Be Prepared and Stay Healthy!

We had our third meeting of the year yesterday.  We started out with some very yummy food and great fellowship.  Then we did our standard announcements, devotion, and mom of the day.  Then due to our speaker's schedule, we jumped to small group time.  During small group, the time was split between prayer requests (and praying) and talking about the upcoming craft fair.  The craft fair is our only fundraiser, so it takes as many hands on deck as possible to make it a success! 

Our speaker for the day was a nurse with First Choice .  She talked to us about the things we can do to help stay healthy even during the respiratory virus season that is upon us.  She also talked about nutrition and CPR for adults, children, and infants.  There was even time to try out CPR on dummies as well as look at a mini defibrillator system she brought. 

Key Announcments:
October Playdates - Tuesday the 22nd we will be going ot a pumpkin patch (Rio Grande, Wagner, or Galloping Grace).  Tuesday the 29th will be small group play dates.
Craft Fair - Set up on November 1, and the actual fair is November 2 from 9am-3pm.  See your small group leader or Michelle for more information.

And more about the devotion:
Rebecca shared with us about her mission trip to Central Asia just after college.  She shared who Satan was making her doubt her affectiveness there, making her feel like a failure to God, herself, and those that had supported her.  And then right near the end of the trip, she was able to share the Gospel with her only native friend and her sister.  These two had been praying for someone to come share Christ with them for years.  They remember a missionary couple having dinner with them once as children and the special relationship they seemed to have with God.  Her trip wasn't a failure; God was just waiting for His perfect timing.  We need to remember that was may look like a mess to us in the moment will look different later. 

Take Those Pictures!

Today we were blessed to have professional photographer Mark Holm as our speaker.  He is a father of three grown children and worked many years as a newspaper photographer and photo editor.  Now he is a free-lance photographer.
While he showed us an amazing gallery of photos he took, primarily of his children, he shared some great tips for all of us:

• Just take the pictures!  They tell a story, even if they aren't "perfect."
• Don't "train" your kids to say "Cheese."  It is better to get the real-life stories and pictures most of the time.
• Flash often takes away the real life aspect of the photo.  So, if possible, don't use it.  Instead, hold the camera still and use the natural light.
• Don't be afraid to break the rules.  Some times you can get cool shots breaking rules like taking a photo into the sun.
• Look at the lighting around you.  Look for warm and cool tones, and use those to your benefit.  If you need to, use the + and = keys on your camera to change the exposure to fully play up the natural lighting.
• Once you have your pictures taken, keep them sorted in a method that makes sense to you. 

Thank you Mark for sharing your photography and advice with us!


The announcements for today were:

• Small group play dates next week (September 24)
• Craft Fair - We will need help setting up on Friday, November 1, tearing down Saturday, November 2, and with the bake sale.  Also, your small group will be working on a raffle basket, so see your discussion group leader for more information on that.
• Moms' Night Out - September 27 from 7-9pm at Flying Star
• Bible study Thursday mornings at Grace Church.

Our next meeting is October 1.  We will have a speaker on first aide and CPR!

First Meeting a Success!

We had our first meeting of the 2013-2014 year today, and I think it was a success!  Although things didn't go exactly as scheduled, we pray all of the new moms had a great time of fellowship and are ready for our next meeting in two weeks.  Here is a review of what we did during our first meeting:

We started off with prayer, food, and fellowship.  Then we did the devotion.  The theme verse for the year is Ephesians 2:10.  We are all God's workmanship - a masterpiece in His eyes.  Although things aren't always neat and clean looking, we are God's artwork, and we need to remember this.

After the devotion, we did mom of the day (a cute necklace and book) and then introduced the steering team, mentor moms, and discussion group leaders. Next up was craft and more fellowship!  the craft was making shrinky-dink name tags for this year.  Here is sample:

We will have everything again next week for those moms that couldn't make it today.  After the name tags were done, we announced the small groups and spent a little bit of time getting to know the moms in our groups.  This year, the groups are split as best as possible based off of where everyone lives, making play dates easier to coordinate.

As for announcements, here are the important ones:

1. The first play date will be Sept 24.  This will be a small group play date, so see your small group leader for more information.
2. Save the Date!  November 1 is our craft fair set-up, and November 2 is our actual craft fair.  More information about what we need help with will be announced at the next meeting.
3. We could use help with child care at our steering team meetings.  These are the second Tuesday of each month.  You can bring your own kids with you, and you will receive two free meeting for helping us!  And if you don't want to use those free meetings, you can donate them to another mom.
4. Next meeting is September 17!  We will have a photographer coming to share information about taking photos as well as preparing for professional photos.

Registration and First Meeting!

We are still finalizing the registration packet for 2013.  But, we will post the forms to fill out (MOPS registration form and MOPPETS information) soon.  But, while you wait for those documents to be ready, you can fill out our short form to help us plan for the year.  Filling out the short form doesn't commit you to anything.  But, it helps us ensure we have enough workers and crafts for everyone!

Our first meeting will be September 3, 2013 from 9:00-11:30am at Grace Church.  If you have any questions, just email us at our new email addres - mopsatgraceabq_at_gmail.com!

MOPS National Play Date!

We will be meeting at Loma del Norte Park from 9am-11:30am on Thursday, August 15.  Loma del Norte Park is right around the corner from Grace Church - between Lousiana and Wyoming.  From Louisiana, you can access the park by turning on Coulson.  From Wyoming, turn onto Loma del Norte.  We hope to see a lot of moms there!

Getting Ready for the New Year!

Ready for Summer?

Although our meetings are over for the 2012-2013 school year, we have lots of fun planned for the summer!  We have park play dates, filed trips to the zoo, botanical gardens, and Explora, and other fun events.  If you are interested in joining us for some of this fun, email us at mopsatgracechurch at yahoo.com.  We would be more than happy to email you out our schedule so we can meet you.

And how did we celebrate our last meeting of the year right before Mother's Day?  We had a wonderful spa day!  We had chair massages, facial and make up lessons, a do-it-yourself manicure and pedicure station, crafts, and wonderful food!  And for course there was fellowship with other moms, which can be so refreshing!

The steering team is already getting ready for the next year as well.  The MOPS theme is:

 

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

 

If you have any ideas for things our group can do next year, please comment here, in our Facebook group, or email them to us!

 

Have a great summer everyone!