Pockets of Paradise
This is a faith-centered podcast devoted to living with Heaven in mind—right here in the middle of everyday life. Co-Hosted by Megan Tedder and Larson Griffith, through honest conversations about Jesus, mental and emotional wellness, and the beauty of an eternal perspective, they strive to create space for listeners to slow down, be refreshed, and reconnect with what truly matters. Each episode is designed to encourage your heart, renew your hope, and help you recognize the small, sacred moments where God's presence brings peace, healing, and glimpses of Heaven on Earth.
New episodes released every Tuesday morning.
Pockets of Paradise
Strength of a Mother - #013
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In this special Mother’s Day episode, we reflect on the powerful faith of Moses’ mother and what it means to truly surrender our children to the Lord. Through her story in The Bible, we talk about trust, release, and the beauty of placing the people we love most into God’s hands. A heartfelt conversation for every mother learning to walk by faith.
Hey guys, welcome back to the Pockets of Paradise podcast. This is Megan and Larsen, and let's get into it. Let's do it. Hey Larsen, how was your mother's day?
SPEAKER_01Um, it was good. My son Judah made me a card in kids ministry, and he tried his best to spell mothers, and it was M-U-F-E-R-S. And day was D-A-E. And so I loved it. It was it was so nice. Um, I sounded it out. Yeah. Um, and then Izzy gave me a little card too, and she was super excited about it. Um and they were just very lovey, like just wanted to cuddle. How about yours?
SPEAKER_02Um, I don't think they knew what the heck was going on. Yeah. Clint did a good job of um we I got flowers and a card, and um then I took my kids out. I took like a little piece of cardboard and poked holes in it, and then drew a vase or like stems. Yeah. And then the kids and I went out and picked wildflowers and stuck them in the holes and then wrote Happy Mother's Day to my mom. Oh, that's so sweet. So they had like a wildflower bouquet and handed it to them, and it was really cute.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, my cousin, uh, two cousins and sister surprised me um that morning. She came to my house, and I thought she was just like something was being set up at her house for like to surprise her. And she was like, I was told to get out for 20 minutes, and she was very specific. So I was like, All right, cool, come on over. And she showed up with like flowers and a little uh 30-minute massage, getting cards. And so they all had gotten together and done that for me. So it was really sweet.
SPEAKER_02That's so sweet. Yes, and well deserved. You're such a good mama.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. It was very sweet of them. I was like, okay, thank you. I'll take it. I like didn't know how to respond. At first, I was like in shock. I was like, wait, why'd you have to get out for 20 minutes? I'm so confused. I was like, is everything okay?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And then this um past Saturday we did the Mother's Day tea at High Point, which was a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_01I heard it was really pretty. It was pretty good.
SPEAKER_02The food was good and the speakers were awesome. And so it was just sweet. It was a good time. And it was really cool to see multi-generations. There's like grandmothers, great-grandmothers, daughters, granddaughters, sisters, aunts. It was the whole shebang. It was awesome. So that's awesome. Yes. Um so speaking of mothers, yeah. We're trying to go down the list of mothers in the Bible, and we have been sitting here for an hour trying to figure out. It really has been an hour. Trying to figure out what the heck we're gonna talk about because we could talk about so much, obviously. We're really good at talking. Um, so or maybe maybe they think that way too about us.
unknownHopefully.
SPEAKER_02Um, but no, so we were talking about different mothers in the Bible. Yes, and we thought that um Moses's mommy, which I'm gonna let you say his her name. Jocobed. Jockey.
SPEAKER_01That's how I've always heard it. Jacobed? Jocobed. I don't know. I'm gonna call her Jockey. That could have just been like my Georgia Southern upbringing.
SPEAKER_02Jacobed. Yeah. Um, yeah. I I'm just gonna call her Jockey. Like a French Jackie. Jockey. Okay. Um Jocobed.
unknownI guess. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Now you got me second guessing.
SPEAKER_02My whole life I thought her name was something else. So that's funny. I don't know. I got it mixed up with a sister's name, but it's fine. No, I always thought it was Miriam, but that was his sister, not his mother. And I've read that story in an embarrassing amount of times and still thought that. So um, so, anyways, I'm gonna let you kind of read the little passage and we'll just dive into it. The birth of Moses.
SPEAKER_01This is an Exodus two. You don't have to do it with an accent. Okay. I don't know if I can take the accent away now. It's just there. Okay. Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. Sorry, can we stop right there? Why are you laughing? Because it says he's when she saw that he was a fine child. Like, he'll do. Sorry, I'm just scared. Um, anyway, she hid him for three months. Continued. She's wild. Yeah, I like a crying baby for three months, hiding a baby. It's crazy. Um, we should when she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket, made of bulrushes, and daubed it in oh, why did I say yes to reading this?
