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.


this year is the year to say yes.

Have you ever gotten to the end of a week, month or year and thought, “How did I get here? Where has the time gone?” It happens in our parenting, friendships, marriage and work - we get caught up in the urgent demands of the day-to-day, and then years go by, and we realize we haven’t been making the small choices that will get us where we actually wanted to be. So this is the year to make some moves!


It’s amazing how one little word can change your life. But too often, our ‘yeses’ are reserved for default decisions we aren’t even intentionally making or the stuff we feel obligated to do. What if we started saying ‘yes’ to the important things? Yes, to parenting on purpose. Yes, to significant challenges and out-of-your-comfort-zone opportunities. Yes, to your marriage. Invitations to connect with others? Yes, please. Saying yes opens us up to new ways of thinking and helps cultivate a growth mindset. To clarify, we’re not talking about people-pleasing or over-extending yourself. In fact, it’s the opposite. Developing a ‘yes’ mindset is living intentionally, focused on your goals for yourself and your family. It’s about listening to God’s still, small voice and doing the brave things rather than the easy things.


Now is your opportunity to develop a spirit of adventure and make new memories. Now is your chance to invite your kids along for the thrill that comes with doing hard things. You are wildly capable. Get uncomfortable. Persevere and say yes to the next small brave step God asks you to take.


Saying yes means we will...





befriend discomfort

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.

be easily delighted.

He brought me out into a spacious place. He rescued me

because He delighted in me. (Psalm 18:19 NIV)


It’s been said that if you just went to the supermarket and experienced it fully without the goggles of habit and categories, you would go crazy with pure joy and astonishment. We are declaring this our year of delight. Can you believe how beautiful the world is and how delicious food can taste? How kind people are? It’s all so good. Yet sometimes, fun is the first thing to go between parenting, paying bills, and worrying about doing things right. All of that changes this year. Because God delights in us, we will delight in the life we’ve been given. We’ll exude passion. We’ll learn to love what must be done and be captivated by the smell of our kids’ hair and our husband’s glances across the room. It’s all decadent when we stop and really notice. God, help us be easily delighted with the small things because the small things are the big things.

be here now.

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.

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 mops@lh.today