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Guest: Lara d’Entremont

Bible Passage: Parable of the Talents – Matthew 25:14-30

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Mentioned Resources:

• Check out Lara’s book, A Mother Held: Essays on Anxiety and Motherhood at my Amazon Storefront HERE
• Comparison Girl: Lessons from Jesus on Me-Free Living in a Measure-Up World by Shannon Popkin
• You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News by Kelly Kapic

Music: Cade Popkin

Lara d’Entremont

Lara d’Entremont is first a mom to three little wildlings in rural Nova Scotia, Canada. While the wildlings snore, she primarily writes—whether it be personal essays, creative nonfiction, or fantasy novels. She desires to weave the stories between faith and fiction, theology and praxis, for women who feel as if these pieces of them are always at odds. Her first book, A Mother Held, is a collection of essays on the early days of motherhood and anxiety. Much of her writing is inspired by the forest and ocean that surround her, and her little ones that remind her to stop and see it.

A Mother Held

In this collection of creative essays, Lara never strives to answer our “why?” questions, but rather displays the sovereignty and goodness of our Heavenly Father, both when our greatest joys and worst of fears come true. In each story, Lara leads you through her battle with anxiety and the early days of motherhood—not to show you her own perseverance or to draw your pity, but to cast your gaze to the One who carried her through it all.

Get your copy here.

Connect with Lara

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Website

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Transcript

Shannon Popkin (00:00)
Lara D ‘Entremont, welcome to Live Like It’s True.

Lara D’Entremont (00:03)
Thanks so much for having me. It’s an honor to be here.

Shannon Popkin (00:06)
Hello, we’re gonna have a great conversation. Let me just introduce you to our listeners. I’ll read your bio here that you are a mom and a wife and a mom to three, you call them little wildlings, I love that. You’re from Nova Scotia, Canada and your first book, A Mother Held, released this February.

It’s a collection of essays on the early days of motherhood and anxiety for you. I just wanted to give our listeners an insight into your life. You are the mom of a six year old and three year old twins. All three are boys, correct?

Lara D’Entremont (00:45)
Yes.

Shannon Popkin (00:47)
mother of three and how long have you been married?

Lara D’Entremont (00:49)
eight

Shannon Popkin (00:50)
Eight years, okay. So just give us a glimpse into your summer. What did today look like as the mom of three boys?

Lara D’Entremont (00:59)
Today it looks like playing outside while it was partially raining, climbing everything in sight and wandering the woods and beating down paths in all of the brush and trees.

Shannon Popkin (01:14)
That sounds like magical.

So you and I, okay, when I don’t remember who reached out to who, if I reached out to you or you reached out to me, but I remember talking about, know, what would you like to talk about? What are some of your favorite narratives in the Bible? And you sent me back a list of ideas and I’m like, Lara, we have all the same thoughts and ideas.

We are like on the same wavelength. I was like, my goodness, this is incredible. So did you feel that way too when we were talking?

Lara D’Entremont (01:45)
I did, it was so funny. It’s like, yeah, we’re very similar personalities.

Shannon Popkin (01:51)
Yes, and especially, we’re gonna talk about the parable of the talents, but you were drawing out some conclusions about comparison for that, and I’m like, my goodness, me too. You know, I haven’t heard anybody use this parable to talk about comparison, but obviously you were seeing some application there,

Lara D’Entremont (02:02)
You

Yes, because I think, you know, we can often look at what somebody else has been given in life, whether it be a certain amount of children or a certain amount of financial stability, or maybe just the skill sets, you know, you look at maybe a homesteading mom who’s able to raise six kids and 20 chickens and a cow and all the things and make her own bread. Meanwhile, you feel like goodness, I have one child and

Shannon Popkin (02:31)
You

Lara D’Entremont (02:38)
does nothing all day and I’m struggling. And we think, you know, what’s wrong with me and like, why can’t I be like her and I should be like her. And I think the parable of the talents reminds us that when God looks at us to see how like, look at looks at our obedience and our faithfulness. He’s not comparing us against all the other people. He’s looking at us when he looked when the master look at each of his servants.

Shannon Popkin (02:41)
Yes.

Lara D’Entremont (03:06)
He didn’t say it’s the one he had given to. He’s like, why didn’t you make the same amount as the one that I gave six? He knew that wouldn’t be possible. He knew that he should have different expectations based on what he gave each servant.

