MOPS Apr. 2nd meeting

Announcements:

*Please consider being a part of our steering team next year. Prospective members may come to the next steering meeting on Apr. 23rd at 9AM. Childcare provided. Some of our current steering members are not returning to their positions. Others are happy to give up or change their positions if a replacement can be found. Please come even if the position that you are interested in appears to be filled. You might be surprised. The following is a list of steering positions: coordinator, co-coordinator, discussion group coord., hospitality, publicity, finance, MOPPETS, creative activities and fundraising. MOPS Int. has also recently created a "service" position for reaching out to the community.
*Thanks to Juliane and all the other moms who gave of their time, talents and contributed financially to the vendor fair.
*Please bring a recipe card with your brunch creations to MOPS meetings. Give them to Jenny C. and she will publish them in the newsletter.
*MOPPET Worker Appreciation Brunch will be held Thurs., Apr. 30th from 9:30-?. Please bring a brunch item to share with our MOPPET workers. You may also bring your children. This is our oppotunity to give back to the workers an show them how much they mean to us.
*Apr. 16th is the Wiser Older Woman (WOW) panel rescheduled from January's cancelled meeting. Rollercoaster Gals have brunch.
*The May 7th MOPS meeting will involve a field trip to the library. Please eat breakfast before you come as no brunch will be served that day.

Featured speakers: Marcy K. and Marilyn P.

The topic was grief and the joy of Easter.

Summary:

Marcy spoke at her high school graduation. The verse she chose for her theme was Jeremiah 29.11, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." These words proved to be very applicable with upcoming challenges in her life. She attended college in Tenn. and struggled with changing her major and finishing school at Northern in Aberdeen. Her father told her if she was that concerned about the changes, making the changes must be the right thing to do. Two months after she moved to Aberdeen, her father passed away in a farming accident. Eleven days later, her best friend passed away in a car accident. Switching schools had enabled her to go home as much as needed, something that would have been difficult from Tenn.

Marcy discussed the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. People go through these stages at different paces. Marcy experienced some depression. She explained that grief doesn't go away, but as time goes on, it is not as painful as "fresh grief."

Marcy also lost a baby she was carrying last fall. Despite her losses, she feels blessed to have the husband and family God has given her.

Marcy followed up her talk by singing a beautiful solo.

Marilyn said God has given her the gift of being a good listener. She believes healing occurs through listening. She said that we all have a "loss line" with varying degrees of losses on it. These losses differ. Marilyn believed losing a school board election and seeing her son get married were types of losses. She also lost her mother. Losses impact other losses and little losses can help prepare you for big losses. God has a part in all these losses. People also need to keep in mind that the stages of grief are never "completed."

Marilyn also experienced depression after a loss and sought help. Help can come in the form of a counselor, friends or a family network. A recommended book is the Grief, Recovery, Loss Handbook available in the hospice library at the hospital. Sometimes people express concern over some family members during a loss but may overlook how other family members are handling the loss.

One passage Marilyn quotes is Matt. 5.4, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." We can be comforted in knowing that one day we will be reunited with those we have lost in heaven.

Marilyn distributed materials and a poem she wrote herself about grief. That poem will be published in the May edition of the MOPS newsletter.

A time of discussion re: grief followed the speakers.