were little boys.
[23:28] SPEAKER_00: And then as we started growing our family through foster adoption.
[23:31] SPEAKER_00: And so the feedback on those is so great because they have just watched God at work in all of that.
[23:38] SPEAKER_00: And so even to hear, to hear from my followers, what they see God doing has been incredible because sometimes I don't see what I should be seeing because I'm in the thick of it.
[23:52] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[23:52] SPEAKER_00: And I'm exhausted.
[23:53] SPEAKER_00: I'm discouraged sometimes.
[23:55] SPEAKER_00: And to have a reader say, look how she's not doing that anymore.
[23:59] SPEAKER_00: Look how she's grown through that thing.
[24:00] SPEAKER_00: Look how she used to struggle with that.
[24:03] SPEAKER_00: And now she's doing that for you.
[24:06] SPEAKER_00: Or even simple, like, look how she ran right to the school bus without needing you to carry her.
[24:12] SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, oh yeah, she is doing that now.
[24:15] SPEAKER_00: So it's precious to watch others see God at work in what I'm able to share.
[24:22] SPEAKER_00: And throughout it all, then there's just the basic logistical, like daily, here's what we ate.
[24:28] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[24:29] SPEAKER_00: Here's how I fed them snacks.
[24:30] SPEAKER_00: Here's something for my picky eaters.
[24:32] SPEAKER_00: And that's all worked into those posts too.
[24:34] SPEAKER_00: And so that's that's kind of like kind of the short story of how it all evolved through 19 years.
[24:43] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[24:43] SPEAKER_00: Where it is now.
[24:44] Allison: You're like a veteran.
[24:45] Allison: You're a veteran of content creation.
[24:48] SPEAKER_00: I mean, weird for me being only 31, huh?
[24:51] SPEAKER_00: I was right.
[24:51] SPEAKER_00: How did you manage that?
[24:53] Allison: I don't know.
[24:55] Allison: So the name of your blog is let me get this right.
[24:58] Allison: It's heavenlyhomemakers.com.
[25:00] Allison: Yes.
[25:00] Allison: Correct?
[25:01] Allison: Heavenlyhomemakers.com.
[25:03] Allison: And you're you're on Instagram too, correct?
[25:05] Allison: Right?
[25:05] SPEAKER_00: I am.
[25:06] Allison: Okay.
[25:06] Allison: Yes.
[25:07] SPEAKER_00: Facebook, Instagram, Instagram.
[25:08] Allison: Okay.
[25:09] Allison: But all your resources are on heavenlyhomemakers.com.
[25:13] Allison: So what do you have right now?
[25:16] Allison: Like, what do you have that currently on offer or in your back catalog that would really help the art of home listeners in their everyday homemaking?
[25:26] SPEAKER_00: So a few years ago, we started a simple meals menu planning packet that we created and we send out every week because we recognize that so many people well hate menu planning or are discouraged about like what do I feed my family again?
[25:49] SPEAKER_00: And also need just ideas and resources for um how to feed our families real food, wholesome food, but without it being like gourmet and all organic and it has to be free range.
[26:03] SPEAKER_00: I have learned, I kind of have evolved even in that.
[26:06] SPEAKER_00: If you look at some of my archived posts, you see, oh, Lara used to be a little more organic and crunchy.
[26:12] SPEAKER_00: And I did.
[26:13] SPEAKER_00: And that's fine.
[26:15] SPEAKER_00: I have just learned that loving people is way more important than free-range chickens.
[26:23] SPEAKER_00: And if I can free range my chickens, I do.
[26:26] SPEAKER_00: And if I can't, I just feed us chicken because loving people is more important.
[26:32] SPEAKER_00: And so I've evolved through that.
[26:33] SPEAKER_00: And my simple meals menu plans are just kind of wide open to however you want to put this together.
[26:41] SPEAKER_00: Here's a menu plan idea for the week.
[26:43] SPEAKER_00: Here's a grocery list for you.
