Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Mandy Mazzawi via phone call on May 14th, 2025. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given. 

Your platform is called “Mustard Seed and Wildflowers” – can you share the spiritual significance behind this name and how it reflects your approach to faith and motherhood?

It’s a bit of a story, I actually started writing well before I started that account. I started writing to process how to parent a special needs kid. In March 2020, I was at the lowest point of my faith, and my husband was losing his job in the middle of the pandemic. We didn’t know where we would land. It was a stressful time. For nine months straight, I prayed this simple prayer, “God I trust you.”

When you pray for so long you don’t typically anticipate a reply. It was really a quiet voice I heard saying, “Love, I am love, choose love.”  I picked Mustard Seed because I wanted to create a space where people who felt they couldn’t find shelter could come and rest. And for the Wildflower part of the name it is from the fact that we should not worry, God created the wildflowers and adorned them beautifully and He will take care of us too. 

Many Catholic parents struggle with balancing their spiritual formation alongside the demands of raising children. How do you integrate prayer and sacramental life into your daily routine with a busy household?

It is tough and this isn’t something that happened overnight. It’s the smallest of small habits you can build on. It wasn’t until about 1.5 years ago that my family was able to have a regular prayer routine. We started to introduce Evening Prayer. Each kid has a part of the prayer, which makes it special to them, and it helps our family wind down to prepare for bedtime. 

What helped you determine that homeschool was the best option for your family?

I didn’t know it was going to be a good fit. We tried to homeschool when my oldest was 6 years old (he has cerebral palsy). It was very challenging and not the right time for my family. We enrolled our kids in the local Catholic school. And we tried that for about 18 months.  Then the pandemic happened and we moved to a state where the schools weren’t open for a long time. We wanted to have our kids have a face to face community, so we decided to homeschool. We have been homeschooling since 2020. We didn’t go into it anticipating homeschooling again, but we addressed some behavior issues (my son with cerebral palsy also has ADHD) as we learned various therapies and strategies. 

One reason it is such a good fit is that we have physical therapy and specialist appointments so our homeschool schedule allows our kids to learn at their pace without stressing them out. 

The phrase “grace-filled life” appears in your bio. Could you share a particular moment when you tangibly experienced God’s grace in what you call “the thick of real life”?

What comes to mind is when my son had his most recent surgery in August 2024. He had to have three bones in his legs broken and reset to help his gait. When you hear news of this need for this surgery at first your heart breaks. At the same time there’s not a fear associated with it. You know it’s going to be hard and a difficult recovery but you aren’t scared. When you are going through the surgery and recovery and the long process of learning to walk again. There’s a lot of things to coordinate but even in the exhaustion there is peace. The more you listen to this tiny little voice of God you realize it is a balm to help carry you through these difficult times. I really feel this is the grace God offers us. 

Catholic mothers often feel pressure to create perfect, Pinterest-worthy homes and faith experiences. How do you embrace the messiness of authentic family life while still nurturing a rich Catholic identity?

I don’t think there’s a silver bullet. I think a couple things should be acknowledged with regard to Instagram creator videos. We see this pristine environment in the background and then we look at what God gives us. This creates a temptation to want something else. We have to practice gratitude for what God has given us. I have a home, I have a family. A messy kitchen is a kitchen that’s feeding people. I see some of these influencers with a beautiful dress surrounded by six kids and everything is ordered. I don’t have that experience, but instead of focusing on the beauty that’s online we should be looking at the beauty of what God has given us. This will help flip our mindset. 

What spiritual practice or devotion has been most transformative for you as a mother?

That’s a good question. If I were to be honest, I would say that it’s just coming to the Lord when everyone else is asleep and having a conversation with Jesus. I just listen, sometimes I get words of encouragement and sometimes I get nothing. Prayer grounds us in reality. True reality where you are focused on our earthly reality and the supernatural reality of the saints in Heaven. Even if it’s for five minutes, prayer at the end of day has been so powerful to help God keep me from going astray. God can do so much more than we can know with our little prayers. 

Are there last words of wisdom to my audience, especially parents (particularly mothers)?

Two things, give yourself more grace. Moms are too hard on ourselves. We tend to be short with the kids and hard on ourselves because of it. When you forgive yourself it’s a powerful thing. 

The other thing is to find a community in real life. You might have to cobble it together, but find a group to help you walk through the mess of real life. 

About Mandy: 

Mandy Mazzawi is a Catholic writer, speaker and homeschool mom of three, including one with special needs. She is the creator of Mustard Seeds and Wildflowers, a growing Substack publication that weaves together faith, family life and reflections on the beauty and tension of living out Catholic parenthood in the modern world. Mandy’s work invites readers into a slower, more intentional rhythm rooted in tradition, contemplation, and trust in God’s providence. She has spoken at women’s workshops on topics ranging from motherhood, raising a special needs child, and finding grace in the ordinary. You can find her writing at: mandymazzawi.substack.com and on Instagram @mustardseedsandwildflowers.