"Up"cycling at MOPS!

It has been a very cold month here in the UP!  Despite the cold temperatures, North Shore MOPS has been warm and welcoming to all that come through our doors.  We hosted a play group at North Shore church on Tuesday, 2/25.  Winter did not stop the fun from happening!

On March 11, we had a meeting and "up" cycled t-shirts.  The moms had a great time turning old, worn out t-shirts into trendy & fun scarves.

Not only did we make scarves out of t-shirts, we also made headbands, bracelets and leg warmers with those long sleeves!  What a fun activity and this also gave us ample opportunity to talk.

In MOPPETS, we had to say goodbye to our wonderful volunteer, Leta Williamson.  Leta and her husband are moving to California at the end of this month.  Leta has been a joyful, always smiling, volunteer in our MOPPET nursery.  She is going to be missed a great deal!  Our little babies and our nursery volunteers will miss her smile and her attitude.  We wish her the best of luck in her new adventure!

We are looking forward to another meeting in March when we will hear about setting a vision for our families.

Here is to looking at spring temperatures to match up with spring on the calendar!

What's Next for MOPS?

Four years ago, God called me to start the North Shore MOPS group at North Shore Church. Four months from now, my youngest will graduate Kindergarten, and I will no longer be a "MOPS Mom".  Considering this status change and after much prayer and reflection, I will not be coordinating North Shore MOPS come fall of 2014.  With change comes some uncertainty on What's Next for MOPS?  However, I believe that it is in God's plan to continue this ministry at North Shore and He will provide the insight, resources, and leadership necessary to do so.  As I near the conclusion of this phase of my life, I wanted to share with you my testimony regarding MOPS, its impact on my life, and its potential as an ongoing ministry.

What is MOPS?

For those of you not familiar, MOPS stands for Mothers Of Pre Schoolers, and by preschoolers it means kids from birth through kindergarten. MOPS connects moms in their own neighborhood, who meet together to laugh, cry and embrace the journey of motherhood. MOPS rallies women to be more honest, to feel more equipped and to find our identity by journeying along side one another. MOPS are moms, and we believe that better moms make a better world.

My MOPS Journey

I moved to Menominee 9 years ago. I moved here with a six month old baby. I knew no one. I had no idea what I was doing as a new mom. I was alone and isolated in a new town with a new baby. A friend invited me to a MOPS meeting at Faith Baptist Church in Peshtigo.

I went to that first MOPS meeting. Since that meeting, I have not looked back or ever considered NOT going to MOPS.  I even went to MOPS meetings while vacationing in Florida. It was wonderful! Here was a place that had other moms! I got to meet other moms in the same or similar stage of life as me. Other new moms who, like me, hadn't quite figured this mothering thing out, yet. I loved that I could get a break from my baby and talk to other moms. And oh, how I learned! MOPS had speakers that applied to me as a mom, woman, wife, and friend. I am who I am today because of what I learned from those MOPS speakers, moms, and leaders. I got involved in the leadership of that MOPS group. I learned new skills and honed others that I already possessed in order to continue offering MOPS to other moms. That nurturing and development led me to that place four years ago when three fellow MOPS veterans and I started North Shore MOPS to bring the amazing and wonderful world of mothering together, MOPS, to Menominee.

NSC MOPS Leadership Team, 2010

North Shore MOPS 1st Meeting, September 2010

Why MOPS?

MOPS takes effort, a great deal of effort.  It takes leaders to plan the meetings, and lead the table discussions, it takes volunteers to watch the kids, it takes others to decorate and make the food we all enjoy.  So why do we happily go through all the effort?

MOPS Provides A Bridge To The Church

We all know family, friends and co-workers who, we pray, might begin their journey of faith.  Many of us have tried to get such acquaintances to come with us to church, but they won't.  It is often difficult to convince someone to take a leap of faith and give it a try.  It's also a challenge to keep inviting them after initial rejections.  It's not uncommon for those without a church home or church background to be nervous and reluctant to step inside the church on a Sunday morning.  MOPS provides another setting and another, perhaps more comfortable, way to come through our doors.  It places them immediately in a relationship building setting, allowing for a foundation of trust to be built and fears to subside.

