Meeting Recap from 9/23

Hey Mamas,
Hope everyone is having a great Monday. Last Monday was Bring a Friend Night. We had 11 Friends join us. Way to go members. You did not disappoint. I hope all of our guests had a great time.

Our Mentor Moment was brought to us by Kimberly Mason. She asked us to visualize our mess. Then she used the analogy that our messes are each a fragment of stained glass. It may not look like anything when just looking at one individual piece but when you put all the stained glass fragments together, it makes a beautiful picture with a kaleidoscope of colors. Thank you, Kimberly, for the reminder to look at the bigger picture.

Our guest speaker was Carrie Stephens. Carrie talked to us about "Being a Mary in a Martha World and Embracing Love as a Mama." As moms we can feel like we are in a lose/lose situation. We can be like Mary and start to feel guilty for not doing enough and at the same time be like Martha and feel guilty for not connecting with our loved ones. A lot of us are in that place and Carrie stressed that we can NOT stay there. It's going to kill us. She encouraged us to stay sane and not miss the beauty before our eyes. We must cling to what is most important, loving one another. Carrie gave us a handout with some action points on them such as dance parties with your kids, reading, and putting your electronics down to spend time with your kids. She asked us to find our bright spot. Your bright spot is something that you are already doing that helps love flow freely and generates growth and goodness. She told us that we are God's bright spot. He looks at us and sees all the good he made in us. He loves who we are and His love can never be taken away once you fully step into it. Make it a season of love and let your children remember it. Thank you Carrie for joining us and sharing that message. As moms, it's easy to get stuck in a vicious cycle of guilt. So find you bright spot, mamas!

Just a few reminders:
-The next Explore God meeting will be October 7.
-Our next MOPS meeting will be October 14.
-Don't forget to get your dues turned into your table leader if you haven't already.
-Before our next meeting your table leader will be contacting you about a Girl's Night Out. I would encourage you to attend if you can. It will be a great time of fellowship to get to know the other mamas at your table out side of a MOPS meeting.
-Find your bright spot and create a season on love. :)
-Have a great week Mamas!!!

Bring a Friend Night!

Our next meeting is this Monday and it’s Bring a Friend Night! I’ve heard awesome things about this night so don’t let me down, ladies. Bring your friends, neighbors, co-workers, random strangers off the street or whoever else you can think of. We will have an awesome drawing for our friends, as well as prizes for members who bring the most friends. So join us…and bring a friend!

Our guest speaker this week will be Carrie Stephens. Carrie is a pastor’s wife, mom of four, occasional freelance writer, but mostly she’s just a girl trying to reconcile her love for God and the way life takes some getting used to. Some things that interest her are design, her husband, her kids, how to glorify God in this crazy world, and her wonderful church family at Christ Community Church in Austin. She loves old music with musty pages and beautiful love stories. Carrie will be speaking to us about what it means to be a Beautiful Mess. I can’t wait to meet Carrie and hear what she has to say. To learn more about her, visit her blog at http://carriesburnttoast.blogspot.com.

Looking forward to seeing everyone Monday. Don't forget...BRING A FRIEND! :)

First Meeting Recap

Hey Mamas,

Thanks to everyone who helped make our first meeting a success. We had about 46 mamas in attendance. It was my first MOPS meeting ever but it was great to have veterans back and lots of new faces as well. Our theme this year is “A Beautiful Mess: Embrace Your Story.” I think all of us can relate to this theme. Our theme verse is “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ehesians 2:10. We have a great line up planned this year and I’m super excited for us to share our messes and embrace our stories together.

To start our meeting out, our Coordinator, Jenn Downing, opened us up in prayer and announced new babies, pregnancies and adoptions, birthdays, and visitors. Congrats to the new moms and the plehtora of pregnant moms in the group. (There really must be something in the water! ;)) I hope all the new visitors enojoyed the fellowship.

Tanya Curtis spoke about Explore God. Tanya and Joel Caldwell will be hosting an Explore God meeting on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month when MOPS is not meeting. The group will gather at the church office in the same room MOPS meets. Explore God is a casual conversation for everyone to discuss and explore some very common spiritual questions and curiosities. If you need more information or plan to attend, contact Tanya Curtis at tcurtis@cihq.org or Joel Caldwell at ajcaldwell99@yahoo.com. You can also visit exploregod.com to see what it’s all about. I’m really excited about this group.

Dena Johnson, who is one of our mentor moms, brought us our first “Mentor Moment” of the year. She told us that God takes our messes and makes them beautiful. She encouraged us to share our messes and joys with each other. Dena reminded us that it’s ok to come as you are, with or without make up, dressed up or dressed down, with take out or a home cooked meal, it doesn't matter. Just come and enjoy yourself and let yourself be part of the community. Thanks, Dena, for that great reminder.

We watched a funny video, "Never Leave a Baby with Spaghetti O’s." Please tell me I'm not the only one who relates to this. It's pretty accurate of what the baby, the kitchen, and I look like after lunch at my house.

We had a fun craft where we decorated coffee mugs with permanent markers to refelct the beautiful messes in our life. Don't forget to bake it in the oven for the marker to set. We also played a game where we each wrote down 5 facts about ourself and drew lines to each other when we had something in common. It was fun to learn about the mamas at our table even if I did learn there are way too many Aggies in the group! ;)

Our next meeting will be September 23. It’s “Bring a Friend” night. I hear this is always a fun night. There will be drawings and prizes for the person who brings the most friends and for the friends who attend as well. It will be the Purple table's week to bring snacks. Below are a few pictures from our first meeting. I hope everyone enjoys their beautiful messes over the next couple weeks. Looking forward to seeing all you mamas at our next meeting.

It's Almost Here!

Hey Mamas,
Summer has come to an end and our first meeting is just around the corner. Join us Monday, September 9th from 7 PM to 9 PM for fellowship and make some new friends. We will be meeting at the new Hill Country Bible Church Round Rock Church Office located directly behind Fuddrucker's off I-35. Grab your mama friends and come hang out.