Monday Mornings-Come To Me

Hello, beautiful friends! Welcome to "Monday Mornings". I don't know about you, but some Mondays can be tough on me and my little ones. In the busyness of getting our week started I find it easy to forget to take some time out to get my heart and spirit ready. Devotions are easily forgotten as I'm checking things off of the "to-do list" and before I know it my Monday goes from great to stressful in no time.

We hope that you will check into this, our little online home, every Monday for a quick devotion, prayer, and encouragement to get your week started on the right foot. And if you ever need prayer PLEASE let us know! We want this weekly "Monday Morning" to turn into a place of refuge for all of us. If you feel comfortable, leave your prayer requests in the comments and let's become a community of women who love the Lord and love each other!

Here's to starting our week off the right way! ....and for our first "Monday Morning" post...

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

-Matthew 11:28

Let's be honest, girlfriends. We are often in a "weary" state of existence. Between the late night/early morning feedings, cooking, cleaning, working, working-out to loose the baby weight, trying to be a trophy wife (ha), and the daily grind of being a MOP (Mother of Preschooler) some days are just plain hard. (this list could go on forever, right??!)

Add on top of all of that....which is only our "normal life".....the pressures of financial stress, marital problems, job changes, school choices for kids, and the expectation to be a perfect mom to our children, we can often feel like we are barely making it. Or like we got hit my a mack truck.

Have you ever just wanted to go back to bed, pull the covers over your head and surrender!?

If you're answer is "YES" than you are in a good place. No, really. I'm serious. In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells us to come to Him.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

We cannot come to Him if we're not surrendered to Him. Wanting to give up is okay....we just need to make sure we're "giving it up" to God and not just giving up all together.

We need Him. We need to lean on Him. We need to REST in Him and He has made it very simple for us to do this. All we have to do to go to Him!

So today, here's what I want you to do.

-March back into your room

-Shut the door (the kids will survive for a few moments)

-Crawl back in bed

-Pull the blanket over your head

-Spend 5 minutes surrendering to Jesus.

Do it! Give Him everything today. Your pain, your frustration, your burdens, your worry, your stress, your fears, your anxiety....

Surender it all. Go to Him. He will lift your burdens and give you the rest you need to make it through.

Dear Lord,

I come to you today, in my weariness, and I ask you to help me. I give you every burden that I am carrying (name burdens/stressors) and I acknowledge that I need to surrender them before You and in turn, receive your peace and rest. Thank you for helping me today and each day. I trust you.

Amen.

How can we pray for you, friend? We are in this together. Leave your prayer requests in the comment section and let us encourage you today.

We Can Make A Difference

You can make a difference, you can change a life, you can change a legacy.

No Mom Alone. Reaching every mother for Christ. That is the mission of MOPS and you can help us accomplish it. With our fall semester quickly approaching, it has been made clear to us that many mothers who want to join our MOPS group are in a season of financial stress. It is our hearts desire to say "YES" to every mom who is interested in joining our group but it appears as though our scholarship fund will be running thin, due to the increasing need.

This is where you come in. We are asking you to pray and ask the Lord if you can sow into this ministry. No gift is too small! Just so you have an idea, each mom pays the following:

$35 Fall Registration Fee
$20 each for her first 2 children and $10 for each child after that

Perhaps you can give a registration fee? Or maybe cover childcare costs for someone? Maybe you can give $5 or $10? Any amount that you can give will make a huge difference in the life of a mother! Thank you for considering giving a gift.

If you can give a gift, please email MOPS Co-Coordinators Brittany Cranor and Ida Mundell at FBCmallmops@gmail.com.

You can also mail a check to the following address:
First Baptist Church at the Mall
Attn: MOPS
P.O. Box 90669
Lakeland, FL 33804

*Please designate scholarship fund on your check.


Again, thank you for gift, no matter the size and the most important gift you can give? Prayer for the families who will be reached through this ministry!

In HIS love,

Ida and Brittany
MOPS Co Coordinators