My Last MOPS Meeting (sniff, sniff)

I recently went to my last MOPS meeting. It’s weird to think I won’t be back when MOPS has become a big part of my life as a mom. I first started going when Sky was a baby, mostly because it was nice to get out of the house and the meetings were fun. But during my second year, MOPS suddenly became a huge blessing in my life.

Meetings had just started in the fall when I got a terrible phone call from my dad. He hadn’t been feeling well and the doctors had run some tests. “I have cancer,” he told me over the phone one night in September. “What kind?” I asked. “Well, they don’t know,” he said. “They think it might have started in my pancreas.” I hung up the phone and burst into tears. I’m no medical expert, but the words “started” and “pancreas” terrified me. He died six weeks later. Adam and I spent most of that time up in Michigan at my parents’ house and I am so grateful that my whole family was together the night my dad went to heaven.

But then it was time to head back to Florida. Saying goodbye to my mom and brothers and sisters was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Adam and I even talked about moving to Michigan. But his work is here in Florida and there were no jobs in my mom’s tiny town. I was also 7 months pregnant with baby #2. So after lots of tears and hugs, we loaded up the car and drove the 18.5 hours back home. Thirty minutes after we arrived, my friend Amy appeared on our doorstep with a carful of groceries. All the girls at my MOPS table had chipped in to buy them. But that wasn’t all. They each took turns bringing us meals for several weeks too.

Amy’s own father had passed away suddenly and she said, “After his funeral I didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t want to buy groceries. None of that mattered to me.” I couldn’t get over it. The year had just started and I barely knew most of the girls at my table, yet they were feeding my family. A few months later we had our son Micah and they all brought us meals again. I felt like such a taker! But I was homesick and sleep deprived and just lost in my grief. I was desperate for help and my MOPS friends gave it to me. I will always be grateful for the way they surrounded me with love and prayers (and food!) that year.

I could write so much about the high-quality mamas at MOPS. I get a little teary-eyed when I think about Melissa and Joy and Kelly, all former MOPS moms who volunteered this year in Micah’s classroom. Never mind the fact that they’re all in the process of fostering/adopting needy children, they showed up again and again to watch our kids. My son’s major potty-training issues? “No problem!” They’d say. “He’ll be fine,” they’d add as I’d leave him crying at the door. And sure enough, he was always happy when I picked him up later.

Next year we’ll officially be homeschooling with Classical Conversations as Sky enters kindergarten. Since I am confident that I can’t do everything, I’m letting go of MOPS to focus on school. But there’s a lot I won’t forget. Like the time one of our mentors (a pastor’s wife!) said that when her kids were little she’d count down till “2:00 and 8:00, nap time and bedtime.” God bless her for sharing that. And I won’t forget when another wonderful mentor said she’d often felt like a failure in her early years as a mom (I think some of us shed a few tears of relief at that point). I will remember each and every testimony I heard over the years. And I won’t forget the golden plunger! Or that sometimes our worst mothering moments are super funny later.

MOPS is not an exclusive club of best friends. It’s an open group of genuine, caring mamas who believe that raising little ones is hard, but we’ll get through it and even enjoy ourselves if we help each other out. I’m thankful for my years with everyone—the laughs, the oh-so-wise mentors, the encouragement, the yummy food, the nursery (thank you Moppets workers!), the potty-training advice, and most of all, the friendships I’ll take with me. I love you girls!