Any Given Moment: Prayer Changes Everything | Sarah Molitor

[00:00:00] Sarah Molitor : I just feel like prayer is the first thing we should do. It is the most change oriented thing we can do. It’s the thing that knocks on heaven’s doors, shakes the kingdom of God, and says like, Jesus, we need you to come right now.

[00:00:16] And when you have people by the thousands, by the droves, coming up and banging on heaven doors, like there is something happening that is so real in that and so tangible. And I know some people can’t see that. I know that’s hard for people to even hear at different times. And so my auto response is prayer because I genuinely believe that there is power in that.

[00:00:41] Dr. Z new: Welcome to the Natural Living Family Podcast, where we help you say no to overwhelm and yes to intentional living so you could take your health back God’s way. We’re Dr. Z and Mama Z bestselling authors, Bible Health Educators, and Parents of Seven. And this show is all about equipping you with simple, low-toxic living and budget friendly health solutions so you can walk in the abundant life you were created for.

[00:01:06] This isn’t about chasing trends or doing it all, it’s about renewing your mind, rejecting toxic systems, and embracing God’s design for healing and wholeness. Because the truth is God has a beautiful plan for your life, and yes, your health matters to him. Are you ready to get started? Awesome. Let’s dive in…. 

[00:01:27] Dr. Z: Some voices on the internet feel like a calm, soothing, deep breath, steady, joyful, and anchored in Jesus. And today’s guest is one of those voices. In a world that’s noisy, anxious, and always on, she invites you to slow down, pray, and notice God’s goodness in the midst of real life. Sarah Molitor is a wife, homeschooling mom to seven, and the author of the new devotional, Any Given Moment: 52 Devotions and Prayers to Feel the Goodness of God.

[00:01:55] Through her Modern Farmhouse Family community, she authentically shares family, life, faith, and practical encouragement with women around the world offering not perfection, but honest hope. She’s known for her weekly prayer times, gentle challenges that help you live your faith at home, and a gift for turning ordinary moments into invitations to meet the Lord.

[00:02:16] In today’s conversation, we talk about the story behind her devotional and how it was birthed from years of praying with her online community, the power of simple spoken prayer to steady a home. Rhythms for spiritual, emotional, and mental health when the world feels heavy and how to curate your feed, and your heart, for peace.

[00:02:35] We’ll also dig into boundaries with social media, cultivating joy in a large family and practical ways to chew on truth, all week long. As we continue our series highlighting Christian Health Influencers, we’re thrilled to feature a creator like Sarah, who consistently points people back to scripture, to prayer and to the goodness of God.

[00:02:56] Follow Sarah on Instagram at ModernFarmhouseFamily and find more at ModernFarmhouseFamily.com. Get ready. You’re gonna be really encouraged right now.

[00:03:07] All right, Sarah, my friend, my new friend. I love this. I love this thing that we could do here called the internet. Thanks so much for being here. 

[00:03:15] Sarah Molitor : Thank you for having me. Really honored. 

[00:03:17] Dr. Z: We’re gonna talk about some stuff today and I think there’s a lot behind the story of why I’m asking you to pray here.

[00:03:25] But I would love for you, to lead us in a prayer and let’s just submit this to the Lord, and let’s just see what God has for us. How’s that sound? 

[00:03:33] Sarah Molitor : Sounds great. Lord, thank you so much for this time with Dr. Eric and myself and just the conversation it brings in everything I say, he says, that we talk about. We just wanna put it in front of You and allow You to take it to bless others and to impact them in only a way You can, Lord. Let our mouths be your mouthpieces for your word. Let us stay true to what you’ve called us to and true to your word. And Father, just with all the things going on in the world and the different ways people are being impacted in the ways they’re even coming to listen to this, I just pray that You would soften, and help us have tender hearts to what You would say to us.

[00:04:10] And help us just to want to walk in Your ways no matter what that is. Lord, we submit to Your will and we submit this conversation to You as well. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

[00:04:21] Dr. Z: Amen. Amen. This is a special week for you. Mm-hmm. Congratulations. The birth of your book devotional, Any Given Moment.

[00:04:29] Sarah Molitor : Yes. Um, 

[00:04:30] Dr. Z: we’re gonna talk a lot about that, and it’s, it’s also very somber of a moment because we’re just still in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination and just this violent outrage of hatred that we’re seeing. But then on the flip side, wonderful, beautiful little glimmers. Maybe shining lights like you, in your corner of the internet, that are inspiring millions.

[00:04:52] And this dichotomy, Sarah, is one of the reasons why I wanted to get you on the show because you know we’re health people and there is so much that you offer when it comes to spiritual health, mental health, and emotional health.

[00:05:09] And so. Tell everyone a little bit about you and how you even got started on Instagram specifically and where it’s taken you the last, how many, so many years.

[00:05:19] Sarah Molitor : I always feel like I love this story and I laugh at it because getting started was never meant to get started or go anywhere. We were in a trench of marriage. My husband, Tim, we’ve been married 16 years. We have seven children. The oldest just turned 13, which is still a bit mind boggling to me that my oldest is 13, our youngest is two.

[00:05:39] So good little gap there and we just love, love, love our life. We love having lots of kids. We’ve been so blessed with that. But we were coming out of a hard time. We had two kids at the time and building our way back towards a better marriage in terms of the way we spoke to each other. And when I say we, that’s probably not being nice to Tim ’cause it was more me than him not being very kind.

