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Here We Stand Love Works Vulnerability Works Richer Conversations 3 4 6 7 plus Practical Pointers Throughout LOVE WORKS November 2012 MOPSGuide.org leadership view ACTION ITEMS to build relatiohs NOV Continue to register new moms who start attending your group so they will have an ongoing connection of MOPS membership. Finalize plans for a special Christmas meeting to share the meaning of Christmas. Participate in a service project. Operation Christmas Child is a great way to involve children in service. MOPS.org/occ Distribute mid-year surveys to inform your plans for the next semester. MOPSGuide.org/groupevaluation Attend the Next Level Leadership webinar on November 15 to learn how to find, schedule and effectively utilize speakers. : Equipping You for MOPS Leadership “You matter to me, and you matter to Jesus.” Practical and Profound. All of the practical ways that you show love to moms in your group — the email reminders, the texts of encouragement, the frozen dinners, the babysitting trades, the help up the stairs to the MOPPETS room — are actually profound pieces of community and love that you are building in your group. Every practical gesture is another way of saying, “You matter to me, and you matter to Jesus.” In this issue of Connections you will see practical and profound ways that Love Works in by Carla Foote, your MOPS group, ultimately pointing moms Executive Editor toward Jesus. Taking a meal to a mom in crisis is practical love, but sharing deeply from your own pain and journey with God offers a profound connection to moms. You can use the articles in Connections as training pieces for your Leadership Team meeting, as you find more ways that Love Works in your MOPS group. Here We Stand WAYS TO USE MOMSENSE in your MOPS meetings. h The Perfect Stranger & Longing for Deeper Friendships: Discuss ways to take risks and stretch in relationships. You can plan an entire meeting using the content on pages 26-27 and 20-21 of MomSense. Every mom, leader and church … because every family needs Jesus It was a Thursday when I had my first “facedown” moment. It was freezing cold outside, DEC Encourage moms to attend Christmas services and celebrations at your church. Recognize and appreciate MOPPETS workers. Consider offering an optional Bible study or book study on off-MOPS weeks starting in January to address deeper topics. The Mom Curriculum DVD that was in your ministry packet for the year has six sessions plus two conversation starters. These videos can simplify your MOPS meeting content and provide high-quality speakers. Host a mid-year retreat for leaders for planning and refreshment. Register new moms for membership within three visits. MOPSGuide.org/membership Attend the Next Level Leadership webinar on January 17 for tips on organizing your MOPS supplies and effectively using MOPS International resources. November 2012 Discussion Questions for “Growing Toward God” segment: 1 Tracey talked about the “ladies in a hurry.” How can you find time to slow down and have reflective space? 2 Tracey described how God loves us fiercely and magnificently. Do you feel like God loves you this way? Why or why not? 3 Do you see God’s presence in your ordinary days? If so, how? 4 Do you have questions about how you can interact with God in your everyday? Talk to your Discussion Group leader to learn more. Enhance your Leadership Team training by watching T the Leadership Content DVD, including “A Loving Leader — Building Relationships in Your Group.” Include Discus Discussion Group leaders in your training plans. Scheduling meeting topics and speakers for the second half of the year? Be sure to download the meeting ideas that include discussion questions, newsletter and creative activity ideas, panel discussion ideas and more at MOPSGuide.org/theme. There also are special meeting topic downloads for MOMSnext and Teen groups. COVER © ISTOCKPHOTO/THINKSTOCK ICONS © VALLENTIN VASSILEFF/ISTOCKPHOTO BRAND X PICTURES/THINKSTOCK Meet with church leaders to share about MOPS and select a date for a MOPSunday to raise MOPS awareness in your church. MOPSGuide.org/MOPSunday 2 Meeting Plans: Silified View the “Growing Toward God” segment and consider using this for a Christmas meeting or in the spring. JAN by Sherry Surratt, CEO & President MOPS International with snow piling up, and I was a bit miffed that I couldn’t wear my open-toed shoes. We had just moved to Denver in the height of winter and my southern-girl sensibilities were being challenged. But it didn’t really matter. God and I were about to have a moment. When I got to the office, I felt God saying, Lie down and pray. This