Jackie Moothart

Jackie Moothart, one of our wonderful mentor moms, shared her testimony with us this week and what a joy it was to hear all about her journey with our Lord. This was her first time sharing but you would have NEVER known!

Jackie was raised Catholic but started attending a Christian Sunday school when she was 11 and loved it! However, during the women's movement in the 60's, she was just sooo busy raising her family and doing other things that there was no time for church as she was very much in the world. In the late 80's her son, Craig, started dating a good Christian girl and was on fire for the Lord. He was very persistent in wanting his parents to attend church with him so they finally gave in but mostly just so that he would be quiet about the whole thing. Hah!! Boy did God have something else in store! From the moment Jackie entered the church, she knew she was home. She began to realize was she had been missing all of these years... not a religion but a relationship! God knew there were going to be trials coming Jackie's way and put Craig and the church in her path in His perfect timing so that He would be able to carry those burdens. They knew that God had the perfect plan and that even through the rebellious and disobedient times, He continued to love and protect them. Jackie and "Mr. Moot" just celebrated their 50 year anniversary and it's all about Him!

Still to come...

Can you believe we're half way through the Spring session?!?! I SURE CAN'T! Before we know it we'll be taking our summer break and I'm soooo not looking forward to that! But enough of that... just getting ahead of myself...

Here's the lineup for our second half of the session - It looks great!!!

April 28th: Jackie Moothart - Testimony
May 5th: Carol Pawlak - Cupcake Decorating

May 12th: April Johnson & Diane DeVall - Nutrition for Kids
May 19th: Jason Shafer - Worship & Elizabeth Shafer - A Godly Mom
May 26th: End of the Year Celebration!!

Spoons!!

What a fun day we had at Mom2Mom this last week!! It's fun to deviate from the normal schedule, speaker and whatnot occasionally to sit back and just have a fun time with our girlfriends! We had a wonderful devotion by Nancy Walker (thank you Nancy for sharing your heart - I know you spoke directly to many of us!) and then got into a super fun game of SPOONS! I've never played before but had a blast watching all of you get into it!! Catherine Gough was our Spoons champion - way to go Catherine!!

Our Switch, Swap and Save time turned out to be a big hit! THANK YOU to all of you who contributed - MANY MANY MANY of us were so blessed, as was the Crisis Pregnancy Center who took all of the leftover items over to Sweet Peas Boutique.

I hope everyone's had a great weekend!! Our weather has been incredible and I'm praying we have another few weeks of the same! See you Wednesday!!!

Love & Blessings,
Holly

Honor, Order & Peace

One of our very own table leaders, Debbi Garcia, spoke to us about Honor, Order and Peace in our households last week. I don't know about you but I sure got A LOT out of her whole talk. I walked away feeling empowered with some great ideas to put into action when I got home. She emphasized to get take a couple of ideas she mentioned, not all of them, and try them out. The key is to SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY so that you have more time to spend with you family and the important things in life.

HONOR

1. God
Make time for Him. Try and figure out a way to have a quiet time. Be creative with it if you have to. Put scripture on your iPod and listen to the Word during feedings with your baby or in the car. Pray throughout the day - Associate the task you're doing or the room your in with a prayer. Put a devotional/journal in the bathroom and make the most out of your time in there :) The opportunities are endless... it just takes a little creativity.
2. Husband
Find things to praise your husband for - when he IS and ISN'T listening. Take the kids pictures out of your bedroom and fill the space with pictures of the two of you throughout different parts of your relationship. Take time to prep the house before daddy gets home and prepare for his arrival. Let him know you're happy he's home and he'll want to come home.
3. Kids
Give them your heart for God. You are their example and they will pick up so much from you.

ORDER

1. Pick an area and do 1 shelf a day. Be ruthless! If you have an entire room have a friend help!
2. If you're an avoider, have something positive at the end of it and reward yourself.
3. Organize your purse into compartments - it not only keeps things orderly but makes changing purses beyond easy!
4. Your kids can help sort laundry!! Tie colored ribbon to the laundry baskets and they'll know which color clothing goes in which basket.
5. Get rid of towels and use terry cloth robes instead. Wash the robes once a week when you wash the sheets.
6. Keep toys out of the Living Room, Family Room & Dining Room. If they are out then keep them put away in bins and boxes.
7. Get things off the floor.
8. Have different bins in the house according to the different zones they're in: A "getting ready" bin under your bathroom counter, a "baking" bin in your pantry, etc.
9. Use paper plates 1 night a week and spend the time you would've used cleaning the kitchen to play a game with the family instead.
10. Get a Sunday Box and anything that gets left out during the week gets put into the "Sunday Box" and stays there until Sunday - why Sunday? Because God is full of GRACE! Loved this one!
11. Put a hook on the back of your medicine cabinet to hang jewelry.
12. Create a chore list for yourself to do 1 task a day.
13. Scan your children's artwork and toss the originals.
14. Get rid of all your cleaning products and use vinegar water with a microfiber towel (you can find them in the auto department at stores too!)
15. Let your kids do the chores they're good at - there doesn't need to be a rotation... Teach them that a family works together and helps with others weaknesses.

PEACE

1. You will have peace with your husband if you respect him.
2. Minister to him sexually - resist the urge to neglect this.
3. Don't scream across the house to your kids - go to them and get down on their level.
4. Have them pray with each other if they're fighting.
Have a quiet time candle - use the same candle everytime and your kids will know when that candle is lit they may not talk, make noise or interrupt mom. They may snuggle and/or sit quietly with you...

Thank you so much Debbi for sharing so many wonderful ideas with all of us. I've loved reading all of the posts on Facebook the last few days and how you have really inspired all of us to make changes in all our of lives!!

Reminder!!

Hi Ladies,
Just a reminder that there is no Mom2Mom this Wednesday, April 7th, due to spring break on the DSUSD schedule. We'll meet up again next Wednesday, April 14th!! See ya'll then!!
Blessings,
Holly

Welcome Back!!

What a great first morning back we had!!!! The start of Spring session was amazing and it was so awesome to see so many new faces!! Welcome to those of you who are joining us for the first time! I hope you enjoyed the morning just as much as I did! The tables were packed, childcare downstairs was full in some rooms and we had a wonderful, Godly, spirit-filled woman for our first speaker of the session - Candace Cameron Bure! It was a blessing to me just to see her begin by being so vulnerable and real in front of all of us in the way that she was blessed to hear Catherine's devotion just before she got up to speak. Candace shared her testimony and the journey she has been on with her walk with the Lord. Although she accepted Christ as her savior when she was 12, it wasn't for a few years later until she understood that "Being Good Isn't Good Enough" after receiving the book, The Way of the Master from her brother Kirk. The lightbulb went off and Candace realized the grace that she had been given and she truly understood everything the Lord had done for her. You can listen to her full testimony again on her website and check out more information on the phenomenal girl.

Thank you Bridgette for bringing and sharing your sister with us for the morning!! It was a real treat to hear and get to know her in a more personal way, other than DJ Tanner!!