MOPS also reaches those we don't even know.  Even if we were 100% successful at persuading others we know to take their first step of faith, we don't know everyone.  MOPS can break through such barriers by providing invites in the halls of the YMCA, in the packets of new resident mailings, through a national website query, or in the folders of pre-school children.  MOPS has ways to reach others the church can't.

MOPS Addresses the Priorities Set By Leadership

Pastor Travis recently shared with our congregation North Shore Church's mission to do the following: Connect, Grow, Serve, and Go. MOPS is a ministry that eagerly addresses all such segments.

Connect: MOPS connects women. Moms in the early stages of mothering, when our children are under the age of 5, are in a very unique situation. Many times, it is our first child. You have a new baby and really no clue what you are doing. You are with this child all the time yet, you are lonely. MOPS meets this need for moms to connect with each other. Moms need to see that they are not alone. Other moms are doing this and feeling this, too. 

Grow: MOPS is for ANY mother of before school children, no matter where they are in their faith, career, or point in life.  I have never met a mom who didn't care what kind of mother she was. MOPS connects moms and shares how to become better moms together. MOPS helps to grow moms through various presenters and guests, through table discussions and prayer.  We also grow moms as they step out into leadership in MOPS. North Shore MOPS is a local group led from within. Leaders can receive training from MOPS international. Leaders grow through planning meetings and sharing our own experiences with the moms in our group. Our leaders have done things they never thought they would ever do before: speak to the entire group, be on a couples panel with their husband, share some of their own failures so that other moms can learn from them. MOPS grows moms and we grow future leaders. 

North Shore MOPS Leadership Retreat, Summer 2013

Serve: MOPS is a great launching place for serving one another. We serve each other at every meeting! The tables each rotate taking their turn at providing the food for the meeting. Our MOPPET teachers provide a valuable care-giving service to the moms each and every week. MOPS moms serve our MOPPET teachers by providing thank you gifts and an end of the year appreciation lunch. We serve one another by making meals for moms who have had a new baby or just had surgery. We bring in outgrown clothes, toys or baby items from our kids to offer to others who may have kids getting into those stages.

Go: Through various relationships, we also have the opportunity to serve the world community. One of our tables is supporting a child through Compassion International together. After coming to MOPS, a mom can't help but go out into her world better. Better moms make a better world. When a MOPS mom has learned something from a MOPS meeting about being a better mom, she goes out and puts that into practice in her life & home. Perhaps her husband or children sees or notices that change & then they change. As her children grow up, they remember how their mom was at mothering. The ripple effect continues on and on into future generations. Better moms make a better world.

NSC MOPS Red Table, October 2013

I look ahead to what is next for me in my mothering. I am a little scared and unsure. I trust that God will guide me. I know that He has something for me to do in this next stage of life. I also know that I will be surrounded by the friends that I have made over the years. Would you be surprised to know that most of them are friends that I have made through MOPS?

I hope that this inspires you to pray for North Shore MOPS.  I hope that if you are a mom who is feeling alone even when you have a child with you 24/7 that you will come and check out North Shore MOPS.  We have a seat for you.  I hope that if you are a MOPS mom and feel that you may want to step out and try leadership that you would contact me or one of the other leaders.  We will equip you.  You may be what's next for MOPS.

God Can Use ME?

This morning, we had the amazing opportunity to hear from Lesley Swanson of Healing Hearts Ministry International.  She shared her personal story of bad choices and decisions and how that could possibly be used by God.  Have you made a horrible choice?  Are you wracked with guilt?  Do you wonder how YOU could be any good?  At ANYTHING?  What do you possibly have to offer?  After hearing Lesley's story, I hope that you know that God can use YOU!  He can use you AND your poor choice(s).  He loves to use people because we are imperfect.  God knows that He can show through the mess of our lives.  It is those messes that He uses to change & strengthen us.  We go through things that can be used to help and serve others and only WE can help & serve BECAUSE we went through it.