[00:06:02] And I was just in a place of life learning to be content where the Lord had me, but I was pushing back and fighting on that. So as we’re coming out of this, my sweet husband of all things says like, “You need to get a hobby. I love you so much. Like please.” And I’m like, how rude that you have to.

[00:06:22] But I’m really in this place where I don’t have any friends, I don’t have relationships. We’re having a hard time plugging into a church. And I know that what he was seeing was just like, gosh, like you need something. I know you have that. I knew he was seeing that and that’s how he meant it. And at the time, you know, wasn’t gonna go around and spend a bunch of money on a hobby.

[00:06:40] So I picked up a camera. And through that camera, learned photography. Through that photography started an Instagram where I just was practicing my photography. Through that, it morphed into sharing our lives about three, four years later, and we changed our name. And through that, the Lord just used our testimony, I think, to real people, into bringing community, and that began a really sweet thing that was very unexpected.

[00:07:07] I mean. I am so used to being raised in the church and that your community is your church and your family, and they’re right there. And they’re face to face in front of you. And I feel like we’re in a time where people are looking for community online and they’re willing to take it from people they see.

[00:07:22] And as foreign as that is to me as like mind boggling as that is, the Lord can use that too, and I wanna be a part of that. So it’s been a really cool journey of just learning to be a part of that. Making a lot of mistakes along the way, asking the Lord to please like cover us in all those mistakes and help us see how He would have us use this little slice of the internet to do His will and share His glory, so… 

[00:07:48] Dr. Z: That’s beautiful. And when I was going through your devotion, you share in the introduction, the story about how God inspired you to pray. And I’d love for you to share a little bit about that because I have a personal story I wanna encourage you with afterwards, but that’s very unique, especially in this day and age, you know?

[00:08:04] Sarah Molitor : Yeah. You know, being raised in the church, my parents had a very, um, we were in a very charismatic church, always have been. And my parents spoke to us a lot about the power of prayer and what that can do. And my dad would even take time to sit down and my mom and teach us like, what does that look like?

[00:08:20] How do you pray for people? How do you lay hands on people? How do you hear from the Lord? When do you sometimes not say something? And when do you say something? You know? And also like, when are you not the only voice in the room? Just, all of those things.

[00:08:33] I’m so appreciative that they actually poured that into me. And I have always loved to pray. I just, you know, I’m not perfect at it. it’s pretty conversational for me, just like this, but I feel like because I was a chatter box, praying was easy. That was the easy part. Like, oh, pray like I can talk all day to God, no problem.

[00:08:52] And so it was around 2020 when COVID was happening and all of that’s happening and worldly things were happening. Events. And I had typed out a few prayers previously and people would say, thank you. Thank you for typing this out. I love that I can read it, say it out loud. And I, there was one message at one point that just said, would you just pray out loud? And I was like, “Sure”. Like that didn’t bother me.

[00:09:21] I was like, sure, if that’s easier for you. And I prayed out loud on a specific, it was Saturdays at the time. And immediately people were like, can we do this again? Can we like, can you do this again? Or they’d come in and say like, I’m actually, I’m dealing with this. Could you pray specifically for that? And I’m like, oh, that’s interesting.

[00:09:39] So the next week I was just like, you know, I had a couple requests, I’m gonna pray again. And that just snowballed and it kept going. And then at one point I changed it to Sunday. I like the idea of doing like a Sunday night prayer, and so we just kind of affectionately called it our Sunday night prayers.

[00:09:53] Now, I don’t always do it at night, people were like, can you do it earlier? I’m in Austria. I would really like if you can do it earlier, so I don’t catch it. But I think what struck me most is how many people are like, I don’t even know how to pray. And then I hear you and I’m like, “Oh wow. Okay. Well if she can just say that, then I could probably say something too.”

[00:10:17] And so only God. I think it’s just doing something in the hearts of people to turn back to prayer, to turn back to the Lord and actually have a conversation with God again. Actually invite him into your every day again. And now it’s been, well, 2020 to 2025, 5 years of doing this. And that’s actually what inspired my devotional and kind of what got that ball rolling as well. 

[00:10:37] Dr. Z: Now. Now did you, now, did you do it live or did you do ’em live? Or was it just something that you took prayer requests and then you prayed? 

[00:10:44] Sarah Molitor : I just did it in stories. And you know, they would last 24 hours and then people were like, could you save these? And so now I have ’em saved in a highlight. I mean, I don’t have all the years.

[00:10:52] Dr. Z: Wow.

[00:10:52] Sarah Molitor : And like you can only have so many highlights and I just save, and how many ever saved, and then once that highlight’s done, I start another one and then people can reference ’em back.

[00:11:01] But what’s been cool about it is yes. Some are prayer requests. Some are people saying, the Lord works, I feel like, you get in your inbox and I’m like, wow, 10 people are saying they’re struggling with this thing. Lord, that’s probably you saying, let’s pray for that thing.

[00:11:13] And other times I feel like it’s crickets and I’m sitting there and I’m like, Lord, what am I praying on? And no matter what, He’s always been faithful to either drop something in my spirit that day. Sometimes I’m like, guys, I don’t know what we’re praying for this week, but we’re gonna pray anyway. And then the Lord directs it and He takes it somewhere.

[00:11:30] So I’m never. You know, sometimes in a minute I’m always like, ah, but the Lord just has always pulled through in whatever it is. And the coolest part about it for me is my mom is like, Sarah, if it changed one person that would be enough. And so that has been my mentality.