SPEAKER_02Basically mud, like plaster mud.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yep. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the riverbank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children. Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, because she said, I drew him out of the water.
SPEAKER_02Wild. It really is. Like when you think of, I mean, wild. I don't know that I could do that. No. So let's break that down. So first of all, he was a fine child. There was a he was a fine baby. But first of all, during that time, Pharaoh was uh getting a little nervous because the Hebrew people were multiplying quickly and they were their slaves and they were treated terribly. And so he's like, Oh my goodness, so they have too many of them, they're gonna overturn us. Right. And the Bible says he was like, Well, we're gonna deal with them shrewdly. And what he decided to do, and this is in history, like this is not this has been verified. Um, he would called out to all the midwives and the women who helped birth children, like the I guess they would be called midwives, right? Yeah. And um they had a special, just like we have nurses now for that, they had special women that would go in and help people do this. And their job was to um kill the baby as soon as it was born if it was a male. I couldn't even imagine as a female. Imagine going through birth and then watching someone murder your child in front of you and you're still on the table.
SPEAKER_01Like that is just or the one that had to do the killing, like that's horrendous. Crazy. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So a horrific decree. So not only did Mo Moses's mom and but what was amazing was the midwives were like, no. Most of them, yeah, the Hebrews were like, absolutely not, and they defied that, which is good. But there were when once he realized they had been defied, then the soldiers went in and took care of business, and a lot of them were dropped into the Nile and fed to crocodiles, which is just absurd. So So then Moses' mom. So Moses' mom during this time had not only like has a baby, a fine baby boy, right? And like is like absolutely not. This is a gift from God. Yeah. Then she hides this baby for three months, and she's probably praying every day, God, what do I do? Yeah, like I know you are a good God. I know that you gave me this baby for a reason. I trust that you are good and sovereign, and this is your baby, not my baby. Like, I d I she didn't say that in the Bible, but her action showed it. Yeah. Because she hid that child and was leaning into the Lord to know what to do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I bet everybody was suspicious, right? Because it's happening all around. So, like if a woman hears a baby cry, like immediate, like, what's going on? Where'd that baby come from? Like, who's is that? Right.
SPEAKER_02I can just imagine like the you know, the or did she yeah, did she make it dress it like a girl? I don't know. Like, what did she do? And so who knows? I there's no telling. And and the stress and the and I think about a newborn, like you were up all night with that baby. Yeah. Hour after hour feeding that baby. Like, that is not the yeah, that I don't know how she did it. So then, so after three months, she could not hide him anymore. And so she makes a basket. I I'm assuming God gave her this idea. Yeah, it doesn't say because no one says, but who else would put their baby in a basket in a river that is not a cutesy little creek? Like this is a the Nile River full of crocodiles.
SPEAKER_01That they're throwing other babies in.
SPEAKER_02Are throwing babies in to be eaten. And so, and it is rushing a strong river, right? And so, and another thing is the Egyptians worshipped the river like a lot. It was one of their gods, like a lot of um their agriculture was based upon how the river was doing, right? And so I also think it's interesting that God uses even other people's idols sometimes to you to get his will done. Um, but so she puts this precious baby boy in this basket, and he has an older sister who's I don't know, probably 13 or younger, she's young. And um I just can't imagine that scene. Kissing your baby, potentially goodbye, putting him in this basket, putting the lid on it, and pushing him out to the river and saying, God, I completely surrender this child to you and I trust you. Fully. Fully. Like the basket itself could have sank. Like that is just wild to me. And then the little sister the mom didn't follow the basket.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the sister stood at a distance.
SPEAKER_02But the sister followed the basket along the riverbank because she wanted to see what happened. And the mom is probably distraught in the in the house, thinking, just praying. I mean, if that I don't know what she was doing, but I'm sure she was not having a great day. And so, but Miriam is running along the riverbank watching to see what happens, and then the basket floats into where the Pharaoh's daughter is bathing, and she opens the basket and she sees this fine baby boy crying and she has pity on it. And so what's wild is then she Miriam's like, Do you need a nurse for that baby? She's like, Hello, can I help you? Oh wow, you found a baby. Do you need a nurse? And she's like, Yes, let me help you. Yeah, let me help you. So then she's like, Yeah, actually go find the nurse. So then Moses' mother got to nurse him until he was probably a year or two old and was paid to do it. Yeah, that's nice. Yeah, but like, but how sweet of God, like, yeah, not only if if he if she had not surrendered and trusted the Lord with that child, Jesus the lineage of Jesus would have died there, which is crazy to think about.