As a biblical counselor, Lesley takes God's Word and applies it to those she counsels.  In her reading in preparation for this talk, she describes four diagnosis typical in our society.  The information is from Dr. Higbee of Harvest Bible Church.

DIAGNOSIS - HOW - BIBLICAL TERM - ATTITUDE
Disruptive - Affects our behavior - Anger - Fighting God
Impulsive - Affects our behavior - Foolishness
Anxious - Affects our mood - Fear - Fleeing from God
Depressive - Affects our mood - Despair - Forgetting God

  

As we look into these four diagnosis most often used, we see that God's Word addresses each.  All in all, it is a heart issue.  We need to check our hearts when feeling or acting in these categories.

Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Know that whatever you are going through, God is with you.  He has a plan for you.  He can use even your bad choice for His glory.  Continue to seek what He may want to do with you.  Let His Word comfort you.  Trust that you are not alone.  When you are in doubt, read this to yourself, filling in the blanks with YOUR name.  YOU matter to God!  These are His words to YOU!

Ephesians 1:2-2:10

To the saints who are in ________, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace to you, ________, and peace from God, your Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of your Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed you, ________, in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose you, ________, in Him before the foundation of the world, that you, ________,should be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined you, ________, for adoption as daughters through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given you, ________, in the One he loves.  In him you, ________, have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of your sins, ________, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on you, ________. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to you, ________, the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

In him you, ________, were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that you, ________, who were the first to put your hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you, ________, also were included in Christ when you, ________, heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, ________. When you believed, you, ________, were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance, ________, until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith, ________, in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, ________, remembering you in my prayers.  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you, ________, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better, ________.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, ________, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for you, ________, who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

As for you, ________, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you, ________, followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for you, ________, God, who is rich in mercy, made you, ________, alive with Christ even when you, ________, were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you, ________, have been saved. And God raised you up with Christ and seated you, ________, with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to you, ________, in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you, ________, have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourself, ________, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  For you, ________, are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you, ________, to do.

Advent

Today is the 2nd day of Advent.  What?  What in the world is Advent?  We talked about Advent at MOPS, last week.  Advent is the season of waiting with hope.  The preparing and waiting for the Christ child to be born.  Advent is often lost in the hustle and bustle of this season, as are many of the real purposes and meanings of Christmas.  Advent is a season to prepare our hearts for Christ and enjoy the time of waiting.  Waiting doesn't ever sound like much fun, though, does it?  Our society stresses busy, hurry, fast, go, go, go.  Waiting is boring.  But waiting can bring joy.  Waiting can bring peace.  Waiting with hope is worth the effort.  At MOPS, we planted paper white lilies to focus ourselves and also to have a way of teaching our children about the season of Advent.  The bulbs planted represent our hearts and our lives before Christ comes.  We place the bulbs in the dark and then wait.  The darkness is our lives before we welcome Christ.  It is cold & dark.  In 4 weeks time, the bulbs grow into beautiful, white flowers - just in time for Christmas.  This represents our hearts and lives with Christ in them!  We are now beautiful and white - the darkness is gone.  The wait is over.  We blossom with life.  In this way, we remember how Advent begins as a dry flaky bulb and ends as a blooming flower.  Thank you, God, for Christ at Christmas, may he bloom in our hearts.  "Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.  The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains."  James 5:7

Mother's Advent Prayer

Dear God,

Help me to plan this beautiful Advent season with Your will for my family in my heart.  Deliver me from my desires to be the perfect mother, the craftiest mother, the most organized mother.  Deliver me from the desire to impress others with my clean house, cooking skills, perfect photos, and dazzling presents.  Keep me humble, and help me to lead my family towards You, even when it isn't the most popular way.  Even when others don't approve of my methods.  Even when I get funny looks or ridicule from people.  Stay with me through this season.  Help me to be patient and loving to my family, especially when tight schedules and busy hands create stress.  Help my family stay focused on You.  Even though Christmas is a lot of work for mothers, keep me prayerful, and remind me to offer up my struggles and sufferings.  help me to make good decisions, and to walk the narrow path.  Amen

Being Thankful

Being Thankful

At the beginning of November, we see all kinds of people sharing how they are thankful or what they are thankful for.  I saw one Facebook post which stated - "November, the month that people who usually complain and whine on Facebook share how they are thankful."  That is meant to be a joke, but isn't there truth to it?  Yes, the month of November reminds us to be thankful and it is the month of Thanksgiving, but what if we actually WERE thankful?  What if we were thankful for the little things?  What if we were thankful for EVERYTHING?  

