MOPS Meeting October 23, 2014

Fall is in the air and beauty abounds! I've gone from taking overly exhaustive notes to too cryptic that it says nothing. Bear with me...sleep deprivation is affecting my note taking skills!

Jennifer Coon announced that we have an opportunity to participate in blessing families in need this Christmas season by putting boxes together filled with goodies - clothes, toys, and other small items. Each table will select a gender and age group and put together a box, along with $1 per person per table to help with shipping costs. More will be coming from our table leaders on that, so stay tuned!

We now have a Pinterest page so that we can share recipes, etc! Here is the link: http://www.pinterest.com/amy_vesser/mopsfbc-cville-va/

Greenfield Farm in Ruckersville Mommy-and-Me outing has been re-scheduled for this Thursday, October 30th! From 10am-noon, bring your little one for a fun Fall outing with a pumpkins, corn maze, hayrides, and friends. The cost is $6/person and free for kids under 2. Plan to bring a snack and picnic lunch. If the weather does not cooperate, Laurie will notify us.

Mentor Mom Darla Rose shared her heartfelt testimony with us of her life of prayer and faith. She reminded us of the power of prayer through the challenges of life, and even shared a poem with us that her son wrote her when she was going through a tough time. What an encouragement to see that the seeds we sow into our children now will grow into a great harvest of good fruit one day! One of her favorite verses that has always encouraged her is Mark 11:23: "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him." Amen!

Melissa Walsh then shared her fun, genuine, but powerful journey of life as a military wife and mom. When her husband deployed for 15 months when her children were young, she said that some days felt like survival was the goal. She learned so much wisdom in that time and encouraged us to find those in that situation now and give, especially since there are so many military wives in our midst, or moms whose husbands either travel heavily or work long hours. That could look like making a meal and bringing it over, having that kind of mom over (that way she doesn't have to clean her kitchen!), praying for her, and asking if you can help. She encouraged us that when we ask that kind of mom if we can help and she says "no," to not take "no" for an answer -- find something you can do to help her and just do it! Tell her you are coming over for a moms' night in and go to her house one night after the kids are down and just hang out, watch a movie, eat chocolate, etc! Thanks for sharing your story, Melissa!