SEPTEMBER NEWLSETTER COVER

CONTEST for a TITLE
First Baptist Church of Anoka MOPS
September 2008
Our theme this year is: Adventures in Mothering:
You supply the new newsletter name to win a prize!
Details at the September 11th MOPS meeting.


Time to Recharge!By Wendy Steffen
My house is filled with kids’ toys. Many of them, from the musical baby toys to the older kids’ electronic toys, use batteries. We go through A LOT of batteries in our house! For that reason, my family has discovered the wonderful world of ‘rechargeable’ batteries. These things are amazing! We even have 2 different kinds of chargers, the long 8 hour (overnight) charger, which prolongs the battery’s life and the quick 15-minute (rapid) charger, which rejuvenates them fast and makes the kids happy, when we are about to leave for a long car ride and their Leapster says “Time to change the batteries.”

There is only one flaw with rechargeables; they actually lose their charge even if they are not being used. You can charge them up and stick them in a drawer for future use, but they start to discharge at the rate of up to 1% per day. Rechargeable batteries are a little bit like moms. During our hectic times, we go and go until we are all used up and done in. And even during times where our mommy lives aren’t overly challenging, we still seem to discharge a little bit every day until one day, we are completely depleted.

We all need to be recharged by God. We don’t stay at 100%, but need to constantly be recharged to stay faithful to Him. He will sustain you and keep you going, even when you feel you are all worn down, but you must devote time to plug in and be renewed by Him. Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” NLT Occasionally I get to plug into the long ‘overnight’ type charger. This could be a church women’s retreat or MOPS Convention. More often, (with my hectic mommy life) I plug into the 15 minute ‘quick charger’. This could be my few minutes during the day for devotions, the Sunday morning sermon from my pastor and even my bi-monthly MOPS Meeting.

MOPS’ goal is to encourage and equip mothers so that Christ can be glorified. God understood the importance of fellowship and encouraged us to spend time together. Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” NIV

So as we begin our new MOPS year, I want to encourage each of you to attend meetings and meet some new friends. Come often and let MOPS be a ‘quick charge’ for your (probably depleted) mommy batteries.