February MOPS Meeting

Happy Valentine's Day MOPS Mamas!! We had a VERY blessed meeting this morning!
For those of you who missed, you will want to make sure to listen online!! (To download today's speakers visit http://www.capebiblechapel.org/media.php?pageID=5)
We were blessed to have Mike and Sue Edmunds speak with us this morning.

There was SO much I got out of listening to these two, so it's hard for me to even begin summarizing!! Drawing off of Hebrews 12:15, which says, "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and by it many be defiled." Offering the question of whether they should speak to us about romance or reality on this Valentine's Day, they offered the reality of much needed grace in our marriages. Giving us a visual explanation of the grace of God, you will see below us discovering it's meaning: "The divine influence upon the heart and it's reflection in the life (and also it's reflection in my marriage; or reflection in my husband)."

Sue pointed out to us that bitterness should also be listed as a verb in the dictionary, because it most certainly can be an action. Bitterness has a root and roots are a source stemming from a deep hurt or unmet expectation that has developed a root in your heart. She went on to illustrate the 4 C's of Bitterness: choice, control, contagious, and consequence. To shortly summarize these, when we have bitterness we can or cannot let it determine our choices, we can let bitterness control us and our thoughts, it can go on to be contagious and effect all our relationships, and lastly, it can cause severe consequences in our lives. She contrasted the sourness of being bitter to the sweetness of kindness. Those 4 C's look different when kindness replaces bitterness. Kindness can lead to the extreme opposite choices, have us control our actions and attitudes, be contagious in a positive way, and result in wonderful consequences of unity and closeness!!

Mike closed with thoughts on 1 Thessalonians 2:7: "But we proved to be gentle among you as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own child." He used the example of the selflessness and unending care a mother has for her newborn child as an example of what the extreme opposite of what a bitter heart looks like. Applying this love and genleness in our marriages, wives can demonstrate the grace of God in their marriages evoking a different (positive) response from their husbands.

To sum it up, Mike and Sue encouraged us to plant the grace of God in our marriages instead of the root of bitterness. Grace is a barrier that can block roots of anger, hostility, resentment, sulking, malice, strife, unforgiveness, fear, envy, insecurity, retaliation, and jealously from taking hold deep in our hearts. What a powerful teaching, indeed!!!

We spent time discussing this talk and cutting out some cute Valentines reminding us of Christ's love. Lacy encouraged us to drop these love notes off to others throughout the day, spreading the truth of God's love for us.

 Morgan is my go-to poser. =)

Thank you to everyone who brought food and who worked so hard to make this meeting (and all of them!) happen. I am blessed every month and I know you are too!! God continues to be at work in this wonderful group of women!!!!!

PS Don't forget our mid-month at Discovery Playhouse Tuesday (target time is 10am to 12pm)! Don't forget your flyer!!

January MOPS Meeting

What a fun morning of Bunco! I think the initial mass confusion added to the fun. We also found out a little about each other, didn't we? Some of us are rule followers and some are rule breakers! And some like me, have trouble with numbers. :)

Our proud winners!!!

And our proud losers...

For our Creative Activity we made story cubes. 

A new fun activity for us and our kiddos to get our imaginations going!

I really should have taken a picture of another lady's....I'm not the best with crafts!

Regardless, they will still be fun to use!!!

Thank you Kristen for sharing the devotional with us this morning.

May we all prayerfully choose a person to pray for each day this upcoming year!

As always, we missed the ladies who weren't able to make it. 

We look forward to seeing everyone in February!

The Lutheran Home

Our December mid-month was caroling at the Lutheran Home. We had a great turnout and we were blessed just as much, if not more, than the residents. The kids had a great time too! After our singing we enjoyed some cookies and hot chocolate back at the Chapel. The kids got in some good play time too!!

We have some ladies in our group who visit the nursing home weekly. If you are interested in doing the same with your little ones, these ladies would be happy to tell you all about it.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

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!!