Speak Good Things

/ / celebrate, cheerleader, encourage, God, good things, Influence, journal, Leaders, membership, mentor, mom, mops, motherhood, people
Imagine a soccer match where no one cheered. Or cheerleaders sitting quietly in the stadium as their team moves toward the goal line. Imagine a graduation where everyone politely nodded. Or a concert where no one clapped. Or a finish line with no one waiting for the runners to break the tape. Does all that sound like a flat-line on the encouragement meter? As Mentors, God has us perfectly poised to celebrate even the tiniest moments with MOPS Leaders and moms. We get a front row seat in the lives of women who are in the trenches of motherhood. We ...
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I Don’t Feel Like Going to Church Today

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I woke up this morning feeling rather down. There were things on my mind, feelings to work through, and a tiredness that came from months of emotion pushed aside. And then there was change coming ...
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Bread and Other Offensive Words

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I've recently decided to tackle the world of bread baking. Admittedly, this new hobby feels a bit weird considering that the word “bread” has been a swear word for the past several decades. Add in ...
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Reverse Engineering Creativity

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles is a famous female artist who is known for challenging the low status of maintenance work – both domestically and also in society. I learned about Ukeles while researching during graduate school ...
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The Biggest Question We Barely Ask Ourselves

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I hear moms talking around tables with glasses of wine and cell phones in view, should a spouse or child at home need us while we are away for our few coveted hours, about what ...
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The Joy of Dinnertime (It’s Possible)

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photo credit: Tiffany King I love to cook, and for the past 10 years I’ve cultivated a business by writing recipes and meal plans for busy families like mine. Recently, I found myself in the ...
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Conversation Four: The Four Most Important Conversations You’ll Have as Parents

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This is a four-part blog series. Each consecutive day this week will feature Conversation one, Conversation two, Conversation three and Conversation four in both print and video. These excerpts were taken from a chapter written ...
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Speak Good Things

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Imagine a soccer match where no one cheered. Or cheerleaders sitting quietly in the stadium as their team moves toward the goal line. Imagine a graduation where everyone politely nodded. Or a concert where no
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And Then There Was Me

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I remember being asked to be a MOPS Mentor. At the time, I didn’t know what that entailed, and truthfully, I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out. Still, I decided to watch some other ...
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Scales and Arpeggios

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Growing up, I took several years of piano lessons and my least favorite part was practicing my scales. It seemed so tedious. Did it really have a purpose? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txx9D-8ubdg Turns out there was a purpose ...
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Scales and Arpeggios

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Growing up, I took several years of piano lessons and my least favorite part was practicing my scales. It seemed so tedious. Did it really have a purpose? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txx9D-8ubdg Turns out there was a purpose ...
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Slingshot Fun

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"We have to reinvent fun back into our American society or we are going to serious ourselves to death." - Alice Cooper https://vimeo.com/271905836 The MOPS International staff taking a much-needed fun break from the work ...
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first move Mandy Arioto

The First Move Advantage

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There is a well-known theory in chess called the first move advantage that suggests the player who goes first is statistically positioned for the best outcome. When I first heard this, I went and found ...
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Reverse Engineering Creativity

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles is a famous female artist who is known for challenging the low status of maintenance work – both domestically and also in society. I learned about Ukeles while researching during graduate school ...
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Widen Your Circle of Acceptance and Compassion

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One of the best and worst days of my life is the day I resuscitated my son, Holden, from a near-drowning incident. Amelie, Holden, and I had met up with four moms and their children ...
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A Shout Out to all the SAHMs

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My wife and I had our first bundle of joy and we are continuously excited about it. We journeyed through the same stages that every parent goes through with their newborn. The afterglow in the hospital, ...
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I Don’t Feel Like Going to Church Today

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I woke up this morning feeling rather down. There were things on my mind, feelings to work through, and a tiredness that came from months of emotion pushed aside. And then there was change coming ...
» READ MORE

Bread and Other Offensive Words

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I've recently decided to tackle the world of bread baking. Admittedly, this new hobby feels a bit weird considering that the word “bread” has been a swear word for the past several decades. Add in ...
» READ MORE

Prayer by Comparison

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I know many people who are beautiful pray-ers. They’re the people who sound like professional public speakers, who never stumble over their words, and who invoke “Amens” and “Yes, Lords” from those around them during ...
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