Shannon Popkin (03:11)
Mm -hmm. Yep.

so true. Okay, so we’re gonna get to all of those thoughts, but I just wanted to talk first about how comparison has surfaced in your heart as a mom. I mean, I remember all the things that you just mentioned. Like I remember noticing what my friends were feeding their kids, the activities they were doing with their kids.

though some of them were homeschooling and I was sending them to school, but I couldn’t even keep it together. I couldn’t even be on time to drop them off to school, that sort of thing. And yeah, I’m just wondering, what are some of the ways that you have found yourself comparing with other moms?

Lara D’Entremont (03:59)
Very similar to you, I’ve compared like, you know, what kind of activities I’m doing and like you look at the moms, you’re like, we have a six month rotation of toys or like three month rotation. And I’m like, I am lucky that we get all the toys cleaned up at the end of the day. And at the toys get put away, right, let alone like making sure that I have a schedule of rotating out our toys. So yeah, I find there are just so many ways that we compare ourselves

Shannon Popkin (04:13)
I’m

my goodness.

Lara D’Entremont (04:26)
We look at our bodies or we look at our hair and think, “My goodness, how does she still have beautiful thick hair? And I am getting grays already!” We say, “Goodness, she had this many children and I’ve only had this many yet her body seemed to snap right back into shape each time!”

And we compare how we’re taking care of our children. How many activities do we have them enrolled in? How well are they doing in those activities? We start to compare and think if I’m not doing all the exact same things as that mom over there who’s doing so well, then it must mean that I’m doing poorly and God must think I’m doing poorly. 

Shannon Popkin (04:55)
Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Yes, exactly. Yeah, so whenever I speak at mom’s groups on this topic of comparison, often I will do, I’ll run down a list of things and everybody starts feeling uncomfortable because I’ll be like, which mom’s homeschool, which mom’s send their kids to school, which mom’s vaccinate, which one’s don’t vaccinate, which mom’s, you know, breastfeed, which one’s bottle feed, which

Lara D’Entremont (05:35)
Yes.

Shannon Popkin (05:41)
spank, which ones don’t spank, you and I’ll just have them raising their hands until everybody’s like, this feels awful. And, and then I’m like, okay, I want you to look around the room and see, did you raise your hand exactly the same way as anyone else? Like the answer is usually no, there’s never going to be a way that we’re all alike. And yet comparison causes us to look over at other people and the way they’re doing their parenting or, you know, how many kids God has given them. And, and

Lara D’Entremont (05:55)
you

Shannon Popkin (06:09)
either feel superior or inferior based on what we see. And yet, like that’s just gonna cause us to pull away because when we feel inferior to somebody else, we don’t wanna sit next to her, she makes us feel bad about how we’re doing, right? If we feel superior to somebody else, we wanna pull away from her too, cause like, she’s beneath me And so

Lara D’Entremont (06:25)
Right.

Shannon Popkin (06:31)
we create these moms groups or these, you know, let’s meet at the park or let’s get together with other moms because we want to connect. And yet comparison always drives us apart from each other. But I think what we’re going to talk about in this parable going to drop some of those

barriers between us. I really see that in this parable. I just want to give our listeners kind of a backdrop for this story. This comes right at the very end of Jesus’s ministry. He’s been with the disciples for about three and a half years now. And so he’s having this conversation with them about what’s going to happen after he leaves. And they’ve asked these questions

Lara D’Entremont (06:50)
you

Shannon Popkin (07:09)
Well, how are we going to know what to do and what’s going to happen while you’re gone? And right in the middle of that context, he tells this story. We call it the parable of the talents. So I wondered if you could read just the first couple of verses Could you read Matthew 25, 14 through 15

Lara D’Entremont (07:28)
be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

Shannon Popkin (07:41)
Okay, so here’s Jesus telling a story and he sets it up. You he can tell the story any way he wants to. So what do you think is interesting about the way that Jesus sets up the story? Like what’s surprising here?

Lara D’Entremont (07:52)
he sets it up by saying a man went away on a journey. And like you were saying, he’s repairing them for when he has to leave And so he’s saying, while I’m gone, I’m going to entrust things to you.