SPEAKER_01The holy lineage of Jesus is why.
SPEAKER_02It's wild, but uh, but I'm like, it's amazing when you surrender your plan and your desires and and sometimes your children to the Lord, it allows for the Lord to set that child up to free an entire nation. Right. Like, because Moses grew up as Pharaoh's child, did not know that he was a Hebrew until he was older, and once he realized that's a whole nother story, right? He he ran out to the desert and then God drew him back as an old man and said, No, you're gonna be the one who goes and set these sets these people free. And um they conquered Pharaoh and conquered the plagues, conquered the death angel, walked through the Red Sea and freed God's people. Yeah. Um but if she had never trusted God and kissed that baby's face and put him in that basket. No such courage. Like the courage it takes to surrender your children to God and also knowing that they're not yours anyway. Yeah, that is so easy to say. Yeah, so hard to do. And I'm I'm a baby mom. Like I have two toddlers, right? Like it's it's different in every season. We kind of talked about that too. Like, you surrender your toddlers in a different way than you would your 25-year-old. Right. And my mom, we were talking the other day, she's like, you know, I think being a mother to an adult is a lot harder than kids in some ways. Like, because you have less and less control or you realize how little control you have.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I was watching a uh show today um in the middle of working um and designing some stuff, and um they it was a group of girls talking, a group of women talking, and they were like, Yeah, it's like much bigger issues, it feels like, than like sniffly noses and you know, fevers, or like I skip my or I skip my knee or whatever. Like it's just so different when they're older and it's like they they have to make their own decisions. And I'm like, Lord, you can come back before I get there because I don't know if I can do that. We were just talking about that with a friend of like you know, the different parenting styles and stuff, and I'm like, I'm just come back before I even have to like approach any of that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Any minute now, I'm fun. It feels like it's coming quicker than it should. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But even like this past week, both of my kids have been sick. And so I put them in bed with me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I can hear them breathing and I can check their temperature and I can do something about it. And as you as they grow older, my grip on them is gonna have to get looser and looser and looser. And if I do my job well, they're gonna fly away and be independent. And I'm like, wait, what? Yeah, baby come back, baby come back. Um, but it's just it's a it's just another reminder, even at this age, reading this story of like these babies are not mine. Yeah, they're on loan to me. And I need to steward that well, not perfectly, but God will redeem the places I fail.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's like so many situations where mothers have to do such hard things to make sure that their kids okay, just like she did here. Of like, you know, he gives you the strength and the grit, I feel like, to do what you need to do. Yeah, but it doesn't mean that it's easy. No, and it doesn't mean that you're gonna have, you know, just blissful peace after. Like it's a it is a full surrender. Yeah. Of like you have to do it. It's I kind of was talking to a friend the other day about childbirth, and she hasn't given birth yet, but she is pregnant, and she was like, I just don't know how I'm gonna be. And I'm like, you just do it. You don't have a choice, sister. Yeah, once once you go and you go and like you just gotta do it and you'll be okay.
SPEAKER_02I remember talking to my husband before having Lena, and I and I had a moment where I was like, I don't want to do this. Yeah, and it's like, baby girl, I'm sorry, like we can't take it back now. Buckle up, buttercup. We're going in there, but like there's yeah, and that's so it's so funny because the truth is always simple but never easy. Yeah. And like God's for example, God's design for a family is simple and good, but extremely hard to do. Like it is or like in motherhood in general, like it's simple and good, but hard.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And worth doing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. They're like, love your kid. Okay. Yeah. Okay.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Got it. I can do this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, while also killing your own flesh.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a it is a sacrifice, but it is one of like the most beautiful things. And then you think of all the people who um, you know, aren't able to conceive or something like that. And they go, I feel like the extra mile to like be able to even have a child. And it's that's that's to me, it's always been like beautiful to watch someone fight for someone else in general, but specifically a mother for a child, like and to fight for what's good.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And knowing when you're fighting and when you're enabling, and like allowing God, like knowing where you end and God begins. And yeah, and there's no roadmap to that except the Bible, right? Yeah, there's literally not a help for the kid is so totally different, and that's why it's so important for mothers to abide in in the Lord and that and have wise counsel from people who've been there, done that. But another thing I wanted to say because you just said that and it brought it to my attention, is um some of the most sacred motherhood are the mothers that are mothers by choice and not by blood. And that can be through adoption, but there's also spiritual mothers. There's ants, yeah, there's the friends that are struggling with infertility, but loving on their friends' babies. Like you are mothering. Um, and and motherhood is is a community thing as well. It's a communal thing. And there's something so sacred about bringing a mothering spirit to orphans. Like the the Lord is real big on loving orphans. Yep. And that doesn't always mean physical orphans, sometimes that means spiritual orphans. And I think if you're in a season of you desire to be a mother one day and you're just not there yet, pray and ask the Lord to show you who you need a mother or who you could mother.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, pour into.