[26:45] SPEAKER_00: But it you can, it's it's all the ideas that are there, all the resources there.
[26:50] SPEAKER_00: The recipe links are all there.
[26:53] SPEAKER_00: So it just takes you directly to my website to get those recipes.
[26:57] SPEAKER_00: It's um easy to adapt if you're gluten-free or dairy-free.
[27:02] SPEAKER_00: And it's easy to adapt, like, oh, that doesn't work for us on Thursday.
[27:06] SPEAKER_00: Well, just use that one on Monday.
[27:08] SPEAKER_00: Or um, it's just a simple, simple resource that we've been doing for years.
[27:14] SPEAKER_00: And so our readers love taking advantage of that.
[27:17] SPEAKER_00: And um, we're thankful to be able to offer that.
[27:20] SPEAKER_00: This um, I also have a club membership that has a bajillion resources in there, all of our ebooks.
[27:26] Allison: Yeah, that's I was gonna ask you about that because I was on your website.
[27:29] Allison: It looks like there's just a ton of stuff there.
[27:31] SPEAKER_00: Yes, thousands of dollars of resources, the ebooks that I've created all through these years and curriculum that I wrote for homeschool community, and um printables, all things that can be used for homemakers, that's all on our club membership.
[27:45] SPEAKER_00: Okay, and it's just um$10 a month.
[27:49] SPEAKER_00: Or if you pay for a whole year, it's five bucks a month.
[27:51] SPEAKER_00: We our goal is to um serve people that we like we're my husband and I are pretty frugal minded.
[28:00] SPEAKER_00: We're not big spenders.
[28:02] SPEAKER_00: And so I'm like, well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna offer things in a way that I would want to receive it.
[28:09] Allison: Sure.
[28:09] SPEAKER_00: So everything that we offer is inexpensive and practical and just designed to help homemakers do their job without stress and um so that they can love their families and love their neighbors in the way that they want to, in the way that God is calling them to.
[28:27] SPEAKER_00: And so I did just create a a seven-day summer meal plan option, and it's just free to everybody.
[28:35] SPEAKER_00: So um I can provide the link for that for everyone to just come get it.
[28:40] SPEAKER_00: You just um put in your email address if the blog post explains how to do that, and then and then we'll provide that.
[28:48] SPEAKER_00: And it has all seven days of the week breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack.
[28:53] SPEAKER_00: Oh, nice for a whole week.
[28:55] SPEAKER_00: Just ideas, again, recipe links.
[28:58] SPEAKER_00: And so that's just a freebie that we just created as we head into summer.
[29:02] SPEAKER_00: And um as kids are like, now what can I eat?
[29:06] SPEAKER_00: Because that's what they do in the summer.
[29:07] SPEAKER_00: Yes, they just keep coming back for more food.
[29:09] SPEAKER_00: It's weird.
[29:10] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
[29:10] SPEAKER_00: It's like they're playing hard outside or something.
[29:13] SPEAKER_00: So um, knowing that that's a huge need, we created that resource.
[29:17] SPEAKER_00: Kind of, I do things sometimes for my own self because I know what I need.
[29:22] SPEAKER_00: And then I'm like, if I'm doing this for me, I'm gonna put it out there.
[29:25] SPEAKER_00: So it's a freebie, everyone can come get it.
[29:27] SPEAKER_00: And within that, I do share some more about the simple meals menu planning packets.
[29:32] SPEAKER_00: If if someone were to want to like, okay, give me more of that.
[29:37] SPEAKER_00: And I share on there how to get it for half price because we just want to give people a great resource um and just kind of um pay for the work that it takes to do it.
[29:47] SPEAKER_00: But we're not gonna, we're gonna make it easy and inexpensive for people.
[29:51] Allison: Okay.
[29:52] Allison: So on your um, on your membership um program plan, is that my club membership.
[29:58] Allison: On your club membership, does that that gives them access to all your resources that are on your website, correct?