Shannon Popkin (08:05)
Yeah, yeah, so there’s a master and there’s a servant. And I think there’s a lesson for us there too, right? Anything that we’ve been given, it doesn’t really, it doesn’t belong to us. It feels like it does, but it’s actually entrusted. You know, that’s the word that’s used here. He called his servants, he’s the master, we’re the servants, and he’s gonna entrust them. And I always think, I think it’s interesting too, you know, there’s a simpler way to tell this story. If Jesus is just trying to make the point

you know, be faithful with what you’ve entrusted, you know, don’t be like the guy who buried it, be like the guy who invests, we’re gonna get to that here in a second. He could have told a two person story, you know, where one buries, one invests, instead he tells a three person story, he could have also told a three person story where they all got equal amounts. Why do think he tells a story where they each get unique amounts?

Lara D’Entremont (08:45)
Yep.

I think because he wants us to see we’re not all going to be five talent people and it’s okay to be the two talent people. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve talked to him with a counselor before and saying, you know, the idea of being ordinary or being just okay. Like it feels cringy and it doesn’t feel good and it feels like failure, but there’s nothing wrong with that. You know, I grew up in the age of

youth rallies where it was always about do something crazy and extraordinary for God. And it was about go and on the big mission trips and go do this. And like, we were just called to like revolutionary things for God. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, there was never talk about what about being the ordinary person, you know, and it was to the point that if you were just living an ordinary life,

being a mom, being a stay -at mom or being a working mom or just a guy working on a lobster fishing boat, you were living less than. You weren’t living the way God expected you to. But I think by putting in there that it’s not just the five talent person and the one talent person, he also shows there are people, some people who are given two talents and it’s okay.

Shannon Popkin (10:15)
Absolutely. And I mean, you’ve got to remember too that the disciples are listening as Jesus tells the story. And you know, they’re naturally finding themselves in the story. And so, you know, as he sets it up where there’s one who has five, one who has two, everybody’s thinking, okay, who’s the one with five? Obviously Peter, right? Obviously he’s the five talent guy.

But which one am I? And I always think like, well, what about Thaddeus? Or what about one of those disciples who just didn’t get mentioned as much? What about them? They’re probably like, yeah, I’m the two talent. I’m the two talent guy, or the one talent guy. And so, I mean, I think they’re leaning in to see what’s gonna happen. Their master, if he goes away and he gives them different amounts, I think

it’s important that we recognize he gives to each according to their ability. And that word ability, the word is dunamis, it’s like power, it’s like how much can you carry? What’s your capacity level? And so he knows, first of all, he knows what each of their capacity levels is. He doesn’t mix it up and give the guy who can’t carry as much more and the one who can less. He gives to each according to his ability.

Lara D’Entremont (11:15)
Mm -hmm.

Shannon Popkin (11:30)
And so, you know, our Master knows that about us. He knows what we can carry, right? He knows that Lara at this point can handle three little boys, you know? And he knows what I can handle and what each of us can handle.

Lara, I looked up what a talent is. It’s actually a weight or a measurement. And so it’s equal to about 65 or 70 pounds. So it would be like a measurement of gold or a measurement of silver, know, so

if when he gave the one talent guy one talent, that’d be 65 pounds of like if it’s gold, I think at one point I looked it up and it was like one talent would be almost a million dollars. So just because he gets less, it doesn’t mean he’s given little. It’s like he’s been given a lot, right? The one talent guy and the five talent guy has been given even more.

because he has a greater capacity level. All right, so let’s go on and read what they do with these talents that they, the servants have been entrusted. Could you read 16 through 23?

Lara D’Entremont (12:37)
He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more saying, master,

You delivered to me five talents. Here I have made five more. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much and turn to the joy of your master. And he who also had the two talents came forward saying, master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I have made two talents more. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much, and turn to the joy of your master.

Shannon Popkin (13:34)
Okay, so that’s like this phrase that even people who don’t read the Bible or follow, you know, God’s ways, they know this whole good and faithful servant thing, like it’s kind of made its way into pop culture, right? And this is the story where that saying comes from, Well done, good and faithful servant. So what do you think is, you know, interesting or surprising about how Jesus develops this story?

Lara D’Entremont (13:57)
Something I was noticing as I read is he says the exact same words to both servants. And like, it’s not like, you’ve been faithful over a lot to the five guy and you’ve been faithful over a little to the two guys. You both have been faithful over a lot and you will both receive more. And he calls them both good and faithful. And he says to both of them, you will both enter my joy. You know, it’s not again, that’s that comparison thing. You know, we might be tempted to compare ourselves. You know, I’m only a two talent.

