How to Reclaim Your Evenings as a Christian Mother

If you feel like your evenings slip away in a cycle of scrolling, distractions, then frantically racing to the finish line before you collapse into bed, I have news for you: these hours are sacred.

They are the hours that shape your children, your marriage, and your own heart as a Christian mother. How you steward these hours impacts your home for eternity, and your faithfulness here will plant seeds that your children will carry into adulthood.

So let’s talk about how you can make your evenings so life-giving, so joyful, and so packed with discipleship—that wasting them by doomscrolling or frantically finishing up chores doesn’t even cross your mind.

Falling Into the Evening Funk

I’ll be honest, evenings were never something I wasted before I became a mother. Before children I was always getting projects done, learning something interesting, going for hikes, or just being productive or having fun in some way shape or form.

I know it sounds terrible, but after having children, I fell into a funk when it came to my evenings—I would be so exhausted and feel so frozen after tending to the children all day that I would veg out and do nothing nourishing to my body or soul.

Part of the issue is that I was frozen and felt trapped. I felt like I couldn’t start a project because I would just be interrupted anyway. We couldn’t go anywhere because the baby would be fussy, or the toddlers would get to bed too late.

But now, our evenings—from about 5–9:30pm—we treat as sacred. These are the hours that shape our children, and we steward them in a way that reflects that.

For the Working and Stay-at-Home Mother Alike

If you’re a working mother who feels like these are your only hours to pour into your little ones, or a stay-at-home mom with a husband who is gone all day and these are the only hours you have as a team to disciple your children, I’m going to show you exactly how to make your sacred evenings so rich and engaging that you naturally stop squandering them away and start shaping the little hearts of your children.

The Thief of Sacred Evenings

Far too many Christian mothers waste the most sacred hours of the day without realizing it—and then wonder why their home feels empty and frantic.

One of the biggest thieves of our sacred evenings as mothers is our phone. We all know scrolling can be a mindless habit, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you do it?

For mothers, I believe the root is often because it’s an escape from feeling trapped in motherhood—and a feeling of never knowing how long you actually have to rest because the baby might wake up, the toddler might skip a nap, or any number of unpredictable factors we manage as mothers.

When your days feel unpredictable, when you feel unappreciated, and when you’re exhausted from the chaos of it all—it’s so easy to reach for something that gives you a quick dopamine hit. Doomscrolling becomes a way to numb the feelings of being trapped in motherhood.

But here’s the truth: You are not trapped in motherhood.

Seeing Your Children Through a Different Lens

And when you start seeing your children through a different lens, your evenings will change.

If you want to stop feeling the urge to escape, you need to fall in love with your real life. And that starts with seeing your children for what they truly are—a gift.

When you view your children as a blessing rather than an inconvenience, you’ll stop feeling like they’re holding you back.

• You’ll see that you can get projects done.
• You can pursue hobbies and interests.
• You can accomplish goals—all with them right by your side.

You can do things while they’re playing or even with a baby strapped to your back. Motherhood suddenly feels limitless when you stop believing the lie that your kids are an obstacle and start embracing your life as a mother.

The Evening Finale: A Simple Habit That Changes Everything

There was a trap I was in in the evenings where I would make dinner, my husband would get home and we’d eat as a family, then I’d rush to clean the house before the children went to bed so I could relax when they were finally in bed.

Then, depending on how long my chores took, I would have this random gap in time before the kids had to go to bed that we sort of just wasted. And before I knew it, the kids were in bed and I barely spent any quality time with them.

I realized that this routine worked well to get my chores done and dinner on the table at night, but it didn’t work well for filling my children’s cups.

So, one of the most life-changing shifts I made was implementing The Evening Finale—something special to close out the day.

A way to embrace the evening as a gift and see it as an opportunity to play together as a family and for my husband and I to partner together in discipling the children.

Sometimes the Evening Finale is an adventure together like a walk after dinner, sometimes it’s a sweet little picnic as if we had all the time in the world. The other day we went on an evening hike on one of the last nice days of the season just to take advantage of the weather.

Other times it’s something more low key—like making a special dessert, or doing a little craft. But the point is that we give the children our full attention to close out the day. We snuggle, play, read books, Bible time, praise and worship together.

Discipleship and Delighting in Your Children Is a Skill—Not a Feeling

A lot of moms think that discipleship and delighting in their children just happens naturally. But the truth is—it’s a mindset you have to cultivate.

It doesn’t just happen overnight. You actually have to train your brain to find joy in your everyday.

And this is where the sacredness of evenings takes root—not just in activities, but in training up your children’s hearts for eternity.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says:
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

Evenings are the prime hours to let this Scripture come alive—through conversations at the table, bedtime prayers, and the small traditions that point your little ones to Jesus.

Reframing Old Destructive Patterns (ODPs)

First, you need to change your mindset around evenings—from seeing them as a race to the finish line, to viewing them as an opportunity to pour into your children and foster the vision and culture you want for your family.

Figure out what your ODPs are (Old Destructive Patterns of thinking or behaving). For example, one of mine was believing that in order for me to rest, I had to have all my chores done before the kids went to bed.

Then reframe those ODPs. Instead, I now believe that my rest can come from joyfully discipling, playing with, and enjoying my family in the evening.

