The great MEGA EVENT!

My afternoon off from work was a rainy/icy afternoon in the southwestern part of the state.  A perfect day to curl up under a warm blanket and read or watch a good chick-flick....however with little ones running around, that "painted picture" is merely a dream.  I don't get the chance to read until things are quiet...a.k.a. "after bedtime".  So as this afternoon has been cold and dreary, my thoughts stray to a warmer time in May when I will get to meet up with fellow MOPS moms and enjoy fellowship, fun, and the opportunity to learn from others all over our area.

If you haven't yet seen it, you should check out our MOPS Area 25 Mega Event promo.  Click HERE.  The event will be held in Charlottesville, VA on May 3rd and 4th at First Baptist Church Charlottesville.

The Mega Event is put together by your MOPS International Volunteer Staff of Area 25.  This is a FREE event (your only cost is lodging and lunch if needed).  We are preparing for some fun activities on Friday Night:  devotion, worship, pampering and more.  On Saturday, we will focus more on leadership development focusing on:  training, networking, worship, brainstorming and planning.  A dozen MOPS professionals will be available on-site! Ask questions!  Learn together!  JOIN US!

Use this event as an opportunity to grab your steering team and turn it into a steering retreat.  It's often hard to get leaders together with such busy schedules, so here's your chance!  Mark your calendars now and gas up the minivan!  

Please register for this event at http://mopsmegaevent.eventbrite.com/  You may opt to purchase lunch through this site as well.  

As an incentive to register early, we will place all registrants into a drawing for a MOPS Bundle (pictured above)!  We will draw a winner on March 15th and another on March 30th.  So register NOW!

Refill Your Momma Tank

Well, the Christmas fuss is over and the new year has dawned and challenged us to keep all those resolutions we made a month ago.  So how's that going for ya?  No worries, I'm not going to ask you to post what you have or haven't done.  But I am going to talk about refreshment and recharging - stoke the fire (if you will).

As moms we all know what it is like to be running on empty - too little sleep from that fussy newborn, or staying up in the wee hours to help an older child with a school project, or up all night due to the "bug" that has invaded the whole family's health.  When these situations hit and push us to our limits, we push back with all that we've got and sometime deprive ourselves of much needed rest and time to ourselves.  Moms are "on duty" 24/7 more often than not and those tanks get pretty bare at times.

I love MOPS because MOPS refuels me at each meeting.  Each gathering of moms and serving on the front lines with me, makes be feel comforted, loved and renewed.  It gives me the gusto to keep on keeping on.  And as a fellow MOPS mom, I think you can relate.

So, it's a new year and we are half-way through our MOPS year.  What are your plans?  First off, remember to register 3X each year - beginning of the year, NOW, and at the end of your year.  Be sure to challenge your current moms to bring friends - every mom needs a friend - and if your group is full, then consider starting a second group, or maybe even offer to help start a group at a "sister" church - every church needs a MOPS group.  Why is this important? Because every family needs Jesus!

And as we are in the middle of our MOPS year, you may be feeling a little low of fuel, so let me bring you the FILL UP by telling you about our MOPS Mega Event to be held on May 3-4th in Charlottesville!  This is a FREE event to attend.  Friday night will include some pampering, devotion and worship.  Saturday will be filled with great training and networking with other leaders from all over our area.  Your field leaders will be onsite as well.  Your only expense - if you choose to do so - would be for hotel and also for your lunch on Saturday.  USE this event as a way to refresh your own steering team and to plan out the rest of your year.  It is SURE to be FUN, FABULOUS and FULL of training.    Take a moment now to register and let us know you are coming!  See you soon!

http://mopsmegaevent.eventbrite.com

God's Got My Back - Blessings in Disguise

How many have truly experienced Blessings in Disguise? I was blessed to be off with my kids from just before Christmas until after the New Year.  I had BIG plans for this time off from my full time job:  plans to get caught up on house work, finance work, spend QUALITY time with the kids, get back into a regular exercise habit.

The last week before Christmas, I struggled.  My son had come down with strep throat and a cold on top of that, and my daughter had a stomach bug.  I caught my son's cold and my daughter's bug. I felt horrible, yet I forged onto work, ended up taking off the last official day of work, carried myself to the doctor and was thankful to then rest from work and recover.

