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.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4 NIV)

You have this one life. How do you want to spend it? Regretting the things you didn’t do? Avoiding potentially awkward situations? Hating your body? What if the way forward is to befriend discomfort? Discomfort is a life hack that can improve every area of our lives. Tackling challenging things helps us become more rooted- we start to feel less fragile and less stressed. Don’t wait until you feel ‘ready’ or qualified or when all the details come together perfectly. Now is your opportunity to develop a spirit of adventure and make new memories. Open your hands to release old dreams and receive new ones, or take the brave first step to get help. Now is your chance to invite your kids along for the thrill that comes with doing hard things. You are wildly capable. Grow your capacity to endure. Show absurd courage. Get uncomfortable. Persevere and say yes to the next small brave step God asks you to take.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Matthew 6:26-27 NIV

This is the year to uproot our anxiety, worry and hurry. Hustle culture tells us that it’s all up to us. But spacious living reminds us that God’s got us, and a deeply formed life starts with courageous faith. This year we will remember that our direction is more important than our speed. We will stay inside our commitments and thrive within our constraints. Our longing for control will be replaced with a humble surrender to the fact we don’t have to death-grip every possible outcome. We will choose integrity over image and people over pressure. We won’t let worry rob us of time. Instead, this is the season of trusting that God is providing for our every need, and that means we can tend to the home, kids, marriage, friendships, neighborhood, and work that God has given us and have the time of our lives doing it.

This year, we are going to come together as friends and show the world the remarkable things that God can do. As we do, may you find sisters who will help you do what feels impossible. May you find boldness in your purpose and comfort in being known. May you find ease in dealing with people who would normally annoy or offend you. May you find yourself at home in any room you enter. And may you say yes to the new things God wants to do in your life.