Christian and she’s a five talent Christian it seems. know, God’s gonna be more pleased with what she does, but that’s not the case. He has the exact same words for the one with the two as he does with the five.

Shannon Popkin (14:41)
Yes, I saw that exact same thing. In fact, I remember the time I was first studying this, I copied the words and put them side by side on my, screen, because I just want to make sure are they exactly the same? And it was exactly the same what the master said to the two talent and the five talent guy. And he says to both, you’ve been faithful over a little. mean, gosh, it seems like.

They’ve both been faithful over a lot, but they’re gonna have even more responsibility. And I think this doesn’t match what we usually think of. Like this is not the way of the world where the person who produced way, way, way more than the other person gets the you know, the same commendation. Do you agree?

Lara D’Entremont (15:05)
Right!

Yes, exactly. Well, it’s kind of like the parable where the people like master hired servants to work in his vineyard. And some of them started at beginning of the day and some of them started partway through the day. And at the end of the day, he gave everybody the exact same amount and the ones who had worked longer were like, wait a minute, something’s not right here.

Shannon Popkin (15:47)
Yeah, yeah, they’re like, you have made him equal to me and they were not pleased about it, you know? That doesn’t happen in this story, but it does kind of set us back. Like, wait, what? You know, it’s like the 4 .0 student and the 2 .0 student both get the same, I don’t know, reward or the guy who, you know, makes 16 points for the soccer team and the one who makes.

four points gets us, you know, it’s like, how does that work where they’re both given the same response from the master? But what I notice and see is the two talent guy almost seems like that’s where, where Jesus wants our attention to be drawn to, because he is the one who has less.

but he still invests, right? Do you ever find, Lara, that when you’re the one in the room who has less to give, that you’re more reluctant and hold back a little bit, like, I don’t wanna invest? What I’ve been given, I’ll just let somebody else use their gifts or their talents, yeah?

Lara D’Entremont (16:52)
yeah, definitely because you that comparison comes up and you think well you know nobody really wants to hear from me anyway I’m not as good as this person might as well let them do the candle this because I’m obviously not as talented or as good at that as them

Shannon Popkin (17:08)
Exactly. I remember I was invited to a luncheon for some people who do kind of what we do, know, writers, speakers, podcasters. And I remember this was before I began this podcast. And I remember on the way there thinking, I think someone told me that a couple of these women who are going to be there are podcasters. So maybe I could ask them some questions. You know, I could learn.

because I kind of had in the back of my mind that the Lord was inviting me to start a podcast. Well, when I got to this luncheon, somebody said something I don’t remember. It made me think, I think they have a pretty big following, this other person at the table, a couple of them. And so under the table, I’m looking them up on social media. So embarrassing, right? I’m looking them up and I’m like, my word, these women have

Lara D’Entremont (17:58)
be doing the same.

Shannon Popkin (18:04)
hundreds of thousands of followers and huge podcast reach. And I just found myself thinking like, okay, the world does not need another podcast. They’ve got it handled. Why? This was a silly idea. I’m not even gonna ask them my questions. Let’s just put that little idea to rest. They’re the real influencers or whatever. Let’s let them do their work and I will just go home and stay quiet. And then, I don’t know, it was

four or five months later, I was preparing to speak for a group and it was this passage that I was gonna be talking on, the parable of the talents. And so it’s always my habit when I’m gonna speak somewhere, to like pray my way through the passage and whatever I’m gonna be.

Lara D’Entremont (18:40)
Aww.

Shannon Popkin (18:51)
giving to others, I want to like bring my heart to the Lord and invite him to expose anything that I need to deal with before I speak on it with others. So I got to this part where, the guy buries his talent, which we’re gonna get to next. And I was like praying and I’m like, Lord, you know,

I don’t think I’ve buried anything. I’m really investing a lot here, but you’re free to convict me if there is anything I’ve buried, way that I haven’t served you. And as I was praying this prayer, my phone, I shouldn’t have had my phone near me, but I got a little alert and it was a message to that group of us that were at that luncheon. And it was the woman who, one of those women who had a really huge following. So I just glanced at my phone, I saw her name and

Lara D’Entremont (19:15)
Yeah.

