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Welcome to the Nocona Mothers of Preschoolers Website! |
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Coordinator's Corner by Darci Woodyard Our
first MOPS meeting was so much fun and the energy was amazing!
Our steering team worked very hard to make our kick-off event a real
success. Larry Lemons taught us how to encourage creativity in our little ones
by setting up their own art stations and providing basic art tools for them.
We
were divided into small groups: Wacky Watermelons, Groovy Grapes, Awesome
Apples, and Cheerful Cherries, to go along with our theme for this year,
“Fresh Fruit: Growing
a life that matters.” We
made Fruit of the Spirit bracelets and enjoyed a baked potato dinner.
Gayle Storey brought us our Mentor Moment thought, focusing on our theme
for the evening-joy. And,
of course the highlight…the steering team’s performance of the “Fruit of
the Spirit” song to bridge the gap between moms and their little ones. We
are so excited to have all of our eager small-group discussion leaders in place-
Lauren Fuller, Nichole Hackney, Heather Nobile, and Stacie Patterson.
Besides Lauren, Nichole, and Heather, we had several new mommies joining
us this year, including Ashley Herchman, Brooke Gravely, Diana Paschall, and
TaShanna Richardson. We
are thrilled to have a new bunch of you join us and would welcome many more!
We look forward to getting to know you all! For
the month of October, we will celebrate love as our featured fruit of the
spirit, exhibited through grapes.
Our speaker will be Dale Scott as he will discuss “Significance in
Mothering” and our elders will also be present to provide a prayer blessing
onto our moms who delivered new babies in the last year.
If you fit into this category, please consider bringing your baby for the
first half of the evening (or the entire evening if you’d like) for this
special moment. Lesa has big plans for a special craft to take home for your children and Glenda will bring us our Mentor Moment. The Awesome Apples will prepare a Mexican feast and the Cheerful Cherries are the clean-up crew. Don’t forget to arrive on time so you can earn extra tickets to increase your chances for door prizes! We’ll see you for another fun-filled night next Monday at 6:00. Convention report: We heard popular Christian speakers, such as Stormie Omartian (author The Power of Praying Parent, Wife) and Rick Warren (author of The Purpose-Driven Life), enjoyed Christian singers, such as Point of Grace and Erin O’Donnell, and attended various other informative sessions. We also were able to learn from other MOPS leaders in positional sessions. We were so eager to hear every speaker that we didn’t even have time for sight-seeing! Of course, we brought back lots of ideas we will begin implementing this year and we are already making plans for our entire steering team and mentors to attend next year’s Convention at the Gaylord in Grapevine! Lessons
of a Mother by Trish Winkler My second
child, Donovan, causes more trouble than help.
I find myself so frustrated some days, that all I do is yell it seems.
On one occasion I yelled at one Cheyanna for doing the very thing I told
them to do. I look at her and see
hurt in her eyes, and I know it is something I cannot take back.
I apologize, of course, but the wound is still there.
She is permanently marked by my careless words.
Yet still
this child is so willing to do for me whatever I ask.
I can request her to do the dishes, and she will do so.
When she is done, I ask her to take out the cat litter, and she will do
so. Next, I say help me clean up the
living room, and again she does what I ask.
Cheyanna
never complains to me, never says “momma, you ask too much of me.”
She merely smiles, and continues to do as I ask.
On one particularly hectic day I had her running from here to there and
back again. She never voiced a
complaint even as the other children played.
It is difficult to get two babies to clean, and my son needs constant
supervision to get things done that it is sometimes easier to just let him play.
Hannah, my
youngest, continued to pull down the clothes Cheyanna was trying to fold on the
table. It was a great game to her.
Cheyanna finally got fed up with her that she yelled at her, much in the
same way that I yell at the children. At
first I started to yell at Cheyanna, telling her not to be mean and shout at her
sister. Then
I realized I was doing the very same thing.
Cheyanna looked at me, and said, “But mom, you wanted these clothes
folded quickly, and she won’t leave them alone!” It didn’t
hit me then, but later, I thought about it.
I expected so much from my child that I did not consider her feelings or
thoughts. That is how we are with
God, too. He does so much for us
everyday. Little things that we
hardly notice. Until something goes
wrong, or not our way, then we blow up, become angry and we may say something
that would leave a lasting hurt. Thankfully, God loves us so much that He forgives us, and continues to do as we ask so tirelessly. He never says to us, “You ask too much of me.“ He is willing to help, even after we hurt Him. He is not greedy, or selfish with his love. I feel that we must show this same willingness to love and serve in our own lives. To those around us and our families, and especially towards God, we need to be more like a servant, and less like a master. I recently read the book “The Heart of a Mother.” A very touching collection of stories of mothers who face many of the same battles we ourselves face. It gave me some thought about how I am towards God, and my family. I recommend it to all of our mothers, it is worth reading. Attention,
Ladies! Craft
Supplies Needed! Shape
sponges
Epsom salt Letter
sponges
Baking soda Tempera
Paints
Peppermint oil Girls
dress up boas
Bandannas Blue
food coloring
Rope To help with the budget for Creative Activities this year, a supply list for upcoming activities will be posted in the Grapevine. If you happen to have some of these items in your house that you would like to be rid of, or if you happen to be shopping and see a great buy on some of these items and choose to purchase them; MOPS would greatly appreciate your donation. Please contact Lesa Brown (825-6675) with any items you wish to donate. |
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MOPS (Mothers of
Preschoolers)® is a chapter of MOPS International® and is chartered
locally by Nocona Church of Christ,
300 Cooke Street
Nocona MOPS Website is maintained by the Nocona MOPS Publicity Committee, please email MOPS if you have any suggestions or comments.
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