Every mom needs mops
WHAT IS MOPS?
Here at MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers), we are on a mission to celebrate motherhood!
We build circles of women who love each other like family, because raising humans is beautiful and hard, and having each other to lean on is life-giving. That’s why we connect moms all over the world to a community of women, in their own cities, who meet together to laugh, cry and embrace the journey of being a mom.
This is motherhood, and together we can change the world in all the best ways.
momsnext
When we’re past the diaper years and sleeping through the night … When we’re meeting more emotional needs than physical ones … When we’re caught between our children needing us and not … it’s time for MOMSnext.
MOMSnext is a community of moms with kids past the preschool years. It is a division of MOPS International but is meant to meet the needs of the mother of school-aged children. Each local group will tend toward a general age-range of kids from early elementary school through high school. The larger questions that should be addressed in these groups are: What’s your next? And how does God play a part in it?
Unlike MOPS groups where moms are newly in the throes of motherhood, MOMSnext moms are in the rhythm of parenting. However as their children grow, they are encountering new and specific parenting challenges. Despite the overload of information accessible to them, moms do not know where they should turn to get answers. They also have a new ability to lift their heads and see the broader world around them. They are in a phase of personal growth where they may have more freedom to pursue professional or personal interests now that their kids are older.
MOMSnext will shape you, ground you, teach you and encourage you. MOMSnext moms are going to be leading PTAs, starting groups, serving in churches, praying for schools, connecting with the community. They are entering a time of life where God wants them to thrive. It’s time for them to look up and see their bright future. Our hope is that MOMSnext will help moms hear God’s voice and look ahead together.
Please let our leaders know if your youngest child is now in Kindergarten or older. We have a special table just for you full of moms in the same season of life! MOMSnext meets at the exact same time as MOPS.
all for love.
LOVE IS PATIENT AND KIND; LOVE DOES NOT ENVY OR BOAST; IT IS NOT ARROGANT OR RUDE. IT DOES NOT INSIST ON ITS OWN WAY; IT IS NOT IRRITABLE OR RESENTFUL; IT DOES NOT REJOICE AT WRONGDOING, BUT REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH. LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS, BELIEVES ALL THINGS, HOPES ALL THINGS, ENDURES ALL THINGS.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7 (ESV)
After a year spent hunkering down, living smaller, and experiencing a little more fear and anxiety than usual, we are declaring this is the year of going big. It's a year of fresh starts and turning ordinary experiences into extraordinary ones. Enthusiasm will replace worry. Friendship will replace loneliness. No longer will we wait to “get back to normal”; instead, we will start making space for the new things God has for us. We will become less guarded and more daring because this is our year to live All For Love.
Love is the most powerful force on the planet, and yet the concept almost seems cliché. We tell somebody we love them, and in the same breath we talk about how much we love a new podcast. Perhaps we've become so accustomed to the word that we've forgotten how revolutionary it is, how God's love changes everything. It is life-altering, curse-lifting and, as shown in Christ's resurrection, quite literally death-conquering.
This year we embrace the transformative power of love, to the point where it starts to affect everything we do—the way we talk to our kids, interact with strangers, handle disappointments, celebrate victories, make decisions. When love floods into our lives, it all shifts. It results in less doom-scrolling, more conversation. Less comparison, more community. Less fear, more confidence. More over-the-top displays of compassion. More patience. More life in our souls. This year, love will save us. In fact, it already has, because love’s name is Jesus.
walk in power.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7
The opposite of love is fear. Fear drives so many of our thoughts and deci- sions. It is a potent emotion that causes us to do and say things that are out of alignment with who we want to be. It causes us to act in anger. Fear can make us timid and preoccupied; it might control our thoughts and keep us up at night or hold us back from forming deep friendships because we are afraid of being vulnerable. Fear keeps us stuck, but perfect love casts out fear. Here is the truth: There is nothing that can stand between you and what God has planned for you. God has given you a spirit of power, love, and self-control, and it is time to walk in this power that comes from the Holy Spirit. Love gives us the courage to exchange the intimidation of fear for an extraordinary life, full of passion and confidence to solve any problem that comes our way.
love one another.
Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39
Author Brennan Manning brilliantly wrote, "The litmus test of our love for God is our love for our neighbor." Love is sobering because it asks us to care for all people; even our enemies are made in the image of God and are worthy of dignity and respect. Loving our enemies is not an endorsement of what they do, it is an affirmation of who they are—God's beloved. And mercy triumphs over judgment. This year we will practice loving people who annoy us, offend us, or overlook us. We'll not take ourselves so seriously but instead go out of our way to do kind things for other people, especially if they don't know it was us. Even when it takes some extra energy, we will celebrate each other's victories and carry one another's burdens. We will engage other people with open hearts and go to extremes to love well because we have a God who shows us how it's done.
make love your legacy.
Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14
Your legacy is what people remember when you leave a place. Whether that place is your kid's room at bedtime, your house each morning, or this earth. It's the stories your great-great grandkids will hear about you. Here is why this is so important: Love is contagious not just from person-to-person but also from generation to generation. It might be maddening to think about "leaving a legacy" when the little ones around you demand every ounce of your energy, but sometimes it is essential to look a little farther out, decide how you want to be remembered and what matters most to you, and take small intentional steps to make it happen. It's asking the question, "If I want love to be my legacy, how do I want to live today?” It doesn't have to be anything big; in fact, it usually starts in small ways. Clean up your home in love. Prepare dinner in love. Do your work in love. Play with LEGOs in love. Doing everything in love becomes a little more challenging with the harder aspects of daily life: Move through a traffic jam in love. Strongly disagree with someone in love. Discipline your kids in love, resolve conflict in love, engage in social media in love.
These small moments ... This is where legacy is born.
want to join mops?
We are all in this TOGETHER! Joining MOPS helps make motherhood a little easier and a lot more fun!
If interested in joining or have questions, email clermontmops@gmail.com
