"Monsters-in-Law" or "Mentors-to-Love"

Wow, it's already Friday! Hope everyone had a great week. Our next meeting is this coming Monday. Susie Rogers will be our guest speaker. She is going to talk to us about our relationships with our Mother-in-Laws. I personally do not have a good relationship with my Mother-in-Law so there's a part of me that wants to bail on this one so I don't have to hear something I don't want to hear but I trust God has something great planned through Susie and I vow to come with an open mind. Below is a little about Susie.

Since 1987, Susie Rogers has enjoyed being involved in ministry at Hill Country Bible Church. Part of Hill Country Austin’s early pastoral staff, over five years, she was the first, full-time Director over their Children’s, Women’s and Communications Ministries. More recently, she’s resourced in roles as Creative Communications Consultant launching ministries, events & initiatives in Austin & Pflugerville. She is wife to Keith, mom and mother-in-law to Kendall & Adam Brunson, grandmother to Ainsley, Cori & Addie – also mom and mother-in-law to Rachel & Andrew Erwin, grandmother to Emery. A Realtor, too, she has loved helping families transition between homes since 2006. As a daughter-in-law for over 3 ½ decades, Susie will share, challenge and encourage us in an evening of candid conversation. 

I'm looking forward to having Susie join us on Monday night.

Every year Hill Country Bible Church MOPS participates in Operation Christmas Child. I've been doing this since I was a child and now my children love doing it. Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse. This is a ministry that provides Christmas gifts, school supplies and other practical necessities for children around the world who normally would not receive anything during the holidays. All you and your family will need to do is pack a shoebox full of gifts and supplies for a child in need. We should have some boxes available Monday night or you can use your own box. We will be collecting the shoe boxes at our meeting Monday if you have them ready. If you want to participate but need more time, you can drop it off at the church office (where we meet) by November 15. For more info about Operation Christmas Child visit their website at http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/. On the website, you will also find detailed instructions and tags you can print off for your box. After you print a tag you can register it and you will receive an email letting you know where your box was delivered. My kids love knowing where their boxes went. This is a great way to make a difference this holiday season and teach your kids about giving.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend. See all you mamas on Monday for some great fellowship.

Family Fun Night Recap

Happy Monday Mamas!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Dare I ask if anyone actually got an extra hour of sleep on Sunday? Hopefully if your kids got up at the crack of dawn they at least went to bed early.

I totally forgot to post Bobbie Davis' Mentor Moment last week. Bobbie talked to us about being high on a mountain and deep in a valley. She mentioned when David cried out in Psalms 22, "My God, My God why have you abandoned me?" When David was in a valley, he ran to God and he was very real with God. Bobbie encouraged us to come to God and let him help us deal with our messes when we have come to the end of ourselves. God said, "I will go before you." Run to God, humble yourself and stand on His promises. Thanks Bobbie for that reminder that God will never leave us alone. He is alway with us.

This past Monday our Mentor Moment was brought to us by Dawn Burleson. She talked about joy bonds and fear bonds. She encouraged us to let our kids know we enjoy being with then, get excited to see them, listen to them and ask questions such as how their day at school was, care about how they are hurting, offer comfort for their pain, and when playing games let them win sometimes. We should do everything for their benefit. They are not there to meet our needs. Communicate clearly to them how blessed you are to be their mom and have them as your little boy or girl. She advised us to avoid building fear bonds with our children. Don't fall into the trap of confronting them with criticism. Don't shame them. Dawn shared some lyrics with us from Hawk Nelson's "Words." It's a great song and an excellent reminder to honor God and build our children up with our words. Thank you, Dawn, for bringing us the Mentor Moment.

Jamie Ivey was our speaker Monday night. She talked to us about Family Fun Nights. This recap is brought to you by Shellie Carriker. Thanks Shellie for letting me use your write up.

Family Nights equals fostering togetherness & creating space for the family

Jamie challenged herself in her blog for one year to do something different each month. One of them Family Fun Nights. Her themes, Camping night, Luau, Nacho Night and Movie Night. She discovered through her own mess these nights sounded fun but were a lot of work for her. She loved being together but what it took was not working for her.  So she scaled it down and realized that simple was best for her.  She discovered a regular night out at their favorite restaurant but rename it Family Night made all the difference in the way the family team looked at it. Her focused shifted towards the togetherness aspect of the night instead of the actual activity. She made it work within her family routine or dynamics that were already in place. 

Her suggestions for ideas on family Fun Nights:

*Cook 

*Regular Day=special, it becomes Family Day (pack a picnic go to a park)

*Pizza Night with Movie

*Family Date Night 

Jamie suggested on Family Fun Nights to make it no phone/technology zone & to make the moments count! Just because you are in the same room does not mean you are connecting. Develop those moments.  

She also commented on marriage being very important and it is the foundation to the team. So if your foundation is struggling then it will show up in the family members. MAKE your marriage a priority. 

Mom’s are the backbone of the family.  God thought YOU to be the best choice for YOUR family & your family the best for YOU. 

"you can not measure your parenting only by the best or even the worst days!” (best line of the night)

Jamie made it clear if you are someone who loves to do theme nights (Pinterest style or such) then do it by all means! The whole goal is to create togetherness. She is just offering up what works for her Family Team!

Below are the questions from last night.

Questions:

1. How has your idea of quality family time been warped by the society that we live in?

2. What do you need to do to get back that healthy view of quality time with your kids?
3. What is your big picture for your family? How will that effect how you foster time with your family/kids?
4. What's a fun family night that you've experienced that you can share with your group?
5. What fun family night activity do you want to incorporate into your family?
6. How can you take steps to improve your marriage before you work on your family?
7. When you have days of bad parenting and want to crawl in bed, how do you deal with that? How can you still create family unity in spite of this?

Praying that this topic touched you in a way to take a minute to see what your Family Calendar looks like & create those together times! I know I walked away with new ideas & a better perspective! 

Thanks again, Shellie, for the recap!

We have a great speaker and topic planned for next week. Details coming soon but you won't want to miss this one. I think it will be great as the holidays are approaching! ;) I hope everyone has a great week. Remember to create a joy bond with your kids and build them up with your words. See ya next Monday!!!