December MOPS Meeting

Today we had LOTS of yummy food for our tummies and a wonderful Christmas message for our hearts. We opened the morning reading a telling of Mary and Joseph's experience being chosen as Christ's earthly parents. The powerful message of our video was the unfathomable reality that God came to dwell among us. We were reminded this morning that while all the religions of the world exhibit ways for man to try to get to God, Christianity is magnified in its radical reversal of this. Christianity is the ONLY  faith we don't see man trying to get to God--but God came to man. Christ loved us so much that while being fully God, He humbly came as a helpless baby born in a barn among animals. Not only did Jesus love us so much to come to earth in this humble way, but He loved us so much that He was willing to suffer and give His life for each of us. What an amazing, loving God we serve!!

For our Creative Activity this month, we made ornaments that we will give out at the Lutheran Home next week when we take our little ones Christmas caroling there.

All of the ornaments turned out super cute!

We also had lots of fun with our "Mom Themed" White Elephant exchange. We had all sorts of funny items that were a symbol of the season us moms are in. From plungers to "inimates" to chocolate--we all had a good time opening our gifts and hearing who brought the item and why. Very fun!

We missed our moms who weren't able to make it and hope to see everyone next Tuesday morning at the Lutheran Home!

We also want to thank our MOPPETS workers! Thank you, thank you, thank you for serving each month. It is a HUGE blessing to each of our moms. We are so grateful for you!!

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

December Newsletter

View our December MOPS Newsletter: http://goo.gl/tqlKK

November MOPS Meeting

Being that November is Adoption Awareness Month, our November MOPS speaker and topic was very timely: Life Preserver--What It Means To Be a "Mom" in a Non-Traditional Way.  We had the privilege of hearing from the president of Hope Children's Home, Dr. Dawn Caruso and her husband Dr. Paul Caruso.

Paul and Dawn shared with us their goal to decrease the emotional and psychological trauma on children who are moved from their home into foster care. As mothers, the thought of children sitting in a hospital or at a police station waiting for a case worker to find a place for them to go is heart wrenching. Yet according to our speakers, we have a large number of foster children in our very own community. Dawn shared that currently there are probably about 150 foster children locally and only about 21 foster families. She shared her concern over the lack of impact the local church is having in stepping in to help these children in need. She reminded us that as followers of Jesus Christ we are commanded to look after orphans...and from the sounds of it there are many in our very own back yard. Whether we are called to adopt or foster or provide financial support, we are called to look after orphans in some capacity.

The Hope Children's Home is "a transitional home where children can be brought in an emergency and receive nurturing care, a meal, clothing, a warm bed and a full medical screening while arrangements for an appropriate foster home can be made." There are many ways you can support the Hope Children's Home. Some of those ways include donating items, donating financially, hosting a fundraiser, or by becoming a foster parent. If you would like more information on ways you can support this wonderful organization, please visit their website: http://www.hopechildrenshomejackson.com/

After listening to today's speaker, are hearts were definitely burdened for these precious foster children. It was also a great reminder of how much we have to be thankful for! Our Creative Activity was making "Blessing Boards." We made dry erase frames to express our gratitude for the blessings in our lives.

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for! I hope all of you are as thankful as I am for this MOPS ministry. May Christ continue to be glorified thru this ministry and the wonderful friendships He is blessing us with thru it!!

Perryville Pumpkin Farm

We tried a new place for our mid-month:  the Perryville Pumpkin Farm.
The weather wasn't the sunniest, but the company was!

Our little pumpkins had a great time picking out pumpkins!

'Tis the season for lots o' pumpkins!!!

See you all in November!

October MOPS Meeting

Our October speaker was Angela Francis with the topic of Bermuda Triangle--Organizing Your Life. Angela shared with us many tips on how to get more organized. Her main focus today was on meal preparation, cleaning, and home organization. There were several great tips to take home today!

Here are a few of her helpful hints:
Meal Preparation: prepare a menu; keep basic ingredients stocked; keep items on hand for quick meals to prepare in a pinch; wash and chop fresh veggies as soon as you bring them home
Cleaning: clean as you go (ie while you are cooking, as you get ready in the morning); clean one room in your house a day; put things away as you use them (not later!); get your kids involved
Home Organization: declutter and don't be a pack rat; file, file, file papers!; deal with mail immediately; use storage containers; go through clothes 2 times/year and get rid of anything you did not wear during that season

Thank you so much Angela for the helpful tips and reminders! Hopefully we are all motivated to get more organized!

The service project for this month was our Cancer Care Packages. As a discussion group, we each contributed to putting together a gift bag for a woman fighting breast cancer.

We assembled the packages at our meeting and they are ready for delivery! Thank you to each of the ladies in our group who will be personally delivering these to a woman they know fighting cancer. We will be praying these gifts are a source of encouragement to these ladies and pray for God's healing touch in their lives!!

One more thing! We each received information regarding Operation Christmas Child. Over the next month take your kiddos on an adventure to the dollar store. Have your kids help you pick out items to fill a shoebox and bring it with you to our November meeting.

Praising God for another blessed MOPS meeting!!!!

October meeting is approaching!!! This Thursday October 11th @ 9:30!! Come for fun, fellowship and to hear a GREAT speaker teach us "The art of organization!"

Reminders: Fiji group is responsible for this month. Also... Don't forget your items for the "Cancer Patient Bags!"

Pioneer Orchard

God gave us a GORGEOUS fall morning for our MOPS mid-month at Pioneer Orchard!

Our fun started with the goats, of course.

Time for the wagon ride.

Then it was time to work out some energy!

The kids were happy playing. The moms were happy chatting. :)

It was a fun, beautiful morning! Be sure to mark your calendars now for our next MOPS mid-month on Saturday, October 13th. Bring the whole family for a day of fun at Perryville Pumpkin Patch!

September MOPS Meeting

"Dive into Friendships" was our September meeting topic and boy did we dive right in! We had a blessed time talking, eating, and dancing (and free bras! LOL)! We started this year off with a bang and I am so excited to see what the rest of the year will bring!!! We have been blessed with many new faces this year!

Tahiti Ladies

Hawaii Ladies

Fiji Ladies

Bali Ladies

Thank you to all the moms for subjecting themselves to our fun little competition. We may have looked silly--but we sure had fun!! And our winner was BALI!!!

Everyone was blessed with a door prize!

We are so grateful to the Lord for blessing this ministry. We continue to pray that He uses this ministry to glorify Himself and bless these moms of preschoolers! We also want to thank our MOPPETS Workers (and our MOPPETS Coordinator, Heather Ordonia) for all the hard work they do for us. Thank you too, to our Steering Team and Mentor Moms for the work they've put into preparing for this year's MOPS. Thank you Kristen Bengston (our Coordinator) for the perseverance and hard work you have put into keeping this ministry going. As Kristen reminded us this morning, this is HIS ministry and we are thankful to all who continue to serve so faithfully to keep it going! You are a blessing to us moms!!!! See you all in October!

DIVE into new friendships!!

Ladies... Let's DIVE into new friendships!!! MOPS of CBC will be meeting September 13th 9:30am!!! Mark your calendars and invite your momma friends!!

Time to Kick Off the New MOPS Year!!!!

Ladies...let's PARTY! This is a GREAT way to get to know each other and other MOPS moms in the area. So come to Cape Splash and have fun with other MOPS mom friends on Monday, August 13th!! This is an all day event 11am to 7pm!! Target time is between 11am to 2pm.  RSVP is a must by August 5th.  Cape Splash is offering a 20% off discount if we have 15 moms.  There will be a drawing for 1 free mom and 1 child to those who RSVP by the 5th. 

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!