Feb. 19th MOPS meeting

Announcements:
*Purchase Herberger coupon books from Juliane. Unsold books should be returned to MOPS by the 26th.
*MOPS Vendor Fair fundraiser:
-First Baptist Fellowship Hall
-Mar. 28th
-10AM-3PM
-If you have a home-based business (i.e. Tupperware) or make crafts, you may rent a table for this event. Contact Juliane.
-If you know of someone else who may want to rent a table, contact Juliane.
-Table rental cost is $40.
-ALL moms are asked to bring pre-wrapped baked goods for a bake sale to be held in conjunction with the vendor fair. More details on bake sale to come. Last year this was a good fundraiser for us.
*Steering committee meets next week @ church @ 9AM.

Misc.:
*Drawing held for Applebee's gift card, with Malissa V. winning. Congratulations!
*Speaker was Tina Buri, coord. of Women's Ministry at Cornerstone, wife, mother to four children. Topic was marriage.
*Broke into d-groups for discussion time following speaker.

Speaker notes:
*Romance is tough with preschoolers in the house.
*Eve was created to be Adam's helper. She was formed from his rib.
*Some women may have husbands who aren't fulfilling their roles in the way God intended. We still need to fulfill our role as wives. Suggestion made to pray and seek counseling in these situations.
*We filled out a private survey re: our relationship with our husbands.
*Satan is battling us for our husbands' affections. To combat this, we must show a tremendous amount of affection to our husbands.
*Spend time apart from the kids for better intimacy.
*There are four factors which kill romance:
1. Sin and not forgiving ea. other.
2. Age and the toll it takes on our bodies.
3. Forgetfulness: Try to forget the negative things your spouse does.
4. Laziness
*Don't speak negatively of your spouse in public.
*Women's role as translated from original Hebrew and Greek found in the Bible (Gen. 2.18-25):
-"ezer" from root "azar": means "surrounding, girding, defending," Just as God is our helper and shield, we are to be an ally in war to our husbands
-"tsela" from root "tsala": means "limp, become lame, incline to one side", God gave Adam the need to have a need for a helper
_"basar" means "of the body of humans" from root "ba sar" meaning "to be joyful/cheerful", a joyous face makes you beautiful, a woman is a beautiful message of joy
FROM ALL THIS, WE KNOW THAT WE ARE A BEAUTIFUL ALLY TO OUR HUSBANDS.
*Ephesians ch. 5 describes the role of women: submit to husbands as to God; respect husband
-"hupotasso" is Greek for "submit"
-God knew the fall into sin was coming and Adam would need a helper
-today we experience battles inside and outside the home
-mens' roles are to be head of their wives and to love their wives; God is in charge of us through men.
*When on a date, if you can't come up with other topics of conversation, it's OK to talk about your kids. That's what you have in common and talking about them may lead to other topics of conversation.
*Don't go through life with the thought that your spouse may not have been the soulmate intended for you. Accept him.

Feb. 5th MOPS meeting

Today was pajama day. Two rounds of Bunco were played. Angela did a Foot Hand Scrub creative activity. Recipe for the foot hand scrub is as follows:

1 c light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. olive oil

Mix and keep unused portions in fridge.

If you wish to have the recipes for the appetizers from our Dec. 20th meeting, two of the appetizers can be found in the January newsletter from today's meeting. If you missed today, January newsletters will be available at the next meeting, as well. The other two recipes will be published in the March newsletter. I had copy machine issues at the church- long story- and that is the reason the recipes are split up. Thanks for your patience in this matter.

MOPS Vendor Fair fundraiser is Mar. 28th at First Baptist from 10:00AM-3:00PM. If you run a home-based business or sell craft items, you may rent a full or half table to sell your wares. We will also be having a bake sale. Contact Juliane with questions re: table rental or if you know of someone who would like to rent a table. More details on bake sale in March newsletter or in e-mails to come.