[Author’s Note: The “MOPS email intros” series commences here and is further developed here.]
You know, I was hopeful at the beginning of this month that I might actually get around to posting an original piece.
No such luck. Between various illnesses and medical intake forms and kindergarten enrollment stuff, February has been one for the books — and it’s not over yet. (Bo developed a 102.7ºF fever this morning.) I simply couldn’t pull together a well-crafted story by the end of this short month.
Thus, I’m once again submitting an installment of compiled MOPS email intros.
Let me be clear: I’m not proud of this post… but I am proud that, at the very least, I’m posting it before the final day of February.
Fall 2022
September 4
Congratulations — we’ve made it! The older kids are back in school; Splash has closed for the season; and our white clothes are stored away for next Memorial Day. (Just kidding. I wear white year-round.) And all of that means… it’s time for a new year of MOPS!
Our theme this year is “We Go Together”, which is exemplified by the story of the paralyzed man and his four friends, as presented in Luke 5:17-26 or Mark 2:1-12. That man wanted to be healed — but without help, he had no hope of making it happen. He needed his friends to rally around him, to [literally] support him, and to brainstorm creative solutions for the situation at hand.
Spoiler alert: it worked! What he couldn’t do alone, his friends achieved together. They brought him to Jesus, who met both his spiritual and physical needs.
So, this year, let’s seek to live in the same way: together!
September 18
Our first indoor meeting of the year is this Tuesday, September 20th — and we are so excited to get this year underway! God has repeatedly shown that He can and will provide a way for our group to survive and flourish, even in the midst of adversity! We are confident that this year will be no exception.
If anything, it seems like God’s plans for us are even bigger and better than we had expected! This year, we have new MOPS Mamas, new Leaders, new Mentor Moms, and especially new kiddos. But, even with all our new additions, we still have the same mission: to love one another sincerely, courageously, and selflessly — laboring by the power of God, which works in us mightily (Colossians 1:29).
September 23
It was so wonderful to see you all on Tuesday — familiar faces and new faces alike! We look forward to more conversations, more hugs, and more laughter as the year continues! By the grace of God, our community will continue to grow deeper and stronger, so that we may “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).
One way to strengthen our community is to ensure that each member is involved in the “inner workings” of MOPS. For some of us, that means mixing up a delicious thieves-based all-purpose cleaner (<ahem> our coordinator <ahem>); for others, it means populating the Free Table with enough to fill a small house (<ahem> our co-coordinator <ahem>). For all of us, though, being part of MOPS means bringing food!
October 2
This is the third time that I’ve written this email’s introduction. I accidentally deleted the first draft, and my faulty internet connection failed to save the second. So, third time’s the charm, right?
I’m not gonna lie: redoing this task is pretty discouraging. I want a good return for my labor, the first time around… but that’s not always how life works! Sometimes, it takes weeks or months or even years of toil before we see the results. Thankfully, though, we are promised that “in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).
So, let us not give up in our pursuit of doing good! One day, we will reap the fruit of our labor. 😊
October 15
I am writing this email from a Hilton in Madison, Wisconsin — which, tonight, will host the wedding of one of my extended-family-members-in-law.
Well, it’s actually not his wedding, per se: it’s his vow renewal, since he and his wife legally wed in a tiny ceremony last summer. As one of many extended family members, my husband and I were *not* invited — and yet, we considered attending anyway, to show up for a family whom we love.
For months, we weighed two competing factors: the benefit of seeing our extended family, versus the cost of flying out to Wisconsin for what was essentially a pricey prank… especially since the bride didn’t seem to want wedding crashers. Jesus may have been the ultimate wedding guest (John 2:10), but we certainly are not.
We eventually decided to skip the wedding and stay in Colorado instead. Thus, we were shocked and saddened to find out that, the day of the wedding, the entire family was disappointed at our absence — even the bride and groom! In short: they had actually wanted us to crash their wedding.
I guess the moral of the story is this: if you think you should go to a wedding, do it — even if you’re not invited.
(…Maybe.)
October 26
Happy Wednesday — an unusual day for an email! Today was also unusual for me in a different way — totally unexpectedly, two of my good friends brought me flowers. 😊 I was flattered, and even slightly embarrassed — but also, very pleased.
You see, I have a deep appreciation for flowers. (And if you ever watch this YouTube channel, you will too.) I love carnations; I love dahlias; I even love mums. But, more than that, I loooooove eucalyptus. It’s easily my favorite greenery — and to my delight, it appeared in both of today’s surprise bouquets.
Eucalyptus is delightful for its many varieties and delicate grey-green color, but I love it most for its distinctive scent. Every time I walk through my kitchen, I’m soothed by the familiar smell. As silly as it sounds, it reminds me that Christians, too, have a distinctive scent: “the fragrance of Christ… an aroma of life leading to life” (2 Corinthians 2:16-17).
A scent which, it goes without saying, is even better than that of eucalyptus. 😉
October 30
Happy Halloweekend! My family is on Day 2 of our celebrations; for us, Halloween started last night, at Storyline’s Trunk-or-Treat. (Cue long and involved introductory story.)
My older kids still remember last year’s Trunk-or-Treat — which guaranteed that, this year, the event was once again on our calendar. What wasn’t guaranteed, though, was our level of involvement. In years past, we’ve only ever been consumers — but this year, we were determined to be contributors, too.
However, there was one major problem. Every time Trunk-or-Treat was discussed, our church leadership emphasized the need for trunks. (Hard to have a trunk-or-treat without willing and festive trunks!) And even though I wanted to help, I knew that decorating a trunk would push my family past our capacity.
