Meeting Recap: Its All About LOVE

Be in prayer for the women who were unable to make it to our MOPS meeting this morning. I know there is some sickness going around.....and when the mama is sick, it makes caring for sick babies even harder!

We had a speaker today who talked to us about our very theme: LOVE as if your life depended on it. Love is something that we do not talk a lot about.....and if we examine HOW and WHY we are loving, or attempting to love people, it is very telling!

We know that the Lord says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength." In light of this, we better learn how to LOVE correctly! This self-examination can be hard......but it can be so freeing as well! We need to learn to love both earnestly and intensely.

Our verse for the year: I Peter 4:7-11 says:

LOVE each other as if your life depended on it. LOVE makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless-cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and He'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything- encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

What kind of LOVE is this? This is Agape love which is the love the the Lord has for humankind. 

For example. When our child looks like this, it is likely time for that child to have a nap.

 Does he want a nap? No. Do he think a nap would be good for him? No. BUT, because we LOVE him, we know that the best thing he needs is a nap! God knows what is best for us, even when we do not understand, or even when we think we know better than Him what is best for us! He AGAPES us! 

What kind of "lover" are we?

 Extension Cord:  We are drawing love from people- not actually loving, but taking all the time. A more mature love is a giving type of love.

Empty Cup: We have a "fill me up" mentality. We want others to meet our needs.

The problem remains that we are looking out instead of up for our fulfillment. We need to break out the bottom of that cup.....or drill some holes into your cup like a planter......and allow God to flow THROUGH you. That is how to properly love. Christ wants to live and love through us and we need to allow Him to do that.

Here are some questions to ponder as we think more about this subject of love in our lives:

1. Can I see ways that I have been an extension cord, or an empty cup, or have had unrealistic expectations?

2. Can I see ways that I have morphed my desires?

3. Am I willing to repent?- to stop asking people to do what only God can do?

4. Am I willing to believe I am who God says that I am now?

5. Am I willing to receive from God so I can, above all else, love others deeply?

Antiquities Opportunity

Another MOPS group in the area is doing an Antiquities Fundraiser. I had the opportunity to do this with my first 2 children a few years ago in Ohio. Because of our move, and because I had a third child, I did not think I would ever have the opportunity to get my third son's picture to match the first two.

Here are examples of the Antiquities photos. Sorry they are not the best quality as I took picture of pictures that are hanging in frames in my home.







The way it works is, you pay $10 and you receive a beautiful 10x13 picture (the one of both children was the 10x13). That $10 goes directly to the MOPS group that is doing the fundraiser! (Win-win situation!) The company, of course, takes lots of additional pictures and you will then have the opportunity to buy a package. I was THRILLED to find out that both times I did this it is a LOW PRESSURE sale. The sales people do NOT pressure you into buying the package, which is part of the charm. You can take it or leave it. The first time I did it I left the package. Th second time I did it, I bought a package.

The company provides ALL the props and ALL the costumes. You simply show up to the location with your child or children and they do it all......you can have input into the props as well. For example, I really wanted my son to hold the guitar. The costumes will fit any child up to age 18 as well.

The MOPS group doing the fundraiser will be doing the pictures in October. If you are interested, leave me a comment on the private FB page and I will give you more information. I chose to write a blog about it because I am so thrilled with these pictures and I wanted to talk about it in length.

Egg Sausage Casserole

This one was brought for our first MOPS meeting.....so DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:

1 box cheddar cheese croutons
4 eggs beaten
3 cups milk
2 pkgs. pork sausage patties (*could be any kind of sausage to change it up a bit!)
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Grease 9x13 pan. Sprinkle croutons into pan. Mix eggs, 2 1/2 c. milk, 1/2 can soup and 1/2 tsp. dry mustard. Pour over croutons. Fry and drain sausage then place on top of egg mixture. Sprinkle cheese over sausage and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pour 1.2 can soup mixed with 1.2 c. milk on casserole. Bake uncovered 1 1/2 hours and serve warm.

