Purpose Statement

MOPS Purpose Statement: MOPS International exists to encourage, equip and develop every mother of preschoolers to realize her potential as a woman, mother and leader in the name of Jesus Christ.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Session Summary - October 30: Topic of HOPE (Theme: THINK PINK)




MOPS
today was all about

HOPE

Hope is defined as:
  • expectation of something desired
  • desire accompanied by expectation
  • confidence in a future event
  • to look forward to with expectation and confidence of the outcome
  • to trust in the truth of the matter
  • to trust or rely on something or someone
  • holding on to a promise


Today's theme was

THINK PINK
We watched the MOPS DVD with Shelley Radic
(International MOPS Leader Extraordinaire).

Very touching and inspiring. We had time for discussion
and craft
(decorated candles). We also shared a lovely pink morning tea:

Thank you to everyone who brought along something to share.
The table was laden with lovely pink things:

cupcakes
strawberry cake
watermelon
cheesecake
100s and 1000 biscuits



and
HOT PINK DIP

The Hot Pink Dip
was actually
BEETROOT DIP
(yummo!)

and here is the
(very simple)
recipe

please adjust to taste
this is one of *those* recipes

very much a throw it all in
and see how it turns out

In this case .....

DELICIOUS

1 x can beetroot slices
sour cream - 1/2 cup
natural yogurt - 1/2 cup
garlic - 2 cloves
cumin - 1/2-1 tsp

BLEND ALL TOGETHER
(in blender or with hand-held blender)

*NOTE: please beware of
bright pink splatters

serve with crackers
&/or
carrot sticks etc

exceptionally good with
CRUSKITS
cut into dipping sticks
and dipped in
til you are scraping down the sides of the bowl
and theres no dip left

Thanks also to those who donated bras to Uplift Fiji
 (16 bras in total)



and to those who purchased a Pink Ribbon
for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research
($91 dollars raised - great effort!).



For more info on Breast Self-Checks etc please visit

 The McGrath Foundation

or

 Breast Screen Queensland

Call 132050

* please note Breast Screen Queensland
is population based screening
and targets the over 40 age group

Please see your GP asap if you have any concerns
or questions
re Breast Cancer or for more information
on self-checks etc



There are still more ribbons remaining.
If you wish to purchase please see Michele
or Registration Desk at next MOPS.
Prices are as follows
$3 for silk
$5 for enamel
$10 for diamante...
be quick those sparkly ones sold fast ...
there are only 4 remaining

If you forgot to bring a bra to donate to Uplift Fiji
Please bring along to next MOPS
and it will be added to the collection.


THANKS
&
May your Adventure of Mothering be full of HOPE

See you at our next MOPS on November 13th
Ps Phil from MBC joins us to give us his perspective on the topic of

HOPE










Posted by Michele @ The Hills are Alive at 8:52 PM Labels: , , , , 0 comments

Monday, October 19, 2009

A follow up from Karens talk

To smack or not to smack - just one of the many choices you will be faces with as a mum.

Could list loads of pros and cons and research showing harm/no harm, effectiveness or otherwise and for every person who is for it you will find someone equally as strongly against it. However, at the end of the day it is up to you as parents to decide how to raise and discipline your children - within societal and legal parameters of acceptable behaviour.


This MOPS blog is not the place for a debate on smacking or lectures on how to raise your children.

The big decision (to use smacking as a form of discipline or not) is up to you.
Do your own research. Decide what works for your family.

That said, some of you wanted clarification/further info on the recent Victorian case (not NZ as I had typed in an earlier edit of this post) Karen A-D mentioned and the current legal stance on smacking in QLD so I will post that here.

Karen A-D referred to a recent Victorian (not NZ) case where a mum was questioned by police (but not charged) after her 9yo child mentioned at school that her mum smacked her with a wooden spoon. The police did say she could have been charged with 'assault with a weapon' according to current Victn law (it is up to the discretion of Vict Police whether to charge or not based on each case presented to them).

Note that teachers and some other professions have a mandatory reporting responsibility i.e they have to report suspected cases of neglect and abuse or can be held accountable for not reporting.
Laws differ slightly from state to state in Aust and in NZ it is currently illegal to smack a child.

"In New South Wales you're not allowed to hit children above the shoulders, you're not allowed to hit children in a way that leaves them marked or in injury and you're not allowed to hit children using any form of implement like a belt or a slipper."
See here or here for further info/media reports of the Victorian case and this smacking/legality debate.