SPEAKER_02Who you can pour into, who you can love, who you can show up for at different events, or or you know, some a little girl doesn't have a mother and there's a mother day's mother's day tea. Take her, invite her. Yeah. Um, same thing with a little boy, like it, you know, there's a mother-son event. Show up, show up for those people. Um, and sometimes it's adults. I find like a lot of my little chickies that I begin mothering are like college age or young 20s. Yeah. Um, and I don't know why, but God just keeps putting them in my life and I love them. Um but yeah, I just wanted to say that that's just as sacred as a biological mother.
SPEAKER_01It is. Yeah, it's it's it really is a full surrender, especially just in life in general, because you know, sin in the world. And so being able to surrender and and watch your kids go through things that are like whether it's suffering or hardships in general, it's hard because you want to just cuddle them and protect them from all of it, but you can't.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it's inevitable. So how you surrender that to the Lord says a lot.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. We were talking before we started recording about examples, like real life examples of surrender and motherhood. And Larson brought this up and I'd forgotten it um until she said it. But when I was when the Lord confirmed that I was gonna go to a third world country to live and do mission work for a little bit, um when I told my parents, I told them separately, and their reactions were very different. And so when I told my dad, he laughed. And when I told my mom, she cried. So it was like total opposite. But my dad was like, he just started laughing. I'm like, why are you laughing? He's like, Of course you're going. He's like, the Lord told you, you better go. It's like I thought that you were gonna do something. Yeah, she's like, I'm not surprised. It's like, but you better go. You better, like the Lord's telling you, you better go.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I was like, okay. And then I remember I took my mom out for tacos at the back 40 in St. Augustine, and I was like, listen, mom, this is what's on my heart. This is what happened, this is how God confirmed it, and I think I'm supposed to go. And um, she put her little taco down and she had tears welled up in her eyes, and she was like, Okay. And then she's a process, so she was taking a second to process and chew on that, literally. And um she goes, you know, I heard a story recently, and she's like, it was some Native American tribe. She's like, I don't know which one it was. I just remember hearing the story, and she said they were having their tribe had this coming of age ritual for the young men in the tribe. And what they would do is they would draw a circle in the sand in the middle of the forest, um, and or in the dirt in the middle of a forest, and they would give this little boy like a little short knife or dagger, and they would put him in the middle of the circle, and they told him that he had to remain in the circle all night long, and if he survived the night with coyotes and bears and cold and what And elements and all the other things. If he survived the night and was still in the circle by the morning, he would be a man. Um, and as a little boy, that's terrifying. And you know, all the men in the tribe probably have stories and like all the things. So being in the woods in the dark all night in this little circle, um is terrifying. Yeah. But what the little boy does not know is that all night long the men in the tribe are in the woods all around him, protecting him. And when the sun comes up, he realizes that they were there the whole time. And my mom, and and like the whole thing is like having courage to do what is scary, but also having the brotherhood to to protect and band together with one another. Like it's just a beautiful thing. But my mom was like, I feel like the will of God is your circle. And and your circumstances might not make sense to me, but if the will of God, if your circle is in that thermal country, then you need to be there because it's the safest place you could ever be. Yeah. And so I support you. And I was like, wow. I just remember thinking, oh my gosh, like, wow.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, not that I won't cry, you know, when I think about you not being an arm length away or something like that, but just full surrender, trusting, trusting the Lord.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It does say, um, we're looking up stuff in Hebrews 11. It later says, like, most parents acted by faith, suggesting about them trusting God while making an impossible decision.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And that is, I hope that you know, my kids grow up and they see that, yeah, you know, and they experience a faith of leaning on God wholeheartedly. Yeah. And trusting surrendering. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I want my kids to know that I love God more than them. Yeah. And that sounds really backwards, but I want them to know, like, yeah, I would die for them. But if God like the will of God is the safest place to be. And I want to live that out in front of them and and walk them through it with me. I don't yeah. And what an honor it is to like get to disciple these little people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Little humans. Little humans. Yeah. Who let me be a mom.
