Java & Joy: December 13th meeting

It's hard to believe this semester is already coming to a close. We have been so blessed with an amazing group of ladies, both those who have been with us before and those who joined us for the first time this year. We are looking forward to continuing our journey to becoming starry eyed next semester and finding new ways to spread wonder, hope & kindness throughout the world.

If anyone is not able to join us next year or knows of someone who would like to start coming, please email crossroadsraleighmops@gmail.com so we can update the MOPPETS rosters. We will start the new semester on January 10, 2017, but feel free to plan some small group activities between now and then!

We want to send a big shout out to all of our small groups leaders who took the time and energy to decorate the tables for the holidays. They were all so beautiful!



For the final MOPS meeting of the year, we were excited to share a little Java & Joy. We loved getting to hear the inspiring stories of hope & joy from some of our own ladies and having the opportunity to hear some of what God is doing in our lives. We're so glad those of you were willing to share with the rest of us.

We also viewed some great videos this week, that you can find at the bottom of this post. 

As a reminder of the reason for the Christmas season, both our MOPS moms and our MOPPETS created crafts with a focus on the birth of our Savior. 

Hassell's homemade soaps was our sponsor this week. Nancy Hassell creates beautiful and wonderfully smelling soaps, plus her daughter, Kaity, is one of our MOPS moms! You can reach Nancy by email to order some soaps, which would make great Christmas gifts!


This meeting started off with some fun with a "Christmas According to Kids" video. If you missed it or want to share it with someone else, you can check it out here.

And on a more reflective note, we also viewed this video by MOPS on The Hope of Immanuel.

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2 - The Hope of Immanuel (MOMcon2016) from MOPS International on Vimeo. 

We look forward to seeing you next year! Karen C, Karin S & Lacinda's groups will be bringing brunch. Please sign up here.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Striving for perfection?: November 29th meeting

Leigh Sawtelle told us it is okay to NOT be perfect. Society tries to tell us how to parent our children and what milestones they should be meeting, but this is unnecessary pressure we put on ourselves. You are not expected to be Wonder Woman. You are expected to be YOU. If you take away the titles of mother and wife, then who are you? 

To survive motherhood you need to stay in tune with your authentic self. Find time during to week just to be you: Read books, play music, draw... whatever desire is living within you. Remember that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14).

She encouraged us to answer these questions:

• Who are you? If you laid down all of the hats you wear and your super hero cape, who are you?
• What is your biggest fear?
• Do you like yourself? What would you change if you could?

Strive for progress, not perfection. • Proverbs 31 is a process.

Leigh specializes in counseling and life coaching for couples, families in crisis, PTSD, behavior management and Aspergers in adults. 

Announcements

* Tonight! Treat your family to Milton's Pizza & Pasta and support our MOPS group at the same time! From 5-10 PM, Milton's will donate part of the proceeds from our group's dinner back to our group. Just let them know you are with Crossroads MOPS. Dine in or carry out! *Only at the Six Forks location.*

* Please bring a small gift ($1-3) for each of your child's MOPPETS teachers to our next meeting on December 13. This is a great way to bless them for all they do for our kids during our MOPS meetings. A list of teachers and classes is below. 

• Cuddlers: Suzi, Sheila, Natalie, Shirley, Anna, Luciana
• Walkers: Natalie, Maria, Phyllis
• Runner: Stephanie, Heather, Hillary
• Younger 2s (left side of hall): Laura, Bri
• Older 2s (right side of hall): Glenda, Sami
• 3s: Christine, Lydia
• 4s+: Valerie, Brenda, Rebecca
• Subs/Floaters: Danielle, Challen, Hana, Barbaranne, Kataya
• Coordinator: Helen

Please also consider blessing our subs and coordinator for all of their dedicated work.

* Crossroads Fellowship is hosting a Christmas special on December 16 called Frosty's Magical Adventure. It includes singing and dancing and will share the true meaning of Christmas. Appropriate for all ages. More details are on the Crossroads website. *You do need to purchase tickets to attend.*

One of our own, Heather Franchi, sponsored our meeting as a LuLaRoe consultant. Heather sells a variety of beautiful dresses, skirts, shirts, and of course, comfortable leggings! Check out her Facebook page to see what she offers and to book a pop up.


Of Oaks photography sponsored our raffle this week. This December they are offering Christmas mini-sessions for $50. You can see their portfolio on their website and Facebook page. 

Thank you to our sponsors this week!

We made bracelets this week for our craft. Hopefully they can serve to remind us that we were each individually made by the Creator and, although we might not always look or feel perfect, we are who He created us to be.

Our MOPPETS learned about the 10 Commandments this week. They spent time discussing what the commandments are and what each of them means.

Our next meeting is December 13 and will feature a message from Jackie Alvarez with MOPS Intl. about "Becoming Seen." 

