Whimsical September

A Family + Lifestyle Blog

Motherhood 0 Comments

All About MOPS and Why You Should Consider Joining

Moms, have you ever heard of an organization called MOPS? 
I first heard about it a couple years ago when a few of my girlfriends in Tennessee were active in the local chapter at Fort Campbell. All I really knew about it was that it was a faith-based organization that gave moms a great place to mingle with other moms. 

Fast forward to our move to Kansas last fall where I found myself with a nine month old and in a dim place anxious to find community. During our church hunt I found out that a church we’d visited was a host site for MOPS, and I remembered how much my girlfriends loved it. Without knowing much information, I emailed the leader of the group and asked if I could join. I didn’t know all the details of how it worked and what exactly it was, but I hoped and prayed that I’d begin to find community within this group.
Nearly a year later I’m so happy I joined this organization of beautiful mothers. It’s provided me with a slew of new friends and expanded my circle within the community. I’m so looking forward to my second year with MOPS and making deeper connections with the women I already know and new ones with the women who will join us for the first time.

So what is MOPS? 
MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers, but “preschoolers” is a loose term because any mom who has a child/children 0-Kindergarden is welcome to join. 
It’s a Christian-based organization that’s designed to encourage relationships with other women in similar stages of life while meeting a member right where she is with her Christian walk. MOPS isn’t a bible study (though they offer that too), but more of a structured get-together for moms to enjoy breakfast, listen to a speaker, make a craft, and have brief discussion time about motherhood and Jesus. Simply put, it’s light and fun and totally rocks.
They also offer structured childcare, and Hadley loves having another excuse to go play for a couple hours with all of her “friends”. 🙂

Pictured above are my fellow Steering Committee Members for the upcoming year during a training last week. All we’re missing is Amanda & Valerie! 🙂
 

Personally, my favorite part of MOPS is that I have a whole group of women who I view as motherhood mentors who I can talk with about all things related to the stage of life I’m in; They all get it! Though the women in my MOPS group come from all sorts of backgrounds (faith-wise and growing up-wise), we all have a common denominator in that we’re moms who love community and who fiercely love our kids.
Other details:

  • Meetings start up around the country and other parts of the world the first week in September.
  • Meetings are held twice a month, but it’s not uncommon for groups to get together outside of the meetings for playdates, lunch dates, etc.
  • There’s a small fee involved to cover childcare, international dues, etc. Totally worth it!

If you’re a mom of little ones and think you may even be semi-interested in MOPS, I’d highly encourage you to search for a group nearby and talk with their leader. Here’s a link where you can search your area.
Here’s a promo video for this year’s theme, A Fierce Flourishing. It’s short, so take a look!

Local friends: If you’d like to get involved for this upcoming year let me know and I’ll give you a little more information and specific dates!

 
Pictured throughout this post are postcards that were included in the welcome kit I received in the mail about a month ago. I would have more of them pictured but I’ve already sent them out to friends and family. 🙂 Thank you, MOPS!
 
 

[jetpack_subscription_form title=”SUBSCRIBE” subscribe_text=”Keep up with Erica & Whimsical September by receiving new post notifications in your inbox. This is the easiest way to never miss a new post! What they’re eating, what they’re doing, where they’re going… she shares it all!”]