First Meeting

Welcome!! We are gearing up for our second meeting so it seems only right to post about our first meeting right?

We had a wonderful meeting and a great kickoff for the new year! A lot of new faces (WELCOME) and a few older (not in ages) face (Welcome BACK!). We are SO excited to share and be with you all this year. 

We had a YUMMY meal provided by Jane (THANK YOU!!!), got to meet some new faces while discussing questions on What Type of Decision Maker are You?, and learning more about our new team leaders this year! 

Dyan Nelson also discuss what project we'll be starting off with this year. Shoe Box Christmas Operation. IF you have any shoe boxes we'll take! Also start shopping for supplies to fill the boxes up with! Thank you!

Here the Devotional our Coordinator Lauren Kruszewski shared:

MomSense – Bold – Loving – Sensible (MOPS 2011-2012 Theme)

What does all this mean? Mom Intuition + Common Sense = MomSense

Being a mom is very much like playing board games! Playing games involves being bold and taking risk, loving those in the game with us and being sensible while figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Growing up I’ve watched my parents have their friends from their childhood over almost every weekend to play board games. They would team up Guys VS Girls and play till 5am. I sometimes got in on the game but really didn’t have a clue to what I was doing since I was just a little girl but they let me join in anyways. For a long time I was the ONLY little girl there in fact I was the only kid around. As time went on their friends had kids and then we all would get in on the games, sometimes host our own games. Then one day I grew up and got married myself! Little did I know those board games they played would soon be part of my life too.

See I hated playing games, especially card games because I was never dealt the hand I wanted - little did I know life would soon be like that. I hated Candyland because of the ups and down and starting over – again little did I know that motherhood would be that way. I hated playing Monopoly because I always ran out of money – little did I know I would soon be unemployed and my husband too. I hated playing physical games too. Like Dodgeball – I mean really who’s idea of fun is getting hit in the face – again little did I know that growing up would be like that too! I hated Red Rover – I could never hear my name and then when I did run over I could never break the human chains – little did I know I wouldn’t always hear God speaking to me and helping me break my own human chains.

However I did love the game of Sorry! I loved pushing those other colors off the board and making them start over! I loved Battleship – I love being able to sink that other boat! Little did I know that these games would prepare me for motherhood, marriage, and friendship. Looking back I must had some anger issues to love those games ;)

But with all those games I’ve played I’ve learned you can’t play them alone. Being a mom you can’t do it alone. Being married you can’t be in it alone. Friendship, are a two way road. Your Faith, you can’t do it alone. Playing games involves being bold and taking risks, loving those in the game with us and being sensible while figuring out what works and what doesn’t. You shouldn’t have to play games alone and I was for many years till we moved out here.

I found friends to help me get though the battleship game, I found god to help me get though the game of Sorry!, my kids are still helping me with the game of Candyland, my husband Dave picks me up after each game of Dodgeball, and my family who is 2500 miles away still support me though the bad cards we get dealt with once in a while but it took me 2500 miles to appreciate it even more.  

Pastor Jim said this past Sunday “Church is not a place to run from our problems or to hide from our problems in life. Church is life. It’s where we are to come celebrate life, not hide.” Games are part of life instead of dwelling on if we win or lose, we should be celebrating the joy of having those around us to be part of our game and that’s my goal for this year!

We hope you enjoyed your morning with us and we'll see you again this Thursday 9/22/2012 at 9am at Blue Mountain Community Church! 

Few Reminders:

- Steering Team will be serving breakfast at next meeting!

- You have two more meetings to register and make payments If you need help please see one of the Steering Team!

- Bring in your shoe boxes for our project starting in November.

SEE YOU ALL ON THURSDAY!

The Perfect Mother

When I was younger I couldn't wait to be a Mom...It was just around the corner in my mind. I would always think of names for my future children and go over in my head whether I wanted a boy or girl first. As I aged and learned more about mother from my own mother and the older women around me, I accepted that motherhood had its challenges and that I shouldn't take it lightly. That it was an exciting, rewarding role in life, but also quite tough. But I still held on to the ideal of being the "perfect mom". I believed it could be done and for all those who fell short, in my mind they just weren't trying hard enough. And for the women that complained during pregnancy, I thought they weren't enjoying the blessing they had been given enough. I would be the perfect mother - quietly and serenely live through pregnancy, then without effort I would take on the role of mother without a blink of my eye. I knew I would always be in control, always know how to handle situations, always know the best thing to feed my child and only feed them the best. I was set...right?

After years of trying we got pregnant and I could not have been happier. I had finally been blessed. Time to start being the perfect mother. But I couldn't stop vomiting and I couldn't eat a thing. Well, darn it, I would just have to work past it to eat all the proper nutrients for my growing child. Oh but my goodness, I couldn't. And the doctors worried about my nutrient levels as I lost more and more weight over the first 3-4 months. Finally, I was able to eat again. And I said to myself that I was going to gain the proper amount of weight and eat all the right things. But those cravings. My goodness, I couldn't get enough Taco Bell or Slim Jim sticks. That milkshake was just too necessary for me to live. There was even a moment that I couldn't find a jar of pickles and I almost cried. To put that in perspective, I don't even much like pickles!!!

I survived pregnancy, not the best survival, but I made it. I was sad because I ended up gaining way more than I wanted to and I had ate so many wrong foods. But here I was about to have my child. I would make up for it all by being the best mother after their birth.

And there was my son - perfect, beautiful, angelic, and a miracle - and I was literally frightened of him. I was totally in love with this child, but utterly afraid of all that lay ahead of me being his mother.

In the past two years I can not even count the number of times I have made mistakes. I have zero idea how many times I didn't know what to do in so many various situations. I did not make it the full year or more with breastfeeding and I have allowed him to eat tons of "bad" foods. And I feel quite out of control with that parenting thing on a regular basis. That is Motherhood. That is what they never tell you about and even if they did you wouldn't believe them.

The point I am trying to make, and there is one, is that the idea of a "perfect mom" is an absolute fairy tale. Put it right up there with Cinderella and Rapunzel. There is not a soul in this world that is ever going to be perfect as a parent. We must all remember to cut ourselves slack with this whole idea of being mother. We must remember we are human and mistakes are made. We must remember our differences as Mothers are what make us unique, and wonderful, and what makes the world exciting. And thank goodness we aren't perfect, because I guarantee childhood for each of our kids would be quite boring if we were...

Hi MOPS Moms!!!

Welcome to summer in the Walla Walla Valley! The excitement of warm air, bright sunny days, and seemingly endless hours of the day has returned. As we move through summer we can feel a constant reminder from above of all the glorious things about the planet on which we live. As we feast on fresh vegetables and fruits taken from our backyard gardens, the farmer’s market, or a local store, we can be reminded of the glorious way God feeds our soul with the proper nourishment it needs. I see each day of summer as a way to reconnect with my Lord and to know he has given me this life to enjoy. We have a beautiful rest of the summer ahead of us, so let’s relish the wonder of it all and feel the love sent from our Lord and Savior!!!

I will go before you and make the crooked places straight.

Isaiah 45:2

We have all chosen different paths in our lives. Sometimes we know from the very moment we set foot on that path it was the best choice. Sometimes we aren’t as sure of ourselves. To all my friends within our MOPS family, I say choose the path you know is right for you, whether you are fearful of what may be or whether you are just not sure how you will succeed – God is here for each and everyone of us and with his love and guidance, the path is never as difficult as we thought.