Sunday, February 3, 2013

January 24th Meeting

With the bad weather keeping almost half of our MOPS group away, those of us that did make it were entertained by our speaker, Tracey Solomon!

Tracey spoke to us on Missional Mothering a.k.a parenting.. where becoming a mom is like becoming a missionary. After nine months of fundraising, buying supplies & trip preparation, you land on a desert island where the natives (our children) are restless! (And so are you!)

Tracey stressed the importance of getting to know our children & engage in their lives.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it"

Tracey says, "We mother missionally because we mother for a higher goal- to raise children who love God and others. We love as if our lives depend on it- because theirs do."

Tracey Solomon is actively involved with MOPS International, you can read more about her on her blog.

Missed this meeting's newsletter? You can find it here!

January 10th Meeting

It was so nice to get back to MOPS after the long holiday break!

Each discussion group took turns visiting a different speaker during our "3 Corners" meeting. 

Family Finances with Jamie Arledge:


Jamie talked to us about the importance of making a budget, 
and being frugal about the choices that we make for our families. 
She also shared the story of her own financial journey & answered our many questions! 

Here are some of the resources that Jamie recommended: 

Crown Financial Ministries- Great information on budgeting & debt reduction.
Dave Ramsey Online- Dave's website is excellent & has a great mortgage repayment calculator.
Miserly Moms- A great website with tips on budgeting from other moms!
Better Budgeting- Free worksheets, calculators, recipes & a helpful newsletter!

Meal Planning with Ida Wetters: 


Ida spoke to us about the importance of taking the time to plan out our weekly meals. She suggested to start by listing what we already cook into catergories.. beef, chicken, pork etc.. and then add in new recipes to try as well. Then make up a menu, choosing meals from the categories that you have made. 
She said that Pinterest is her go to place for new recipes to try. 

Ida also showed us the weekly menu planner that she had made to display her meals for the week. You can find a tutorial for that project here

Photography Tips with Cindy Corstange:


Cindy spoke to us about the importance of not being so critical with our picture taking, as she believes that just getting pictures of our family, even if they're not perfect, is what matters. 

She told us that the best pictures come when we least expect them, and if we must have a perfect shot, then to try to always use the light around us to highlight what we are taking a picture of. 

Cindy is a photojournalistic photographer who owns her own business, The Open Shutter Photography.