Her words broke my heart. I wanted to cry as I listened to her pour out her raw feelings to me. “I’ve lost my joy and I don’t know how to get it back.” This sweet mom was hurting in her marriage. She and her husband needed help. She didn’t enjoy being married to him. She didn’t like the kind of mom she had become and she craved joy. What is it about this little word that when it is missing we seem to just exist through life? What is so important about this 3 letter word? I understand where …
Are You Broken?
“We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) Two compassionate dark eyes squinted while looking for a particular clay jar in a large storage room. This man knew each of the shelved vessels intimately from His time bent over His potter’s wheel. He skimmed the shelves looking for one that refused to attract attention to itself. He hoped to find a large vessel, a bit broken, and covered with just enough dust to be overlooked and unnoticed by the untrained eye. Then He …
The Crucified Life
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.“ As I continue to learn about the life of Jesus, I am becoming more deeply aware of the calling to live the “crucified life“. All I do in this life should spring from a heart which offers all that I am as a living sacrifice. I sense the constant battle of my flesh that screams, “What about ME? What …
Where the M.O.M.s Are
Many of you know The M.O.M. Initiative has a team of 25 M.O.M.s who work hard to provide encouraging, relevant, relational and challenging content for the website as well as resources to help ministries develop powerful missional mentoring ministries. We get emails from women asking us where the M.O.M.s are speaking. So, today, I’d like to share with you where the M.O.M.s are for the rest of 2013 so you can pop in to one of the events they are speaking at, tune into their radio shows or watch their television interviews. Oh…and if you do meet the M.O.M.s during one …
The Done Vs. The Doing
By Guest: Elizabeth Anne May A few ladies gather around our little group of four at the end of the rows of tables. They oooooh and aaaah over our photos. They finger our ribbon and paper stacks. They stare curiously at the digital diecutting machine. “Oh, I could never do this,” they say to us, and we laugh. We are scrapbookers, and to us –the minority here at this crafty ladies weekend retreat full of quilters – cropping photos and slicing paper is easy work. {On the other hand, we remain largely mystified by applique and seams.} Yet, we find …
Freezer Tips: Freezing Eggs, Milk and More
Written by Heather Riggleman, Author of Mama Needs a Time Out Okay, I’m not one to spend much time in the kitchen but since we’ve started a journey towards eating a whole foods, plant based diet–let’s just say I’m in the kitchen A LOT more than I’d like to be. But fear not, I’m not going to ask you to join me in this diet but rather I’m going to give you tips to save time and money on your budget, especially since the school season is just around the corner. This means, you’ll be driving your swagger wagon to …
Helping Kids Grow In the Faith & An Adventures In Odyssey Giveaway
Hi sweet moms, mentors and ministry leaders! It’s Steph…and I’m super excited about the new Adventures in Odyssey’s devotion for kids! And TODAY we are sharing a GREAT GIVEAWAY! SO…be sure to COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN 90 Devotions for Kids by Adventures in Odyssey! For moms with kids in school, the most hectic months of the year are usually September and May. The end of the school year involves parties, playoffs, and final projects. The beginning of the year has moms and kids feeling overloaded with shopping trips, sign-ups, and new schedules. Establishing healthy, positive routines is a …
Raising Brave Kids
She mounted the twisted iron ladder to the monkey bars. Surely she could slip and smack her nose. So I yelled to my six-year-old before she reached the second rung. “Be careful!” Those words fly out of my mouth about a hundred times a day. When my daughters dance dizzy in the living room, run barefoot through the yard, fumble with poster paints, or beg to pour the milk—my mommy reflex blurts, Be careful! Accidents are not on our agenda today. The way I see it, God entrusted these children to my care, and I am determined not to mess …
Simple Mentoring – You Can Do It!
Do you have that “older woman” who touches your life deeply, without much fan fare or notice to the rest of the world? I remember her well; her name was Connie. She was the “older women” in our women’s group at the small church I attended in West Virginia over a dozen years ago. Older meant she was in her late 40’s, while the rest of us were in our 20’s and 30’s. Older meant that she had teen children, while we had babies and toddlers. Older meant that because she wasn’t in constant “mom motion” she was able to …
3 Reasons The M.O.M. Initiative Took the Pinterest Plunge… and We Are Asking for Your Help
We did it! Yes, we took the Pinterest plunge. The M.O.M. team had been dabbling with pinning and posting and on our own sites, but we have recently started our very own Pinterest Page full of fun and informative boards that will encourage moms, mentors and ministry leaders and we are asking all of you who are Piniterest lovin’ mommas to join us by following our boards. Social media is an interesting thing. Some love it, some hate it, some can’t seem to live without it. So, today, we want to share 3 reasons The M.O.M. Initiative Took the Pinterest Plunge …