is unusual for me. I always start my day in my big, brown chair at home, Bible and coffee in hand. But this day was different. God was speaking straight to my heart about what he was going to do through MOPS. That snowy day, as I spent time in our theme verse for the year (Love as if your life depended on it, 1 Peter 4:8), God began to pound something on my heart, which I’d like to share with you now: Every mom needs a friend. There’s a lonely mom in your neighborhood who you may not even know yet, but she’s there. She might be desperate about her marriage, or her kids or finances, and her heart is aching and lonely. God is calling us, MOPS leaders, to share this message loud and clear: Every mom needs a friend. And it’s a journey that begins with you and leads straight to Jesus. Every mom needs him, and she is going to find him through you and your MOPS group this year. That’s what excites me about this verse. It talks about how God has gifted you to use your smile, your talent, your passion, your ability within your group to share Jesus Christ with other moms. And we’re not going to stop until every mom has had a chance to come to a MOPS group and find out how much God loves her. Every leader needs a chance to grow. I am passionate about your growth! I’ve heard incredible stories of the life change that happens when moms come into a MOPS group. For the very first time they discover that they can lead. There are moms who have come through our MOPS groups and experienced our leadership development and have gone on to become the mayors of their cities or stepped up into leadership at their church. Someone encouraged them: “I see something in you; you can lead.” They believed it, gained confidence and stepped up into leadership. This next year you are going to see that in somebody, you are going to speak it, and a mom for the very first time is going to know that she is a leader. Every leader needs a chance to grow and MOPS provides that opportunity. Every church needs a MOPS group. What church doesn’t want to impact their community and neighborhood to reach young families? Barna research states, “It is the years when a mom has kids ages 1-6 that she is the most frustrated, lonely, vulnerable and reaching out for connection and help.” That’s what a MOPS group does — offers moms a place where someone understands them and loves them straight to Jesus. Why would there be a church that wouldn’t have a MOPS group? Every mom, every leader, every church — why? Because every family needs Jesus. Life transformation doesn’t come through just friendships, speakers, retreats or crafts, as important as those can be for fostering community. Life transformation comes through an encounter with Jesus Christ. In every neighborhood, there are moms who are at the end of their mom rope, moms who don’t know what to do tomorrow. They need friendship and connection; they need Jesus. And your MOPS group is where they will find it. This is our year. Together, let’s dream big, hand in hand with God as we go after every mom, every leader and every church. l November 2012 3 LOVE WORKS I noticed Ashley as she walked through the doors to our MOPS meeting, the weight of her soon-to-arrive baby evident not just in her belly, but in her everything: her face, her shoulders, her knees. Her movements looked exhausting and painful as she carried the extra, disproportioned weight of a pregnancy. I almost felt her pain with her, my last pregnancy only months earlier. Her two already born kids trailed behind her wondering what adventure their mom was bringing them on. Later that morning we sat at the same discussion table and her story unfolded before us. Her husband was scheduled to be deployed two months after the third baby was due to arrive. We nodded as she talked. We cried with her. We asked questions. We bonded. Why? Because at MOPS, love works. Love (noun) [luv] (loves) 1. very strong affection 2. God’s interaction with humanity Work (verb) [wurk] (worked, working, works) 1. exert effort 2. be successful Most of all, 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! x 1 PETER 4:8-11 (THE MESSAGE) 4 November 2012 As moms we experience love with an intensity and permanence that God gives us for our children. As Christians we know God loved us before we loved him and our outpouring of love flows from him. As MOPS leaders we combine these two and have a love for the moms around us that both understands their exhausting circumstances and points them toward the love giver. MOPS is about love. At MOPS we love moms through the practical. We find speakers, schedule and reschedule MOPPETS teachers and make cinnamon rolls in the wee hours of the