[00:11:48] Because Instagram is a stinker. They don’t like you praying. And they’ll, you know, all get on to pray. And if you’re looking at just pure numbers, my stories would be up here. I will pray and boop! Half for the next 24 to 48 hours. And I have just been like, you know what? If that’s what they do, then that’s just the enemy. And I’m just keep praying because if one person is being changed from that one prayer, that would be enough.

[00:12:12] Dr. Z: Mm-hmm. Well, I know one person. I know one person very, very well. Her name is Alex. Alex is such a sweet girl who’s now been working with us at our house now for over 11 years, full time. Um, our nanny, our mama’s helper, whatever you wanna call her, but when we met Alex at church, she was 14, it’s 15 years old, and my wife was on bedrest, real difficult pregnancy, and she just volunteered her time just to help out with the babies.

[00:12:37] I was in school at the time getting my doctorate, and Alex was hanging out a couple hours a week. And as she grew older. She was figuring out life and, you know, we offered her a job, like a, you know, half a day here, half a day there, and it slowly developed into this full-time thing. And so she’s my, Elijah’s godmother and close family friend.

[00:12:55] And when I started on Instagram, many of you know, y’all, we took, five years off Instagram and we just kind of just recouped after COVID and just life, having we seven children as well. When I got back on, someone recommended that we check out your page. I’m like, okay, what’s this all about? And I asked Alex if she’s heard of you and her eyes lit up.

[00:13:16] She’s like, I love Sarah. I’m like, how do you love Sarah? You ever met? You know her. You know what I mean? Like I get, I’m still learning. Sarah, I’m a rookie. There’s, oh, 

[00:13:24] Sarah Molitor : it’s true. 

[00:13:25] Dr. Z: There’s something called the Parasocial relationship where people feel like they actually know you and stuff. Like I’m kind of geeking out on this whole thing, but I’m like, what do you mean you love her?

[00:13:32] And she’s like, she prayed for me. Like, how did she pray for you? Like, I didn’t even know what a story was. This was April. Like April, 2025. Like what, what is a story? This 24 hour thing? And she’s like, I was really going through something tough. And a few years ago I reached out and she prayed for me. And I just, that was so sweet.

[00:13:48] I just love following people that are genuine and it kind of developed into this conversation about who are these influencers? And we have several mutual friends, I’m sure. And I already know we do for sure. And some people. I don’t know what to say and I’m not gonna mention anyone or bring down the energy of the vibration to a negative.

[00:14:07] But I just can’t get behind someone with a large family just being, Hey, I have a large family. Like, Hey, here’s my beautiful family. Lemme just take pictures of my beautiful family. Like for me, it’s not a bad thing, but that’s not gonna make me wanna follow them and learn.

[00:14:24] And when I stumbled upon your page, I’m like, this is a large family. This woman’s helping people. This woman’s inspiring people, this woman’s encouraging people, this woman’s praying for people. This woman is, a light. And I was like, I just started getting ministered to by your content.

[00:14:39] And of course you feature your kids, but it’s done in the way where I feel a Christian should share their family. In a way that the whole purpose of everything that you do has this. How is it gonna help you? How is it gonna help you? And maybe I’m wrong. If I had to guess that’s been your MO since day one. It sounds like it is. Like how is this content? How are these beautiful pictures of my kids is doing random things, inspiring you?

[00:15:04] And you have this really unique, brilliant way of bringing it all back. I’m like, wow, that’s a gift. And so I just, just thank you for doing what you do and for all those people that share content, that’s cute and pretty. That’s awesome.

[00:15:18] Yet, if you wanna be fed, if you wanna be inspired, you gotta go to Sarah’s page and check out the website and Modern Farmhouse and get the devotional.

[00:15:28] I’d like to kind of feed into the devotional piece a little bit because it just seems like it’s a natural progression of what you’ve done. You’ve already, you’ve written two books, right? Children’s book. So like what really challenged you to say, you know, I’m gonna put my thoughts and words on paper here.

[00:15:46] Dr. Z new: Hey, friend, real quick, if you’ve been listening and thinking, I wanna live this way, but I need help, well, that’s exactly why we created the Bible Health Academy. It’s our monthly mentorship and training hub packed with Bible health solutions, non-toxic living strategies, and the like-minded community.

[00:16:02] You need to walk in the abundant life God designed for you. Whether you’re brand new to natural living or ready to go deeper, this is where transformation happens from the inside out. Visit biblehealthacademy.com to learn more. We hope you’ll join us.

[00:16:18] Sarah Molitor : It’s funny when a publisher first reach out to me to write a book for adults, I was like, I gotta tell you, my mind only thinks in rhyme. Like my mind is like a child. I think I’m reading books to my children every night, that’s how she is. And she’s like, well, I really think you could possibly have a story in you.

[00:16:34] And so that’s when my first book Well Said, came to be. And at that time she had offered me a contract to do more than one book, and she said we’d like one of them to be a devotional. Honestly, that felt very intimidating.

[00:16:46] I will tell you that writing a devotional was completely different than writing a book that kind of tells your story and is almost a natural progression. As a storyteller like, I could chat all day about that, and that was hard. But a devotional is so unique because it’s snippet encouragement, right? So I would write something and I’d really get into it like I love, and then it would be done. Then I’m like, okay, well like where do you go from here? Now I gotta think of something totally different because it wasn’t topical and that’s actually what I love about it.