Shannon Popkin (19:37)
I thought I’m not gonna look at that right now. And I went back to my prayer and okay Lord, where was I? Is there anything that I have buried that some way I haven’t invested? And I felt like all of sudden my eyes flew open. I’m like, my goodness Lord, are you reminding me about that podcast idea? Are you reminding me that because I was the one in the room.

who didn’t have a huge following. And I was like, okay, I’m just gonna be quiet, sit down, know, not invest. You know, they’ve got it handled. Are you asking me to start a podcast? And I just, I felt like maybe that’s, you know, I didn’t have time to pray about it thoroughly, but I’m like, okay, I’m gonna pray about this. But that just seems crazy. But over time, as I prayed, I did sense this conviction that yes, the Lord wanted me.

Even though like I was the two talent person and they were the five talent or I was even the one talent person, like he didn’t want me to bury this. Like just because I have less, it doesn’t mean I have little. I still have an opportunity to invest, you know? And again, I think when I’m in a room where there are people who are way more talented, way more skilled, have way more money, whatever it is.

I’m like, yeah, you go ahead. You serve the Lord with that and I’ll just sit down and be quiet. Have you ever had an experience like that, Lara?

Lara D’Entremont (21:01)
Yeah, I think as writers, can often come up because I mean, how many people are there out there writing in general? How many books have been written? And we know there’s nothing new under the sun. You know, every time I’ve had a book idea, it’s like, you know, you have to when you’re getting ready to pitch a book to a publisher, you have to write down, you know, what are some comparable titles, some other books like yours, and how is yours different? And that’s when right.

Shannon Popkin (21:24)
They make us compare. They make us compare, right?

Lara D’Entremont (21:28)
when you start to have all this doubt like, my goodness, like, there are already so many books on anxiety, or there are so many books on motherhood, the world doesn’t need another book on that topic. And there are these people who have done it way better than me, or these people who have a way bigger platform than me. Why on earth am I trying? I might as well give up. And just trying to remember that God equips us to carry what he gives us like you were saying, and you

Shannon Popkin (21:40)
Yeah. Yeah.

Lara D’Entremont (21:59)
to stop the comparison and to say, I’m going to be, if you’ve given me this message, I don’t know what the purpose is for. You’ve given me this heart and this passion for it. Whether or not this book proposal gets accepted, or that the fact that there’s 30 other books on similar topics, that doesn’t mean that I need to close my mouth and never share about it. Maybe I can share about it with a small group locally, or maybe I can share about

through my website or maybe I can share about it one -on -one with a mentoring or discipleship situation, you know? I think we get stuck with comparing ourselves that like you said, we completely back off and say, I’m thinking it better, therefore I don’t even wanna try. And we need to remember it’s not about comparing ourselves, but rather that we seek to be faithful of what we’ve been given in a way that God has equipped us to carry

Shannon Popkin (22:51)
Yeah.

Yes, I want to circle back to that idea of being faithful here in a minute, but I just want to give you an opportunity. You created this book, you pitched a book, you saw there were 30 other titles that were similar, you know, maybe Christian books written by women who wanted to talk about anxiety and motherhood. Have you had anybody who has read your book respond and tell you how much it meant to

Lara D’Entremont (23:06)
You

Of course, yeah. So many people have responded and said, I’m so grateful for this. And, it felt like I was reading something I could have written. I’m so grateful that you wrote this. And that’s the thing too, a friend pointed out to me was, yeah, maybe this author has written this book like

So there are people who never read that author, who don’t even know who that author is, despite how big their platform is. But they’ll read your book and maybe you’ll be the bridge to point them to that other great book. You know, cause we often think of the classics too and think, I’ll never be a classic. I could never write like the classics. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Yeah. You probably won’t ever be a classic. You’ll never be a Tolkien. You’ll never be a C .S. Lewis, you know, but.

Shannon Popkin (24:02)
Exactly.

Lara D’Entremont (24:04)
you might draw people to those authors and to their beauty of words. And, you know, that’s the point, right? It’s not that we somehow become the focal point of everything. It’s meant to be faithful to give glory to Jesus. And you know, if giving glory to Jesus means we point to somebody else who gives glory to Jesus, that’s good too.