Hannah, Jamie-Lee & Julie's groups will be providing breakfast. You can sign up here.
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Setting healthy boundaries: November 15th meeting

We focused this week on creating healthy boundaries in our life. Laura Katz, a marriage and family therapist, shared about how being intentional of setting our boundaries will help our lives go much better.

You have a right to your boundaries. You have a right to say, "no." And a right to say, "yes." And you have a right to celebrate those decisions.

Focusing on yourself and your need for sleep, food and personal time is essential to being the best woman, wife and mom that you can be.

She encouraged us to take a step towards setting a new boundary in our lives, whether that means saying "no" to something we should step away from or saying "yes" to something we want to add to our lives. You are ridiculously in charge!

Announcements

• Yankee Candle & Butter Braids fundraiser forms were due November 15. If you still have forms to submit, please send an image of the form to Kara at CrossroadsRaleighMOPS@gmail.com by Wednesday, November 16.
• This Friday we will be baking pies to help support StepUp Ministry & Alliance Medical Ministry. If you'd like to help support them in another way, you can purchase a pie here. Also, if you're able to join us on Friday without kids, we'd love for you to join us, but childcare is currently full. We'll be baking in two shifts at Crossroads Fellowship from 9-11 a.m and from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Treat your family to Milton's Pizza this month! They will be donating a portion of meals ordered on November 29 from 5-10 p.m. back to our group. Be sure to mention you are with Crossroads MOPS! (Only applies to Raleigh location.)
• 'Tis the season to... bless our childcare workers! At our December 13th meeting, please bring a small $1-2 gift to contribute to gift bags. The list of childcare workers for your child's class are below. Please bring any gifts to our MOPS room and NOT directly to the teacher, so we can package them all together.
• Cuddlers: Suzi, Sheila, Natalie, Shirley, Anna, Luciana
• Walkers: Natalie, Maria, Phyllis
• Runner: Stephanie, Heather, Hillary
• Younger 2s (left side of hall): Laura, Bri
• Older 2s (right side of hall): Glenda, Sami
• 3s: Christine, Lydia
• 4s+: Valerie, Brenda, Rebecca
• Subs/Floaters: Danielle, Challen, Hana, Barbaranne, Kataya
• Coordinator: Helen

Please also consider blessing our subs and coordinator for all of their dedicated work.

Angela Livingston with Matilda Jane Clothing was our sponsor this week. Matilda Jane makes clothing meant to celebrate young girls and the youthful, playful and expressive people they are. Check out Angela's Facebook page to set up a Matilda Jane trunk show! Thank you for sponsoring our meeting, Angela. 

Learning Express Toys also donated some raffle items for our group this week! Stop by their North Hills location and check out their site-wide 20% off sale this Friday, November 18.

Our MOPPETS this week spent time learning about thankfulness and how important it is to thank God for how He blesses us and takes care of us. 

Here's a part of their lesson for the week: He cares for YOU and we are thankful for His care. God loves you so much, He put it in his Word—the Bible! He also tells us in the Bible to give thanks: “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” - Psalm 9:1 NIV

They also put this lesson into their craft by creating thankfulness wreaths, full of leaves representing what they are thankful for this year.

Our next meeting will be November 29, when we'll be discussing how it's OK to not be perfect. Annette & Becky's groups will be bringing brunch. Here's how you can sign up. 

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."

1 Chronicles 16:34

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Finding the beauty within: October 25th meeting

Our theme this week at MOPS was recognizing the beauty within yourself. Nikki Speer with Redefined Courage spoke with us about her struggle with seeing her own beauty, eating disorders, a double mastectomy and finding acceptance. 

Nikki also shared her mother’s story who passed away from breast cancer last year and how she inspired Nikki to embrace her own beauty. Redefined Courage was also our sponsor this week. They are passionate about helping each woman fighting breast cancer to see herself redefined by hope, faith and courage. They want every woman to know she is loved and cherished by a Heavenly Father.

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. - 1 Peter 3:4

Thrift store shopping tips

For many of us, a new outfit and going shopping can help us feel more confident, but as moms, finding both the time and the money isn’t always easy. So this week we showcased a runway fashion show on a budget! Each of our models wore a few pieces, even a full outfit, that were purchased from Crossroads Fellowship’s Mission Thrift Store for under $15. Lana Quesenberry emceed the fashion show and Stephanie Hughes, Hannah Murasko & Bethany Leszczewski modeled their new looks. Lana also provided a few tips for shopping at thrift stores and scoring a great deal on a new look. 

You can also check out video of the full fashion show!