[00:17:15] But the Lord was so gracious in this, and one of the cool parts about the Sunday night prayers is that before the devotional was even written, our conversation was how can we take that and extend it into like a book form? Like how can we take something like that and make people feel like. I have something every week that I can go to.

[00:17:35] And when they said like a hundred devotionals, I was like, you’re gonna wear me out if you do a hundred. Like I can’t, I don’t think I can pump that out. But we landed on 52 and we just felt like, yes, it matches up with the weeks of the year, but you could read it in 52 days, you could read it in sure, 52 weeks.

[00:17:50] My goal was that people could feel like at any given moment, they could pick up that devotional, read any of ’em and feel encouraged and it would end with a prayer. ‘Cause each devotional ends with a prayer that I prayed, I wrote out, I thought through, and I wanted that touch to be there. And so truly my hope is just that when people pick this up, they could pick it up in January and they could not pick it up again until December.

[00:18:15] ’cause maybe life. And they’re just struggling and they’re trying to come back. They could pick it up every day. And that somehow they would be able to glean something from that. From the Lord for that moment, in the whatever season they’re in. 

[00:18:29] Dr. Z: Hmm. I’m going through John Aldridge’s book. I’m teaching a Bible study at church for some guys, Experience Jesus. Really. 

[00:18:36] Sarah Molitor : Mm-hmm. 

[00:18:37] Dr. Z: And John’s a prophet of the day, I don’t know how else to say it. God’s really downloaded exact things that we need at this moment. And I found John in his work during COVID. Just really inspired me. And this whole book is really framed around the refuge of God in Psalm 91.

[00:18:53] And so when I’m going through your book and your first devotional is When I Need to be Rescued, and the Lord says, “I’ll rescue those who love me. I’ll protect those who trust in my name”. And you go with Psalm 91 and it’s just the raw nature of you sharing your story, just how easy it is to relate. And I was hoping you could maybe share a little bit about, not necessarily the details of the devotional, but you know…

[00:19:19] We’re in a real tough time right now. This moment of time is really tough. Mm-hmm. And to see how you have been inspiring and ministering to people, especially in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, which to unpack is so monumental because next to MLK or Malcolm X. We have not seen anything like this in America in almost 60 years.

[00:19:46] Sarah Molitor : Right. 

[00:19:47] Dr. Z: We’ve had, we’ve seen assassination attempts and people are killed all the time. I mean, this isn’t to take away from the tragedy that we see with school shootings and things, but just a pacifist. Mm-hmm. A, a nonpolitical but political figure. Right. He wasn’t in office, he wasn’t president. But to see someone like an MLK in Malcolm X, share and have this happen.

[00:20:12] It shook the internet and we’re right now, like as we talk, people are grieving. People are grappling through. So with this, when I needed to be rescued, it just really inspired me because how you’re approaching this is a little bit unique. So what was your response on Instagram to Charlie and, and you know, it’s just like very true to your form.

[00:20:35] Sarah Molitor : I just think prayer immediately. I feel like when I don’t know what to do, that is the thing I can do. And I know, you know, you’ll see a lot of people say, scratch thoughts and prayers, we need this and this and this. Actually we need change. And that’s fair for a non-believer, you know, if you’re a non-believer, I feel like fair response because, you don’t know.

[00:20:59] You don’t know what we believe, and you don’t know how that impacts the kingdom of God. I just feel like prayer is the first thing we should do. It is the most change oriented thing we can do. It’s the thing that knocks on heaven’s doors, shakes the kingdom of God, and says like, Jesus, we need you to come right now.

[00:21:20] And when you have people by the thousands, by the droves, coming up and banging on heaven doors, like there is something happening that is so real in that and so tangible. And I know some people can’t see that. I know that’s hard for people to even hear at different times. And so my auto response is prayer because I genuinely believe that there is power in that.

[00:21:43] I have seen it in my own life. I have seen miracles. I have seen rescuing, and not even necessarily like for me, but like with my own eyes. My boys and I talk about this ’cause they’re old enough to talk about this stuff, but we’ve talked about it since they were little with them. I’ll just say like, what’s a miracle you’ve seen this week?

[00:22:02] I love what they come up with. I love that for them, their eyes, certain things are miracles. I love that they can pull out the big, we talk about, my sister-in-law went through a real terrible thing after a birth and she basically died and was brought back like five times and was told nothing. You know, none of this is gonna happen.

[00:22:20] And this is just one of many stories I have. And my boys to this day are like the miracle of her. They can still recount. They’re like, I remember. I remember what we prayed. I remember how God moved. I remember how the doctors had wisdom to look for that one thing that it ended up being.

[00:22:35] And so I just feel like in, in hard moments in society, people can say all they want about thoughts and prayers, and I could even scratch the thoughts. I mean, you know?

[00:22:45] Dr. Z: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:47] Sarah Molitor : But prayer is the one thing you can do anytime, wherever you are, how many ever times you want. And in my life, it brings peace, the peace of God. It brings everything I need for that moment to keep carrying through.

[00:23:01] Dr. Z: And you wrote a poem 

[00:23:04] Sarah Molitor : and I wrote a poem, 

[00:23:04] Dr. Z: and, and that’s really from your prayer, was birthed this beautiful poem.

[00:23:08] Sarah Molitor : Yeah.

