Going Beyond in Zone 22

As you know, our theme verse for this MOPS year is "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ..." ~Eph 3:18. This verse is very near and dear to my heart, as it is one of the first verses I ever memorized. It has been an inspiration to me for over 20 years. I've tried to adjust my life to look more like the love of Christ as a result of this verse. When I first found out it was the theme verse for this MOPS year, I was very excited because I knew I would experience new "adventures" in loving like Christ. I began to pray that I would be open, ready, and willing. Well, who knew one of the new "adventures" would be adding to the MOPS Zone 22 blog site!

This post is only the second time I've EVER added to a blog site. I know some of you have just fallen off your seats with that information. I pride myself on having a strong understanding of the technology that is vital to "my life". The rest, I am comfortable to leave on the side of the road. However, as I search my heart wide and long and high and deep, I come up with how important this blog site is for all of us in this Zone to share information with one another. I love being stretched beyond what's important for "my life" for Zone 22. This is just the beginning...

Where do you need to go beyond this MOPS year? Post your beyond experiences.

Blessings to you all,
Nichole Bethel
Area Coordinator
Zone 22: Eastern PA and NJ

SDWSC

This button was given to all the attendees at the MOPS Convention. There was no explanation offered when the button was given to them and each mom was encouraged to wear her button throughout the Convention. Of course, there were many guesses on SDWSC. Some I remember involved Caffeine, Convention, and there was even a Sexy Christian guess. Luckily, as a Field Leader (FL), Elisa Morgan explained SDWSC to the FLs during our training prior to the start of the Convention. After it was explained to us, we were then instructed to forget what it meant. If a mom asked us, we were suppose to tell her that we weren't sure what it meant, but encourage her to figure out its meaning.
At Saturday's General Session, Elisa Morgan read from Mark 14. I am going to post verses 3-9 from my NIV Bible.
"While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, 'Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor.' And they rebuked her harshly.
'Leave her alone,' said Jesus. 'Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.'"
She Did What She Could...
Any thoughts?

Christy's Top Ten Convention Adventures

So, I was able to go to the MOPS Convention this year! YIPPEE!! I hope that you were there too, and, if not, I hope that one day you get to experience it. It is a truly amazing time with so many moms. If you did go to Convention, please share some of your top adventures with us. I really don't want to keep talking to myself.
Here they are....

10.The golden cowboy. (see the Convention slideshow)

9. Being able to eat a hot meal that I did not have to prepare without any interuptions. Yummy!


8. Wearing a purple shirt for two days & being able to fit all the free stuff I got into my suitcase. Whew!

7. Sitting through a General Session talk by Patrick Lencioni, buying his book, and actually reading the whole book so we can try not to be such a "Frantic Family".

6. Singing worship songs with Kim Hill and close to 5,000 moms. WOW!!! (all the artists were inspiring.)

5. Going to Carol Kuykendall's workshop. EPIC

4. Praying with Lyn Eichmann before her "How to be an Agent of Change" workshop. She gave a great talk too!

3. Meeting the moms from our Zone on Friday night with our Zone field leaders. Next time there will be sugar-free candy. All you ladies rock!

2. Devotions with our Zone on Saturday morning. AMEN!


1. Spending time connecting with incredible moms from all over while growing in my relationship with God. THANK YOU!

I could probably write 10 more, but really want to hear from you.
Share your adventure,
Christy

Commercial ~ CafeMom ~ Earn $50 towards MOPS activities!

What is CafeMom?
CafeMom is the largest online community site for moms and a proud partner of MOPS! CafeMom is a safe environment where moms can come to get advice, find support, make friends and just relax.

Why Start a CafeMom Group?
As a MOPS Leader, you can set up your own local group on CafeMom so your MOPS group can stay connected, develop and grow. Plus, you can connect with the larger MOPS community at the official MOPS@CafeMom group.

Join the MOPS community on CafeMom today!
Visit http://www.cafemom.com/mops

Creating Your Group is Easy

Go to the MOPS@CafeMom group forum posts and find a sticky post titled "Create a Group for Your Local MOPS Group", and click on the link in the post to create your group.

There are a few types of groups you can create. We recommend making your MOPS group a "Local" group.

Name your group so other MOPS moms can find you easily. Our recommendation is to use "MOPS - Anytown, State".

Go through a few easy steps to customize your group's description, privacy settings, and more.

Invite your MOPS friends! Go to the MOPS@CafeMom group forum posts and find a sticky post titled "Invite MOPS Moms!"

PLEASE NOTE: CafeMom will give local MOPS groups $50 towards group activities, to be used however you decide. Just get 10 participating moms in your local group by 11/30/08. http://www.cafemom.com/mops/rules

Just a note from me: I have actually been a member of cafemom for about a year now and I am so excited to see the MOPS presence all over. If you want to check out my profile, go to cafemom.com and search for cupoftea (that's my screen name). Once you set up a profile for yourself, we can become friends.

Post your comments and questions right here.

Christy

MOPS Convention Adventure

Hello, or for those who have recently returned from Texas, Howdy!
I had a wonderful MOPS Adventure this past weekend and it was great to be able to share it with so many amazing women! The Field Leaders from our Zone who attended included: Nichole Bethel, Kay Kissinger, Denise Kother, Rachael Weber, and, me, Christy Molnar. We missed our other Field Leaders: Cheryl Donner, Susan Entingh, and Lisa Johnson. We had a super turnout for our Zone time on Friday night and we even were able to pray together as a Zone during Devotions on Saturday morning (hi, Christine & Julia!). We are so grateful to each and every one of you for all that you do for MOPS and, ultimately, for God.
If you attended Convention, please share with us here under Comments one of your adventures. If you were unable to attend Convention, but would like to share a MOPS adventure with us, please do so. For the first couple of people who share an adventure, I will send you a gift.

I have more pictures from Convention to post, so please stop by later this week and check them out!

Christy