I considered what else we could provide, and eventually, I decided that I could offer to paint faces. I purchase facepaint and practiced on my kids before I finally worked up the nerve to propose my idea. Thus, when I went on the website to find a point-of-contact, I was surprised to find a list of volunteer roles — and unfilled on that list was “Face Painter”!
In short: the event needed me — not for the skills that I don’t have, but for those that I do.
…which just goes to show that sometimes, you might think that your skillset isn’t wanted — but in reality, it’s exactly what’s needed. ♥️
November 10
This may come as little surprise, but I’ve found that having three kids complicates my writing process. Accordingly, most of these MOPS emails are drafted late at night, after my big kids are asleep — and often, after my baby and husband are asleep, too.
Recently, however, Thursday mornings have become a daytime oasis for creativity in the midst of otherwise chaotic weeks. (This email was started — but not finished — on one such morning.) During these times, my big kids attend BSF — but, of course, they don’t drive themselves. Rather, they attend with my personal mentor, who is the hostess of my Life Group.
Some of you have met this woman and have found her to be kind, generous, and loyal. She loaned us her mountain cabin for our Leadership Retreat and had donated substantially to our MOPS group. More than anything, though, she loves God and seeks to spread His love to others — which makes her a truly excellent mentor. In short: she (an older woman) is teaching me (a younger woman) how to live a godly life, to God’s glory (Titus 2:4-5)!
November 28
Let me tell you a story about a certain MOPS meeting, several years ago. At the time, I was only responsible for bringing myself and my one child — but even so, it was still nearly impossible to get out the door in a punctual manner. This was back when our group did an “Early Bird Drawing” at 9:15ish — and I’d say I was there for about half of those drawings.
This Tuesday, though, I was going to make it: I wouldn’t be early, but I would be *almost* on-time. Thus, it was to my surprise that I was actually the first to arrive — it was nearly 9:15, but I was alone in the parking lot! (I mean, alone except for my son — and, of course, for Jesus, who promises in Hebrews 13:5 to never leave us nor forsake us.)
But all of a sudden, I realized my mistake: MOPS doesn’t meet on fifth Tuesdays — just on first and third Tuesdays. (Alas, I hadn’t seen the reminder email that there was no meeting that week.)
So, unless you’d like to be the only one at First Baptist tomorrow morning, stay home until next week (12/6), when we will have our MOPS Christmas party! (More details to come.)
December 4
I was shocked to discover that today isn’t the first Sunday of Advent: it’s already the second! (There are four Sundays in liturgical Advent, not counting Christmas — which sometimes means that Advent actually starts in late November.)
Alas, it’s not the first time that I’ve been caught off-guard by what feels like the breakneck pace of the Christmas Season — which, actually, is why Advent is celebrated in the first place! The practice helps us to slow down and really anticipate the arrival of Christmas — to celebrate that:
Unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6)
December 15
Once upon a time, I was extraordinarily physically affectionate. I was constantly sitting right next to my friends, lavishing them with hugs and cheek kisses, and trying to hold their hands. It wasn’t romantic; it was just how I conveyed affection. My love language® was definitely “physical touch”.
But then I became best friends with a quintessential Mines engineer — and to my chagrin, he was NOT into physical affection. Like, at all. He didn’t even like handshakes — and he hated hugs.
So, I learned to accept different sorts of affection. My best friend might not hold my hand, but he’d sit in the computer lab with me. He wouldn’t kiss my cheek, but he’d tell me that my technical writing was top-notch. [Note: It wasn’t. He was flattering me.]
The crazy thing is that our years-long best-friendship actually changed my love language®, and I’m no longer a hugger. (Although, I’m totally still a hand-shaker.)
All of this is to say that our desires and predilections can change over time; we are affected both by whom we love and by who loves us.
December 19
I’m sorry that this is going out so late! I wanted to wait until we knew the carpeting situation for tomorrow — and then the kids needed lunch, and then I had a phone call, and then I needed to vacuum… you know how it goes. It’s no wonder that Saint Paul cautioned us to “redeem the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).
Anyway, the good news is that the whole lower floor of First Baptist Church is recarpeted, and it’s glorious! Much better than the old carpet — and much, much better than concrete. We were delighted to discover that we won’t have any access issues tomorrow morning — that is, we won’t need to direct people through the kitchen or take other such draconian measures. Although…
The bad news is that, while everything is accessible, not everything is put away. So be forewarned that things are a bit messy! Hopefully everyone is alright with that. (I mean, personally, it just reminds me of my own house. 🙃)
December 31
Happy New Year’s Eve!
Four years ago, we attended a NYE party up on Lookout Mountain, at the Old Y — which is now a private residence. The hostess was incredibly accommodating, allowing us the use of a secluded upstairs room as a bedroom for my baby. As new parents, we were thrilled by the chance to attend an event just for “grownups”.
There was just one problem: my son refused to sleep. Even at ten months old, his fear of missing out was so strong that he wholly refrained from bedtime… for four hours. Instead, he rang in the New Year while sitting on my hip — alert, and only a little cranky. I suddenly felt much less excited about my grownups-only event — and I was very glad that we had no plans for New Year’s Day, which was a Tuesday.
This year, we’ll instead be staying home with my son (and my daughter, and my other son) — and we actually have plans for New Year’s Day. (Belief it or not, our church is in session tomorrow!)
But one thing has stayed the same: I still don’t have Tuesday plans, because there is no MOPS meeting this week! (Jeffco schools are still closed for Christmas Break, and we go by their calendar.)
So, we will see you back in January!
[Author’s Note: This series concludes here.]