[00:23:09] Dr. Z: And I thought that was a very, everyone responded differently to this. And I’m just, I’m an ignorant novice when it comes to Instagram, truly. And as I’ve been looking and watching and studying the last five plus months of being here back online, I see how people respond to things. And this just kind of brought out, in a very good way, the best of a lot of the people in maybe our community, the Christian community.

[00:23:36] The people that we rub shoulders with. And everyone responded differently. And, I’m sure there were some stories that you shared that I missed, but your post, the only post that I’ve seen from the incident, was a poem that I wanna encourage y’all to check out, and I just wanna read just a couple paragraphs from it.

[00:23:55] But it just, it will share with you Sarah’s heart and just a little glimpse of the beauty and the anointing that you’re gonna receive when you get the devotional. When you pour into it, when you just submit to the Holy Spirit through the words and through the experience.

[00:24:09] Because if there’s something that I see in what God’s given you, is the ability to create that experience online, and then it’s so evident through your written word. It’s like, that’s why we have the Bible to remind us of these things and the stories of your children. We’re supposed to recount God’s great deeds and the things of the old and how God showed up, and so your response to Charlie Kirk was a poem.

[00:24:36] And I wake up the poem says, roll over. Just enough to see me, my loving husband, asleep beside me. A smile peeps out and I roll outta bed. Another day to live, another day to be led. I hear sounds as I get ready and instantly know my children come for a hug. I don’t want to let go. As I head out for breakfast, I think in my mind how grateful I am that we are alive.

[00:25:02] Breakfast and giggles and light conversations. The smiles on their faces. No, no frustrations. I realize how innocent and precious it is since we live in a world where it’s harder for kids to be kids.

[00:25:14] I turn on the news and I hear first of the evil. There are killings on trains and shootings in schools. Some people with death wish for those they just disagree with. I turn it back off because my heart can’t hold all of it…

[00:25:31] And there’s more to it. Mm-hmm. And share a little bit of your wisdom on that piece.

[00:25:43] Going back to the John Aldridge book that I’m teaching on, John shares something that really was groundbreaking for me, and it’s like you’re alluding to this here. The soul wasn’t created 

[00:25:56] Sarah Molitor : Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:25:57] Dr. Z: To consume what we consume. And I was gone for two days, disconnected, went up north. Enjoyed a beautiful wedding with my wife and I get back online and with literally within 15 minutes; Colorado school shooting, Ukrainian woman stabbed, Charlie Kirk. I was like, “Whoa.”

[00:26:22] I just, I couldn’t handle it. My body started not feeling well, emotionally, mentally. Like physically I started getting a headache. I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready for that. And then you scroll through and then you see a sports score or you see something else that’s random.

[00:26:38] Uh, and yeah, so give people a little bit of advice, I think is what I want to hear from you. How do you navigate this? Like how do people thrive in this culture where you’re scrolling and you’re just getting Yeah. And getting, 

[00:26:57] Sarah Molitor : yeah. I think one for me. It’s so important to have a boundary. A boundary of where I tune my ear and where I let my eyes see.

[00:27:06] Mm-hmm. Being on social media, you know, it’s so easy to scroll. It’s so easy to keep scrolling. And also sometimes you might feel a need to keep up. Like, oh, I need to know what happened. I need to know what’s next. And so we sit there and we refresh, refresh, refresh, like hoping that there’s something new, you know?

[00:27:26] And we’re waiting on that. And yet. A lot of times in my life I’m like, we need to, and my husband’s a good reminder of this to me, like, put it down.

[00:27:37] Dr. Z: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:27:38] Sarah Molitor : Go to your Bible. Go love your kids. Go do your school. And I think that’s a hard thing. Because I was just talking to a friend recently who loves the Lord. And years ago, she lost her daughter, lived for only a few days and they lost her.

[00:27:52] And she said it, you know, that happens and you go to the store and you realize everyone else is living their life. Life goes on yet mine is stopped. So I feel like I’m walking this tender balance of like living feeling for that person. This happened. This is a terrible thing and I wanna honor that.

[00:28:14] But also my kids are like, it’s 10:00 AM it’s snack time. What can we have for a snack? And I’m like, jarred out of that reality, or back into reality, I suppose, of like, I still have a job to do as a mother.

[00:28:24] So boundaries are super important. I won’t claim or profess to be wonderful at them. I’m working on it. I’m working on saying, set the phone down, Sarah. You don’t need to look right now. You heard the news, you can pray. No other news that someone’s gonna present. You know, everyone’s trying to get their minute of fame, their minute of glory if I present it this way, maybe people will like or click or like it more. 

[00:28:46] Again, I think the best thing we can do is boundary. We can pray and we can look at our children. We can have any conversations that are necessary, but then we can keep going in our day because in my opinion, if I was that mother, I can’t even begin to assume.

[00:29:04] But I remember talking to a mom who lost her husband recently, and she said about two weeks or three weeks in, she said, it just hit me that my kids still need their mom. They still need what mom offers. And I can sulk and I can sit, and this is horrible and it should have never happened to me, but I still have kids who need their mom and I need to get up and I need to do their school with them.

[00:29:29] And then, yes, there’s moments in that when I grieve. And so I think finding those pockets where you can say like, oh, I’m gonna sit in this feeling for a minute because I want Lord, that hurts and my heart hurts for that.

