Freedom from clutter: September 26 meeting

This week we had our first opportunity to sit down and enjoy some time with the other moms in our small groups. We love play dates with the kids, but we all know that conversations often are interrupted during that time, so it is nice to have the opportunity for some uninterrupted time spent with the other moms in our group. 

We heard from Donna Roman who spoke about "Living a Clutter-free Life." Donna is a mom of three teenage girls and a former MOPS mom herself. She explained that living a clutter-free life is not simply about removing physical objects from the space around us, but it's about opening ourselves up to our family and to those we welcome into that space. Below are some of the highlights of her talk.

• When decluttering, start with your heart!
• Completing chores are not the goal of homemaking or of decluttering. When you treat motherhood and housekeeping as a cross to bear, the rest of your family will view it the same way. When your heart is in the right place, everything else will follow suit. 
• Ask: What is important to my family? What makes it a happy home to them? And then focus on those things!
• Doing things for your family will teach them to do things for others. 
• When entertaining, enjoy the people, rather than being focused on the "gathering." Be motivated by humility, rather than by pride. Don't clean to impress, clean to bless!
• The HOME matters, not the HOUSE.
• When you visit another person's home, take yourself out of the equation and admire the house, but don't look with envy or feel bad about yourself or your own home.
• If the state of your home is distracting, then find a spot where you can turn away from the clutter and focus on the people in front of you. What might you be missing by spending your time worrying about cleaning?

Practical tips for decluttering your home

• Start with 1 thing, rather than overwhelming yourself by trying to do too much.
• Limit what you do: Set a timer and accomplish what you can in that set amount of time. 
• Three rules to follow
• One home for everything - Every item has its place. Return to that spot when done using it. 
• Like with life - Keep all similar items in one place so they are easy to find and keep track of.  
• One thing in; one thing out - For every new item you bring into your home, give or throw away an item already in your home.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• We have a big need for help with hospitality clean-up after our meeting. There are so many little details that happen every month to make MOPS happen for you, and we could use a hand with clean-up so we can all be heading home quickly. Rather than leaving the work to a few individuals who have to stay late, if we could get a few more volunteers to spare just 5-10 minutes after the meeting, we could get the work done much faster! If you have a heart to serve, we need you to help wipe down tables, collect childcare signs from the hallways, vacuum, & return table materials to our closet. Plus, it's a great way to get involved and meet some other moms in the group. Please join our Hospitality Facebook group to get more info. 
• Our next meeting is October 10. Becky & Jamie-Lee's groups will be bringing brunch. You can sign up for what you'd like to bring here.
• If you haven't already and 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 if you already registered through this site—just include your name at the top.)
• Also, like our public Facebook page & join our private group. We'll post announcements & enjoy some good conversation between meetings.
• If you'd like to purchase a T-shirt for yourself or for your kids, you can do so by filling out this form. It includes info on what shirts are available.