This is the current legal stance on smacking as discipline in Queensland taken from http://legalstudiesqld.com.au/blog/category/crime-and-society/

"Parents are allowed to smack their children in Queensland provided it is by way of correction or for purposes of discipline providing the force used is reasonable in the circumstances. This is the defence contained in Queensland’s Criminal Code section 280. For the arguments for and against reform to our ‘smacking laws’ see Legal Studies for Queensland, Chapter 7 pages 140 & 141."

Here is a newspaper article summing up some further legal issues/cases and differences across states and countries re smacking and discipline.







Posted by Michele @ The Hills are Alive at 5:55 PM 0 comments

Session Summary - Oct 16 Perspective

Topic: Perspective
Decor: Rainbow
Blessing: is your cup half full or half empty (its all about your perspective - the way you choose to see/interpret things)
Guest Speaker: Karen Askey-Doran gave us her perspective on the topic of Perspective (she asked us to list out 5 things we are good at/not so good at etc, showcased a little of her artistic talents and was a living example of the choice to be obedient to Gods direction - agreeing to toss out her prepared talk and start from scratch on the morning of MOPS cos he said so)
Discussion: Discussion questions were based around Karens talk - whats on your Top 5 list, where is your 'vanishing point" (the point where you start to lose perspective)
Craft: Beaded earrrings
Posted by Michele @ The Hills are Alive at 12:59 PM Labels: , 0 comments
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Theme Scripture

Psalm 139

1 You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand — when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Annual MOPS Participation Fee

The annual MOPS Participation Fee of $10 assists MOPS Australia in covering the cost of training for Regional Coordinators to help other MOPS groups to develop around Australia. It also allows more MOPS group leaders around Australia to access regional training.

This will go a long way to helping MOPS Australia bring MOPS to more Mums around Australia.

When you register for MOPS each year, you will be handed an Annual Participation Fee form, and we ask that if you are able to pay this $10 participation fee, please do so before the end of April 2011.

The payment options are...
1. Direct Debit to MOPS Australia bank account
2. Credit card
3. Cheque payable to MOPS Australia
4. Cash to MOPS@MBC front desk

Thank you, from the MOPS@MBC team.

How did MOPS begin?

It was a Tuesday morning, at about 9.30. They each had faced spilled cereal, tangled hair, and a few had even been forced to change their outfits due to a last-minute baby throw-up on a shoulder or lap. They had driven, or pushed strollers, to the church and had dropped their little ones off in the creche. They had made it!

And now they sat, knees almost touching, in the circle of children's chairs from the Sunday school room. Hands held hot cups of tea and biscuits in utter freedom because this treat did not have to be shared with a child's sticky fingers. Mouths moved in eager, uninterrupted conversation. Eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. Hearts stirred with understanding. Needs were met.

That morning in 1973, was the first morning of MOPS, or Mothers of Preschoolers. Little was it known that from this small beginning in a church in Colorado, USA, the seeds of the MOPS concept and format had been planted. The needs of the women were met even then, through the opportunity for friendship, creative outlet and spiritual emphasis. MOPS International now charters approximately 2,500 MOPS groups in churches in the United States and 13 other countries throughout the world.

How did MOPS begin in Australia?

How did MOPS begin in Australia?

Nineteen years later and thousands of kilometres away, the same mutual need for sharing was realised by a group of mums with children under school age in Melbourne. After reading about the MOPS concept in the US, leaders introduced the program to the Clayton Church of Christ Fellowship in early 1990 and MOPS was born in Australia. From this small beginning, the seeds for future growth were planted, resulting in the formation of an affiliated body to support the ever-increasing number of Australian groups and the mums they served.

Since its formation in June 2000, MOPS Australia, Inc has grown rapidly and there are currently over 100 groups throughout Australia. In the last year alone, 35 new groups have commenced, with groups starting up regularly throughout different Christian denominations. Groups now meet in every state and territory in Australia, with an estimated ministry to approximately 2500 mums and 3000 children.

How did MOPS begin at MBC?

A Brief History of MOPS at MBC by Karen Askey-Doran (COordinator of MOPS til 2008 and currently Regional Coordinator).

In 1999, the leader of MBC’s women’s ministry caught the vision of MOPS. At that time I was a new Mum with little inclination to help; I was interested but not convicted!

