Operation Organization: Creating Time for the Important Things

Well, thanks to Lisa Hall, our MOPS group received a ton of great tips and tricks for keeping our homes (and our lives!) organized. The goal? Peace and joy at the end of the day. We first were instructed to decide what areas in our lives we'd like more time for, whether it be more time with our spouses, more time for ourselves, etc.. Then, Lisa went down the list of normal household duties and gave us many ideas for getting organized and getting our families involved, too. If you missed this meeting, or you'd like to see the powerpoint presentation that Lisa gave, please click here.

We also had a bit of time at the end of the talk for some 10 second tips from our MOPS. There were quite a few good ones, and one Mentor Mom even shared her recipe for cheap and easy to make laundry detergent to save some money! Click here for the handout.

Thanks to the steering team again for organizing a wonderful meeting, and to Lisa Hall for helping us maintain some level of sanity in our homes. This was such an informative meeting!

Important Information!

1) March 5 Meeting - This meeting we're having our Mentor Mom day and $1 sale! Please bring 1-5 gently used items that you are done with to MOPS. Bring things like women's clothing, children's clothing, blenders, bubble bath, baskets, or items you want to regift. We will sell those items to each other for $1. The proceeds benefit MOPS and your house is cleaner with the clutter gone! The items that don't sell will be donated to our Helping Hands ministry. Please participate in this fun shopping event. NOTE: We will not have a "Bless Me" table that day.

2) March 6 MOPS & POPS - Please RSVP to your DGL by Sunday, February 28th if you plan to attend. The event is free and includes dessert, door prizes, bingo and financial advice. Childcare can be arranged by calling Debbie Hammock at 626-351-2475 and paying $10 for 1 child, $20 for 2+ by Wednesday March 3rd. Please join us for our first ever MOPS & POPS night. You and your spouse will enjoy meeting new people and walking away with knowledge and possible prizes.

3) If you did not pick up a copy of our February Newsletter, please click the link under "MOPS Links" to view it.

Thanks, ladies and enjoy the photos from the meeting!

Which Love Language Do You Speak?

What a treat it was to be able to hear from Betty and Bob Nease last Friday. They spoke on a book written by Gary Chapman called "The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate." As the author explains: "People express and receive love in different ways. [Dr. Gary Chapman] identifies these as the five languages of love:

• Quality Time
• Words of Affirmation
• Gifts
• Acts of Service
• Physical Touch

If you express love in a way your spouse doesn't understand, he or she won't realize you've expressed your love at all. The problem is that you're speaking two different languages."

While watching and listening to Betty and Bob speak, it was very evident that they had learned to speak each other's love languages well. Having been married over 50 years, they've had a lot of practice! The love they have for each other spilled over into their words and we are so grateful to have heard their take on this fantastic book. Their final message to all of us? Don't give up! "Love is not a feeling to be felt, but an action to be learned." Words to live by, indeed.

If you're interested in buying a copy of this book, please visit http://www.christianbook.com/.

After this uplifting and encouraging presentation, we had a chance to speak with our tables about what we believe our own love language is. I think it was eye-opening to discuss each of our languages and how different most of us were from our spouses! It was clear that most of us had been trying to love our spouses using our own love language instead of theirs - a common problem in many relationships. Thanks, Betty and Bob for giving us a little insight into disovering our love languages.

We had a great time after our discussion making crafts prepared by Mary Baffes. Using cardstock and various other scrapbooking materials, we made little mini scrapbooks and Valentine's Day cards. What a great idea! Thanks, Mary:)

There are a lot of wonderful events coming up for our MOPS group this spring. Saleama put out a wonderful newsletter for February that has a lot of information, so if you did not pick one up last time, please pick one up at our next meeting on February 19th. Thanks, Saleama!

Important Announcements!

1) Please look to the right to see all of the events coming up. We have a lot of things going on that you won't want to miss!

2) We have a volunteer opportunity for MOPS and POPS night on March 6. We need four couples to meet and greet people as they come in that evening. It starts at 7:00pm and there is childcare as it is also the same night as Kid's Night Out. If you can volunteer, please contact Saleama at saleamam@yahoo.com. Thanks!

Enjoy some photos from our last MOPS meeting. Thanks to the steering team for making it such a great experience!

Here is Mary, wearing her beautiful Valentine's Day "apparel."

Food is the most important part of MOPS! Well, maybe a close second to our moms:)

The "Bless Me" table was full of good stuff to take home.

Time to chow down!

Rushing to get that salad done before the crowd descends...

Here is Jaimie, one of our DGL's, working on something VERY important.

Look at this mother/daughter duo. Priceless!

Krys, I just loved this flower in your hair:)

Full plates = happy faces.

Here is Debbie introducing our guest speakers, Betty and Bob Nease.

Here is Bob...and he's veering from the plan!

Here is the beautiful couple, Betty and Bob Nease.

It's craft time at MOPS!

We moms get serious at craft time...don't we?