[00:29:41] But also. I wanna go love my kids well so that they see that my response is prayer. Turning to the Lord, but also loving them well and continuing to do life with them and not just shutting down when something happens. ‘Cause then I’d be shut down all the time. To be honest with how much our world, with how much is happening. 

[00:30:02] Dr. Z: It’s like our feed. Is a garden and we need to pick up the weeds when they come up and make sure to our best ability that just, there’s life giving plants. 

[00:30:10] Sarah Molitor : Yeah. 

[00:30:10] Dr. Z: Flowers and herbs. 

[00:30:12] Sarah Molitor : Yeah. 

[00:30:12] Dr. Z: During my hiatus, the only thing I really used, I was just old school again, I was on Facebook.

[00:30:18] Sarah Molitor : Mm-hmm. 

[00:30:18] Dr. Z: And admittedly, you go to my Facebook in my personal account and all I had was pickleball. Because I love pickleball. Pickleball drills, pickleball matches, and Jesus. Just inspiration. Unless there was the random ad or sponsored post and I was like, people complaining about all the negativity and hatred. I’m like, oh, I got a little bit of pickleball drama.

[00:30:41] But I spent years curating my feed and making sure, and I think a lot of folks can do a better job at that and for sure they need to go to modern farmhouse family to follow. Tell the algorithm what you want because the job of Instagram and Meta and Facebook and YouTube is to keep you there. They don’t want you to bounce. They want you to stay.

[00:31:02] And so you click, you like, you share, and you play the game. And so I purposely literally, I’m like following and liking and sharing the people that it telling. Yes, telling it. Tell AI and be smart, y’all. And, and you might need to do a purge. Maybe you need to unfollow some people.

[00:31:20] Maybe you need to spend a minute and be like, is this life giving or not? 

[00:31:23] Sarah Molitor : Yeah.

[00:31:24] Dr. Z: Right? I mean. 

[00:31:26] Sarah Molitor : Yeah. No, I, that’s something that I feel like I’ve even told people, you know, there are people that maybe you’re going through infertility. This is just like a made up ex, you know, maybe you’re going through infertility and you’re like, it’s really hard to look at that mom who has seven kids.

[00:31:40] You know what, that’s fair. If you need rest,

[00:31:43] Dr. Z: Yes.

[00:31:43] Sarah Molitor : from seeing that person, not because you’re angry, you know, just because you are in your own season, then you need to be able to say and have that boundary. Like, I’m gonna stop right now and I need to focus on my own family. I need to focus on myself. I need to get in God’s word. I need to do the thing.

[00:31:58] The other thing I believe is that we all need to have a knowing of who we are and what we bring to the table. Not that you can’t bring everything to the table, but in the Instagram world. People who are real business-minded would tell you niche down. Niche down.

[00:32:15] Like, know your niche. And I, that’s a hard thing to navigate a little bit because, you know, I, I think you should be allowed to share what you share. But here’s the thing, I don’t need to be, like, some people would come to me when something happens and maybe I’d pray. You know, write out a prayer, say a prayer, and they’d be like, well, why aren’t you giving updates now?

[00:32:37] Why aren’t you? And I’m like, I’m not the news. Because I’m not the news because

[00:32:41] Dr. Z: Exactly.

[00:32:42] Sarah Molitor : ‘Cause you know what? You have other places and I’m okay saying that. But what I love about that too is that I feel like I know, right now at least, I know what my mission is.

[00:32:54] I know what the Lord has put on our hearts to do. And so if you’re mad that I’m joyful, then feel free to go find someone who is gonna sit in the really hard things over and over, if that’s what you need.

[00:33:08] But what I also love in that is that people can come and they can say, I knew if I came to your page, I would see something beautiful. Or fresh air. I would see your children laughing. I would see you homeschooling your kids. I would see your son playing the piano and singing a song. I would see your, you know, something.

[00:33:30] And it’s not about being beautiful and perfect and curated and having all the answers, but it’s about saying like, Hey, in the midst of hard, I can still bring joy because, that’s God’s joy. And I hope that no matter what happens to me, I hope that if tragedy strikes my home, like heaven forbid, that people will still come and say, but she did it with joy.

[00:33:53] Maybe it’s tears and joy, but she did it with joy. And like that would be what I would want, you know, people to know us by.

[00:34:00] Dr. Z: I think it’s why I like the title of your book so much. Any Given Moment, 52 Devotions and Prayers to Feel the Goodness of God. And what’s wonderful here is I’m discovering a lot of your story right now during this chat. And there’s so many parallels.

[00:34:17] When we first started our blog in 2014 we just wanted to help people and all it was was a couple of my wife’s DIY tips, a recipe or two, and I had devotions and I was like, you know what? I was in school at the time. We just wanted to help.

[00:34:31] And for me to see how that developed into what it did for us. A global Bible health ministry, was way beyond. It’s kind of like, and I’m sure you’ll relate to this, God will do exceedingly, above and beyond.

[00:34:44] Sarah Molitor : Yeah.

[00:34:44] Dr. Z: You can ask or imagine. Right? And so I wanna encourage y’all because what you’re listening, you’re listening to a professional.

[00:34:52] I mean, the reality is you’re wonderfully gifted. You’re a professional content creator. You’re a professional writer. Now you’re an author multi. I mean, as much as you wanna feel like you’re winging it, you’re a pro and you’re super humble at it.

[00:35:06] And a lot of you listening are pros in the making. You just haven’t started yet. And do what Sarah and I did, and I, let me be big brother for just a minute. ’cause I’m probably older than some of you and old enough to speak to others, you know? Make your little corner of the internet life-giving.