[30:03] SPEAKER_00: Yes.
[30:03] SPEAKER_00: So simple meals menu planning packets, that's separate.
[30:07] SPEAKER_00: But um, the club membership does everything that's in our shop that you can purchase.
[30:12] SPEAKER_00: Okay, you might as well skip that and just join and become a member because you're gonna save a lot of money that way.
[30:20] SPEAKER_00: And and you'll have access to so much more.
[30:24] SPEAKER_00: So, like an example of that would be um a few years ago, we created a big kids cooking camp option that um actually we created it during COVID because nobody could do anything then.
[30:36] SPEAKER_00: So we put together this great kids' cooking camp that you can do at home, teach your kids to cook, fun things they can make.
[30:42] SPEAKER_00: And um, I just pulled it out today because I'm like, my 10-year-old daughter needs to do this this summer.
[30:48] SPEAKER_00: So that's in my shop and it's$99 because it's kind of a loaded, it's a huge package worth more than a hundred bucks, but we put it for a hundred bucks.
[30:58] SPEAKER_00: Well, it's in my club membership for ten dollars a month or five dollars a month if you buy the whole year.
[31:04] SPEAKER_00: So it's it's a it's a bargain.
[31:07] SPEAKER_00: It is, it is, and not only that, you get all these other resources too.
[31:12] SPEAKER_00: So yeah, just everything that we've created during the past 19 years is just all in there.
[31:20] SPEAKER_00: Do your members connect?
[31:21] Allison: Do your members connect with one another?
[31:23] Allison: Do you have a Facebook group or anything like that?
[31:24] SPEAKER_00: I do have a Facebook group.
[31:25] SPEAKER_00: I will say I'm not great anymore at keeping up with that.
[31:29] SPEAKER_00: I had such good intentions, but yes, I I need to like pull that up and just kind of re-engage it because um that is an additional way that we can all connect in community together.
[31:40] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[31:41] Allison: Um because if you're using the same resources from your pool, it's kind of nice to be able to talk to one another and you know, ask questions and things like that.
[31:47] SPEAKER_00: Suggest different things and ask questions.
[31:49] SPEAKER_00: Yes, you're right.
[31:50] SPEAKER_00: Yes.
[31:50] Allison: Okay, cool.
[31:51] Allison: Well, that sounds awesome.
[31:53] Allison: Well, that's really good.
[31:54] Allison: We will definitely put all the links to all the things in the show notes.
[31:58] Allison: Um so yeah, I'm excited to connect our listeners, my listeners, with your resources because there is, I I mean, I just I spent like half an hour and I was like overwhelmed.
[32:09] Allison: Yeah, there's so much on your website in a good way, overwhelmed in the best way.
[32:14] Allison: Like there's so much there.
[32:15] Allison: So I definitely recommend people go check that out.
[32:18] Allison: Um, so to close our time out, I'd love to hear your take on how do you see homemaking as an art?
[32:25] Allison: Because that's the name of this show, The Art of Home.
[32:27] Allison: Yeah.
[32:27] Allison: And how do you see it as an art?
[32:29] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love that question.
[32:31] SPEAKER_00: I have never thought about it as homemaking is an art, but as I consider that, I love thinking about how what we do as homemakers is kingdom work.
[32:43] SPEAKER_00: And so um every part of it, whether we're talking about marriage, raising children, hospitality, um I I just um laundry.
[32:55] SPEAKER_00: I mean, every part of it, every part of it is kingdom work because none of it is wasted.
[33:01] SPEAKER_00: And everything, everything is, I I think, I think too much we can see what we do as mundane or hard, challenging, because it is all those things also.
[33:12] SPEAKER_00: It's not like I'm a homemaker and I love it so much, everything is beautiful and it's everything I wanted.
[33:18] SPEAKER_00: It is all of that also, but it's it's hard.
[33:22] SPEAKER_00: But I I just when I think about homemaking is kingdom work.
