March News

Hi Everyone!

You will now have received your Walkathon email and Power Point Presentation. I am sure that Mothers On The March has been the most challenging venture I have ever taken on. I had not anticipated the hoops I would need to jump through and hurdles that would need to be crossed, nor had I realised how many others I would need to drag through the maze of bureaucracy and red tape to get Mothers on the March walking. Every day has meant a new obstacle, but each success is all the more rewarding!

I am sure as leaders you know what I am talking about. Leadership is challenging and to remain relevant and effective we need to develop certain characteristics. Coupled with humility, we need an unwavering resolve and determination to make sure that things happen in the face of opposition. On my desk I have an acrylic frame that holds a card with a quote from Winston Churchill that says “Never, Never Quit”. Why is it there you may ask? Because there have been many times in my years in different leadership roles when I have found the fight too hard, the pressure too great and the rewards too little. These tests and trials refine us so that our lives are an acceptable offering to God. If we quit in the face of adversity we will be afraid to try again. The old saying, “quit while you are ahead” makes for a much greater self-esteem and more positive organisations.

Mothers On The March Walkathon

While Juelz will be keeping you up-to-date with all the exciting news, developments and the how-tos, I just want to remind you why we are having the Walkathon:

• It is primarily to raise the awareness of MOPS in Australia, to open the eyes of churches to see what MOPS is about and encourage them to start a group.
• To inform mums that may never have heard of MOPS, and communicate that we are there for them.
• To alert corporations through Vibe Village of MOPS as a growing and effective organisation. 

Financial Support 

We have just completed a revision of the complete set of MOPS Handbooks and they are hot off the press.  Every group that walks will get a new set free, plus an outdoor, heavy duty, all weather banner with eyelets and ropes. It will have the MOPS logo and the individual meeting times of your group professionally printed. This will also be a gift to every group that walks. I understand that you will still have many unanswered questions related to the Walk, but all will be revealed next week.

Conference Dates

Mark these in your diaries and start preparations to get your entire team to attend.

Queensland August 13-15

Tasmania August 26-27

Victoria September 2-3

NSW September 9-10

SA September 16-17

WA September 23-24

MOPS Australia Website

The website is currently undergoing a facelift, so pay it a visit in the next week!  Once the new look has been rolled out, share your thoughts on our facebook page, or write your comments on the forum. We truly appreciate the work of Damon and Cath Oehlman, and Ben Sanders who have spent many hours working on different aspects of the site.

Some Housekeeping Issues

Team Data:This was sent out as a hardcopy with your Charter Renewals and again in February via email. We really need these back ASAP with the up-to-date names addresses etc.

This is required for:

· calculating Conference budget

· Selection of Elective Speakers

· Number of leaders we may reasonably expect to attend the Conference

· Accurate dissemination of information.

· Group Networking

·Regional Coordinator follow-up with groups

Charter Renewals: Thank you to all those that have paid their charter renewals, and we would appreciate a speedy reconciliation of those still outstanding.

Mums Participation Fees: These are due in soon. Thank you to those who have attended to this already - your prompt attention is appreciated.

First term is almost over for the Northern Territory, and then all the states follow close behind one another.

I pray that each of you will have a refreshing break. Keep the emails flowing to your team during the break. Remember it is the Coordinators responsibility to remind the rest of her team to visit the blog weekly on Monday mornings

Warm Regards

Margaret Sanders

National Director

Being You

As the Mentor of a MOPS group I am privileged to regularly interact with young mums, (though I can no longer kid myself that I am one of them!) The mums I get to know come in a beautiful plethora of shapes and sizes and an exciting array of personality types. There are the bubbly mums whose recount of their children’s wayward escapades become comedic sagas, shy mums who flower to reveal a dry humour and a fast wit, ideas mums who can’t wait for the next steering team meeting, and laid back mums whose composure barely ruffles while their toddler throws a tantrum and their baby spits up on their shoulder as they walk into the MOPS room.

As a Mentor I am also privileged to have the opportunity to read many wonderful books.  I have discovered ideas for creating fantastic family memories, gained insights into children’s needs, and learned steps for restoring romance in a marriage.

BUT HERE IS MY CONFESSION.....while I truly love these two aspects of Mentoring, there have been moments, when these very same experiences have also triggered feelings of sadness and regret. “Wow!” I think as that bubbly mum shares what she did with her family on the weekend, “I wish I had been more fun for my kids.” “Amazing,” I think as the laid back mum talks about leaving her messy house for a day of camping in the back yard, “I wish I hadn’t been such a neat freak.” “Cool,” I think as I read the chapter on whisking your husband away for a romantic weekend, “I wish I had not been so budget conscious.”

AND THEN....I read the MOMOLGY chapter on Core. What liberation!  

Shelley Radic explains that a better understanding of our temperament and personality type helps us to “accept who we are, the choices we make and the ways we react.”  Furthermore, “Knowing our temperament allows us to identify and work within areas of strengths and identify and reduce the impact of weaknesses.” Relating to this first statement Shelley shares two truths that have shaped her mothering:

·         I am wonderfully made

·         I have been specifically designed to match what my child needs in a mum.