[00:35:24] Sarah Molitor : Mm-hmm. Amen. 

[00:35:25] Dr. Z: Everywhere you go. And this is a prayer that we pray every time before we walk in the church. Even with, again, we can relate with seven kids crying in the background, kids fighting, whatever it might be. I pray, Lord, give us something, fill our cups so that we can overflow. We don’t go anywhere to be consumers.

[00:35:44] Sarah Molitor : Amen.

[00:35:44] Dr. Z: Anywhere. 

[00:35:45] And that’s what God has put on my heart since I got saved 23 years ago, and I am here to receive, of course. Iron sharpens iron. But whether it’s praying for our pastor or the worship team, or the greeter or the person, you know, driving the buggy so the old folks in canes don’t have to walk a hundred yards. God bless them. And your little corner of the internet. Make it a blessing.

[00:36:05] Sarah Molitor : Yeah.

[00:36:05] Dr. Z: Make it a blessing. And not to go down the route, but you know, I know you know this, Sarah, but if you got nothing to say, good, don’t say nothing at all. Like where did we throw out Common Kindergarten courtesy.

[00:36:18] And that’s where I wanna encourage y’all, because that’s really what Sarah, her ministry, and Tim, and Modern Farmhouse family are about. It’s like this beautifully curated, not perfect, kind of messy, Right? World. Which is life. And it’s life giving ’cause the whole purpose behind it, and again, I’m just speaking for you, but it seems to,

[00:36:40] Sarah Molitor : Oh, that’s okay. Doing great.

[00:36:41] Dr. Z: It seems to help and to be a value. Mm-hmm. And. So if there’s anything you wanna speak to, ’cause I know we’re running outta time and I can just talk with you like this for hours, but I, I would love to hear a little bit about maybe some of the, um, I don’t wanna say struggle, but you know how Jacob wrestled with the Lord and he kind of, I would love to hear how you birthed some like, really wonderful things in your devotional.

[00:37:05] I encourage people ’cause I, I really want people to buy this book. I want people to soak into this book. It’s very unique. This isn’t your Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest. This isn’t a quick one minute read, 50-second read. This is deep and this is life changing for people if you’re willing to give it the time.

[00:37:21] So walk us through some things, some topics, some maybe takeaways from the devotion. 

[00:37:27] Sarah Molitor : I think the, one of the things I want people to know is that a lot of these stories are birthed from our own story. I don’t, it’s not gonna be like a rah rah, sh goba type devotional where you go in, I mean, you are gonna feel built up and encouraged, but I also wanted to have like a challenge.

[00:37:42] You’ll notice at the end of each devotional, it says, as we walk into this week, as we walk forward into this week, whatever wording I used in that. And there’s a little challenge there because I just feel like it’s easy to pray and then be like done. Check. All done. And what I wanted was people to say like, wow, that sat with me.

[00:37:59] I have a friend who she always says the funny phrase, she says, I’ve been chewing on this idea. She always uses that phrasing, but I love it. ‘Cause may we be people that read something and we chew on it for a while. We sit there and we go, Hmm, that tasted good. What, what did it taste like? What is that doing inside of me?

[00:38:16] And so I want my devotionals to kind of give that type of a response. Each one has a story, usually a relatable story from my own life. I remember getting to about Devotional 38 and being like, I’m done. I can’t make it to 52. Like, I truly felt that.

[00:38:33] I had a deadline and I knew they could have been flexible on the deadline. But I mean, I’m sitting here taking time away from my children. Because I’m like, I need to write. And I’m sitting here like blank staring. I’ve talked about every topic I could possibly encourage people on, fear, anxiety, you know, you’re throwing out whatever it is. And I’m like, covered it. Said that story. Did that.

[00:38:52] And I remember at that point a friend walked into my office door with a smoothie. ’cause my friends know I don’t drink coffee because I think it tastes gross, but I love smoothies. And so she walked in and she says, Smoothie. And she said, how’s it going? And I said, terrible. Said I am like 38.

[00:39:09] And she’s like, well, you’ll get it. And so she proceeded to tell me, I said, well, tell me about your weekend. I said, you had a, you know, whatever, you had a business, party, you threw that. How did that go? And she’s telling me about all this stuff and she told me a story and I was, you know, listening and she walked out and left. And I’m sitting there and I’m like, that was so nice of her to come.

[00:39:28] And then it was like the Lord was like. Use her story.

[00:39:32] Dr. Z: Yep.

[00:39:33] Sarah Molitor : That was a great one. And I was like, huh. And I text her and I was like, Hey, I really liked what you said about dah dah, dah, and how you just like how the Lord worked in you there.

[00:39:42] I said, would you mind if I use that? And all of a sudden I’m sitting there like. I’m working on writing this devotional, and my friend walks in the door, gives me a smoothie. You know, it doesn’t say exactly like that, but, and then the Lord did that. So then I was like, all right, well you know what? I don’t have to do this alone.

[00:39:56] Like people have, people can help. So I text my sister and my girl chat, like it’s my, it’s my four sisters or three sisters, and my mom and I text it and I’m like. Anyone have any good devotional ideas? Like, like, and the cool thing was, is as funny as that sounds and you’re like, man, can’t you come up with an original thought?