A few announcements from this week:

• Remember that our November meeting dates have changed. We will meet at Crossroads on November 15 & November 29, due to the 2-hour delay for Wake County schools on November 8. (Here's the full list of dates for our meetings.)
• We will be making pies on November 18 to support StepUp Ministry & Alliance Medical Ministry. These ministries serve the most vulnerable in our community through job preparedness and quality, affordable healthcare. We will have 2-hour shifts from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Sign up here by November 4. Childcare will be covered!
• Our Yankee Candle & Butter Braid fundraisers are going on. Please return order forms by our next meeting on November 15.
• SAVE THE DATE: On November 29, Milton's Pizza on Six Forks Rd. will be donating a portion of our group's spending back to us. (10% if under $500, 20% is over $500!) Treat your family and support our MOPS group at the same time! This will take place between 5:00-10:00 p.m.

Our next meeting will be November 15. Laura Hertz will speak to us about personal goals and dreams outside of motherhood.

Lacinda's & Mindy's groups will be providing brunch. Here's how you can sign up for what you'd like to bring. 

Developing deep friendships: October 11th meeting

This week we focused on developing deep friendships with other ladies and other moms. We hope that's what our MOPS group provides: A space for all of us to find our tribe of women who can support us, encourage us and give us a reality check when we need it.

Donna Roman, who attended MOPS for years when her children (3 girls under the age of 2!) were young, spoke with us about the importance of women friendships and the encouragement and support they provide. She shared her experience her first time at MOPS and the decades long relationships that formed from her time spent there.

Her message can be best summed up by this beautiful quote by C.S. Lewis, “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” Thank you, Donna, for sharing your experiences and for the awesome giveaways you handed out!

This week we broke down where the money from your dues go. (Check out the full break down.) The majority of the dues goes towards paying our childcare workers. You can help us stay on budget by either paying online (click register) or bringing a check made out to "Crossroads MOPS" to our next meeting. Please contact us if you are interested in applying for a scholarship.

We currently have 2 fundraisers going on that you can take part in that will also help with budgeting expenses.The fundraisers are for Yankee Candle & Butter Braid (which you can only buy through fundraisers). You can find all of the details for taking part in this blog post.

Thank you to all of the hospitality helpers who joined us in setting up and tearing down this week! It went much more smoothly this week and we appreciate everyone who helped out. If anyone else would like to help out for future meetings, please contact Sarah Burton via Facebook or simply join us at 8:45 AM next meeting!

Please note the date changes for our November meetings. We will meet at Crossroads on November 15 & November 29 (the 3rd and 5th Tuesdays), due to November 8th being Election Day. The other weeks can be used for small group playdates!

Now that the autumn weather is moving into the area, we figured it was time to start celebrating the new season with these cute pumpkins made using a roll of toilet paper. (Who knew??) We hope these bring a smile to your face and some extra fall cheer to your home!

Our sponsor for those week was Sarah Bush from JuicePlus+. Her mission is to help raise a new generation of children who know what's good for them and want to eat, do and be healthy. You can find Sarah on Facebook. Thank you for sponsoring MOPS this week and for the great giveaways you provided!

Next time at MOPS, Nikki Speer will be talking about how beautiful God made us and we'll have a fun mom fashion show! You won't want to miss it.

Julie, Karen C & Karin S's groups will be providing brunch. Please sign up HERE to specify what items you will be bringing!

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9/27 meeting - Becoming... Friends!

This week we watched a video by Jen Hatmaker about Becoming... Friends! Sometimes it takes someone to risk honesty and be vulnerable to effect a friendship for good. It's also OK to only have one or two real friends that you can totally be yourself with. Your friendships will go through times of tension, but having those hard discussions to talk it out will preserve those friendships, plus teach our children how to have healthy relationships! Our hope for you is that instead of waiting for a friendship to drop into your lap you will go out and make a healthy friendship!

Sarah Burton also spoke to us about how to get the most out of our small group! Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties displaying her PowerPoint, but if you would like to take a peek at her presentation you can view it HERE.

Tiffany DeLangie from Pretty Real Photography was our sponsor this week! She is offering a limited time special introductory rate to our MOPS group, so email her at prettyrealblog@gmail.com to book your session today!

The Hospitality Team is looking for HELP! Can you come at 8:45/9:00am to set up and make the room beautiful & welcoming? Or can you stay 15 minutes at the end? It's a great way to meet new friends! Contact Sarah Burton on Facebook or at 919-928-1469.

We are participating in a fundraiser with Fit & Fresh! Our group will earn 40% of all sales so please share with your friends! To place your order online, go to FitFreshFundraising.com/collections and enter group ID: CFMOPS









Help us stay on budget by paying your dues! You can pay online (click register) or bring a check made out to "Crossroads MOPS" to our next meeting.









Hannah and Jamie-Lee's group will be responsible for bringing brunch at the next meeing. Please sign up HERE to specify what items you will be bringing!