Shannon Popkin (24:26)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I mean, in this story, the two talent guy was never going to be the five talent guy. He just wasn’t. And what you said is exactly right. They were both told well done, good and faithful servant. And I love that it’s well done, good and faithful. It’s not like well done, good and productive or good and prosperous, you know, or good and I don’t know, whatever, fill in the blank. It’s well done, good and faithful. It’s like faithfulness.

is what is rewarded. And our rewards, it’s not like what we’re producing, if we’ve produced more, that’s going to produce more reward for us. It’s like, no, faithfulness is what is rewarded. And you can be faithful no matter what you’ve been entrusted. So it’s like the great leveler. Every single one of us can be told, well done and good and faithful servant, because every single one of us can be faithful.

with what we in particular have been entrusted. And so, I mean, I just, I love that about this parable. It gives me such hope, like if I’m a two talent person, if I’m a one talent person, if I’m a five talent person, I can be faithful.

Do you ever feel like people are not being honest about how much they’ve been entrusted? Like maybe they’re expecting more of themselves than the Lord does, or they’re expecting less of themselves than the Lord does?

Lara D’Entremont (25:49)
Yeah, think so. think that can definitely be a part of it too, that we have too high of expectations for ourselves. And you know, that’s when burnout happens, right? Because we’re trying to carry more than what we’re capable of. And God’s saying, there’s a reason why I gave you what I gave you. You know, and the reason why you’re burning out is because you’re trying to do more than you can. I remember especially when my twins were first born.

I wanted to still be doing all the things. Meanwhile, I had newborn twins who were preemies who had to be fed every two hours around the clock. And one of them was really struggling with colic. And I also had a two year old who needed attention and help and care, you know, and I still expected myself to be able to perform in the same way I did back when I only had one child, you know, and God was continually reminding me, no,

Shannon Popkin (26:25)
Right.

Lara D’Entremont (26:45)
you have been entrusted with these children. They are your first priority. I don’t expect you to take care of all the other things like you used to because that things change, right? I remember as I was trying to get everyone wrangled at the door one day, I laughed to myself and thought, you know, when God gives a woman twins, he should also give her extra arms. But the irony, the irony of it

He’s given us the extra arms and hands and feet through the church. And he’s calling me to rely on those people rather than compare myself to them and say, you know, they’re managing well and doing it all on their own. You know, I want to be able to manage well and do everything they’re doing. Instead, he gave us this church to say, I need help because you know what? I’m not capable of carrying what some people are and I need help carrying

Shannon Popkin (27:38)
Yes, it’s so good. And I think that some of us just need to have an honest conversation with the Lord about what our capacity level is, right? You mentioned seasons. Every season of life is different and our capacity level can change. I mean, there may be somebody listening who, yeah, she’s the mother of newborn twins and she just has a lower capacity level. Or maybe she has a special needs child or maybe she’s the caregiver of aging parents or maybe

you she herself has chronic pain or something. I don’t know what it is, but if we just continue to drive ourselves because of what we want to accomplish and, our Lord knows he gives to us to our capacity and, all he asks is that we be faithful with what we’ve been entrusted. And so

I just think some of us are putting more demands on ourselves than even the Lord has. I remember in Nancy de Maaswagamuth’s book, Lies Women Believe, one of the most poignant lies for me was the one that says, I can’t accomplish everything on God’s list for me for the day. Something to that effect. It’s like, no, the Lord hasn’t

too much for me to do on my list. Like I’m the one who loads up my list with things. He knows exactly what he’s asked me to do with my day, with my year, with the season of life. And it’s, you know, I’m the one who pushes myself to produce more. But no, good, well done, good and faithful servant. Okay, let’s just take a minute and talk about the one talent servant.

And so let me just summarize this part of the story. So the last one, the one who received one, he comes forward and he’s like, you know, I knew that you were the kind of guy who reaps where you didn’t sow, you you gather where you didn’t scatter seed. And I was afraid, so I went and hid my talent in the ground. And so I dug it up, here it is, I’m bringing it to you. And this time the master is not saying, well done, good and faithful servant. He says, you wicked slothful servant.

Lara D’Entremont (29:30)
Thank you.