"For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving." 1 Timothy 4:4

As moms, our children look to us to show them how to see the world around us.  It is up to us to guide their attitude to the situation and circumstances around them.  When we are grateful for the little things, our attitude changes.  A miracle occurs.  It is God preforming this miracle, but our openness with a grateful heart that make is possible for Him.  Being a mom is messy.  We struggle and deal with messes all day, all the time.  How can our mess be beautiful?  It all depends on how we look at it.  How can baby food smeared all over the high chair, floor and walls be beautiful?  How can my tired, screaming baby in the middle of the grocery store be beautiful?  How can my life be beautiful when my child wakes me up at 5:30AM?  Consider being thankful for the food that is smeared all over the kitchen.  Being thankful for the voice and breath of that baby.  Being thankful for the warmth of your child's skin under the blankets in your bed (yes, at 5:30AM!).  

A few weeks ago, my daughter came home from school and was a nightmare!  She was crying and whining about EVERYTHING and was quite vocal about her discontent.  I could feel my anger rising.  I was very frustrated with her.  In that moment, I decided to try something new.  I decided to seek out what in the world I could be thankful for in that moment.  What could I POSSIBLY be thankful for in that moment?!  I sat down and voiced out loud to her what I was thankful for.  "I am thankful that my daughter has a voice and that she can speak.  I am thankful for the fact that my daughter feels comfortable enough in this home that she can let out her frustration."  She suddenly stopped crying and got quiet.  My anger ebbed and we gave one another a much needed hug.  The miracle occurs when you change your perspective and focus on what there is that IS beautiful in a messy situation.   As a mom, there are so many little things to be thankful for.  Little toes, that first smile that fills a baby's whole face, freshly washed baby hair & the sweet smell of that, warm snuggles under soft fleece blankets, the pride of a child learning to do something for the first time, the list goes on and on for us.  Consider opening yourself up to these miracles that God desires to give you.  Your life will still be messy, you are a mom!  But there is always some beauty to every mess.  

I have challenged our MOPS group to consider adding to their MOPS journals 5 'little things' that they are thankful for, today, right now, in the everyday mess that is their mommy lives.  Consider taking up this challenge.  A miracle awaits.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."  Philippians 4:8

October - Raising Compassionate Kids

Raising Compassionate Kids

What is compassion?  Have you ever asked yourself that question?  Have you ever asked your kids what THEY think compassion is?  Here is what the dictionary says: Com.pas.sion (n) - Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.  Our speaker, today, shared her son's definition of compassion:  "Compassion is feeling sorry for someone and wanting to help them." 

 Compassion is written about LOTS in the bible: 

 Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you."

1 Peter 3:8-9 "Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay eveil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."

Philippians 2:1-5 "Do nothing our of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Many more passages call for us to be compassionate to others.  

Why teach compassion to our children?  We are called to do so.  

Proverbs 22:6 "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

The second greatest commandment is to love others.  As moms, it is up to us to teach our children. 

 "God's character is embodied in the definition of compassion.  As our Creator, He desires us to be as compassionate as Him and show human kindness to others.  To be compassionate, we must have love in us that compels us to do good deeds.  if we do good deeds for someone, but we do not have love for that person, we are not compassionate."  (see 1 Corinthians 13:3) Access-Jesus.com

There is a huge need for compassion in our world, today.  Our children will be the ones to carry on in the name of Jesus after us and take care for those who are less fortunate.