[33:29] SPEAKER_00: This is this is what we're doing to further the kingdom of God.
[33:34] SPEAKER_00: And that can't be done without the Holy Spirit, right?
[33:37] SPEAKER_00: And so when we're tapping into our gifts and what the Holy Spirit offers us to be able to do this work, then there's so much beauty in that.
[33:47] Allison: Yeah.
[33:47] SPEAKER_00: And the fruit, then, that comes from letting the Holy Spirit be at work, that is such an art form.
[33:55] SPEAKER_00: And it looks different, just like every piece of art, depending on the artist.
[34:02] SPEAKER_00: Um, but the Holy Spirit at work through each artist, yep.
[34:05] SPEAKER_00: It looks different in how how it, you know, what the results look like or how it plays out.
[34:11] SPEAKER_00: And, you know, my way, you don't have to do things my way.
[34:14] SPEAKER_00: Here's some suggestions, here's some things that work for me.
[34:17] SPEAKER_00: But, you know, what's God gonna do with that in your context?
[34:20] SPEAKER_00: So I I just think however the Holy Spirit works through you in your kingdom work for through homemaking is it's such a beautiful piece of art.
[34:33] Allison: Yes, excellent answer.
[34:35] Allison: So, how can listeners connect with you?
[34:37] Allison: What's the best place for them to go?
[34:40] SPEAKER_00: I would say go go directly to heavenlyhomemakers.com and then on my sidebar, um, find the link to sign up for my email.
[34:49] SPEAKER_00: So I have a newsletter free, and um I I send those out regularly, but it's really basic stuff like here's some here's some recipes I suggest you try this week, or yeah, um here's what here's what I did this week, or yeah, um just real simple things and just to connect and then um then through that they can connect through email.
[35:13] SPEAKER_00: I do have a Facebook page, Instagram, um, Pinterest, if that's even it's barely still a thing anymore.
[35:20] SPEAKER_00: But I mean it is still a thing, it's still a thing.
[35:24] SPEAKER_00: It's just less of a thing than it used to be.
[35:26] SPEAKER_00: But yes, it's still there.
[35:27] SPEAKER_00: So I I do have Pinterest page.
[35:29] SPEAKER_00: Um, but I would say definitely connect through email and then we then you'll just make sure and receive everything that I send out.
[35:38] SPEAKER_00: But for the most part, what I'm sending out is just ideas and helpful tips and little snapshots of our day.
[35:45] Allison: Awesome.
[35:45] Allison: Okay.
[35:46] Allison: Well, Laura, thank you so much for being here and for sharing all about your heart for home.
[35:51] Allison: I've loved having you.
[35:52] Allison: Thank you.
[35:53] Allison: Thank you so much.
[35:54] SPEAKER_00: This was really a joy to be a part of.
[35:56] SPEAKER_00: You're welcome.
[35:58] Allison: Thank you for joining me for this special Monday motivation highlighting creator Laura Coppinger.
[36:04] Allison: I hope you are taking away some wisdom and some insight that will motivate you to keep doing the kingdom work of the home.
[36:12] Allison: Thank you again to Laura for sharing some of her story of home with us and for all of the years of faithfully creating and sharing such valuable content for the benefit of homemakers.
[36:23] Allison: Be sure to connect with Lara over at heavenlyhomemakers.com where you can sign up for her free newsletter and check out all the great resources in her shop.
[36:32] Allison: I will put links in the show notes to connect with her and for the specific resources we talked about today.
[36:40] Allison: Her free seven-day summer meal plan, which even though summer is winding down, it's not too late for that.
[36:45] Allison: Her simple meals planning service, which she is offering at half price, and her club membership.
[36:53] Allison: That's all for this special Creator Spotlight Monday motivation.
[36:57] Allison: I will be back on Wednesday with a brand new homemaker portrait.
[37:01] Allison: Until then, keep practicing your art of making a home

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