Join the Adventure!
The MOPS International theme for 2008-09 is Adventures in Mothering. This theme equips moms to learn more about themselves as they go through the adventure of motherhood. They will celebrate and embrace the fun in the experiences, even in the midst of daily mom life that stretches them emotionally and spiritually.
The metaphor for Adventures in Mothering is an amusement park. With the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of the amusement park, motherhood might feel like a sensory overload. But your MOPS group will enjoy this together and learn more about themselves as women, moms and leaders.
A theme provides a fun way to organize the MOPS year. The underlying reason for using a theme is to allow all MOPS groups to focus on a scriptural principle that will be developed throughout the year. The theme verse for Adventures in Mothering is Ephesians 3:18: “…how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” The dimensions of this verse express how God is with us in our mothering adventure. For the moms in your group who are exploring and wondering about faith in Jesus, the theme Adventures in Mothering is a winsome and fun way to organize content. As the year unfolds, your MOPS group will examine the practical aspects of the theme and then move toward spiritual truth. The knowledge that God is with us on the mothering adventure gives hope. God’s love is big enough for the magnitude of the adventure!
Theme Book and Curriculum
The Mommy Diaries: Finding Yourself in the Daily Adventure
In the course of your mothering adventure, you may not have time to record all the things you are learning about yourself. The Mommy Diaries: Finding Yourself in the Daily Adventure will provide reflection, perspective and inspiration through the lives of many different women. You will gain insight as you read accounts of how moms like you made their way through the adventure of mothering.
The MOPS group curriculum that accompanies the theme book will continue the Adventures in Mothering theme and offer fresh teaching for your MOPS group meetings. Maybe life as a mom feels like a merry-go-round as you go round and round and up and down—but don’t seem to get anywhere. Or perhaps you are riding the bumper cars of the relationship part of your adventure in mothering. This MOPS curriculum has been designed to speak to and to equip every mom. The video curriculum features favorite MOPS speakers such as Sara Groves and Julie Barnhill and moms just like you who will help you find yourself in the adventure. The curriculum will include a Leader’s guide with discussion questions and ideas for group activities and mom applications to integrate the theme into your MOPS group experience. (Note: Curriculum speakers confirmed but subject to change.)
Ideas to Get You Started
The MOPS International Theme DVD your group receives free when you renew your Charter in April or May will have more ideas for implementing the theme, but here are a few places to start the adventure:
· Organize Discussion Groups around amusement park rides.
· Make your MOPS meeting a sensory experience, with sounds, smells and tastes from an amusement park.
· Use the rides at an amusement park for meeting themes.
The Adventures in Mothering curriculum will provide a basis with seven sessions and additional ideas. Have moms keep a diary of their own mothering experiences to reflect on as they read the stories in the book, The Mommy Diaries: Finding Yourself in the Daily Adventure. Go to www.MOPSLeaders.org/adventures to learn more about Adventures in Mothering and to share your ideas.