December & January Monthly Update

Area 20 December & January Monthly Update

It is that time of year. That time where I am torn between not doing enough and doing too much. You know the feeling where you are completely exhausted, but working really hard to make sure that you and your whole family are embracing every scheduled moment. Ok, that isn’t how the Advent season should be defined, but I am keeping it real! Advent should be a joyful time preparing for Jesus’ arrival. Yet, it can also be an unpredictable time. 

I am the MOPPETS Coordinator for Grace Fellowship MOPS and December 7^th was our Christmas meeting. That morning my 10-year-old daughter, Danielle, woke up and mentioned that her head hurt a little bit, but ate her breakfast, got dressed, and waved as she rode away on the bus. Check. I put together some goodies to celebrate Christmas with our MOPPETS workers and headed over a little early to be ready. Check. Everything is set up. Check. MOPPETS workers and the 3 substitutes all arrive and are in their rooms. Check. Moms arrive and drop off their kids. Check. I pass out coloring sheets and snacks to the rooms. Go to my room. Check. Moms pick up their kiddos and we wish all a Merry Christmas. Check. Wish all the workers a Merry Christmas and talk longer than normal trying to catch up. Check. Arrive at CVS (my first of 3 errands) around noon. Meander through the aisles as I collect my thoughts and pick up my items. Go to the checkout and take out my phone for the first time since I left my house before 9 am to get my CVS ExtraCare card. See that there are 8 text messages and 4 missed phone calls. Heart stops. Check? Fumble my way through paying as I frantically try to figure out who was trying to contact me and why. Realize from the last text from my husband that my daughter was at the nurse’s office around 9 am with a fever and that he ended up picking her up from school at 11:30 am because I was unreachable. YIKES! Seriously. I rush to my car and listen to the nurse’s message urging me to get to the school to get Danielle with her 101 fever. Then, Carla, from the office calls around 11 and also urges me to get to the school. WHOOPS! Yes, somehow, they successfully reached my husband, Dan, at work and he left and drove the 45 minutes from work and picked Danielle up before I even THOUGHT about my phone. (#worstmomever) 

I call my husband and can’t reach him. Yes, I recognize the irony. I am beyond frantic. I call again. He picks up. Yes, they are both at home. No, she doesn’t want to go to the doctor’s office. Yes, he gave her some fever reliever and she is laying on the couch. No, he can’t talk because he is on a teleconference with work. Yes, I can finish my errands since he is already at home. 

On the plus side, I got my errands checked off the list. On the not-so-plus side, we ended up taking her to Urgent Care around dinner time and she tested positive for strep throat. So, the next day all errands were cancelled and it was all about Danielle. We hung out on the couch and watched some Christmas shows together. It wasn’t on my checklist, but it was a day that I enjoyed.

I can prepare for the expected, but how prepared am I for the unexpected? Isn’t it just as important to approach the unexpected with as much joy as we prepare for the expected? I encourage you this season to prepare yourself for the unexpected; for things to not go as planned or for other things to pop up unexpectedly. Be prepared for the unexpected and take a moment this Christmas season to find the wonder, hope, and kindness.

Better moms make a better world,

Christy Molnar

Area 20 Information & Update 

• Area 20 Welcomes new Ministry Coach Angela Marshall

Angela Marshall, from Vicksburg, Mississippi has answered the call and joined the Area 20 MVS Team! She has begun her training as a Ministry Coach and we are so grateful to have her with us!

•  Area 20 Community Coach Christina Copeland Retires

Christina Copeland has also answered God’s call and stepped down from our Area 20 Team. It was a bittersweet moment for our Team, but she continues to serve on her local MOPS Leadership Team and holds MOPS close to her heart.

• Area 20 MOPS Leaders Facebook Page

Join our Closed Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/Area20MOPS/

and join in the discussion, contests, and prayer requests. The more you participate, the more chances you will have to win a prize because we LOVE to give away prizes on our Facebook page. For the month of December there is Coach contest. All you have to do is post a picture from your December meeting and tag your Coach. One lucky Coach will win a gift card & be given a second gift card to give away to one of their Leaders. That Leader could be you! Post today!!

• MOPS Kindness Challenge

One ripple of kindness has the ability to change the world. Get all of your friends and family involved in the Starry Eyed movement by sharing www.wearethestarryeyed.com! They can print off their own letters to spread kindness and start to change the world! #wearethestarryeyed.

• Area 20 continues to grow and we need more Coaches! Have you been called to take the next step?

We believe you are meant to be here. We believe that sometimes, the best opportunities require a leap of faith, a step into the unknown, and a reliance on the women around you – the women who are welcoming you with open arms into the sisterhood of MOPS Coaches.

If you'd like to know more, just let your Coach know!

• Ladies Conference “First Things First – Savannah GA

Ladies Conference "First Things First" February 25th, 8am-2:30pm at First Baptist Church of the Islands in Savannah, Georgia

$25 Early Bird Registration is available from December 1st-January 15th.

Speaker: Joan Ray
Joan has served as Ministry Assistant at FBCI for eleven years. She teaches a Ladies Bible Study and has a desire to help ladies understand the love God has for them. For information on Joan’s Ministry, visit www.firstthingsfirst633.com
Our Goal for this Conference:
To give you practical tools and resources to help you live the life that God intended for you by putting “First Things First!”

https://www.facebook.com/events/1781554232095227/?ti=icl 

 

MOPS International Announcements

·  December MOPS Membership Special 

We think mom friends are the best friends. That’s why this holiday season, we’re helping give the gift of friendship to moms who are not already a part of MOPS. It’s easy, just visit mops.org/memberoffer during the month of December and enter the code friends16 to give a year’s Membership for only $20! Cheers to new friends in the new year! 

·  MOPS International Make a Donation

MOPS changes lives (don’t you agree?)! In the next five years, we are dedicated to reaching one million moms, but we need your help to do so. This Christmas, help us reach more moms by donating at www.mops.org/christmas. Thank you for everything that you do Leader!

·  Coach Coffee ~ "Lunch & Learn"

The second in MOPS International 4-part series is coming January 9^th at 1 pm EST/ 12 pm CST

Communication, What’s your love language? Did you know there are many types of communication and we each have a preference or "love language"?   We want to help you learn what your communication love language is and how to also work with those who have a different one than you. Join us for a discussion as we talk about communication from a Coach’s perspective.   The link to register is: MOPS Event Registration

Prayers & Praises

●Prayers for all of you as you, your families and your Leadership Teams & Groups navigate through the Christmas season. Take time to find the Wonder, Hope & Kindness and spread it to all!

●Prayers as MOPS continues to go through many transitions and for our one million mom’s movement.

●Pray for our Area 20 MOPS Leaders!

●Pray for our Area 20 MVS Team as we strive to encourage and equip the leaders in our communities, continue to welcome our new Coaches, and hope that more MOPS Leaders will answer God’s call to be a part of our team.

●Continue to keep our Louisiana leaders in your prayers as they still deal with the after effects of the flooding. Keep our Georgia leaders in your prayers as deal with the after effects of hurricane Matthew.