It's about love.
Hey moms - we all know how costly diapers can be, and there are moms among us who are struggling to meet their family's basic needs for rent and utlitiies and food. Diapers are an extraordinary burden (cloth isn't an option when you don't have your own washer/dryer either) especially when there two kids wearing them at the same time!
Join us as video speaker Shelly Radic introduces the MOPS 2010 theme, Momology: The Art and Science of Mothering! 
It's almost here! 
The next AWE is this Sunday! AWE is a dynamic worship experience designed for young adults to fellowship with one another. This week's topic is instant gratification. It meets at a new, earlier time designed for parents of young children to make it home before bedtime. Join us this Sunday, September 19, at 6pm! You can also find AWE on Facebook to keep up with updates and other events! Call 378-4900 for more information.
Gemini Crickets (for parents of multiples in the Silicon Valley), is having their Fall Garage Sale at Bethel Lutheran's parking lot (Cupertino) on Saturday September 25th from 9:00-11:30AM. This is a really big event with tons of stuff for babies through school-age kids. Come early if you are looking for something in particular! Parents are selling ANYTHING kid related so you will see tons of clothes, toys, DVDs, books, equipment, breast pumps, strollers (mostly double strollers), swings, etc..jpg)
We've started a new feature at the MOPS blog soliciting your favorites to share with our MOPS community! As promised, we'll be rounding up the lists of MOPS mom faves and posting them to our blog for future reference.NEW! A parent/child event called enter:ACT!
Do your kids love VBS?
enter:ACT about Respect is a fun, exciting parent/child event hosted by the KidZone Children’s Ministry for families with kids age 3 - 5th grade (childcare available for kids under age 3). With upbeat, fun music like “Respectfully Yours,” dinner and great activities, this is an event your family won’t want to miss! 4:15-6:30pm on September 26 at the Campbell Church of Christ. NEW! Register online or call 408.378-4900, x228.
Respect is... showing others they are valuable by what you do or say.
What if...your kids grow up to treat others this way?
What if...they don’t?
What if…your family interacts with respect for each other?
What if...they don’t?
What to expect at enter:ACT:
· Parents and kids engaging in high-energy worship, games, stories and activities all designed to help you learn about respect and have a great time while doing so. It’s a lot like VBS, only you get to have fun WITH your kids!
· Dinner (burgers and hotdogs) for the whole family – FREE!
· Great activities you can take home and continue using with your kids throughout the month.
· Parent Breakout Session: How to Help My Child Develop into a Respectful Adult
There will be three tracks to choose from:
· Age 3 – K
· 1st/2nd grade
· 3rd-5th grade
For families with kids in more than one age group, choose the track that best suits your family, or one parent can go with one child while another parent/grandparent goes with the other(s).
Frequently Asked Questions:
· Will there be childcare for kids under age 3? YES! You can register for childcare at the same time you register your family to attend enter:ACT.
· My 3 year old isn’t ready for something like this. Can he/she go into childcare instead? YES! We will leave that up to parents’ discretion. You may leave your 3 year old in childcare and enjoy the event with your older children if you prefer.
· Can more than one parent attend with a child? YES! The entire family can participate.
· Is there a cost for enter:ACT about RESPECT? NO! It’s completely FREE but registration is required by September 22nd.
· How do I register? NEW! Register online or call 408.378-4900, x228.
Last year, Teresa Drake gave an excellent presentation to both our groups on Anger Management for Moms. This year for our MOPS kickoff, we are very excited to have Teresa back to speak on "Motherhood: The Journey of a Lifetime." 
It's tough being a woman. If you've ever felt inadequate, threatened, or pushed into situations that seemed overpowering, this is the study for you. Just as it was tough being a woman in Esther's day, it's tough today. Join author Beth Moore in a very personal examination of this great story of threat and deliverance as she peels back the layers of history and shows how very contemporary and applicable the story of Esther is to our lives today.
