KidsLink Downrange ~ MOPS Service Project

KidsLink Downrange is a service project for all MOPS groups to help military moms and their families! MOPS groups will create card kits for kids whose parent is deployed. Kits will be delivered to kids at Fort Hood, Texas this spring.

MOPS groups will design card kits that contain everything a military child will need to write to his or her parent throughout the year. In this way, children who are separated from a parent can still have the vital interaction they need with their parent as they grow and develop. Anyone can choose to be a part of this project – all it takes is a little time and creativity. View instructions here.

Card kits will be sent by groups to Cadence International in Colorado and delivered by the Military Children’s Ministry staff at Fort Hood elementary schools. There is an imminent need for MOPS groups to help create card kits for kids there! Our goal is to send 5,000 card kits to the 70,000+ kids living in the Fort Hood area. Registration ends February 15, 2009.

Pledge your participation today!

Click on the KidLink Downrange header at the top of this blog and you can go to the MOPS website for additional information. I have checked out the KidsLink Downrange MOPS page and I am so encouraged to see that several groups in our Zone have already pledged their support. Please share your thoughts and ideas about this service project with us here on the blog.

Happy Easter!!!!!!

Happy Easter MOPS leaders!

Here are some fun ideas to do this weekend to help your child celebrate and understand the Resurrection story.

HE IS RISEN!

RESURRECTION COOKIES

This is a great recipe to teach your Children the REAL story of Easter. That the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior is not dead but has Risen. We serve a Risen Savior......

You will need:

1 cup whole pecans

1 teaspoon vinegar

3 egg whites

a pinch salt

1 cup sugar

a zipper baggy

1 wooden spoon

scotch tape

Bible

Instructions:

These are to be made the evening before Easter. Preheat oven to 300F.*** (this is very important --- don't wait until you are half done with the recipe).

Place pecans in zipper baggy and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested. He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.

Read: John 19:1-3
Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegarto drink.

Read: John 19:28-30
Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His lifeto give us life.

Read: John 10:10&11
Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the restinto the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers,and the bitterness of our own sin.

Read: Luke 23:27
So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that thesweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us toknow and belong to Him.

Read: Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16
Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sinshave been cleansed by Jesus.

Read: Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper covered cookie sheet.Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.

Read: Matthew 27:57-60
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.
Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.Explain that Jesus tomb was sealed.

Read: Matthew 27:65-66

GO TO BED!

Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight.Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read: John 16:20&22
On Resurrection Sunday (Easter) morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read: Matthew 28:1-9

Resurrection Rolls

You Will Need:(each item represents how Jesus' body was prepared for burial)

Large Marshmallows

Melted Butter

Sugar/Cinnamon mixture

Can of Crescent Rolls

Instructions:

1. Open can of crescent rolls and separate into triangles. The rolls represent the linen wrapping used in covering the dead.

2. Dip and roll one marshmallow (representing Jesus' body) into melted butter The butter represents the oils used in anointing the dead body.

3. Roll the marshmallow in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. The mixture represents the spices used in burials.

4. Place the marshmallow in the center of the crescent triangle. Fold and pinch the edges tight. Put each crescent-wrapped marshmallow on a slightly greased cookie sheet.

5. Bake the rolls as directed on he package. The oven represents the tomb. When cooked, the marshmallow melts leaving only the puffed crescent roll. This demonstrates how Jesus rose from the dead. All that remained in the tomb were the linen wrappings.

These are surprisingly tasty.

ENJOY!!!

Jesus loves you!

Have a blessed Easter!!!!!!!!!!

Following the Father's Commands

It's that time of year when we are bombarded with things that need to be done. At MOPS we're getting ready for the Leadership For Life Summit, nominating and interviewing new Steering Team members, planning Tea and Testimonies and seeking to end well. Some of us are involved in end of the year school activities, spring sports, recitals, spring musicals, and field trips. At church we're planning VBS, summer events, teaching Sunday school, on the praise team, women's bible study and more.

How do you know what you should be doing? There are so many opportunities for ministry and service. The following article from Prime Time With God was really helpful in pointing me in the right direction....


Following Only the Father's Commands
TGIF Today God Is First, by Os Hillman

Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." - John 5:19Have you ever thought about a typical day in Jesus' life? Perhaps He might have had questions like these, "Who am I going to heal today? Who will I visit today? Which person will I deliver from demons this day?" etc. The demands on Jesus' time were great. Yet we see that Jesus allocated His time very deliberately. We don't get the idea that Jesus was flustered or stressed from the activity He was involved in. He often sought times of prayer and reflection away from the disciples. His life appeared to have a balance of quiet moments and active ministry into the lives He came in contact with.

How do we determine what we will be involved in each day of our lives? What keeps us in sync with the will of our heavenly Father for the daily tasks He calls us to? Jesus tells us that He was only involved in those things the Father was involved in. Nothing more, nothing less. So often we determine our participation in an activity based on whether we have the time to do it or whether we desire to participate. The real question we should ask is, "Does the Father want me to participate in this activity?"

