Holy Cross MOPS

Our meeting started with a breakfast of french toast, fruit & sausage.  Thank you to everyone who brought donations for the Family Life Center.  We will be collecting them at our last meeting as well.  We are hoping to provide them with a nice supply of Diapers, Wipes, Baby Wash & Shampoo.

Wendy’s talk for this meeting was about seeing our purpose as moms go full circle.  We get caught up in everyday tasks and it is easy to lose sight of why we do what we do.  Sometimes it seems that our tasks go unnoticed and our love is invisible.  Do you remember that the first time your child crawled, he crawled to you?  Notice those types of paydays!  The time and energy you spend now is taking root.  We are our children’s first glimpse of God.  Don’t think that the difference you are making in your child’s life is anything less than extraordinary!  When you think about your abilities, think about what traits you are rockin’ and what needs a little perk and then work on it.  Smile more, be less quick to anger and love your kids where they are at.

We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done…So the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.  Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.  Psalm 78:4, 6-7

Kelley brought us another great creative activity for our meeting.  We decorated clay pots with twine and chalk labels and planted herbs in them.  We also planted a flower in a smaller pot that we decorated to ‘craft it forward’ and brighten someone’s day.  Thoughtfulness and creativity go hand in hand…Thank you, Kelley for using your gifts and helping us see that just a little something can bring great joy to those around us.

Don’t forget to bring your donations for the Family Life Center…We look forward to seeing you at our last meeting on May 17th…you won’t want to miss it!

The steering team provided us with yummy breakfast casseroles, fruit and croissants with a variety of spreads.  Wendy gave us a great talk about leading our children to become independent.  As moms we control all aspects of our children’s lives, but at some point we have to let go of their hand.  Do you find yourself stepping in between them and the lesson they are learning?  Help your kids learn to speak up for themselves and show them that you have confidence in them.  Your kids won’t learn if you do everything for them.  Give them age appropriate chores early and often.  Teach them the correct way to do something early so you don’t have to re-do the job.  Break it down and supervise them and they will learn to become independent in each task that they do.  When your children come to you with a problem, ask them what they think the solution should be.  Provide them with opportunities that stretch them…give them rubberband love: tight enough to make them feel loved, but big enough to stretch them.  Wendy did a lovely rendition of the 38 Special song ‘Hold on Loosely’ which is a great metaphor for how we should hold on to our precious children.  Put the time in when they are young, work yourself out of a job and they will become self sufficient and independent as they leave your ‘nest’.

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

Elizabeth Ward from Pine Rest came and gave us some information on a topic we can all use help with…STRESS!  She shared the physiological processes of how stress affects our physical health.  The 4 sources of stress are Environment, Social, Psyiological and Thoughts.  Long term stress can cause depression and anxiety.  To avoid that, she gave us some helpful resources for managing stress and even walked us through some deep breathing and guided imagery.  If you did not receive the handout at the meeting, contact holycrossmopspublicity{at}yahoo.com for a copy.

Breakfast was a sweet surprise for our meeting.  Christa & her team treated us to waffles and ice cream with various fruit toppings…what a treat!

Wendy covered the topic of Faith from the Five Star Families series.  Faith matters in a family.  It strengthens and puts broken relationships together and gives hope.  Kids moral standards are established by the time they are nine, so now is the time to share your faith-it needs to come from you on a daily basis.  Wendy shared her faith story and said that somewhere in the darkness of struggle, God turned the lights on.  What do you do while you are in that struggle, but don’t see the light?  You can rely that much more on this faith that we can’t see.  We won’t have all the answers until that wonderful day when we see the Lord.  Take time to reflect on your faith story and take the time to share it with your kids!  ”What matters to you matters to God, because you matter to Him.”

Megan Behler was our guest speaker.  As women, we are The King’s Princesses.  The Bible says that the King is enthralled with your beauty.  Since this is truth from the word of God, where does the self doubt come from?  It comes from the media and comments from other people.  We question if we are good enough.  When we do, we need to remember that God chose how we look…he knitted us together in our mother’s womb.  We need to honor him for that and try to find the blessings in it and give your insecurities to him.  The media targets our children younger and younger all the time.  Here are some tips Megan shared to help us as we navigate the experience of trying to keep things modest and tasteful for our children.

