MOPS

Today.

Yesterday.

The last 10 days.

These days have tried to break me.

I am trying to keep my eyes on God. Just like when I’m carsick, if I can focus on a stationary object it gets better. My life is a road trip and God is my Mt. Rainier.

But God never promised us that our lives would be easy. He told us He would be there for us, get us through these hard times, give us tools to fight our battles.

He has done that for me the last 10 days.

He has given me a community of women that I didn’t know 2 months ago. Literally, I did not know them. I probably walked by them Trick or Treating and had no idea the impact they would have on me.

I joined a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group in November and I went to one meeting and knew I was home. I was surrounded by women who knew exactly what I was going through and they cared about me already. They didn’t even know my last name.

Before our next meeting, 2 weeks later, I decided I didn’t want to take pain medicine because it makes me chatty and mushy… I wanted to be seen as this strong, normal Mom who got dressed every day, made breakfast for her kids, I wanted to say “oh man I can’t remember the last time I showered” like Moms seem to always say, I wanted to be sassy and funny.  I wanted to be me… without IC.

Sure enough after we had eaten our “breakfast” of cupcakes, cookies, and a piece of fruit, that we would never confess to our children about, we started on a craft making fun Christmas cards. I couldn’t do it. The pain was just too much it was making me run to the bathroom to vomit.

Now I’m going through all of this and these women who don’t know my husband’s name or where I grew up or that coral is my favorite color are tucking me under their wings. I’m overwhelmed. I’m in awe of God’s plans and love for me… He gave me MOPS. He gave me these women just for these weeks. Some I will probably never really know and some I will probably be weeping with as our kids graduate high school together.

I don’t have to act like I’ve got this Mom thing down because none of us do. I have realized every single woman in that room has issues. Medical, financial, marital, whatever… But we are all Moms and in this community, that I feel rooted in even after just 1 ½ visits, we do whatever we can to help other Moms get through this stage of life that is so fleeting and so treasured but so hard.

Thank you heavenly father for this group of women you have given to me. Please help me to be a part of this group so that I can help make a difference in another Mom’s life like they have for me. Amen.