Calvary Chapel Mountain Home

The gift of motherhood is a challenge indeed From diapers to decisions to planting a seed Rewards are abundant, along with the tears As you wash the seed grow and change through the years

Sometimes it seems lifes too dicult to bear But, God blesses us with friends to laugh, love, and share

2011-2012 Welcome Packet

Although we are dierent, we are very much the same We are Mothers of Preschoolers living each day to day
Calvary Chapel Mountain Home 350 N. Main St. Mountain Home, ID 83648 208.580.0662 mhmops@gmail.com

We welcome you to MOPS and hope you feel at home And want you to know that you are never alone!!

Welcome to MOPS!
If this is your rst time at MOPS, we want to extend a very warm welcome to each of you. If youre a seasoned MOPS mom, we know that you are as excited as we are to be participating again. We all know that mothering is HARD work. It is both challenging and rewarding, but it can also be very draining. Life is lled with seasons of change and mothering is no different. At MOPS, you will nd lots of other women who are facing the same challenges that you face! Get ready to make lots of new friends, develop your talents and expand your horizons. Weve got lots of exciting topics planned for discussion that will help each of us become better moms, and better leaders in our churches and communities. We welcome any suggestions and ideas that you might have to make this the best MOPS group possible. Our vision here at Calvary Chapel MOPS is to provide the encouragement, nurturing and support that you need as a mother to preschoolers. We have a terric year planned, with meetings from September through May, speakers, creative activites, games, MOPS on the Move (opportunities for playdates, community service projects, and more, where we can get together with our kids, outside of MOPS) and much more. We hope you will join us as we go through this marvelous journey! You can choose to be involved as you like, as there will be lots of MOPportunities available. In this busy season of our lives, its so easy to feel insignicant, unrecognized, and unimportant. As mothers of preschoolers, what we do each day sometimes seems so routine and mundane. We often question who we are as women and mothers, what our purpose is and if we really make a difference. We believe you will discover answers to these questions and more as you become actively involved in MOPS. We hope that youll come to realize that each of us has been uniquely chosen to be the mother of our children, and what we are doing truly does make a difference. Again, thank you for joining us! We sincerely hope that relationships formed in the MOPS group will change your life for years to come!

What is MOPS?
MOPS stands for Mothers of PreSchoolers, a dynamic program designed to encourage, support, and nurture mothers with children from infancy to kindergarten. These women from from different backgrounds and lifestyles; yet have similar needs and a shared desire to be the best mothers they can be! MOPS recognizes that the years from infancy through kindergarten are foundational in a mother-child relationship and are lled with unique needs. What is MOPS about? - Celebrating motherhood - Meeting your needs - Making connections - Experiencing Gods love through trusted resources and relationships Who is it for? - Urban, suburban and rural moms - Stay-at-home and working moms - Teens, singe and married moms What does it do? - Offers support for those experiencing the same things - Provides a chance to meet new friends - Gives an opportunity to discover and cultivate leadership skills We all know that mothering changes everything. Our MOPS group is a great place to come for encouragement, inspirations, socialization, learning and fun as we discover how to be the best moms we can be. We provide a caring, accepting atmosphere for todays MOPS. Here you have an opportunity to share concerns, explore areas of creativity, and hear instructions that equip you for the responsibilities of family and community.

Membership Dues
We have some new and exciting activities planned for this year! Our prayer is that our MOPS group allows you time to celebrate the joys of motherhood and to encourage each other through the challenges. There is one payment for our MOPS group. It is for your membership to MOPS International, Inc. This is an annual registration fee and is not used directly for our group. You will receive the following for joining MOPS International. * * * * * MomSense Magazine -- Bi-monthly magazine for a full year of mothering expertise, parenting tips, and fun things to do with your preschooler. Weekly Mom-E-Mails -- Weekly bursts of encouragement! MOPS Reusable Shopping Bag MOPS Iron On Appliqus* MOPS Stickers featuring VeggieTales

Joining MOPS International automatically reserves your place in our MOPS group! The MOPS Intl. Fee is $23.95 and is due by your 3rd meeting. We encourage you to attend the rst meeting before making your decision to make sure we are a t for your schedule, child, needs and life. We have partial scholarships available for those needing assistance. Please contact any Steering Team members. We do not want any mom to miss out on the ministry of MOPS because of limited resources!

Creative Activities
The purpose of our Creative Activities will be to reinforce the curriculum in a positive way. Each activity will give our moms the ability to create and complete a project that serves as a visual reminder of the lessons that have been covered during our meeting. The crafts are directed to meet all skill levels and afford everyone the opportunity to take home something that is not only beautiful but is also nished. We will also be participating with a couple of service projects throughout the year. More information to come on those later!