To read the rest of the article go to.....
http://www.churchgrowthmail.org/web/pageid/30781/pages.asp

MOPS Theme for 2007/2008

Mothers of Preschoolers
the HOME factor BEGIN HERE...GO THERE

In our homes of origin many of us learned the deepest lessons about relationship, developed life routines and acquired our tastes and preferences. And now, as moms, we long to create homes where our families can thrive and grow — and we can too.
Our homes must be safe places – physically and also emotionally safe. In them we bond, we eat and play and rest together, we decorate and provision our special home spaces. The theme the HOME factor: BEGIN HERE … GO THERE enriches our perspective and hones our abilities to create a cocoon of home.
But at its healthiest, our home experience should fill us and launch us into wider circles of investment and influence where we interact with our world. We return HOME to reconnect and refuel — but we’ll move from the HOME outwards to make a difference.
The heart of the HOME is also a picture of God’s desire to interact with us and deeply love us where we really live. He desires to make his home in our hearts. He expresses it this way in the theme verse: "...he lives with you and will be in you." John 14:17
Three key elements of this theme to explore throughout the year:
Our homes are where we bond, cocoon, build inwardly.
Our homes are where we refuel so that we can live fully in the world beyond.
Our homes are a picture of Jesus' dwelling within us.

Theme Resources and Graphic Elements
Key elements in the HOME factor: BEGIN HERE … GO THERE include simple houses representing HOME in all its diversity of size, shape and location. The butterfly represents the heart of the home, touching rooms with its glow and leaving the cocoon to soar. The earth represents our home planet, where we live in community.

Theme DVD

A 2007-08 MOPS International Theme DVD comes free to each MOPS group as a benefit of on-time Charter Renewal. This DVD will provide inspirational and practical tools to equip MOPS leaders to carry out the theme in their group. Use the Theme DVD at a Steering Team planning retreat. The Theme DVD will help your team understand the theme, simplifying theme-related planning so you can concentrate on relationships rather than details. Renew by April 30th and receive your Theme DVD in mid-May!

Dwelling: Living Fully from the Space You Call Home Book and Curriculum

Anchoring the theme is a new MOPS book and curriculum titled Dwelling: Living Fully from the Space You Call Home by Mary Beth Lagerborg, author and Director of Media for MOPS International. At the heart of Dwelling is the quest by the author to find the foundational principles for building the type of home we all crave – no matter what the home we grew up in is like, no matter what our current income or address. Through interviews, excerpts from literature, and her own experiences shaping a dwelling place for her family, Mary Beth helps us craft a home where we can live fully from our own private spaces. She then compels us to take all we gain into life in the larger world. Dwelling is warm, hopeful and practical.
The companion curriculum for use in MOPS groups will provide six video Home Tours plus additional resources for Discussion Group Leaders. Each tour will feature topics such as understanding and making room for different personalities, dining in, home as a safe place to make mistakes, comparing your home with others’, feeling trapped at home, decorating and organizing, having company and being involved in community.

Deeper Theme for Convention

The MOPS International Convention takes the annual theme a bit deeper for leadership training and spiritual enrichment of leaders. This year the convention theme is Dwell Well: Heart — Home — Planet, also based on John 14:17.

Take & Bake Creative Activity

A very popular creative activity is a meal which the moms will assemble at MOPS and be able to bake it for supper. Here are two recipes that worked really well.


Baked Ziti

1/2 box ziti or penne pasta
1/2 lb ground beef or turkey (ground turkey is cheaper than beef)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper,
chopped OR small can mushrooms
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup mozzerella cheese,
grated olive oil

Prep work before meeting:
Cook pasta until just barely tender, drain thoroughly and rinse with cold water. Toss with small amount of olive oil to prevent noodles from sticking together. Brown grd. beef and onion, drain.

At the meeting:
In a gallon size ziploc bag- mix pasta, ground beef, pepper (OR mushrooms), sauce and cheese. Toss gently.
At this point you can send them home with it in the baggie or you can pour it into a well sprayed disposable 9x9 tin.

At home directions:
Spread into well sprayed 9x9 pan (if it's sent home in baggie). Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350F, or until bubbly on the edges and hot in the middle. Remove foil and bake five more minutes.

This can also be frozen in either the baggie or disposable tin.
Thaw in fridge 24 hours before baking it.

************************************ Calzones
Frozen bread dough (one loaf makes 5 calzones)
Pizza or spaghetti sauce
Pizza toppings
Cornmeal

Prep work before meeting:
Thaw dough and let rise according to directions on package. Cut up any pizza toppings.

At the meeting:
Divide each loaf into five sections. Flatten into about 8"rounds. Put filling on to one half of a round and fold in half. Pinch edges to seal. Prick tops several times with fork.

You would need to send them home on cardboard covered with foil or buy disposable tins.
Send each mom with a small baggie of cornmeal for home.

At home directions:
Sprinkle corn meal on baking sheet, bake calzones at 425F for 18-20 minutes.

These may also be cooled, wrapped indivually and frozen.
Thaw in fridge and microwave or reheat in oven.

These are taken (and modified) from the book Frozen Assets: how to cook for a day and eat for a month by Deborah Taylor-Hough

First Aid Kit Craft

For our HELP month and we made Mommy First Aid Kits for the car. We purchased small vinyl bags (make-up bags) online for $.50 each! And then with a TON of phone work got donations from local business to fill them up. The local hospitals donated band-aids, antiseptic wipes, rubber gloves, emergency number magnets and hand cleanser packets. One of the local hotels donated small sewing/mending kits. An insurance agency donated pens. A dentist office donated floss. Tiny flashlights from the electric company, and we're waiting on a reply from Wal-Mart and our other local grocery store to see if they'll donate lip balm / tissue packets or tylenol packets. I was so amazed at how willing companies were to donate. It does take a lot of time to make all of those phone calls but we're doing a really useful easy craft for almost FREE!!! Try the marketing departments or managers of hospitals, stores, doctors offices or dentists.