morning. We bring dinners when a baby is born. We watch kids when there’s a pressing appointment. We exert effort to show love. MOPS is about work. Love Works: But we also know love is effective. It’s a successful way to show people they are irreplaceable. As we love through the practical, we point to a woman’s value that is set in Jesus, and we in turn offer life-saving good news. Our theme verse for the year tells us, Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. As MOPS leaders we love with abundance because we understand how desperately we, and all moms we know, need to go to the love giver for our very existence. Peter continues in the next verse, Love makes up for practically anything. At MOPS, perfection is not expected. Love is. Maybe the tables aren’t set up on time, or you forget how many kids a mom has or you make a comment that is taken the wrong way. If those imperfections are bathed in love, moms will know. Our intentions will make up for any error in our actions, because love works. Ashley arrived at our second-to-last meeting for the MOPS year, but that didn’t deter her from opening up and receiving the love offered because she had found a safe place to land. A place that had been prepared through the faithful work of our group’s leaders and loving ears of other moms to hear her story. A perfect combination of love and work. She returned two weeks later to our last meeting of the year. And she brought a friend, another mom from the military base who needed companionship, because Ashley knew her friend would be welcomed. Because love works. Because MOPS works. l by Alexandra Kuykendall, Mom & Leader Content Editor MOPS International Making MOPS Love Work Be Connected: Connected to God, the source of love, so you have love to give. Connected to women in your group so you know what practical needs they might have. Be Prepared: Have a list of local resources ready to offer moms, so when a need arises you aren’t spending time researching rather than attending to a mom in need. Your sponsoring church can help guide where you send moms for professional help such as counseling or basic needs such as food and shelter. Be Listening: Listen for clues that indicate a mom’s unique situation and then anticipate her needs. As moms we anticipate needs all day. Use those well-honed skills when listening to other women and offering help. Be Specific: It is much easier for a mom to accept a specific offer than to call you with a request. Instead of “Let me know how we can help,” try, “I’d like to bring dinner over on Tuesday. Does that work for you?” She’ll let you know if it doesn’t. Be Organized: Having a way to organize moms’ efforts will make the process run smoother. Sites like CaringBridge.org or CarePages.com offer free tools to organize large groups of people who want to support others. Be Available: MOPS is a relationshipbased ministry and relationships require time. Put free time in your schedule so you will be available to help a mom in crisis or simply to have a mom over for a play date. We need space in our lives to love. November 2012 5 VULNERABILITY WORKS Gillian Marchenko lives in Chicago with her husband and four daughters. She was a MOPS Coordinator for three years and now writes and speaks about stumbling faith, Down syndrome, motherhood and grace. gillianmarchenko.com 6 November 2012 “SO WHAT DID YOU DO?” Eyes settled on mine over soft candlelight on the patio of a Mexican restaurant at our MOPS Night Out. “What did you do after the birth of your daughter with Down syndrome?” I uncrossed and re-crossed my legs. Safe answers swirled around my head. I could talk about prayer and comforting Bible verses. I could emphasize the promises God gave me. All true things. But not the whole truth. Lord, how do I answer? Most of these women aren’t church-goers. Should I be vulnerable? My goal as a MOPS Coordinator is to encourage mothers, but also, I desperately want to point them to Jesus. What if my story moved them further from God? Many already shared their suspicions of Christianity with me: It’s a set of rules, or a safety crutch or too judgmental. And yet twice a month, they buckled their babies and toddlers in strollers and treaded to MOPS. They wouldn’t understand Christian platitudes such as, “My heart was hard soil,” or “I walked away from the Lord.” To build deeper relationships with the moms sitting around the table required vulnerability. I watched the flicker of the candle and remembered that God’s love was most evident in the ugly parts of my story. With a quick prayer, I made up my mind. I’d tell the whole truth. “I drank.” Conversations stopped. Forks clanked against plates. No one expected