Are you a working mom who can't make the Tuesday morning study, but you still want a chance to connect with other women? Are you looking for a smaller, more personal group? New this fall, be uplifted at a weekly evening Bible study for women that fits your schedule! Join us Tuesday evenings, starting September 14, 7:30 pm at the home of Renae Shah. Study topics will be decided by the group.
Engaged, newly married and young parents are invited to a new home group for couples that will focus on building strong marriages through discussion and Bible study. Space is limited! For more information call 408.378.4900. Need childcare? Please let us know.
• Parents must model being responsible by doing housework themselves.
• Parents must have a caring relationship with each child in the family.
• The culture in the home must be cooperative. Do you do things together? Do you help each other?
• Parents must see chores as an opportunity to teach their children both important life skills and values.
Thanks to MOPS Mom Renee Fahs for this tip!
Join us at the Grapevine Wine and Cheese Bar on Friday, May 21 starting at 7pm. Stop on by for some mom-time and good conversation! Feel free to bring a friend; all are welcome!
Wowee! Mentor mom and personal chef Gini Bortz prepared tasty treats for us at this month's MOPS meeting, complete with timesaving tips and tons of resources! If you couldn't make it to this month's meeting, or if you haven't had a chance to look through your information packets yet, here are some of the highlights.
The Wednesday MOPS groups welcomes a new Mentor Mom – or really, Mentor Grandma! Mary Ruby, 85, asked to be a part of this group simply because she loves to help and be around young moms.When you ask her about her life, Mary Ruby beams: “I feel like I’ve had a wonderful life! I have felt like God has watched over me all my life.”
Born in Pueblo, Colorado, Mary feels fortunate to have had a father who was always happy, and a mother who, during the Great Depression, made “milk and bread for lunch taste good.” When Mary was three years old her family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where they raised rabbits for food. On Sunday mornings, Mary and her sister, Clydene, would catch the trolley to go to church; then, for fun “we would buy an all-day ticket and ride the trolley all over town. One bus driver was even a ventriloquist!
Mary started nurse’s training at the University of Utah, but when her father died, she left school and went to work for a radio-tube plant as a part of the war effort of World War II. Later she worked for United Airlines in food service, then in the dispatch office, checking weather and schedules for pilots.
When a group of Pepperdine College (now Pepperdine University) students visited her area, Mary met Lowry (her future husband) “in a cherry tree!” She found he had all the qualifications for the husband she envisioned: he was a Christian, had blue eyes, and did not drink or smoke (he was only missing the dark hair…). Lowry returned to California, and he and Mary wrote to each other for 4 months. He came to visit her in December, and he proposed. They were married in the church where Mary had grown up. She was 21. .
Mary and Lowry lived all along the coast of California. They had three children; the youngest, Don, is married to CCS’ beloved PE Teacher, Cheryl Ruby.
Mary has always lived a life based on service. She has taught kids with learning disabilities, as well as working as a psychiatric technician until the age of 65. At the Campbell Church, Mary taught 4th/5th grade Bible class for 40 years! She helps lead the 2nd/3rd grade girls’ club, Tuesday morning Women’s Bible Study, and works in the CCS Resource Room every Thursday morning. In addition (and all this “in retirement”) Mary is a leader in the Seniors’ group, visits friends and is in the process of learning to use a computer.
Mary is a firm believer in living life to its fullest. At the age of 69, with her sister Clydene (age 70) Mary Ruby went…(wait for it)…bungee jumping! Shortly after losing Lowry, her husband of almost 60 years, Mary traveled to Nairobi, Kenya with a missionary group from the Campbell Church, helping the students and leaders at Made In the Streets.
Mary says about herself: “I am happy, I have things to do, I have friends. The church has always been my family. I’ve never felt I didn’t have a place to go because I’ve always felt I had it in the church. No matter where I went, it was home. I’ve always felt they were my people.”
When asked what parenting advice she would give a young mother, Mary replied: “All you can do is show the way, and they make their choices. They don’t always make the choices you want, but my mother told me you keep on teaching them. You leave them in God’s hands, and be a good example.”