Hospitality
Meals for Mom -- Isnt it a great relief to receive a meal for your family in a time of need? This year, we will be participating in the meals ministry through Calvary Chapel. If you are willing to contribute a dish sometimes throughout the year, please contact Rachel Smith at oreos2704@yahoo.com. You will be called when there is a need. So please, highly consider how you can help with this wonderful ministry. Food! -- What a joy it is to actually sit down and enjoy delicious food and conversation with friends! To continue this great part of MOPS, there will be a table assigned each week to cover meals. Lori Reid is heading this up this year, and can help you with any questions you may have.

Discussion Groups
When you participate in MOPS, you will each be assigned to a Discussion Group Table. These Discussion Groups are caring and sharing units focused upon development and reinforcement of that days teachings. Also, your group will have its own Table Leader. These moms are the front line women who reach out to each mom attending MOPS. They facilitate the discussion over questions provided after each teaching at a MOPS meeting. They direct women into helpful, practical discussion, in which each mom can take part. You may occasionally see Mentor Moms among our meetings. A Mentor Mom no longer has preschoolers and is someone who brings perspective on mothers, womanhood and relationships, based on biblical principles and her own life experiences.

Prayer & Care

One of the goals this year is to develops a strong Prayer and Care ministry. So please, let us know your prayer needs! You can do this by placing requests in the prayer box or by letting your Table Leader or a member of the Steering Team know your requests. We want to pray for all the things on your hearts and minds...big, small, joyous or critical, and everything in between...we believe in the power of prayer and hope to see it at work this year for our MOPS group. Another aspect of this ministry is celebrating the birth of new babies, anniversaries, and birthdays! We want to let you know we care and are here for you in all areas of mothering and relationships!

MOPPETS
MOPPETS is the childcare program for your children (ages newborn through kindergarten) to attend while you attend MOPS. Your children are precious to us at Calvary Chapel, and we count it a joy to care for them. They will enjoy a loving, clean and safe environment. Children will be separated by ages in order to provide the safest environment that best meets their needs. Calvary Chapel provides the childcare workers and are all screened and approved to work in their child care rooms. Each class will have age appropriate activities. Activities include: arts and crafts, indoor play or playground time, snacks, Bible stories, music, some videos, and toys. Because each class has a scheduled outdoor playtime, we ask that you be sure to send them ready to play outside. This would mean wearing play clothes, and having appropriate outerwear (coats, hats, gloves). To continue to make MOPPETS a positive and enjoyable experience for all of the children, the younger classes may not take advantage of their outdoor playtime, if the children in that room have a difcult time with the transitions. Snacks (such as Goldsh or graham crackers) will be provided in each classroom. In order to protect children with food allergies, we are requesting that you not bring snacks from home for your child. We would like to encourage mothers to leave their children in MOPPETS where they will be well cared for. If you feel more comfortable, you are welcome to keep your infant (0-6 months) with you in our regular meetings. We appreciate your cooperation in making our meetings successful and fullling to the MOPS purpose. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact a Steering Team member or MOPPETS worker. We look forward to meeting your children and the opportunity to care for them! We pray they will be blessed and grow in their relationship with Christ during their time at MOPPETS!

MOPPETS
Things to remember each time you bring your child to MOPPETS:
* * * * * * * * * Please sign your child into the computer system. If it is your rst time coming, make sure to let the MOPPETS worker in your classes know, and we will get your children added into the computer system for the next meetings. Please put your childs name tag on them, and their bag, and keep your parent security card. Please drop off children between 9:15 and 9:30. Please have all your childs belongings marked with their name (bottles, cups, etc). Please leave all personal toys at home. Please do NOT bring sick children: this includes a green runny nose (clear is ne), fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Make sure to inform the caregivers of any special needs or allergies EACH time, as well as writing them down. Please pick up children promptly at 11am. Please contact Ashli or Alexis with any questions or concerns regarding childcare.

Meeting Activities
First Semester (September through December):

Steering Team Contact Info

Alexis Bailey airmanbaileywife@aol.com 863-838-7715 Ashley Davis femouse@yahoo.com 208-651-6108 Ashli Lewis muchfaith22@gmail.com 217-414-3892 Lori Reid cessnabelle@rtci.net 208)899-1081

Sept 20 - Name Tag Craft, M&M Bingo Ice Breaker Oct 4 - Game and Food Craft Oct 18 - Mom-Style Trunk or Treat Nov 1 - Make and Take Dinner, Recipe Exchange Nov 15 - Speaker on Couponing (fee for her products) Dec 6 - Christmas Bazaar, Ornament Craft Dec 20 - NO MEETING
** All meetings are subject to change topics/activities. **