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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