Meeting Recap 11/13

Thank you, once again, for a fantastic MOPS meeting, ladies! The food was delicious, the company spectacular and the discussion stimulating. For those of you who missed us, here's the scoop:

We enjoyed breakfast as usual - hot and sans children. We talked and talked.

Lorna Brooks, one of our Mentor moms, shared a short Thanksgiving devotional from Ann Voskamp's devotional book One Thousand Gifts. The excerpt was about the whirlwind messes our children leave behind them - and our reactions. Ann shared her journey from frustration into thanksgiving and thus joy as she stepped away from a focus on the mess and into a place of present gratitude. She began giving thanks for the arms she has that allow her to pick up said messes. And thanks for the children who surround her and are able to help. And it transformed her anxiety-filled afternoon into a time of peace and rejoicing as they all continued on into the kitchen for a delightful chocolate treat. She wondered for us, "When did I stop thinking of life as dessert?"

Then Robin showed a short video clip by Lysa Terkeurst on Controlling Your Emotions. Lysa is always entertaining, with her personal examples, and she brought up some good points. She reminded us that conflict is going to happen when we are in relationship with other people, emotions are going to rise - and then she asked us to consider what we do with the conflict and emotions. She broke down four basic negative reactions for us and then offered some ways to spin them more positively. She said, "Conflict arises when we feel either Exposed or Opposed." Her four groups were:

     - The Exploder who blames others

    - The Exploder who shames herself

    - The Stuffer who builds barriers

    - The Stuffer that collects retaliation rocks

She recommended thinking about these things: the problem with blaming others is that you are attacking the person instead of the issue, in order to avoid shaming yourself - bring yourself a little perspective before you react, if you are a stuffer - don't build barriers and thus shut down communication - instead, implement honest boundaries and continue in communication, ask yourself if you are trying to prove that you're right or improve your relationship.

She ended with this fabulous verse out of The Message: Proverbs 18:21 - Words kill, words give life; their either poison or fruit - you choose.

So, after the video we enjoyed chatting with one another at our tables about her message. And then, we did a craft. To get us prepped for the holidays, we made Holiday-Themed Flour Sack Towels using flour sack towels (duh, I know), fusible interfacing (stitch-witchery) and fun fabric shapes. Those who finished theirs at the meeting left with a pretty great kitchen jump-start on the holiday season - and everyone else took their materials home for a fun afternoon craft during nap time. :) If you missed out on this activity and you're interested in getting a picture or the instructions, please email sheridanmorningmops@gmail.com and I'll make sure you get everything you need!

Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving everyone!!! See you the 2nd Wednesday of December (for our Christmas meeting - it's always festive and very fun - don't miss out).