The bulk of our meeting was devoted to learning more about our Missions ministry, Young Lives. Cheslee Escobedo gave us a wonderful talk about this amazing ministry. The purpose of Young Lives is to offer Christ-centered support for teen mothers. Cheslee really stressed how the goal of Young Lives is to create relationships with these girl and to walk beside them as they come to know Christ. If you have been looking for an organization with which to volunteer, this group is truly wonderful and offers many different opportunities to serve. They are in need of volunteers to bring food to the meetings, provide childcare during the meetings, drive girls to and from the meetings, and mentors who are paired with the girls and offer support. Mentoring does require extra training as it is a sensitive situation and many of these girls come from difficult backgrounds. Young Lives offers "Club" typically on the third Thursday of every month at 6:30 at Parkway United Methodist Church on New Territory Blvd. Their first meeting of the year is next Thursday. One additional way to help is to bring donations to our meetings and Amanda Gates will make sure they get to Young Lives. Currently, their top three needs are diapers, wipes, and formula. As the year goes on, they will happily take gently used baby clothes, toys and baby equipment/paraphernalia. This year, MOPS has committed to providing the Thanksgiving Feast in November and another meal in February. A sign-up was passed around and everyone was asked to volunteer for one of these dates. If you missed the meeting, please see Amanda Gates. If you are feeling called to volunteer further with Young Lives, contact Cheslee Escobedo (chesleek@yahoo.com).
Next, we all got to know each other better with an M&M ice breaker. Good times!
Meredith Canny reminded us about our upcoming Halloween auction on October 9th. Meredith will accept any and all donations through our next meeting on October 4th. At our October 4th meeting, we will have a live auction of 2 items to get us revved up for the festivities on the 9th. This is shaping up to be a really fun evening, so you won't want to miss it! Everyone is invited and you are welcome to bring a friend. You do not have to donate or purchase anything at the auction to attend. Just come, eat, shop, socialize and have a fabulous time! The auction will be held at former MOPS member Shelli LeBret's house in Riverstone: 6427 Crystal Point, Missouri City, TX 77459 and begins at 6:30pm. This event will hopefully serve as our only fundraiser if we reach our $600 goal. Let Daddy put the kids to bed and come and shop!
Leah Hammonds and Julia Steinhaus introduced us to all our new members. It is so great to see so many new smiling faces!
Kathleen Randall reminded us that our stylish black MOPS t-shirts are for sale for $10. All sizes are available. You know you want one! Kathleen talked about some of the wonderful things that we as a group have been able to do with our Outreach Fund, such as sending two Young Lives girls to camp and supporting Becky Neese's niece's family who just tragically lost their young mother shortly after she gave birth to their second child. We were able to give this family a $250 gift card to Babies 'r Us and we will have a formula drive for them at an upcoming meeting.
Kathleen also reminded us about the costume swap that we will have on October 4th. If you have a gently used costume that your kiddos have outgrown, bring it to the swap. Those who bring a costume will have first dibs on any of the costumes that are brought for the swap. After that all the costumes are fair game to the group!
Heather Lovell distributed the "Secret Sister" forms. Remember, each secret sister is supposed to "treat" their sister twice during the semester. The fall semester runs through February 14th.
Cori Atkins is working on a trip to Dewberry Farm for October. The tentative date is October 21st. If you have never been, Dewberry Farm is tons of fun for your kiddos and well worth the drive to Brookshire. You really will want to take advantage of being able to go with our group during the week as it is MUCH less crowded than the weekends! www.dewberryfarm.com Stay tuned for more info!
As usual, Cintia Listenbee inspired us with a fantastic devotional about "Sailing with Gentleness". The biggest takeaway? "If you can choose it, you can change it." --Chris Judd. If you missed it, you will really want to check out her slide presentation on our group Facebook page.
Meet your amazing Discussion Group Leaders (DGLs):
Top row: Tina Koenig, Melanie Hausmann, Andrea Cashiola Bottom row: Aleini Lacombe, Caitlin McNamee, Breanne Ward |
And Finally, Friday was also our PJ party! A million thanks to our fearless leader, Liz Brown for hosting! As you can see, much fun was had by all!
Seriously, can we be any cuter?!?! |
Our next meeting is October 4th. Orange Table is up for breakfast. See you then!