Community

Yesterday I ran some errands with Lennon. It started out good and slowly fell apart along the way. We've spent the past week isolated at the house because of a virus and he's still not feeling 100%. I missed the last MOPS gathering and meeting because of this.

So here we are after about 45 minutes of constant whining and me saying "it's ok honey, we will be done soon." We are in the car at the incredibly long stop light at the Covington Wal-Mart. Lennon begins to lose it, screaming and whining "I want out." The first two times I calmly said "Not now." Then I lost it. I yelled at him to stop whining and turned up the radio so I wouldn't hear it.  He's sobbing and sputtering. I am a mix of anger and guilt.  I have come unglued.  I'm fighting back the tears. I don't want to be this Mom. None of us do. I could go to my husband with these tales of frustration and he will nod and say something that will either make me want to beat him or ask what he can do to help.

The answer is he can't help. No matter how much of an amazing husband and helper God has given me, he cannot help me now. YOU can. Moms who know exactly what it's like to be at that stop light (check out line, movie theater, restaurant....you get the idea) and lose it. You know what it's like. Only you do. 

We are a community of the gold fish years. You know that you must have the red sippy cup not the blue one for breakfast. How we have to take that bunny to preschool, not the elephant and etc.  Dad's just don't get it, they can't.  This is what makes our group so important. We need each other.  I'm not being melodramatic here. It's true. I have made some very important friendships in MOPS. I've also strengthened my faith in God. 

Tomorrow I'm meeting my girls for breakfast. All MOPS friends I've made through the years. Here is where I will tell them of my falling short of being the mom I want to be. Here is where instead of a trite, but well meaning "I know honey I live here too." I will here a sincere "Oh I know!" Because they do know the power of goldfish and how important that stuffed bunny is. They know how easy it is to fall apart. They are where I find reassurance and strength. My community.

God talks about the importance of community. He encourages it and tells of how we need it.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says

⁹ Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.

 

We will work together and share our struggles and our wins. We will grow through our relationships with one another. We will pick one another up when we fall. We will love as if our lives depend on it!

 

I'm encouraging you this week to reach out to members of your small group and create friendships. We are all in this together and so very blessed to be here in this season.

Memory Verses

Each Monday I will post a new memory verse that you can teach your child and learn yourself. I'll eventually have a page with all of the verses for those crazy weeks that you miss one.  These are also on the Facebook group.

I'm encouraging those on the facebook group to get creative with this and post videos/photos of your children learning the verse. There is nothing sweeter!

This weeks verse:

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God proves true.

Have fun!

Song and Books of the Month - November!

Our book of the month in November is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. How do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty and long? Ann Voskamp invites us to slow down, to learn how to live the full life of eucharisteo (with grace, thanksgiving, joy) regardless of circumstances. Inspired by everyday life in her family and on her farm, she writes about her struggle to live joyfully amid sin and sorrow and suffering.

Our song of the month is "Gratitude" by Dara MacLean

I was in trouble and You rescued me

Torn to pieces now I'm complete

Fatherless till You called me Your own

No direction, till you showed me where to go

How can I say thank You

How can I adore You

All I have to offer

Is the life I lay before You

You're the One I live for

So let my heart be filled to overflow

Each day brand new

With gratitude

I've been forgiven and now I'm free

Every morning, Your love embraces me

Only You, have satisfied

Only You, have been faithful all my life

How can I say thank You

How can I adore You

All I have to offer

Is the life I lay before You

You're the One I live for

So let my heart be filled to overflow

Each day brand new

With gratitude

Oh I, I can't stop, can't stop

Thinking about all You've done for me

I lift my, hands up

With all creation let us join and sing

Holy and righteous, kind and gracious

Worthy, worthy, worthy

How can I say thank You

How can I adore You

All I have to offer

Is the life I lay before You

You're the One I live for

So let my heart be filled to overflow

Each day brand new

With gratitude

With gratitude

With gratitude

With gratitude

Thanksgiving Traditions and Important Dates

This morning was our November meeting, and we focused on gratitude and how to infuse a spirit of thankfulness within our homes. Many of us left with new ideas of traditions we want to begin to teach our children about being thankful every day. In fact, I just got done searching for limbs in my backyard in order to make a thankful tree! Luckily, since we haven't raked since Hurricane Isaac, I had plenty to chose from. :) Here are some of the ideas that were discussed.

• Decorate a shoebox with pictures and drawings of what your child is thankful for. Put a slit in the top, and have your child put cards, pictures, or objects in the box that represent what your child is thankful for. On Thanksgiving, share the box and its contents with family members.
• Buy a bag of Styrofoam balls from a craft store. Paint the balls brown, and use a craft stick to attach a small ball to a large one, making a turkey's body and head. Each day, have a child write or color on a feather what they are thankful for and glue the feather on the body. This can also be done with a construction paper turkey. Encourage your child to think throughout the day what they will write on their feather the following day.

Betsy and her Thankful Turkey!

• Go on a nature walk with your children and pick up some large limbs. Put them in a jar or vase, and cut leaves out of paper. Use string or yarn to hang the leaves on the tree, again with words or pictures representing what your child is thankful for. Allow older children to come up with what they are thankful for each day, and prompt your smaller ones with what you know they would like.

Christa and her family's Thanksgiving Tree

• Use brown construction or scrapbook paper and cut an outline of branches on a piece of paper. Either use large punches or cut out circles or leaves, and decorate them with what the child is thankful for. You can hang this up on their door or in their room, giving them a great visual helping them to remember to be thankful.

Christine and her son Adam's Thanksgiving Tree 

• Fisher Price has great printable cards that your child can color and give to friends and family for all sorts of occasions. You can look through them at http://www.fisher-price.com/en_US/GamesAndActivities/ColoringPages/index.html

We hope you all get some neat ideas to share with your family this season! One thing that really stuck out in my mind from this morning is being thankful for not only what we have, but also for who God is. Even if we lost everything, we would still be loved by a good, merciful, and constant God. And that is an amazing blessing!

 We also have some important dates coming up. 

• Friday, November 30 at 9:30 we will be having a MOPS-wide playdate at the ROC. We will be showing a Christmas movie and sharing snacks together!
• Friday, December 7th is our next MOPS meeting. We will be making scarves out of t-shirts, so bring a solid t-shirt you have laying around your house to the meeting. If you don't have one at home, you can always pick up a cheap one at Hobby Lobby by using a 40% off coupon! We'll also be having a Happy Birthday Jesus party at the end of our meeting for our children.

Please be sure to keep up with our new blog as we continue to share news with our MOPS family! Feel free to leave in the comments any Thanksgiving traditions you and your family already participate in or anything you were inspired to try as a result of today's meeting! I'm off to cut out leaves out of cardstock for our family's new Thankful Tree.

This is our new blog.  A home for us. We will have meeting recaps, bible studies, and tons of other things that would interest our group on here.  I hope you like it and find it useful.  MOPS is for Mom's of Preschoolers. We are in a season of 'living in the trenches'. As rewarding as this time is for us it's also difficult. I'm hoping this blog reaches to everyone of you. Even when you can't find the time or energy to meet up with us we are bringing the meeting up part to you, here!