Resetting Your Heart and Home

Most mothers don’t need more information—they need a reset.

They’re stuck in cycles of stress, overstimulation, and overwhelm. And if that sounds like you, you’re not a lost cause—but you do need a better system.

That’s why I created a free workshop called From Survival Mode to Peace-Filled Homemaking in 7 Days. It’s designed to help you get out of fight or flight, reset your nervous system, biblically renew your mind, and step back into the role of the peaceful, joyful homemaker God designed you to be.

Inside, I walk you through the exact biblical brain-rewiring system I used to stop living in survival mode and finally create a calm, joy-filled home.

Along with the workshop, you’ll also get a printable workbook—so you can follow along, take notes, and start putting these strategies into practice right away.

These are the exact tools that helped me reclaim peace in my home as a burnt-out mother.

This is about learning how to finally build a home life that actually feels life-giving—how to embrace the qualities of the Proverbs 31 woman.

Making Your Evenings Exciting Again

I remember when I was a new mom I felt paralyzed, like I couldn’t do any of the fun things I used to and that my days revolved around my child.

If you’re feeling like that, I want you to rethink how you’re approaching life as a mother.

Take advantage of the blessings of each evening. Think about the season you’re in—maybe it’s Fall. What can you do tonight that would make this Fall evening so special?

In the THS Challenge Club, I host monthly challenges with little daily ideas that help you embrace each day. For example, right now we are doing the Stress-Free Fall Homemaking Challenge, and it’s been so fun.

Something else you can do is match your evening to the weather—there’s always something to love about any weather.

My husband and I love rainy and dreary days. We used to live in Washington state, so we had to get really good at embracing that kind of weather. We get excited and use it as an opportunity to get cozy, read together as a family, or play board games inside with a warm drink.

If it’s sunny, take advantage and go on a picnic. If you’ve been wanting to check out a new spot in town, go when your husband gets home from work.

Will it be a disaster? Maybe. Could everything go wrong? Possibly. But do it anyway.

The more you push past the fear of things being hard, the more confident you’ll become in handling the unexpected.

Motherhood isn’t meant to be lived in a safe little box. Get out, try new things, and show your kids what it looks like to live fully.

Keep Your Evenings Sacred with Simple Rhythms

Even when you’re home, you can keep your evenings sacred by doing this one thing: develop simple, consistent discipleship rhythms.

This doesn’t have to be long or complicated.

One way I like to do this is before bed, I give my little ones what we lovingly call their specials:

“You’re so special, you’re so smart, and you are so loved.”

Then I go through the list of everyone in our family who loves them and always end with, “AAAND JESUS loves you!”

Now they shout back, “JESUS LOVES YOU TOO!”

This is such a great opportunity—especially after a hard day—to point them back to their need for a Savior, letting them know they are loved and forgiven despite how they’ve fallen short.

Think about little rhythms and traditions like this that will help you shape their little souls.

Be Prepared for Peaceful Evenings

Make sure you aren’t setting yourself up for overwhelm for the sake of sacred evenings—we don’t want to trade chaotic evenings for chaotic mornings.

So you need to be prepared.

For example, if you’re going on an evening outing, you’ll probably have to make a cold dinner to go so you don’t have hungry kiddos when you’re out, or end up scrambling to feed the family when you get home.

Usually, we do cold sandwiches or wraps, or a cold pasta salad when we are out in the evenings.

Think about what needs to change in your current routine to take advantage of these precious hours that shape your children.

Rest Is Sacred, Too

It might sound like I’m just telling you to pick up your cross and kiss your alone time goodbye—but proper rest is so important.

A worn-out mother cannot shape hearts effectively.

So make sure that you also make your own evenings sacred.

We have this opportunity when the children are sleeping to nourish our own souls—and we waste it.

Instead of scrolling, plan your free time by creating something I call a dopamine menu—a menu of quick, life-giving activities organized by how much time you have.

When you always have something better to do, scrolling naturally fades out of your life.

Have ideas for projects, things you want to learn, books to read, or Bible studies to start ready for you in the evening—even if it’s just 15 minutes before bedtime.

You’ll look forward to your evenings in a whole new way.

Keeping your brain engaged not only makes your evenings more fun, but also makes you a more interesting person to talk to!

When you’re excited about learning, you bring energy into your conversations—with your husband, your kids, your friends.

Interested people are interesting people—so learn something new and watch how this transforms your relationships.

And speaking of your husband, make sure your evenings include him too. Plan time for the two of you to connect. It can feel like date night every night if you let it.

A Challenge for the Week

Listen, you don’t need more willpower to stop wasting your evenings.

You just need to fill your evenings with so much joy, connection, and purpose that you don’t even think to pick up your phone—social media suddenly becomes irrelevant and motherhood feels limitless.

So this week, I challenge you:

• Implement an Evening Finale and embrace the beauty of each evening with your family.
• Create a simple, consistent evening discipleship rhythm.

And if you’re ready to reclaim your evenings, your peace, and your joy as a mother, don’t miss my free workshop
where I’ll walk you step-by-step through the biblical system I used to move from burnout to balance, and from chaos to calm.

Your evenings—and your motherhood—can be sacred again.