Topped Raspberry Bars

As brought to our MOPS meeting on Thursday. I can't wait to make these!

Topped Raspberry Bars

2-1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1 c. chopped pecans

1 c. butter, softened

1 egg

1 c. raspberry preserves

Garnish: powdered sugar

Combine flour, sugar, pecans, butter and egg in a large bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 2 to 3 minutes.  Set aside 2 cups of mixture for topping.  Press remaining mixture into the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 baking pan.  Spread preserves over top; sprinkle with reserved pecan mixture.  Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, until golden.  Cool completely; cut into bars and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Makes 2 dozen.

My notes:  You can use any kind of preserves you have on hand.  I used some home made apricot jam and sprinkled some fresh picked raspberries over the top before the pecan topping along with a little more sugar.  IMPORTANT both my mom and I have made this and they never need more than 30 min in our ovens or they burn.  When I did it I put them in and set the timer for 20 min and then kept checking until they were nice and golden brown.

Craft: Painted Tote Bags and Nametags

Our craft today was a painted tote bag that we can bring back and forth to MOPS to hold all of our MOPS supplies. I think they will be very handy! We also put names on our name tags.

*Reminder: All craft supplies are available for ANY mom who has registered and is a part of our group. If you have to miss a meeting, that does NOT mean you have to miss the craft! Supplies are available in the supply cabinet for you to either take home or do at a future meeting. Simply contact your DGL to get the supplies!

Name-tag

Every MOPS mom should have a name-tag so we can learn each other's name quickly. They will be kept in our buckets so we do not have to worry about misplacing them.



1. You will receive a name tag that looks like this. First add colored beads to it according to how many children you have (ie. I have 1 girl and 2 boys so 1 pink bead and 2 blue beads).

2. Tie an adjustable knot. Take the left side and tie a knot to the right side. Then take the right side above the knot and tie that to the left side with another knot. The allows it to adjust to fit your neck.

 

3. Using black puff paint, carefully write your name on the life preserver and allow to dry.

Painted Tote Bag:

The original tutorial for this project is found HERE

Things You'll Need:

Canvas bag

Fabric paint

Paper doily

Krylon Paper Finishes Adhesive spray

Paintbrush

Instructions:

1. Spray doily with paper spray adhesive and press down on the bag (not shown). (Using Krylon Paper Finishes Adhesive spray allows the doily to stick in place while you paint, but it easily pulls off without leaving a sticky mess behind after you paint.)

Go light on the adhesive used to stick the doily to the fabric.  Make no more than one pass over the doily.

2. Gently paint over the holes - I recommend paint for fabric, not crafts. I first used craft paint...fabric paint will be more durable.

Use good pressure to press the doily onto the fabric making sure all areas of the doily are stuck down to the fabric to prevent bleeding of the paint.

Use very little paint (almost a dry brush technique).  Squirt some paint on the plate and dip your sponge in.  Then tap some of the paint off on the plate before tapping on the doily to ensure even coverage and to prevent bleeding.  

Use an up and down tapping motion with good pressure to go over the doily stencil.  DO NOT RUB the sponge over the doily. It is better to go light on the paint and build the coverage you want by making a few passes over the stencil.

3. Peel back doily before paint dries. The doily might tear, just peel off the pieces. 

 Peel off doily immediately following applying the paint.  (If you used the above technique for applying the paint it will not be very wet and lightly touching it should not be a problem.) Slowly and carefully peel away the doily starting at the edges and working into the middle.
The more you reuse a doily the more risk of the paint bleeding through.  I used the same doily only twice before pitching it.

Let your piece dry for 72 hours before washing.  (There were no washing instructions for the paint but I would do it cold.)

 There is no need to heat set the paint if you use the same kind of fabric paint we used in MOPS. 

MOPS Meeting #1

What a wonderful, though a bit chaotic, first MOPS meeting we had today! I know a few moms could not make it this morning.....so I will recap a few thoughts here! When I do posts on recipes or crafts, I am actually going to make a separate post for each one so they are more easily accessible for the future.