Roughly a year later another meeting was held to generate interest. At this time I had another little baby girl, a 16-month-old toddler and, although I was unaware of it, Post Natal Depression. And once again people were interested but not compelled to lead.

In 2005 Holly, caught the vision of MOPS and began to sow the seeds of interest throughout the young Mums in our church. Robyn Robertson came to our first meeting and inspired us into action…the seeds Holly planted took hold!

People came slowly at first to fill the positions, it seemed there were a lot of blanks for a long time! Holly was going to be our Coordinator and when she filled out the charter she realised that a Mother of Preschoolers should really fill that role…. So she called me! Very graciously, Holly took a side step into a Mentoring role (very appropriate really).

God was moving in our midst, we had been blessed with an inspired team of 15 Mops Leaders and 9 Moppets Leaders, each one having a testimony about how God had lead them to this ministry!

I suspect that God has big plans for our group. I still feel very inadequate sometimes but I do trust God and I want to serve him and to reach out to Mums who are hurting, to support them. I want to encourage, you know, to build up… to make a difference in people’s lives, especially my children’s!

I know I’m not alone… In Romans 8:28 it says “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” He planned for my girls, my twins, my battle with PND. He planned for MOPS - at this time - in our church! The door has literally been flung open!

What happens at a MOPS meeting?

When a mum enters a MOPS meeting, she is greeted by a friendly face and escorted to MOPPETS, where her children enjoy their special part of the MOPS program. In MOPPETS, children from infancy through to school age experience a caring environment while they learn, sing, play and make crafts.

Once her children are settled, the MOPS mum joins a program tailor-made to meet her needs. She can grab something to eat and not have to share it! She can finish a sentence and not have to speak in words of two syllables!

The program typically begins with a brief lesson taught by an older mum who's been through the challenging years of mothering and who can share from her experience and from the truths taught in the Bible. Then the women move into small discussion groups where there are no "wrong answers" and each mum is free to share her joys and struggles with other mums who truly understand her feelings. In these moments, long-lasting friendships are often made on the common ground of finally being understood.

From here, the women participate in a craft or other creative activity. For mums who are often frustrated by the impossibility of completing anything in their unpredictable days, this activity is deeply satisfying. It provides a sense of accomplishment and growth for many mums.

Because mums of preschoolers themselves lead MOPS, the program also offers women a chance to develop their leadership skills and other talents. It takes organisation, creativity, and management skills to run a MOPS program successfully.

By the time they finish the MOPS meeting and pick up their children, the mums feel refreshed and better able to mother. MOPS helps them recognise that mums have needs too! And when they take the time to meet those needs, they find they are more effective in meeting the needs of their families.

Meeting the needs of Mothers of Preschoolers

The MOPS program is dedicated to meeting the needs of mothers of preschoolers. These needs have been identified by Elisa Morgan and Carol Kuykendall in their book, What Every Mum Needs:


The need for Identity: Sometimes I'm not sure who I am

The need for Growth: Sometimes I long to develop who I am

The need for Relationship: Sometimes I long to be understood

The need for Help: Sometimes I need to share the load

The need for Perspective: Sometimes I lose my focus

The need for Hope: Sometimes I wonder if there's more to life


Here's How Some Mums Describe MOPS

"MOPS means that I am able to share the joys and frustrations and insecurities of being a mum. Our meetings provide the opportunity to hear someone else say, "I was up all night," or "They're driving me crazy!"

MOPS mum, Perth

"As a single mum, this is the first group I've felt accepted in for who I am."

MOPS mum, Canberra

'On my first day at MOPS, I knew my life had changed forever! The women made me feel so relaxed. I had a peace I hadn't felt for a long time. They were so caring, pleasant, helpful…the list goes on! I just want to say, "Thank you MOPS!" If it weren't for MOPS, I wouldn't be where I am today.'

MOPS mum, Melbourne

'When I first started MOPS, I was very, very lonely. MOPS gave me a chance to get out of the house which I was grateful for. The talks were very informative. I found out a lot through these talks. My problems seemed to become smaller. When I first started at MOPS, I thought I was a Christian. I wasn't. Through MOPS I can now say, 'I am a Christian.' MOPS to me is not only Mothers of Pre Schoolers, but My Own Private Salvation!'

MOPS mum, Canberra