Last Night at MOPS

I absolutely love being a member of our MOPS group! I have been in this group for 3 years now. I was in MOPS when Nathaniel was younger at my home church, too. I think MOPS is a great place to connect with other moms, learn from them, talk about struggles, share experiences, pray for each other, and learn new ideas. It is also a great night out to fellowship, mingle, hear a great speaker, EAT, and make crafts. MOPS is for Mothers with kids from pregnancy-age 5! Since I am newly pregnant, I will be in it for quite awhile yet! Yahoo~

Last night, we had a leader from the local Moms In Touch group to speak. She was very encouraging and full of great ideas. I know that praying for our children is so crucial! We live in a tough world.
The main idea behind MIT is to gather (as moms) together to pray scripture over our kids, teachers, schools, bus rides, etc. They have a set plan with scripture, and blanks in the spots where you insert your child's name. For example, "May You fill________with the knowledge of Your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And I pray this in order that_______may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please You in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of You." (Colossians 1:9b-10).
Our speaker talked about the Basics of Prayer, which is communication. Communication involves talking, listening, getting to know God (through His scriptures), and sharing my heart with Him.
She also touched on Why we should pray...and Why don't we pray. Why should we pray? To see God's will done on earth. We are following Jesus' example~ He always went to his Father (God) to pray!
PLUS~ we don't have to carry the "load of worry around on our back," because HE WILL CARRY IT FOR US! There are 3 other good reasons to pray:
1. Because God knows more than we do! 2. God desires our companionship! 3. God's Power is released when we PRAY not when we think/talk about praying. When we pray, we are inviting God's presence.

I was very encouraged to pray daily for my kids, my husband, and so much more. My daily time with God is lacking right now, and I really need to just make the time for HIM! He craves our attention, and He is begging me. Prayer is His GIFT to us! A beautiful, daily gift...and he will bless us for praying! When I need peace...he will supply! When I need Joy, He will supply! When I need comfort...He will supply!
We have an enemy (Satan) who doesn't want us to pray...and he (tries) to keep us from Prayer~
(John 10:10).

I need to make a plan...what can I do? How much time can I start with?
I need to set apart a time (morning/evening).
I need to pick a special place of refuge.
I need to have a plan to read the scriptures, get a prayer journal to write down my requests and praises!

I was very encouraged and excited about this topic covered in MOPS last night. MITI is a great ministry, and very effective!
Do you have a daily devotional time with God? When do you do it? What helps you stay focused and committed?

Here is the scoop on the past weekend...

I am sorry I have been away from the "Bloggin'" World this weekend. We have kept pretty busy, in spite of some sickness. Terry's mom came down for the weekend. She had a car appointment on Friday, so she came to stay (even though we had some sick bugs here). Friday, Terry was home sick from work. He was pretty sick. I am so glad he is better now. Friday night, I brought Nathaniel down to his Dad's, then I picked up my MIL. Her car had to spend the night at the shop. It worked out great to pick her up, because the car shop was on the way. Friday night we just watched a movie at home. Saturday morning I went to my WW meeting, and I am so glad I did! I hit 41 1/2 pounds of loss! I couldn't believe that I loss that much! Did you know that is a whole bag of dog food!! That is so amazing to me! I can't believe that I have shed that much weight! I started my journey to weight loss, food management, and healthier lifestyle in September. Here I am 40+ gone! YA HOO!!~~

Saturday we just hung out during the day, I did something I said I would never do by coloring my own hair!I colored my own hair
(with the help of my MIL). I have been going to my hairstylist for YEARS now, but I just had a desire to try it out. I wasn't really sure how the whole thing worked. I have been told that it looks great, but it is such a drastic change for me. My hair has gotten so dark over the years. Normally I just do highlighting and low lighting. So, going all blonde with some sparatic reddish colors and darks, it is a big change. Seriously, I scare myself every time I look in the mirror because I forget!
In the evening on Saturday, Terry and I got to go out for a date night!
It was wonderful! We went to a local bowling alley/Bar & Grill. It is pretty new, and it was a lot of fun! We decided to do the "Moonlight" bowling. We paid our fee and then we got to play unlimited bowling. The price included shoes. It was so fun to bowl! I haven't been bowling for about 4 years! I used to be on a bowling league, and I loved it! I really miss the league...but someday I will do it again! I think Terry and I played about 13-15 games!! It was crazy! It was only him and I on the lane. For this moonlight bowling, they had different contests going on. They had tickets that people could buy, and when the ticket was drawn, the holder got to take a chance at a strike. If they stuck out, they won $100. We also had the color pin wins...where if the color pins are in a certain formation, you won a certain dollar amount based on where they were if you got a strike. One other game they had was they had a random person throw the ball, and whatever amount of pins they got down that was the "base number." Then, they would have everyone on that frame throw their ball. If they happened to get the amount of the "base number" down or better, they won $10. Over all, we got about $16 dollars back. It was a lot of fun. Terry and I were so sore on Sunday, and I am really feeling sore today, too!

Sunday, we went to church in the morning. Then, we decided to head to the Chinese buffet for lunch. Side note: Our church was hosting a "Brazilian" food fundraiser for lunch, but we really didn't have any thing for the kids. (Sorry to my friends from church reading this because we didn't go). I hope to go on a mission trip someday! I would love to go to Brazil or Haiti someday. I have friends in Haiti. Sunday afternoon, we just hung out at home and relaxed. Terry decided to brush off the snowmobile and take it for a spin. He also took Caleb for a ride. They had some fun, but it wasn't a real long ride. It was a beautiful day outside...sunny and warm (for MN)!



Sunday night, Terry and I went to pick up Nathaniel. We stopped an looked at some cars on the way home. We have to get a little commuter car to help save on gas. Terry drives 45 minutes each way to work everyday. We also drive 4 hours every other weekend to bring Nathaniel to his dad's. So, getting a good gas mileage car is a necessity! Today, I am back to work! I was so happy to get back to watching Claudia! She is practically running now. She has really picked up the trade of walking! She is such a little honey pie! I love her little smile and cheeky grin! She is just a little sunshine! I think all the kids were happy to be together again. We had a little incident where Caleb thought he might want to bite her! I have no idea why he even thought to do that, or where it came from! I really hope that was the last time he tries that! He was a little bit on the testy side today, and I hope tomorrow is a better day. Tonight, I went to MOPS (Mothers of Pre-schoolers) and we had our Spa-Night! It was a great night of pampering! We had a YOGA session, eye brow waxing, hair cuts, foot spa, hand massage and paraffin waxing, make-up counsel, and a natural product line. It was a relaxing and an enjoyable evening. I even won a Mary Kay body wash product! Please be sure to sign up for the contests I have up: Signing Time!,
PoiWear High Chair Bib & Brain Candy's: Bruce Brain Puppet