[00:40:15] The Lord can use that. And he did. And my mom was like, have you? She just said, I noticed like in whatever that I noticed, this is something people struggle with. Have you touched on that? And some of ’em I was like, yes. Feel like I’ve already talked about that. And others, I was like, huh, I hadn’t thought of that that way.

[00:40:31] And I’d say, Lord, like. How could we talk about this? How can we encourage people in this? And that’s how we got from 38 to 52. But all that to say, the Lord’s just in it all. And because of that, I genuinely can stay with confidence, you will be encouraged.

[00:40:48] You are gonna pick this up. You’re gonna pick it up in whatever season you’re in. You’re gonna open it to whatever devotional it is. You’re gonna skip around. You’re gonna go in order, however you do it. And it’s not gonna be, it’s gonna be maybe my words that are the connecting point, but the Lord is gonna work through that. He’s gonna speak to you. It’s gonna be the prayer for that moment.

[00:41:08] And I genuinely believe that because I know how God works and I know He can do it. So I know that as long as I just say, here, Lord, use this, then He can use it however He wants. So I’m excited for people to have it. 

[00:41:20] Dr. Z: That’s so fun. That’s so fun. And I know as part of the pre-launch you have like a, book launch kind of party, a group that you have.

[00:41:26] Sarah Molitor : Um, Book group. Yes.

[00:41:27] Dr. Z: Yeah, yeah. What sort of things? Again, the book’s out, what sort of, do you have anything for people that buy the book? Are you gonna continue that? And where do people find that? So walk us through a little bit of how people can get the most out of the book and connect with you.

[00:41:40] Sarah Molitor : Yeah. The book launch team is really fun because, you know, you people think, oh, you have this big social media. Must sell millions. I’m like, wah wah wah. That’s like a funny expectation. I wish in some ways, but no, that’s not how it works. And so just like anything, just like community is, community comes together.

[00:41:59] And we have over 200 women who said like, Hey, I want to make the message of Any Given Moment, get out as far as I can, and so whether they have 50 followers or 150 followers, it doesn’t matter. It was just a way to invite women into this process and say like, will you help? I can’t do this on my own. And it’s fun for me.

[00:42:17] Because oftentimes as you lead up to a book launch or hit it like this week. And then it almost feels like you drop off a cliff, it’s a lull. It’s like, well that happened. And it’s like those mountaintop experiences and you know the enemy, the devil can come in and he can try to steal your joy in that he can do anything.

[00:42:34] But when you have other women around you, when you have other people around you that are like, no, this is doing something and it’s going somewhere, even though the day has come and gone. That’s really, really special. So these women have committed to do that, but you can find the book anywhere books are sold, the devotional. One of the things, if you are a audio book listener, one of my favorite things is that my publisher has allowed me to read my own audio books. So that is available, and if that is easier for you, like you’re driving your kid to the school drop off, you’re going to youth group, whatever it is. I’m telling you, these are like four to six minute snippets.

[00:43:06] This is the perfect podcast because you can turn it on and six to seven minutes later it’s done and you feel like your cup’s been filled up a little bit. So I’m excited about that almost as much as I’m excited about the book and having it in people’s hands, because I feel like so much of our lives are lived on the go right now. And this can go with you wherever you are. 

[00:43:26] Dr. Z: It’s awesome. All right folks. Pick it up. Any Given Moment, 52 Devotions and Prayers to Feel the Goodness of God.

[00:43:31] I have a request that to me, just the way that my mind works, it’s just a no brainer for there to be a Bible study with this. So imagine a one year journey.

[00:43:42] Sarah Molitor : Yeah.

[00:43:42] Dr. Z: That someone can go through. And for me, you know, I teach Bible study at church. I’m always looking for good books and how fun would that be?

[00:43:49] And, and maybe that could be something that you could facilitate in a Facebook group or something that you can Yeah. Pilot, but hey, if you need help to collaborate, I love writing that kind of stuff. But how cool would that be? Is that on the radar? Maybe something, 

[00:44:02] Sarah Molitor : maybe we did that with my first book. Yeah, we’ll see what the, we’ll see what the capacity is there.

[00:44:07] You 

[00:44:07] Dr. Z: figure 

[00:44:07] Sarah Molitor : it out. 

[00:44:08] Dr. Z: All right, my friend, I’ve taken too much of your time already. Get back to your babies and your hubby. Um, any last words of encouragement or thoughts or anything you wanna share? 

[00:44:14] Sarah Molitor : No. Thank you so much for having me, and I just appreciate the opportunity to see To people who align, like not just the word of God, but just in how you’re living and to build people up.

[00:44:24] Thank you for that because it’s needed and you’re doing it too. So humble to be here. 

[00:44:28] Dr. Z: Oh, that’s so sweet. Oh, y’all, what a great conversation. Get the book, get the devotion, pray. Follow Sarah online. And as always, this is Dr. Eric Zelinsky. Our hope and prayers that you and your family truly experience the abundant life.

[00:44:42] God bless. We’ll talk soon.

[00:44:45] Dr. Z new: Thanks for joining us on the Natural Living Family Podcast. If today’s episode encouraged you, please take a moment and leave a review and share it with a friend. Your voice helps us reach more families with a message of hope and healing God’s way. Remember, Jesus came to give you life and to have it more abundantly!

[00:45:04] For show notes, transcripts, and resources from today’s episode, visit naturallivingfamilypodcast.com and until next time, stay healthy, stay rooted in truth, and keep choosing the abundant life.