We have NINE meetings this semester and great things in store for you! We have wonderful topics, interesting speakers, fun activities, useful crafts and as always, great fellowship!
Stay tuned each meeting for details of upcoming events, fundraisers, social gatherings and more!!
Meeting Recap - January 26, 2010
Speaker: Susie Sidwell
Susie has been a MOPS mom for the past six years. She started with MOPS when pregnant with her first child and served on the steering team for MOPS at Colorado Community Church in Aurora for four years. She loves MOPS and believes it has the power to change a mom's life! She speaks to MOPS groups on various topics, including Operation Christmas Child, the organization she worked for before becoming a mom; leadership; and how to make Jesus a bigger part of our lives.
Relationship with our Future/Leadership
What defines a leader? - a person who leads, guides, has power; a person who directs; a person who has commanding authority or influence of others; someone who has another following them. (ever played "follow the leader"?)
Are you a leader? You may say "no" but if you're a mom (parent) the answer is "yes".
As moms, don't we always have someone following us? ...to the bathroom, while we're on the phone, cooking dinner in the kitchen...you get the point. YOU ARE A LEADER!!
As a mom, being a leader isn't about how you see yourself, it's about the role you play in the lives of others. The role God chose for you!
We can choose to lead our children - the choice is, lead or not lead. But by choosing to not lead them we are choosing to lead them astray. It's about intentional parenting! Let's explore this further - what are the GOOD and BAD qualities of a leader (mom)?
Here's what our group came up with:
GOOD
took time/believe in them, listener, encouraging, flexible, compassionate, fun, forgiving, patient, challenges you, laugh at self, acknowledge when wrong, humble....ALL of these lessons speak loudly to our kids!!
BAD
negative reinforcement, micromanagement, favoritism, controlling, yells, unorganized, poor listener, poor communicator, procrastinator, places blame
So what do we do with this? Proverbs 29:18 says "Where there is no vision, the people perish." If we don't have vision, the people who will perish are the most valuable in our lives.
VISION. Where do we want to see ourselves and our children to ultimately end up? Hellen Keller was asked “What would be worse than being born blind?” She replied, “to have sight without vision.” With a vision life has direction. What you can see is what you can be. If you have "sight", you'll be a better, more effective leader. (class demonstration - blindfolded)
John Maxwell wrote of leaders: "All great leaders possess 2 things: They know where they are going, and are able to persuade others to follow."
We need to be visionary leaders - have goals that are in line with God and God's Word. God will not bless goals that are not in line with His Word.
Handout:
It's best to set goals with your spouse (if married) but respect each others parenting priorities - be flexible.
How can we be the best example? Nobody likes a hypocrite - hypocrites teach us what not to do, and most don't usually have much respect for them. How can we expect our children to learn from us if we don't set a good example? This comes on all levels - we wouldn't want our children to lie, murder, cuss, have premarital sex, etc. and we wouldn't do these things either. But what message does it send them when, for instance, we watch many of these scenarios play out on TV? Message: It's not okay for you, but its okay for me. Kids see in black and white - even subtle things, kids see! They look more at our actions than our words. This carries over to how we treat others. What kind of stereotypes/prejudice do we pass on just talking about or describing others to our children? What all this comes down to is "Active Parenting". As moms, we have anywhere from 18-26 years of active parenting to influence our children. Make the most of it!!
So what's the GREAT news in all of this? You have a team of leaders to help you - MOPS! We're all a work in progress. Every single mom is doing something right. We're all doing the best we can. What we can do is utilize this group - find other moms that do well, something we don't. Each one of these moms can add value to our lives! Don't write another mom off because she parents different than you...learn from her. Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another"
You were hired by God. Being a mom is the most important job you'll ever have. You're a leader (a mom), not by accident but because He believes in you! Don't think you have all the answers? That's okay, no body's perfect. The best place to look is in the Bible. I like to think of it as my "Mom's Handbook" - full of all of life's lessons we should follow ourselves and lead our children to follow too. We can also always turn to friends for spiritual guidance when the going gets tough.
So, step up to the challenge...You're a Leader!!
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