What great reminders. Let them sink into your Core.

Mothering is not a comparison game. God blesses your family through the wonderful YOU he created you to be. Furthermore, while you will have strengths and areas of weakness in your Core, be encouraged, our God is a transforming God: Philippians 1: 6 “Be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”  This does not mean he intends to change you into a bubbly mum if you are a shy mum; it means he intends to transform you into the YOU he intended you to be; for you to become

“YOU-IER”.

Be encouraged, “Out of your specifically designed core, you have the ability to uniquely shape your child, your community, and the world.”

Erma Mayes

MOPS Australia Board 

Apple Cores and Mummy Cores

Have you ever played that ice breaker where you write down three truths about yourself and one lie, and people have to guess the lie?*  It’s a game about reading people and making assumptions about them, their likes and dislikes, their upbringing, their values - essentially their CORE.

1. I’m a Capricorn

2. I have 2 siblings

3. I was in the Army Reserve

4. I loved maths at high school.

Or did you ever play along with Tony Barber on Sale of the Century as he asked – Who Am I?

• I was born out of wedlock.
• I grew up in a poor family.
• I became a teacher.
• I spent my life pleasing my Father.
• I died young after a questionable trial.

Who Am I?   .................................................. Jesus of course!

A person’s core or innermost being can differ according to who is asking.  To a doctor or surgeon, our CORE is medical:  our beating heart, our pumping blood, a scientific mass of nerves, veins and organs.  To an employer, our CORE might be our work ethic: honesty, reliability, punctuality, ability and willingness to perform tasks.  To our children, our CORE is our mother’s heart: that maternal instinct of love, care and protection that can only come from being a mother. Where does it come from and how do we get it?

Shelly Radic explains in her book ‘Momology – a mum’s guide to shaping great kids’ that a mum can find the following from her resilient core:

Strength to deal with challenges.
Discernment for making decisions.
Self-control to manage behaviours.
Humility to ask for help.
Self-regard to do something for herself.
Flexibility to deal with change.
Gratitude to express thanks and appreciation.
Adaptability to manage conflict and stress.
Determination to use her influence.
Authority to create a sustainable community.
Integrity to live her beliefs.

I’d like to add one more...

Confidence to perform all of the above!   

Phew – I’m exhausted just reading all that, let alone living it on a nonstop basis.  As mums we often feel like we’re already required to be superwomen in order to tackle our endless to-do lists, and we only have a limited amount of time to do everything in.  But our CORE is central to who we are as women and as mothers, and it also influences our children. Developing a resilient CORE is more important than many of the items on our to-do lists.

Consider an apple.  Apples come in many different colours, shapes, varieties, tastes and textures, but they’re still all apples. They all have a core, but each one is influenced by many things. Temperature, water, fertiliser, pests, nutrients… all these things shape the apple over its life.  We too as mothers are shaped by many influences during our lives that ultimately have an effect on our CORE.  And our CORE in turn helps us shape and influence our children on their journey.  Shelly Radic opens her book with a scenario that demonstrates how we often find ourselves acting, sounding, responding and behaving like our own mother, much to our shock and surprise (or horror)!  But this is good news.  It reinforces to us that our mothering definitely matters and everything we say and do is having an influence on our children’s lives.  This may seem initially scary, but when we know that “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13) and we can trust ourselves to remember it 24-7, mothering becomes exciting and extremely rewarding. 

Love & Blessings,

Kathy Reid.

 * For the record, I only have 1 sister. The other three are true.

Announcing Mothers on the March

If you were at Conference you had a sneak peak…

You may have heard some whispers on the grapevine…

Perhaps you've been waiting with baited breath for some more information…

Wait no more!  Announcing the inaugural MOPS Nationwide Walkathon. 

Mark in the date Saturday 7^th May for Mothers On The March. Yes, mother’s day weekend. Grab your mum, your grandmother, your daughters, your friends, your neighbours and walk for ALL mums…everywhere.

The aim of the march is to:

• Raise the importance of mothering;
• Raise the profile of MOPS in our individual communities and across Australia;
• Raise connectedness within our groups (help our mums to bond!);
• Raise financial support in order to supply great resources for our MOPS groups;
• Be fun, fun, fun!

It is going to be HUGE, with competitions, prizes, t-shirts, giveaways and more.  We will also have the media involved so expect TV stations, newspapers and radio stations.  You don’t want to miss out!

It will be so easy to be involved. You will register to be a part of this amazing event, then simply raise money and walk. We will have big groups walking together in some areas (a coordinated effort), people walking just with a small group, or even just a friend or two.  On one day, all over Australia, thousands of people will be walking for MOPS! What an opportunity.

You can BE a MOP walking, or you can walk for MOPS.

You can walk alone, or walk with friends.

You can walk 2km or 20km (or anywhere in between).

You can raise $50 or $500.

You can be in it or you can wish you did.

Details on how to register will be sent to the groups soon.  Watch this space for more information in the coming weeks, and make sure you connect with us on Facebook too. Which State will have the most participants? Who will raise the most money? Which MOPS group will have the most walkers? Don’t forget… there will be prizes!

Juelz Sanders
Mothers On The March Coordinator