4.23.2009

Apr. 23 steering minutes

members present: Marilyn, Jennifer O, Jen O, Angela, Sherry, Marcy, Juliane, Jenny C., Jenny R.

devotion: theme was remembering to praise God and give thanks during stressful times; followed by time of prayer

business:
*vendor fair: $226 bake sale profits, $760 table fees, $986 profit before expenses, approx. $900 after expenses; attendance between 90-100 people; discussed possibilities of other locations for next year: Wtn. Christian School gym, Co. Fair Banquet Hall (high rental fee), Great Plains Gym, Hy-Vee upper room; lots of competition with other vendor fairs
*MOPPET worker brunch: 17 invites sent out; violet pots will be centerpieces and gifts for women; Jenny R. is going to have Jenny C. forward an e-mail with more detailed info on this event, she'd like an RSVP to see how many moms are coming; help needed Wed. night to set up at church; booklets will be compiled as gifts for regular workers and moms will sign thank-you notes
*May 7th: library field trip; tour, talk by children's librarian, snacks served in community room; Linda hasn't been contacted yet. If this doesn't work for her, a tour of the Goss might be substituted (not of the Tut exhibit). Sherry may also have us do a book exchange
*you may register early at either May meeting for next fall and receive a discounted price; Sherry distributed a reg. form today;
*May 21: craft, introducing next years "Together on Planet Mom" theme, survey/evaluation, possible bracelet craft
*We will have our summer meetings the 1st and 3rd Thurs. of June. Time will be 11-1 at McKinley Park. We will not have a park meeting in August. This one is not well attended and this will also give us more dates to work with for the ice cream social. Time for ice cream social TBA. Sherry will make refrig. magnets again this year with summer dates.
*Steering for next year: Marcy and Jenny will coordinate, Angela- crafts, Jennifer O- hospitality, Jen O- d-groups, Juliane- fundraisers, Sherry- MOPPETS, Marilyn and Teresa- mentors. Finance and Publicity are open. Existing steering was asked if they want to switch jobs or stay the same. Barb B from WOW panel is interested in mentoring.
*suggestion made to reduce number of fundraisers
*suggestion made to cover the cost of mentor mom registration fees; we don't think it's fair to ask them to pay to volunteer
*Roxanne, Renee, Amber and Carla mentioned as possible MOPS graduates; graduates will be recognized at last MOPS meeting in May
*Marilyn is attending Summit in Sioux Falls and will be speaking.
*suggestion made to have four mentors: 1 for ea. d-group
*suggestion made to have a "head mentor"
*suggestion made for next year to have stickers affixed to children in nursery with mom's name and allergy info.
*we will have a summer steering retreat, most likely the first week in June before summer activities start and people start going on vacation
*charter fees have increased due to more materials being distributed; we are short in the gen. fund to cover this expense, so money may be taken from the surplus in the craft fund

respectfully submitted

4.16.2009

MOPS Apr. 16th meeting

Announcements:
*Apr. 23rd: Steering committee meeting at 9AM. If you are interested in becoming a steering team member, you are invited to join us. Childcare is provided. Come even if you think the area that interests you appears to be filled.
*Apr. 30th: MOPPET worker appreciation brunch at 9:30AM. Bring a brunch item to share with our workers and bring your kids. This is a time to give back to our workers who give so much of their time to us.
*May 7th: 9:00AM library field trip; NO BRUNCH, eat breakfast first, please do not be late
*May 8th: Moms' Night Out Scrapbooking Evening at Cornerstone (in conjunction with the eve. MOPS group) at 7:30PM in atrium. Bring your own scrapbooking supplies and a snack to share. You should have received an electronic invite. If you did, please take two minutes to respond "Yes, No or Maybe." If not, please know that everyone is invited. Bring a friend.


Meeting:

*We had a presentation by the W.O.W. (Wiser Older Women) panel consisting of our mentor moms and two guests. A summary of this presentation will be in the May newsletter.
*We broke into discussion groups after the panel.
*Thanks to the moms who volunteered to babysit in the nursery.

4.02.2009

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.