Sunday, November 9, 2014

November 7th Friday November 7th was another perfect morning. Our MOPS meeting was full of friends,companionship, a large variety of delicious foods, and great discussion. All the "business" items were taken care of at the start: open leadership positions for next year, book club announcements, birthdays and anniversaries among the many. I hope God in his comfy chair ready to listen to the MANY prayer requests going up from our group at St. Colette's this morning. MOPS is a group which encourages reaching out, supporting and "Being the Change." Our group is doing just that in so many ways in the upcoming months. On November 21st - Food Drive: we are asking our members to donate non-perishables to the Northville Civic Concern. It's our hope that our group will feed many hungry mouths this holiday season. On December 7th - Toy Drive: As part of the Avent Giving Tree Project, we are collecting new toys for children living in poverty stricken Detroit Parishes. We're looking for toys for any age and any gender. On December 14 - Wish List: Tree Tags will be available at the November 21st meeting. This Project will be collecting wish list items, usually baby related, for the Lennon Center in Dearborn. The Lennon Center helps support single, young pregnant women. On December 19th - PB&J Shoe Boxes: We will be collecting shoe boxes and filling them with items for Detroit's homeless. Members are asked to bring various items such as toiletries and washcloths to the meeting. The table change banks will go towards this project for November and December. During the meeting, all the moms managed to eat a hot meal and discuss their Highs and Lows of the last two weeks. We celebrated the highs and commiserated with the lows. We've all been there at one time or another, right? The rest of the meeting was full of fun and interaction through "Mom Bingo" and a Rotating Discussion Group. During Mom Bingo, we all went around the room, introducing ourselves and signing our names in the appropriate boxes on other mom's boards. Mom's shared some laughter and encouraging words while finding out that a mom "is more than a year behind with one of her children's scrapbooks (ehm, 5 years behind on one of mine... never started the other two, Yikes!) or "ate fast food in the last 24 hours" or "is in the process of potty training". There were some others listed that were celebrating successes too. "Made all the beds this morning". "Loves to eat chocolate" (can I get an Amen?). "Had a play date with someone this week". And it was Bingo after all, so Moms were trying to get 5 names in a row and yell "I LOVE MOPS". There were a few winners and the game changed to get a full board. Moms were rushing all over trying to find that last one... "Has a date night scheduled with one of her kids". Personally, I am going to get right on that! Our Rotating Discussion Group was great too. Tables split off and rotated to neighboring tables to discuss three questions. Discussions were great! "When was the last time you were asked what you did for a living? How did you answer?" "The tangible paycheck of your work is low. How else are you rewarded by motherhood?" "What is one thing you can do today to embrace your vocation as a mom?" What are your thoughts? If you're interested in MOPS, come check us out on November 21st at St. Colette on Newburgh and 6 Mile. We'd love to have you! Meredith Silick,