I thought I'd share a little about what I came away with.
After a short opening group session, we separated into breakout sessions. Mine was a group of about 8 other MOPS coordinators. (The location this year had about 1/3 of the attendance of the location we attended last year.) We basically just shared concerns we had with our groups, ideas about how to reach more moms, struggles and ways to overcome them, fundraising ideas, how to stay close and connected to our charter ministry (God bless FBC Commerce and their heart to support outreach ministries - was reminded again how blessed we are to be in partnership with them!) Last year, our group was the small fish in a big pond at this summit. No, that's not quite accurate. We were a small fish in a SEA! This year, we actually had ideas to share that others were engaged in hearing. Others were impressed with a lot of things about our group. Mainly, that we were able to offer free MOPS. Most groups do not work like ours does. MOPS International requires us to pay a membership fee of 23.95 yearly, for each mom. However, other groups also charge the moms anywhere from 10 dollars a meeting to hundreds of dollars a year, JUST TO ATTEND! This blows my mind. Some of them were saying that the church that charters them, requires them to pay rental fees to use the building, plus electricity costs. Some had to supply their own paper plates and cups. Some even mentioned having to pay a dollar to have a cup of coffee at the meetings. Oh my word. It is just a sad reality that some churches forget that we are called to serve people. Church is NOT a club or social event. MOPS should not be either. Spell it with me folks: M-I-N-I-S-T-R-Y.
We all met back as a big group for lunch and then we had general session together, along with 47 other locations...watching the live simulcast from Denver, Colorado. The guest speakers were Dale and Jonalyn Fincher. They are a husband and wife speaker team who travel around the country speaking to groups. They are founders of Soulation, a non-profit that helps others "be appropriately human."
Here is what I came away with:
Jonalyn talked about how we are all created in God's image. We've all heard this a thousand times, right? Genesis 1:26 says "God created human beings in His own image; male and female." She said that she found herself curious as to how that was specific to a WOMAN. What part of us as women, reflects God? She was led to this verse: John 3: 6-7 "Very surely I tell you that no one can come to the kingdom of Heaven unless he is born again." Well, what about our birth stories? That is certainly something that is unique to a woman. If you are a mom, you have one. Jonalyn shared with us her personal birth story. She likened our birth stories to the way God brings us to Him, to our "re-birth." He loves us before we are even born. He groans, pants and gasps for us like a woman in labor. (Isaiah 42:14) Can you remember the pain and agony of your childbirth? Can you remember how it felt? Can you remember how you felt at that moment that it was over? When you saw your child take their first breath, make their first cry? When you held them for the first time? How much more then, do you think God labors for us? It must be agonizing to see us go this way or that way, to make our mistakes, to follow down the wrong paths, to be yoked with people that we shouldn't be. He never gives up, though...never. Can you imagine then, how God must feel when we come to Him for the first time? When we cry out to Him for the first time? When we open our arms to Him for the first time? Yes, I think Jonayln drew a remarkable comparison. One I don't think I ever would have thought about on my own. She made this statement, "The closest image of what Christ goes through and does for us in our lives to bring us to Him is the image of what a woman goes through while birthing children."
Some key points I wrote down:
-Lead your group from a place of pain, relief, love and sorrow.
-The greatest hurts you will ever feel will likely come from those you have community with. However, the greatest love you will ever feel will also likely come from those you have communtiy with.
-God made us all different. It is the devil who wants us to all be the same. What's wrong with being different, anyway? Let's work to get away from this idea that we all have to be the same to get along. Let's celebrate our differences.
-Don't put people in a box. Don't label them. But you will anyway. So, how do you fix that? How do you have a conversation with someone you have already labeled? Peel off the layers. Find out who they are. Find out what they like to do. Seek them out, just as God has sought you out. Remember that they are human, just like you. We all come from the same place. Just as it says in Psalm 103:14 "...you are just dust." Be humble with each other. Dale Fincher noted that humble and humanity share the same root word.
-They shared some incredible stories of learning to love each other. My favorite phrase they used is "Learn to be a scholar of one another, for that is where love lives." Isnt' that powerful. This is true of friendship and this is true of marriage. How can you truly express love to another person? Take the time to know them. Dig deeper than surface level. She laughingly said that "I could love so many more people if it just didn't take so much time." Maybe its more important to love a few people WELL, than to like a few people KIND OF.
-What do you want your legacy to be? I heard them say this about someone and it made me think of my grandmother, Ruby. "Her legacy is that, with her, you knew that you were loved." If that was the extent of my legacy, I feel like my life were well lived.
-Expect love to change you. True love IS NOT a "drive by act of charity." (Ouch...that might hit a few of us hard.)
-The last thing I'll make note of is that Jonalyn asked this question: "Look down at your shoes. What do the shoes you are wearing today say about you as a person? How do they fit? How do they feel? How do they appear?" Well, if you know me very well at all...you can probably guess what shoes I had on. My old, dirty black crocs. Hmmm...is this telling of my personality? I'd say Oh yeah!
I guess I'll just close with this: Being a leader is not my "spiritual gift." However, I think as long as I love people, I trust that God will help me be the best leader I can be. And I definitley love all of friends in MOPS. My old friends, and the new ones I make everyday. I love our all of our differences...because it is in those differences that we can all be the same. A community.
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