these words from a pastor’s wife and a MOPS Coordinator. I sucked in a breath and continued. “Having a baby with Down syndrome hurt. After her birth, I grieved the child I expected. Instead of crying out to God, or seeking support or opening my Bible, I reached for a bottle of Chardonnay. For weeks I drank to hide from life. I drank to hide from the mother God was asking me to be.” That night at the Mexican restaurant, I shared my story about turning away from God. I told about Jesus’ quiet nudge back to him through my husband’s guidance, my friends’ gentle rebuke and some key verses in the book of Psalms. I loved that God didn’t allow me to run away for long before he pursued me. “I would like to have behaved better after my baby’s birth.” I hung my head. “Instead, I failed one hundred percent.” Lifting my face, I was met with compassion and tears. Vulnerability is scary. I prefer the façade of a mother who has it all together. But I must remember that I am human and that doesn’t change simply because I’m a leader. I sin and God forgives. If the hard parts of my story are held back, I’m actually withholding God’s glory manifested in me. I’m withholding the full power of his love, a love that makes up for practically anything, exemplified in my life. My vulnerability on the patio of the Mexican restaurant that night helped set the tone for a great year of MOPS meetings, and provided a place for moms to share their triumphs and failures, and more importantly, to experience God’s love. l by Jonalyn Fincher Jonalyn Fincher is a cultural philosopher who follows Jesus in soul liberation at Soulation. org. She loves “Downton Abbey” and skate-skiing. Join her weekly conversation on femininity and faith at RubySlippers.org. Follow her on Twitter @JonalynFincher. ? Richer Conversations How can I help steer conversations into deeper, richer territory? I SPOTTED HER as soon as I sat down at THOMAS NORTHCUT/DIGITALVISION/THINKSTOCK Vulnerability as a Leader: 5 Things to Consider First A leader shares her dirt to help moms become clean PHOTODISC/THINKSTOCK by Gillian Marchenko the coffee shop. She had a newborn, her eyes looked thirsty for sleep. I knew the delight and inadequacy of those early weeks of being a mother. I thought I could connect, but how to start? Anytime I want to start a conversation I think of what I’d like to hear. “Your baby is so sweet” feels easy enough, but it takes less empathetic work than confiding, “I think they should give all mothers who are out and about with their babies special privileges … like free coffee and good parking spaces.” Relational boldness is the secret ingredient to spontaneous spiritual conversation. Add a generous helping of empathy and watch the Spirit move. 1 Pray. Ask God for 3 Consider timing. Is now 4 Check your emotions. 5 Take spiritual stock. wisdom in how you share. the time to share? Are you in If your story is difficult to Ask God to show you all the midst of an experience tell today (i.e. close to the of the ways he was evident THINK & DISCUSS 2 Gauge your audience. that needs more processing? anniversary date to when through your struggle and Want more? Find links to conversational resources, including Is this an appropriate Sharing along your journey can it happened, etc.) you may be sure to share them when videos and information about the book, Coffee Shop time/group to open up be valuable, but also can dis- want to wait. you tell your story so you Conversations: Making the Most of Spiritual Small Talk, by Dale to? Why? Why not? tract people you are leading. can point others to Christ. and Jonalyn Fincher, at MOPSGuide.org/conversations. 1 Sit Down. Conversations where we truly connect only happen when we expect someone to be our peer, not our student. Share how you relate without assuming superior knowledge. For instance sharing, “The early years are the hardest. Don’t worry, it will get better,” sets you up as the expert instead of inviting her to share how she feels. 2 Be an Image-Bearer Detective. God made her to reflect him (Gen 1:27). Be a detective to find God’s attributes in her (clever, funny, strong, vulnerable, peaceful). What makes her shimmer? Hunt for something you appreciate. “I have the exact same stroller, isn’t it wonderful?!” is a good start. But even better, “That bumper sticker is so clever, where did you get it?” and maybe even, “Why do you love it?” 3 Mute Advice. When she shares a burden, do not offer any advice. Instead, ask her a question. This was Jesus’ way, this is the friendship way. Respect her enough to let her ask for advice if she wants it. For instance, if she tells you her son is biting and you think you know exactly what to