Rest?  What mom REALLY ever gets rest?  I got through Christmas and the very next day my daughter was complaining her throat was hurting and she was crying.  Her throat looked swollen and I suspected she might now have strep throat, since my son had it earlier. There was shower of sleet falling as we piled into the car to head to the doc.  I prayed, "God, let us get to and from safely," before we ever left the driveway.  Seven miles from home, I wrecked my car.  One of my "big" plans for my time off was to get new tires for my car; I believe the worn tires to be the culprit of my unfortunate fate.

I was being careful, keeping in mind the poor road conditions and my poor tires and was trying to negotiate going down a steep hill and taking a sharp turn at the bottom.  I got down the hill, but didn't make the turn.  I ended up in a ditch and on our side with BOTH my children in the back seat.  No air bags went off, no glass broke and we were helped out by firefighters who arrived on the scene quickly while responding to another call.  They flipped my car back on all four, winched it out of the ditch and I drove it back home at about 15 mph.  We didn't make it to the doctor and my daughter suddenly didn't give much more thought to her sore throat.

The body shop told me I needed new tires.  I knew that.  I needed new brakes.  I had anticipated that.  I needed brake fluid.  Huh?  I had checked that - it was full.  "You have TWO reservoirs," the technician said.  I didn't know that.  He told me my rotors are destroyed.  I wondered if my wear of the brakes might have hurt the rotors.  He explained he had NEVER seen rotors as BAD as mine and went into detail about how they had worn unevenly.  It was very dangerous, "Imagine driving down the interstate and the wheel locking up," he said, "you would have likely wrecked and it could have very well killed you and the kids if they were with you."  Wow.  My kids are almost always with me.  What if?

I remember my prayer:  "God,  let us get to and from safely."  He did!  We may not have made it to the doctor, but we returned home safe and sound without even a bruise.  This accident was a blessing in disguise.  God's got my back.  He knew my car was in worse shape than I had realized.  He allowed me to wreck so it could get fixed before something more serious happened.  I found myself praising God and saying, "Thank You."  Seems odd to say thank you for allowing the wreck. We weren't hurt.  He protected us - more than we even realized.  God's got my back.  And He has yours!

Reflect to find your blessings in disguise.

Simple Thank Yous...

Being a mom is often a THANKless job.  Day after day, you labor to feed, clothe and bathe your baby and/or children.  You try to keep up the housework, laundry and dishes and often times deprive yourself of any time of refreshment.  For the working mom, you add 40 hours a week OUTSIDE of the home (plus commute time) and you often have an over-tired, over-worked, over-stressed mommy.

I'm constantly trying to teach my kids to say "please" and "thank you," but sometimes I'm in such a routine of doing things that I don't even notice if they "bark" a command at me until my husband will remind them to ask with a "please."

In my own MOPS group, we recently took a test to discover our love language during a MOPS night.  My strongest language was Quality Time and my second (the one I thought would be first) was Affirmation.  Both my hubby and I work Monday through Friday daylight hours.  One Saturday morning, he was called in to work.  So, instead of sleeping in, I got up and did the usual thing I do during the work week:  make coffee and pack his lunch.  As he came to give me my good-bye kiss, he said "thank you for getting up and making me coffee and packing my lunch, babe".  Wow!  It was such a simple thing for him to do and yet it did WONDERS for me the whole day.  I thrive knowing what I do is appreciated.

I know not everyone has the same love language.  But as we teach our kids to say "please" and "thank you" we need to make sure we are practicing saying it ourselves.  We need to learn to be more complimentary and share God's love with all that we meet.  You never know when you might make a mom's day by complimenting her on her mom skills.  I recently got a compliment from a friend via Facebook on my being a mom and it, too, made my day. 

Whether you are a stay-at-home mom or a working mom, the labors of being mom can take a toll on you.  So what's a mom to do?  Well for starters, she can find a MOPS group!  Every mom needs a friend and every church needs a MOPS group.  You are likely already involved with MOPS and are reaping the benefit of getting some much needed refreshment and encouragement from fellow moms.  But what about that mom that just had the baby down the street?  Have you invited her to MOPS yet? Afraid your group is too full?  Why not spin off a new group?!  Call a field leader today about it and to discuss.

Keep up the good work mom!  You are valuable in God's sight and the light in your children's eyes!

Have you got your rhythm?

Rhythm:  a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound; a regularly recurring sequence of events, actions, or processes.

