Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. That's what I began to teach my now 9 year-old son, Lucas, when he was just 3 years-old. I saw that sometimes his little heart would seem fearful...so, I was set to be proactive about the young man I saw him growing up to become. Well, it wasn't until just a few short weeks ago that I began to see the reaping process of these years of reminding him of Joshua 1:9.
I won't go into all the details, but let's just say that because he began to hit a baseball without a tee at 3 year-old, and because he had an early love for baseball, we let him play both spring ball and summer travel once he got to Little League. This was his 3rd year... Lucas has always done fantastic in the spring, but would crumble in the face of greater competition in the summer. Every summer my mommy heart threatened to crumble along with his. He decided he wanted to continue, regardless, because he loves the sport and enjoys the time with his friends. Well, going into this 3rd summer season, we were presented with some challenges that my husband & I would not have chosen, but decided to use them to challenge our son and trust the Lord for the result.
Wouldn't you know it...after teaching him a lesson of being grateful on the field for the God-given ability to accomplish every detail (catch, throw, hit, etc.), Joshua 1:9 began to reap its reward! Lucas began to play to his potential, scoring the most RBI's in the playoff season as his team went on to win the Championship!! Two days after the big game & the trophy, he decided to let go of something that had signified security since infancy. Instead, Lucas accepted a new challenge: to learn to ask Jesus for strength to help him trust HIM with his fear.
This summer, the Lord used my son to teach me a clearer child-like picture of what it means to be strong and courageous. It's changing my perspective by remembering and honoring the Lord in everything, and letting go of what's comfortable to trust in the God I cannot see, to give me the strength to do all things. It's moments like this that confirm that, truly, He is my Isaiah 40:11 God <3
Area 24F Updates:
Happy almost end-of-summer! I hope you've all had a summer full of great memories to cherish from fun family activities, yet also sprinkled with blissful moments of rest...
A few things to keep you posted about:
- Our new BLOG! If you're getting this email, you're up on the news of this blog for our Area 24F MOPS Leaders. This is where you can find updates from MI, updates from other groups in our Community, and tips & ideas to help each other do MOPS from month to month. Please sign-up your Leadership Team members, or email them this link, so that everyone can draw from these benefits and we can all stay connected.
- Last-minute BEACH PLAYDATE ~ My kids & I are hitting the beach this Thursday morning (August 15th) and we'd like to invite you for some pre-MOPS fellowship with other local MOPS Leaders! If you're able, text or email me for the time & location.
- Community Leadership Training (CLT) ~ I have planned to host a CLT for our Area 24F on Saturday, September 27th. Please stay tuned for updates and more information...
MI (MOPS International) Updates:
- A NEW MOPS website! It has been a busy summer at MI! We are going into the 2013-2014 year of MOPS with a dramatically new website and a new weekly email format for moms & leaders. I'm excited! True, there are still bumps to get through and wrinkles to iron out, but all in all MI has done an excellent job bringing the MOPS website up to date with blogs, recipes, downloads, forums, and more, in order to help meet the needs of today's mom. If you have questions about navigating through the site, please feel free to contact me, or post your thought/question on our Area 24 Leaders' FB page. A different MOPS Leader in our Area may have already found the answer to your question!
- MOMcon is just 2 months away: October 19-20, 2013. Our special guests include: Lysa TerKeurst, Beth Moore, Ken Davis, and more! This is another opportunity to receive training and encouragement for MOPS ministry & life. See the box on the left for the link to register. IMPORTANT: all New Groups at New Churches started between January 1, 2013 and August 31, 2013 will receive on FREE registration to MOMcon 2013. If you fall into this category and can go, let me know!!
- Sponsor an International MOPS Group ~ Just a couple months ago we received news of the 1st MOPS group started in Africa!! No matter what country a mom is from, it's amazing to see that the issues of motherhood transcend national and international boundaries. Though MOPS offers free memberships to international groups, very often the needs of these moms include simple necessities that we might take for granted. If your group is interested in "adopting" an international group to help MOPS Leaders meet tangible needs, please contact me and I will direct you to the appropriate person to walk you through. This is a fantastic opportunity to reinvest the benefits that you've received as a MOPS mom :-).
Prayer Requests:
As each of your Leadership Teams gets ready to start another MOPS year, please remember to pray for the other groups in Area 24F. Pray for each Leader as she works to seek "the one" mom who needs Christ and the support of other moms, and for more churches to open their doors to a MOPS group in order to broaden their reach to more moms and families. Thank you!!