advise, don’t spill it. Instead relate to her emotions, something like, “It’s so hard to feel out of control with kids. My friend’s son bit my son and we all felt awful.” Or, “Have you been bit by him? It hurts so badly, doesn’t it?!” 4 Look for the Pause. There comes a moment in all conversations when the typical banter moves into more meaningful sharing. This can happen within the first five seconds or not at all. But always look for the pause and take advantage of the opportunity; it’s easy to continue small talk and let the conversation stay surface level. Did the conversation go deeper when you said your son also was small for his age? Was it when you shared your ER experience? Was it when you announced that your pre-baby tummy was gone forever? What made her stop and realize you understood? Watch for it and park on whatever started the deepening and use that as a place to continue connecting. 5 Find Conversation Starters. We can all get better at introducing topics that all mothers wish they could dish about more: sleep (share a horrible nighttime experience), sickness (swap stories of the latest disease that you learned about through your child), exercise (share the last time you tried to work out), body image (start talking about your problem areas), sex (how nonexistent or passionate it has become). Relational intimacy begins with someone taking a risk! l November 2012 7 events + resources DESIGNED JUST FOR YOU! MOPSGuide.org A Place to Play MOPS TRAINING FOR NEW LEADERS AND LEADERS IN A NEW ROLE 101 Feb14+Mar14+May9 Chat live with MOPS International staff and fellow leaders. New to MOPS Leadership and can’t wait for answers? View the MOPS 101 training any time at MOPSGuide.org/ webtraining Connect, share and learn with leaders from around the world at Facebook. com/MOPSLeaders. Ask questions, share what you’ve learned, receive reminders about upcoming webinars and stay up-to-date on MOPS Leaders’ resources. MOPS online training+ tools + Webinars Use the quicklinks below to find more resources at MOPSGuide.org REGISTER NOW DIVE DEEPER WITH NEXT LEVEL LEADERSHIP WEBINARS Learn more about engaging MOPPETS. This topic will not only enable you to provide a better MOPPETS experience, but it also will include great ideas that you can share with your moms to do with their children at home. Nov15 Jan17 Learn how to organize your MOPS experience! We will share tips for using MOPS resources (such as Group Management Tools and Connections magazine) and effectively organizing your MOPS supplies. Register at MOPSGuide.org/webtraining View recordings of previous webinars on “Normalizing fear,” “Engaging your church” and “Marketing your group.” 8 November 2012 The MOPS Experience /LeadershipArticles Practical articles to equip you as a leader /devotionals Devotionals for you and your Leadership Team NEW! /MOPSLeadership Leadership role videos to learn the specifics of your role including responsibilities, MOPS resources and creative tips PLUS: Locate Community Leadership Training happening in your area by checking your MOPS group dashboard at MOPSGuide.org. Every child (and every mom) loves playgrounds! But when they are outdated and unkempt they can be disappointing. The Decatur, Indiana MOPS group decided to be the change in their community and do something about their local park that was in disrepair. Abby Dyer, the group’s Service Coordinator, explained, “We knew that we weren’t the only people that wanted a better park.” It was a practical way for the Decatur MOPS group to show love to the moms and families in their community. Some people told the group it would take years to accomplish, but they were determined to finish in a year. So the MOPS group held fundraisers, selling curly potatoes and cookbooks. Local businesses and individuals were asked to sponsor “The Place to Play Legion Park Project.” In less than a year, the community raised over $50,000. Then the group applied for a matching grant through the playground equipment company to help purchase swings, curbing and mulch. Another grant from a local community foundation helped pay for the installation of the equipment and purchase benches. The Decatur community is enjoying their new place to play. This MOPS service project will be completed when an archway is added at the entrance of the park. SHARE YOUR STORY at [email protected]. EXECUTIVE EDITOR Carla Foote CONSULTING EDITORS Mary Darr, Andrea Jones, Kelli Jordan, Alexandra Kuykendall, Liz Patsey GRAPHIC DESIGNER Cindy Young EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Jackie Alvarez CONTACT MOPS INTERNATIONAL: [email protected] FOR LEADER RESOURCES: MOPSGuide.org Copyright 2012, MOPS International, Inc.