We recently had our first MOPS meeting and dove straight into the Mom Connection theme book.  The author talked about hula hoops and finding her rhythm as a child to keep them up on her hips.  She equated the swinging of those hoops to motherhood and how we have so many hoops to keep up with:  the role of mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, co-worker, and the list goes on.  Sometimes we may be able to swing those hoops in a beautiful fluid motion and other times...not so much.

The thing with motherhood is that so often when we feel like we've finally got our rhythm:  infants sleeping through the night (wa-hoo!) then something else occurs.  For me, when my first-born slept through the night, I rejoiced thinking, "Finally...a good night's sleep!"  That lasted all of one week before those little teeth started coming in, making him fussy, waking him back up in the night.  When we finally got the "swing" of teething and how all that went, he started walking around 9 months and it was time to make sure I REALLY child-proofed the house!  On top of that ... I became pregnant with our second child!

Since I have become a mom, I've realized I'm constantly trying to find my rhythm.  

Every time I think I've got it, life's beat changes on me and I have to find it again.  It's a constant learning experience for me.  And wow!  I am so thankful for my MOPS moms who are there to go through it with me.  No, we are not synchronized like the swimmers in the Olympics.  Our performance is not that rigid.  Ours is more of a dance party where we all have fun whether we know how to dance or not.

I don't think God expects us to have a perfect rhythm, nor does He expect one rhythm to work for everyone.  How boring would it be if the radio station only played one song?  Instead, God draws us nearer to Him through our search to find the rhythm of life and He keeps it exciting as it changes.  As it changes, we learn and grow in our love for Him.  How awesome is that?

Community Leadership Training & Networking Events

COMING SOON....to a city near you! Community Events! Below is a list of the events going on this month. You have likely received an E-vite invitation or saw a link to RSVP to that invitation on this Facebook page or your local one. If you haven't RSVP'd, please try to do so in order for your leaders to plan accordingly. :) THANKS AND ENJOY YOUR TRAINING AND/OR NETWORKING!

October 6- 12pm-3pm, Freedom Fellowship Church, Virginia Beach
hosted by Julie, Kymmie and Lauren 

October 12- 7pm-9pm, Lucie Monroe's 1600 Roanoke St., Christiansburg

hosted by Nickole and Teresa
 

October 13- 9am-12pm, Chantilly Bible Church, Chantilly
hosted by Patty and Stephanie
 

October 13- 9am-12pm, Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, Fredericksburg
hosted by Kelly
 

October 27- 9:30am-12:30pm Westover Hills United Methodist Church, Richmond - childcare available at this one!
hosted by Jackie

Children Notice More than We Think

                                          Children Notice More than We Think

                                                              Lauren Holmes

                                              Community Networker, Area 25

                                         

We have all heard the phrase, “do as I say, not as I do.”  Most of us know that children are not only listening to what we say, but also watching our actions.  I often ask myself, “does what I say line up with what I do?”  In my own house, it seems as if my children often copy my actions even more than the words that I say.

 When I had my first born, I was a lot busier than I am now, and I would often rush from one activity to another, totally stressed.  It took me a while to realize that because I was nervous and rushing, (and my son was watching me,) he was also becoming nervous and irritable as well.

Once I began to practice better time management and relax more, I noticed that my son calmed down too.  It was almost as if he too took a big sigh of relief, glad that that mommy was finally slowing down!

Although my children are just one and two, I am already seeing hints that my behavior speaks volumes to them!   My two year old repeats everything that I say, so I am careful to monitor the words that come out of my mouth.

But it’s not just what we say that matters.  When my kids get a little older, they will begin to notice even more of my true nature.  If I tell them that they can only watch G-rated movies, but they wake up from a nightmare and wander downstairs to find me watching a movie that glorifies cursing, sex and violence, then am I really setting a good example?  When my kids are old enough to get on Facebook, will they see that what I’ve taught them is really who I am, or will they be surprised at the words that I type?

The word tells us, “be holy as I am holy.”  Every day, I try to ask myself, am I really reflecting God in my everyday life?  As Christians, we are to model God’s character not just around our babies, but also everywhere that we go, and in everything that we do.  Even during mom’s night out, our speech and behavior should still bring glory to God and set an example. 

We not only represent God, but we also represent our children too.  Let’s make sure that our example is a godly one that they will always be proud to follow.