How do we teach compassion when we don't feel very compassionate?  Demonstrate compassionate responses - towards your children and towards others.  Lead by example.  Show them what it means to have compassion for others and how to act on that compassion.  Pray for God to fill you with His Spirit of love and care for others around you.  

We heard from Laura Helwig, child advocate for Compassion International.  She shared these thoughts with us.  She also shared the need to sponsor children through Compassion International.  North Shore MOPS red table has stepped up and followed God's leading to sponsor a child.  They will be doing this together as a group each month!  We are very excited to hear about their child and how they are doing this together as a team.  

In closing her talk about raising compassionate children, Laura shared what her daughter (8) said compassion meant to her: "Compassion is loving others like Jesus loves you."  May we raise our children to know what it is to have Jesus love them and also to love others that same way!

North Shore MOPS Begins!

Delivery

by Alexandra Kuykendall

     "The hospital is where the constancy of motherhood begins: there is no difference between night and day.  The baby needs to be fed every two hours.  The nurses flick on the lights in the middle of the night, making their nurse announcements about needing to check a vital sign or, worse, my stitches.

     That first night the nurses took Gabi to the nursery. "You sleep now, while you can, and let her be with us for a few hours.  We'll bring her in when she's hungry," they promised.  The idea that Mom needs to take care of herself to take care of the baby had started during pregnancy.  Eat the right things.  Don't eat the forbiddens.  Get sleep.  Avoid stress.  Drink water.  Continue to exercise.  Take care of yourself so you can take care of the baby.  Now the baby was out, no longer part of my body, and the nurse was telling me the same thing.  Take care of yourself so you can take care of the baby.

     And so I slept.  After what seemed like only five minutes, the light came on.  Really? It can't be time.  But I heard the cry.  The newborn cry that sounded so frantic, so awful to my ears, and made me sit straight up.  I now knew she was my baby.  My eyes started to tear, and I wanted to protect her, to stop that awful, painful scream.  There was relief in my response too.  I felt like the mom.  That bond must have been in there somewhere, because I couldn't wait to hold her.  I thanked God that something in my heart had clicked, had been opened, to know I'd been created for this.

     I looked over at Derek, who was still adjusting to the blinding light in the room.  Didn't he hear his baby's cry?  How scared she sounded?  He didn't seem to get it.  he wasn't jolted up like I was.

     "She's hungry," the nurse announced, and we started the new foreign process of trying to nurse.  This thing that was supposed to be so natural but in reality was so awkward.  By that point I'd lost all sense of modesty.  The gown came off, the pillows were arranged, and I tried to get that sweet but squawking baby to latch on.  I was sweating, I needed her to stop crying.  I wanted to do this right.  I wanted to give her what she needed.

     I'd uncovered a new kind of love.  A love that surpassed anything I'd ever felt before.  It consumed me from my bed head to my delivery-pedicured toes.  I was the mom.  I didn't come to that realization in the way I'd expected, but the result was the same: a mother was born."

All of the women who attend MOPS & MomsNext have at least one thing in common:  we are all moms.  We need to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of the children entrusted to us.  This is where MOPS & MomsNext comes in - we are here to take care of moms.  We give mom a chance to take a break, catch her breath, and have other moms to talk to.  As moms, we all need this!  Our MOPS year has begun.  Our first meeting was held on 9/10 and we had a great time.  We played a get-to-know-one-another game of "Have You Ever?" which turned out to be quite humorous and fun.  

The theme for this years MOPS year is "A Beautiful Mess: Embrace Your Story".  Being a mom is messy, yet, there is beauty in that call to be a mom.  We chose our table centerpieces for the year to be messy, yet, beautiful, just like mothering.

Part of the theme is "Embracing Your Story" so we are going to have journals throughout the year & will be using them at each meeting.  But, you can't just have boring old journals lying around, so we decorated ours!

As we begin the MOPS & MomsNext year, we reflect on the theme verse for the year: Ephesians 2:10

"For we are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago."  

God created each of us to be mom to our child.  May we see that His work is good.  May we see that we are masterpieces, even though it is messy.