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Panel Discussion Questions

Our February MOPS meeting will consist of a "Love" Panel.  We will have several guests to answer our questions and to get us thinking about different types of Love.  Below are the different topics that our "Love" Panel will be focusing on.  In the MomSense book, Chapter 11:  Sense of Love (page 123) coincides with this topic.  We need your help with questions for our panelists.   Feel free to post your questions here or email your DGL or email Ann Marie, bamm04@gmail.com

Different Types of Love:
Mother Love- intense love, instinctual love, unconditional love.  Included in this is "Boundless Love" found on pages 130-131 in your MomSense Book.  Ellie, our mentor, will be taking questions on this topic.

Fearless Love-  Fear can often surge into our lives and take hold of our sense of calm.  Be sensible, not fearful.  "Fear triggers anxiety, worry, fright, paranois, horror and dread.  If we're fearful moms we will raise fearful, timid children." (pg 127-129)

Marriage Building- Questions on how to live out God's word in your marriage?  How to reconnect while the kids are toddlers?  How does a healthy marriage look?  Ask your questions- Ron Perry, COS Associate Pastor of Marriage will be on the panel to answer your questions.

Sibling Love-  Siblings can show love to one another through hugs, smiles, and words....but sometimes, our little angels become frustrated with one another and don't act out of love.  How do we create an environment in which our children will love one another?

Loving Ourselves-  We, as moms, live sacrificially giving to our families constantly.  We need to make sure we are attentive to our needs, as well. (pg. 131-132)

**** Please have your questions into your DGL or to Ann Marie, bamm04@gmail.com, by Friday, January 27th.  ****

 

We will keep all questions anonymous as we hand them over to our panelists.  We want to give our panelists ample time for preparation before our February 2nd Meeting.

January's Craft

Picture  from Willow House online catalog

Contain the Mess Folders

Each mom chooses 4 file folders.

Option 1:

Label folders accordingly:

• To File                 

• To Act/Do 

• To Read     

•  Grocery Coupons (adhere Master Shopping List to front, or simply place inside folder for easy use when writing up your list.

Explanation: Everyone has a “hotspot” in their house- a place to drop the mail or school papers when they first walk in the door.  Relieve this pile-up by putting your “stuff” right into the “To File” folder. Then, when you get a few minutes, quickly go through that folder and sort it out into “To Act” (RSVP to invites, pay bills, respond to school, sign tests, etc.), “To Read” (Community Newsletter, MomSense Magazine, Letter from your BFF), or “Grocery Coupons” (I don’t include coupons that are not for groceries or household items, ie. Bed Bath & Beyond, Carter’s, PotteryBarn, etc.)

Option 2:

Suggested uses for folders (Label as you like):

• Mail (In & Out)
• Recipes
• Coupons
• Children’s papers (perhaps one folder for each child)
• To Go File (magazine articles you’ve collected to read during wait times at doctor’s offices, DMV, or other “down time” moments
• Prayer Praises & Request

NEXT Meeting-January 5, 2012

Our speaker for our next meeting is Ann Bacon Spooner.  She will be talking with us about making sensible decisions in addition to what it means to be a "Super mom".  Ann's full bio can be viewed via The Peacemaker Center.

 

We're excited to hear from Ann...and hope to see you all at our first meeting in 2012! 

Advent Calendar

For a tutorial on how to make this Advent Calendar- Click Here!

For this and other Advent Calendar Ideas Click Here- All Things Beautiful

Ideas for how to use an advent calendar-

For each day, read part of the Christmas story from the book of Luke.  Here is a link to coloring pages that will make a book at the end of the 25 days.

**We'd love to know what you used last year...please send in your ideas to jennifer.l.kring@gmail.com and I will post them here so others can use them!**

Gifts From the Kitchen: Rise and Shine!

We had a GREAT night!  Thank you to all the 40 ladies who came out to make this evening enjoyable.  Also, a HUGE thank you to the team of ladies who worked so hard at putting it all together!

 

Self-Control

At our November meeting we heard from Courtney Gifford on Self-control. Courtney shared meaningful words, comical "mom" stories, and guided us to learn how to take control of our behaviors and attitudes.  Courtney shared she used to be very involved in MOPS and really enjoyed her time at MOPS.  She is a mom to 3 kids and before that was a school counselor. She shared the role of being a mom is the hardest job she have ever had.  

Courtney felt led to speak on self control because it is something she struggled with as a mom for many years. She has had lots of practice in trying to work on personal self-control and modeling and teaching it to her kids.  Below you will find her outline with helpful advise.

Self Control- the Definition: the ability to exercise restraint or control over one's feelings, emotions, reactions.  Self-control is the discipline of delaying impulse or gratification for a greater purpose.

We are all tempted by different things.  

No one in this room is perfect.  NO ONE!!  No one is the perfect mom or has the perfect child.   In order to develop self-control, we must first be honest with ourselves about our weakness.  We need to admit them to ourselves, each other and God before we can deal with them.   For example, Courtney shared:

            A.  I have always been a very emotional person. 

            B.  Didn't realize how angry I could get until after I was married and then                  had kids. 

            C.  Tone of voice-loud and critical is something I struggle with.

Think about your weaknesses so you can come up with tools to try to help.

Spend 10 minutes talking around your table about what it means to have self-control as a mom and give examples of ways you can do this? Some examples are:

            A.  body language

            B.  Mommy time out-hide in bathroom

            C.  Scripture memory 

Courtney shared that one of the things that has helped her tremendously is to know what she struggles with, so she can take her struggles to God and ask HIM to help her overcome them.  There are practical tools that we can use to have self-control but the power to change comes from the holy spirit. 
II Corinthians 12:6-9.  

There are a number of Bible verses that talk about temptation and struggles.  The Bible talks about how Jesus Himself was tempted. 

            A. I Corinthians 10:13 talks about how God will always give us a way out of our                           temptation.

            B. Phil. 4:13-I can do all things thru Christ who gives me strength

            C. Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,                                   goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control...

Ways we can teach our kids to have self-control. 

Q:  What are some ways that you teach self-control to your kids?

            A.  Practice

            B.  Reward positive actions

            C.  Consequences-What would be a better choice?

            D.  Talk about self-regulation-be aware of emotions, anger, self-talk

We all make mistakes regularly.  We all mess up so instead of letting that ruin our day and feel mom guilt, we can give everything over to God and ask Him to take our raw gooey eggs and make a yummy breakfast.

            A.  Whole Eggs-our psyche as a mom, our kids psyche

            B.  Broken Eggs-What happens when we lose self-control

            C. Scrambled Eggs-What God can do with our mistakes

                        1.  Be transparent with other moms-we all struggle with this

                        2.  God can change us through our brokenness

                        3.  Ask for forgiveness to your kids.  Great model of humility