SPEAKER_01For a while. In a little bossy.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02They had Dawson and Izzy had their pre-K graduation last night. Yeah. Izzy was dominating the stage, girl. She was getting after it.
SPEAKER_01This girl, as soon as they said, All right, let's do our first song, she was already halfway to the point on the stage. Where she's like, I'm ready.
SPEAKER_02So she was born for that moment.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. They're they're so cute and little. And they did like a little uh slide on this on the LED screen where um it had like their infant picture and then their picture now from their graduation.
SPEAKER_02You're like, like so much has changed. In such a little amount of time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So even though they might um, I think like be a lot sometimes and some days, and you feel like you're at your what's end, like I feel like it's so important to take a deep breath and to just soak it in. And I know like I've heard mom and mom say, you know, before about us being little and how we used to be and all that kind of stuff, but like it goes by so quickly. And so to just soak it in and and appreciate the gift God's given you. Oh, yeah, that's a big thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I did I never realized how selfish I was until I had kids and got married. Like marriage, marriage is also part of that. That was one slap. One slap, and then the other cheek was the kids. Yeah. And I had two back to back, and they're both surprises. And yes, I know how babies are made. I get asked that every time I say that. But um surprise. Um little fertile myrtle over here. But I um yeah, so life happened fast, real fast. And so, but I realized I I've um quickly realized how selfish I am and how wonderful it is to live a life that constantly calls me to deny myself and be selfless. Um, even when I'm have a bad attitude about it, about it, out of it. But I um I wrote this poem when I was in the trenches of motherhood or postpartum. Have I read this to you? No, I'm so interested. I was like, wait, what? I remembered it the other day. Yeah. I need to see. Okay. Um, and it was it was a morning after a gruesome night with the newborn, and I was in pain. I was had baby blues. Yeah. I had to hold that episode. Yeah, it was it was rough. And I quickly realized like my life is not about me anymore. Um, and how beautiful that really is when I sit to think about it. But the title is Welcome to Motherhood, and it says, Delirium is creeping in, a result of fragmented sleep. Her heart is full, her body is foreign and empty. Rivers of tears flow day and night, washing over tiny cries and coos, full of gratitude as well as the morning of a season gone by. Hope floats through the window on beams of morning light. I caught a glimpse of a woman who had made it through another night. Not a hair in place, and the absence of sleep nestled in the darkness under her eyes. Her clothes were large and carried the stains of new life. I almost didn't recognize her. She looked like a stranger to me. Her body was mental her body and her mental strength were stretched. A smile warmed my face as it warmed hers. Compassion filled her eyes to the brim like morning dew. She took a look, she took in the woman standing in front of her, as selfless and true as she had ever been, and gently whispered to herself, Motherhood looks good on you.
SPEAKER_01I like that.
SPEAKER_02I remember being like, I don't even recognize myself, but this is the most beautiful I've ever been, because it's the most selfless I've ever been. And every day I learned to be more and more surrendered to the Lord. Not perfectly. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Thanks.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. But I get to.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It really puts things in perspective when chaos is surrounding you and things happen, and like you feel like there's moments of that, but then there's moments of like, okay, we conquered that. That was good. We made it through. And then something else sets, and you're like, Lord, help, help. What do I do in this one? What do I do in this situation? Yeah. It is. It's a constant surrender.
SPEAKER_02Like, yeah. Yeah. It's it's special.
SPEAKER_01It is.
SPEAKER_02And it's special to do it with other women.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02In all seasons, whether you're a mother yet or not. Yeah. You you can be a mother to orphans, like we said earlier. Um, to animals, to all kinds of things. Like if you have a mothering spirit, the Lord has already called you to be a mother. Like, and you can do that in the season you're in.
SPEAKER_01Or while you're waiting. Or while you're waiting. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You don't have to wait to be a mom.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You can then use your community to figure, how am I supposed to handle this? Yeah. What'd you do? Yeah. What did the Lord tell you to do? Maybe I can do that. Yes.
SPEAKER_02We were just talking to Pastor Bonnie about what you would do in this situation because my kids are so different. Like, how do how are they so different? Um, and we were dying laughing at her responses.
SPEAKER_01She's very clear, and I love her for that.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, so if you take nothing else from today, is that your courage and your quiet obedience to the Lord could free an entire generation and you not even know it.
SPEAKER_01You're setting forth world changers.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Yeah. And what you do in the private time with the Lord matters deeply to this world.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, when no one's looking.
SPEAKER_02Yes. And so if you're a mommy, keep on moming.
SPEAKER_01Moming on.
SPEAKER_02Happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day, y'all.