This morning was a morning of introductions....sometimes it was hard to keep everything straight. However, it was SUCH an exciting morning as we welcomed many MANY new moms, new steering team members and some new mentor moms....some new to the area, some brand new moms, some more experienced moms but who had never been a part of a MOPS group! Whoever you are, whether this is your very first meeting, or you have years of MOPS under your belt, we are so glad to have you in our group.

Our children in the MOPPETTS classes did very well today! There were a few tears with drop-offs (even with those of us who have done this many times....kids will be kids!), but our MOPPETTS workers are such wonderful trained individuals! My boys both enjoyed the puppet times they had today. One son screamed in delight while the other son said "well, that was nice, but they were a little bit creepy." :) Our hope is that throughout this year as we are getting "filled up" and enjoying time with other mothers who are in our same station in life, that our children will also be enjoying getting to know some new friends, and also learning about the God that we serve as well, in an age-appropriate and fun way! Thank you to all you amazing workers who do us such a great service every single MOPS meeting. You go above and beyond and you are such a blessing to us all!

Our Women Ministry Leader came in for a brief devotional. She shared the verse for the year, which leads to our theme "Plunge: Love as if your life depended on it." I Peter 4:7-11 says:

Love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless-cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and He'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything- encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

Our steering team shared one way that they are "plunging in" this year. Some ways included:

being open to building relationships
clearing schedules to accommodate the deepening of friendships
building upon a growing relationship with the Lord
admitting that we are all not perfect; allowing ourselves to fail and realizing that God gives grace

As we gear up for this year, our prayer is that we will all think of ways that we can deepen our relationships- with new friends, existing friends, husbands, family, children and the Lord. As a steering team, we are so EXCITED to build a relationship with YOU. You are not alone.

If you did not make it to our meeting this time, we pray that life will allow you to make it next time. We did a craft today (which will be another post), and we have supplies for you. Make sure and get with your DGL to get the supplies!

The Gift of Fellowship

In my morning devos. this morning I came across this passage taken from "A  Woman After God's Heart" written by Elizabeth George. It fits in very nicely with our theme of "plunging" into relationships this year in MOPS! (Side note: this book is an incredible book for morning devos. that addresses how to grow in our main roles as women. I highly recommend it!)

Spiritual Growth: The Gift of Fellowship

As Jesus grew, He also "increased in favor with man" (Luke 2:52). Try these three ways to improve your relationships with people.

1. Mind your mind
             It's unavoidable. Your actions will reveal your attitude toward people. That's the message of yet another proverb: "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). Thoughts that are critical, negative, harmful, and jealous not only go against God's Word (Phil. 4:8), but they spawn actions that are critical, negative, harmful and jealous. So train yourself to think loving, positive, sweet thoughts when it comes to other people.

2. Mind your mouth
            Our relationships with people are enhanced when we follow in the steps of the Proverbs 31 woman who "opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness" (Prov. 31:26). If her thoughts weren't wise or kind, her mouth was shut!

3. Mind your manners
             The number one way to be pleasing to God and approved by man is to be the servant of all. Our servant assignment from God is to give honor and preference to one another (Rom. 12:10). Regarding others as more important than yourself gives you the mind and manner of Christ (Phil. 2:4-5).

You and I are to focus away from self and outward to others; we are to become other-oriented. To do this, as mundane as it sounds, we have to train ourselves to, for instance, stop talking about ourselves (and our children) and instead talk about the other person. We may also have to learn some good manner, because love has good manners (I Cor. 13:5).

I love what Anne Ortland says. First she writes, "There are two kinds of personalities in this world, and you are one of the two. People can tell which, as soon as you walk into a room: your attitude says either "Here I am" or There you are."...

Are you a "There you are" person, looking around for how you can encourage someone with God's love? He can make it happen as you let Him grow you into a woman after His heart.