Shannon Popkin (29:42)
you know, you knew these things about me, you should have taken your money and invested it. And so that’s when he says, take his talent, give it to the guy who has 10. And he cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness and that place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. So this part of the story is interesting. I want to make clear,

this is the part of the story that is not talking about a believer. that doesn’t fit with the overarching narrative. And so it’s not like if we don’t do enough, then God is going to not let us enter heaven, right? Like, I just want to be really, really clear about that. This guy represents the unbeliever. But I think like, what’s interesting is he, in my, from my perspective, and I want to hear yours here in just a second,

I don’t see this man treating the master like the master. It’s almost like he thinks he’s in the place to evaluate the master and he’s like, you’re scary, you aren’t doing this right and I’m just not going to, I’m just gonna bury it because I’m afraid of the consequences. And so for all of us, anybody who’s gonna be told well done, good and faithful servant, it starts with treating the master like the master.

But what else is interesting or surprising about this part of the story, Lara?

Lara D’Entremont (31:06)
I actually love that you say that because yes, I think many Christians get that wrong and think, you know, I could be that one talent servant. And then I’m afraid that God’s going to completely disown me because I wasn’t faithful enough. But the reality is it’s about his faithfulness. That’s what we’re saved by, not by our faithfulness, but the fact

He was perfectly faithful. He literally carried the cross. He literally obeyed where we could not. He obeyed the full law. And that’s where our rest is. That’s where we are saved, not by how much we do or how much we produce at the end of the day. And so I think that is a really important thing to remember. And like you said, I think that’s a really good point

This is somebody not treating the master as the master because the unbeliever, like you said, they see all their stuff as theirs and they’re going to handle it the way they want to. And they judge God for the way he portrays himself and for the way he wants us to operate. And they don’t like the way he calls us to be. And so they choose to go their own way and to do things their own way. know, that’s what Romans three is all about. Nobody obeys, nobody listens.

Shannon Popkin (32:01)
Mm -hmm.

Lara D’Entremont (32:23)
And so that’s why we need the true good and faithful servant who is perfectly faithful and perfectly good to save us. And then we rest in that as we seek to be faithful with what he’s given

Shannon Popkin (32:34)
that’s so good. Yes. So true. It starts with making the master the master, but then treating what he’s entrusted us like it belongs to him. Right. So I think that’s one of the ways that we live like this story is true is like treating the master like the master. You know, he’s the one who is entrusted everything to us. And that’s where it begins is like, you know, anything I’ve been given, it’s been given to me by a master who knows my capacity level and who gives to

differently than somebody else. What else do you see? How else can we live like the story is true?

Lara D’Entremont (33:08)
Yeah, I think continually reminding myself of what, this is what God’s entrusted to me right now because I easily get frustrated with myself and what I’m capable of and my weaknesses and my limits, right? And I start to think of my limits as evil and as bad, but I really love the book, Your Only Human by Kelly Kaepet. And that was really transformative for me as he reminded us that our limits are good.

Our limits are God -given. They’re not something bad that we should be trying to get rid of and eradicate, but rather our limits are one of the ways that God calls us to rely on Him and to rely on His church that He’s given us. And so for me, it’s constantly remembering I am very, very limited. And that doesn’t mean that God’s looking at me differently. Right now, I feel like a too -talent Christian

I need to look to the five talent Christians around me to help them help me carry my two to my talents I have. And that’s okay. That’s what God expects. It’s the way he made his church to operate.

Shannon Popkin (34:19)
Yeah, I mean, you’ve got your mom, was it your mom or your mother -in -law there watching your kids tonight? Yeah, and so you’re living this story, right? You’re saying, I do not have the capacity to do a podcast interview and wrangle my boys at the same time. So like here, here’s an extra set of hands, right? And I love that. So you actually are living like it’s true. Anything else that you wanted to add, like how would we live like it’s true

Lara D’Entremont (34:23)
My mom, yeah.

I’m

Shannon Popkin (34:48)
God gives to each differently, you know, like that he gives one five, one, two, and another one. How does that affect the way we think about ourselves?