-Be aware of the choices you are making.  You can be hip & fun, but age appropriate.  The clothes need to fit.

-Set limits and let your children know your values and why you are setting those limits.  Start young, so you can be consistent.

-Set an example and be their role model.  God calls our body a temple-honor God and keep it Holy…keep things modest and tasteful.

-Keep trends and cute clothes in moderation.  Don’t have too much-then they will expect more later.

-Let the kids be kids!

-Tell them they are always beautiful, but they are pretty/handsome when they are dressed nicely.

-Finally, remember you are trying to please God, not people!

We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on April 19th!

Our meeting started with a wonderful breakfast of filled and plain crepes and an assortment of fruit toppings and sausage.  The hospitality team never fails to impress us!

Wendy continued on the Five Star Families series on the topic of growth.  As moms, we need to focus on ourselves and the growth we need in order to thrive.  We encourage our kids with milestones, but when was the last time you celebrated your own milestone or growth?  As we look at our lives, it is sometimes hard to think of how far we’ve come.  You aren’t yet the woman God wants you to be, but you aren’t the woman you used to be…we are a work in progress.

Taking risks is a huge step in growing yourself.  Invest in yourself and figure out what excites you and what will get you through.  Find what energizes you…your family will thank you for it.  This is a healthy model for your kids as well.  Find their interests and then cheer them on!

We enjoyed a great time of discussion and followed that with a fabulous & easy craft.  Thank you, Kelley for helping us to use our creativity!  Be sure to take a look at your newsletter and make note of the upcoming events on the calendar.  We have extra copies available if you were unable to attend the meeting.  Have a wonderful week!

It was mid-winter break but we still had a good turnout!  Our hospitality team served up a wonderful breakfast of homemade granola, muffins & bananas.

Wendy’s talk continued in the Five Star Families series on the topic of LOYALTY.  Loyalty in a family is being there for each other-no matter what.  Kids learn loyalty at an early age…they rely on us because they have to.  Loyalty is a choice and sometimes it is easier than other times.  Loyalty is sticking up for your sister, or being there for someone in a time of need.  There are 3 levels of family loyalty.  The first is the Family Team…being part of a family requires team spirit and difficult times can bring you together as a family unit.  The second is with siblings.  Be aware of the innate rivalry that exists between your children-don’t play favorites!  Recognize the power of your words-kids will ‘parrot’ what you say whether it is sarcasm or positive compliments.  Let your children work out their differences.  Siblings need to spend time together-make sure to allow time for them to play with each other without other friends.  Teach them to say I’m Sorry.  They need to acknowledge what they did wrong and take responsibility for their actions.  The positive flipside to learning to say I’m sorry is that they will also experience forgiveness as well.  Thirdly, we also can see loyalty in our extended families.  The grandparent/aunt/uncle roles are so important for your kids.  That generation has a lot to offer, especially things that we aren’t wired to be able to give them.  What your past is propels you to your future.

We learn family loyalty, but more importantly, we learn we can choose it!  The Message words the following verse perfectly to illustrate what loyalty is…Proverbs 17:17  Families stick together in all kinds of trouble.

Thank you, Wendy, for giving us such great things to think about!  Our discussion questions were great and we enjoyed some extra discussion time during this meeting.  The remainder of the meeting was FUN!  We played the purse game and found that yes-as moms, we certainly have some interesting things in our purses (including french fries)!  We also had the opportunity to get to know some fun facts about each other while playing People Bingo.  We missed those of you who weren’t able to be there and look forward to seeing you this Thursday, March 1st.

Craft reminder: For our next meeting we will be making tile coasters.  We will have options for you to make very fun coasters, however if you prefer to have a more personalized coaster remember to bring your printed picture along with you to the next meeting.  Your picture should fit onto a 4X4 tile and be printed on an laser printer.  Ink jet printed pictures will smear when the mod-podge is applied.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact Kelley Bussa.