MOPS Kick-off Meeting 2016

Welcome to a new year of MOPS & MOMSnext! We are excited to have you join us on this journey to becoming starry eyed.

This year’s kick-off meeting featured a fabulous brunch spread provided by our leadership team, a mom-edition of “Would You Rather…?” (Being trapped in a room with 30 crying kids or 1 hungry alligator?? Seriously, there is no right answer!), a video message from MOPS President & CEO, and a fun craft that we can use throughout the year.

The video message we heard from Mandy Arioto challenged us to find hope in both light and darkness. So often we may feel that we have to choose one or the other, but the truth is we are a swirly mix of both. The theme will focus on opening our eyes to wonder, choosing hope over fear, and creating significant acts of kindness that send ripples of light into the world.

To document our journey this year, we put together Starry Eyed journals, where we can reflect on the messages we hear and the thing laid on our hearts. We will continue to have the journal materials available at our meetings, so anyone who did not get a chance to make one or wants to add any more decorations will be able to do so!

We hope you’ll continue to join us in the coming weeks. If you would like to pay your dues, you can do so here by clicking on Register. You do not need to fill out the whole first page again, just include your name at the top.

Here are a few other announcements from our first meeting.

• You will be assigned a small group based on your location. Your small group leader should be in contact soon. 
• Like our public Facebook page & join our private group. We'll post announcements & have some good conversation between meetings. 
• You can support our MOPS group through our Fit&Fresh fundraiser. If you are looking to buy a new lunch box or food storage, 40% of all purchases come back to our group. Use the code CFMOPS.

Also, some quick corrections from the handout you received on Tuesday:

• MOPPETS leader, Lauren Pippen's number is 440-413-5054. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or concerns about our MOPPETS program. 
• Our December meeting will be on Dec 13. Here's the full list of dates. 

A big thank you to Kate Kiec & The Spanish Corner for sponsoring our first meeting and providing some great prizes to our raffle winners! The Spanish Corner is a total-immersion language learning program for kids and their caregivers. The Spanish Corner’s mission is to teach families the Spanish language tools with which they can communicate outside of our classes. They teach high-frequency vocabulary that is easy to incorporate into daily activities. Participants will come away well-equipped to engage in conversational basics from which they can continue to expand.

Next week you'll have the opportunity to meet up with your small group for a playdate. Your small group leader will coordinate with you on when & where your group will plan to meet. Our next group meeting is September 27. Each week, a different small group with provide brunch for the group. Annette & Becky's groups are scheduled for the first meeting. Here's the page for signing up for what to bring. See you then!
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Join us as we kick off a new semester of MOPS & MOMSnext!

Crossroads Fellowship

2721 E Millbrook Rd. • Raleigh, NC 27604

Any questions: CrossroadsRaleighMOPS@gmail.com

Visit our About Us page for a map of where childcare is located, as well as to get additional information on our MOPS group!

Shirts & First Fundraiser

Our awesome MOPPETS team has designed some awesome shirts for our kids!

The cost will be $10.  Money will be collected when the shirts are delivered.  If enough shirts are ordered, we will be able to offer discounts to orders of multiple shirts.

Pre-order the exact sizes you would like here: 

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D48AAAD2CA13-kids1

A few extra will be ordered for in the fall but we can not guarantee the size you would like unless you pre-order!

You have one week left to pre-order!

The last day is Tuesday, August 23.

The shirts do not have the MOPS logo on them so could be ordered for anyone!

One of the arrows says "FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE  - PSALM 139:14."

The meaning of the arrows comes from our MOPPETS Coordinator Lauren!  She has always loved the idea and image of our kids being arrows.  We want to raise our kids to be sharp as arrows so that when we send them out into this world they will pierce the darkness with the love of God and truth of His Word.
             “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth.”
  Psalms 127:4 ESV

Measurements for all of the shirts:

http://www.latapparel.com/live/documents/latapparelsizechart.pdf


 

For our first fundraiser, we’re selling stylish insulated lunch bags and portion control chilled containers from Fit & Fresh that allow you to pack healthy meals for on the go! 

We are beginning the sale now so you can take advantage for any back-to-school shopping.

We will earn 40% of sales!

You can share with family & friends – they’ll love these stylish lunch bags, totes & containers. Fit & Fresh products also make GREAT gifts for friends, teachers, and co-workers!

Sample products will be available at our September meetings.

To place your order online, go to FitFreshFundraising.com/collections and enter group ID: CFMOPS

Orders will be shipped right to your door within 3-5 days after ordering.

Our sale will run through September.

Thank you in advance for supporting our Fit & Fresh Fundraiser!

We will still have our Yankee Candle Fall Fundraiser in conjunction with a Butter Braids sale in October/November.