Lara D’Entremont (34:59)
I think sometimes we need to either put our blinders on and stop looking at what everyone else has been given and just focus on what’s in front of me. But then also stop thinking like when we look at somebody else and think to immediately compare instead think of thanking God and seeing, wow, look at how God’s uniquely equipped her. And then also look at how God’s uniquely equipped me for a different season, you know,

I see moms who are like homesteaders and they’re, think, goodness, what’s wrong with me that I can’t have 30 chickens and I can’t milk a cow or goat and make my own cheese and do all, like grow a huge garden that supplies our family for the whole summer and winter. Like why, why can’t I possibly do that too? But then I remember, but also God’s equipped me to be a writer. And that takes up a lot of my time. Whereas for them,

God’s equipped them to be a homesteader and to, you know, cultivate His earth. And He’s equipped me to proclaim His word through the written word. And so it’s not that one is better or one that’s less than. It’s about this is how God has shaped me and this is how He’s made me to carry what He’s given me. And that’s okay.

Shannon Popkin (36:21)
Yes, and I think when we can set our sights on being faithful, if that really is what we’re after, like how can I be faithful and how can she be faithful? I think that turns us back into sisters where we can cheer for each other instead of compare and compete with each other. It’s like if I’m faithful and she’s faithful, like the two -talent guy and the five -talent guy side by side are each told, well done.

then that can be true of me and the person next to me who’s like the homesteader making her own butter or whatever, know, making her own cheese. It’s like, I, cause I don’t do any of those things either, Lara. So when people compare themselves with us as writers, like I’m, I’m just doing what I’ve been entrusted with, right? I’m just like, this is the gift God gave me and I just want to be faithful and I want you to be faithful. And I want,

Lara D’Entremont (36:55)
Hahaha

Shannon Popkin (37:16)
all of our listeners to be faithful. I remember this time when our family was going through a really hard time and one of our kids was struggling. And I remember him being at an event and something didn’t go well. It was like a school event. Something didn’t go well. And there was a woman who had to kind of patch things up. And it was embarrassing for

for my child and it was embarrassing for me. And it was just a really, you know, was just like you’re trying to shepherd your child through a difficult phase and things weren’t perfect. And it just, in that moment, it was obvious that things weren’t perfect in our lives. And so I remember seeing her and seeing her like in a parking lot and thinking, I want to go, I heard what had happened and I wanted to go thank her. But this woman, we’ll call her Stacey.

Lara D’Entremont (37:48)
Mm -hmm.

Shannon Popkin (38:06)
Stacey just seemed like perfect. She looked perfect. Her house was perfect. Her family looked perfect. Like her kids were always, know, straight A’s, great at sports, whatever, whatever it is. They just seemed perfect. And I felt so inferior to her. And I, but I thought, man, I don’t, you know, I, I didn’t want to go talk to her. I didn’t want to go thank her, but I just, chose to humble myself and do

And so I go over and I’m like trying to fight back tears because it was just like this hard thing. And so, you know, I just told her, I’m so sorry this happened. Thank you for helping patch things up. You know, helping shepherd in that moment. And she puts her hand on my shoulder and she looks into my eyes and she says, Shannon, I love your child. And we would do anything for your family. Like there’s nothing we wouldn’t do. And I just

Lara D’Entremont (38:56)
Aww.

Shannon Popkin (39:02)
It was just this really special moment where this woman that I had so put up on a pedestal, all she was doing, she’s like reaching into my life, basically saying, I hope you’ll just be faithful. You know, I want to be faithful with what I’ve been entrusted and I just want that for you and anything I can do to help you, you know, to be faithful in this place that God has you. It was just this moment where I felt

It was like a sisterhood moment, you know, it meant so much to me. And so like, I just want that for myself. I want that for you. I want that for our listeners. Like just could we reach into somebody else’s life and say, I hope you’ll be faithful with what you have been entrusted. I want to be faithful with what I’ve been entrusted and all of us. just want for us to follow the Lord and to, to live according to what, you know, the plans that he has for each of us. Anything else that you’d add about living like it’s true.

Lara D’Entremont (39:27)
Yes.

I think that was just, that was a beautiful way to end it. I love that story.

Shannon Popkin (39:58)
Well, thank you so much for being with us, Lara It has been a rich conversation and man. I just want to say to you. I hope you’ll be faithful I hope that you will take these gifts for writing and encouraging moms and you know your experiences with anxiety and motherhood I hope that

Just take whatever talents that the Lord has entrusted to you and I hope that you’ll be faithful.

Lara D’Entremont (40:21)
Thank you so much and I pray the same for you. This has been such a joy to be on your podcast and to talk about one of my favorite passages.

Shannon Popkin (40:28)
Me too, it’s one of my favorites.