MOPS

As soon as I knew that I was going to start a MOPS group here in Doha, I started praying that the Lord would help me to know that it was not about numbers, that He would bring to the group whomever He wanted to be there, and that we would do it the exact same way whether we had two women or twenty.

At 9:30 yesterday morning when I conceded that it was time to get started, we had 5 mothers of preschoolers, myself included, 3 mentor moms, the speaker, and our director of Women's Ministries, and I felt myself being tempted into despair. I started as if nothing at all was the matter (after confessing just a bit to my friend Lanny) and turned the floor over to our speaker, Dianne.

Dianne told an adorable story about her grandkids, then brought us back to the theme for MOPS this year: Adventures in Mothering, complete with the amusement park/roller coaster idea. I can't tell you word for word what she said, except that it was exactly what I expected to hear and exactly what I needed at that moment. Live your life in the seatbelt of God's protective arms and enjoy the ride.

After the speaker, we had discussion time and instead of splitting everyone up, we had one big discussion group. As I sat down in the circle, I realized this is an amazing group of women that has gathered here. What a blessing to be here in this moment and listen to them discuss mothering young children, those who have been there and those who are living it now. I couldn't have been more pleased.

I had to break up the group at a good stopping point before we finished the discussion so that we could get the craft finished before we needed to get the kids. Everyone seemed to really enjoy making the frames, and I was glad that I had chosen it for our first project. It could have been a little crazy if we had 20 ladies there. :)

No matter what happens in our next meeting, I know that we accomplished God's purpose for this one, we gave these women, myself included, an enjoyable morning out with lots of encouragement.