Happy New Year!

Our first meeting in the New Year is Tuesday, January 8 with a Slumber Party theme. We will be meeting the same time at 9:45 am and same place at Bethel Assembly of God, Martinsburg, WV in the Heritage Chapel Room.

The Slumber Party meeting will include a pajama fashion show, a re-gift gift exchange, and a game of Truth or Dare in our care circles. Please wear your latest pajama fashion and bring a wrapped gift with you that was once gifted to you (do not purchase one!). To kick off our new year together, let's all bring a snack or drink to share with everyone.

We have a many great events planned for the Spring Semester. So mark your calenders to join Mom's Connection every 2nd and 4th Tuesday. Spring Semester schedule will be handed out at our next meeting.


Have a Happy New Year!

How Do I Pray for the Families of Sandy Hook?

How Do I Pray for the Families of Sandy Hook?
Written by Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries

"Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off."  Proberbs 24:14

There are things mommies aren't ever supposed to find.

They aren't supposed to find themselves in a firehouse frantically looking for their child.

They aren't supposed to find their child's name on a list of those who won't be coming home. They aren't supposed to find a dress to wear to their child's funeral.

They aren't supposed to turn their calendar and find a date circled for the birthday party they were supposed to be planning next month. The one that won't be.

Or walk to the mailbox and find their child's dentist appointment reminder card. The receptionist forgot to pull that one out.

Or find a book they know their child would love. Only half way to the checkout counter they remember, their child is gone.

They aren't supposed to find these things.

They aren't supposed to find that grieving for a child is like navigating a path with chasms so wide their continued steps seem impossible. Terrifying. Hopeless.

I know these chasms. I watched my mom stare at them. I saw her wish she could fall in them and never have to take another painful step. I wept over everything she found reminding her my sister was gone.

That's how I know what God would have me pray right now. For the families of the loved ones that lost so much last Friday. But especially for the mommies.

The mommies that even right now are finding things no mommy should have to find.

I want my prayers to slip into those chasms and somehow fill them. I am asking God to show me. Make me aware of the specific things those mommies might find in the months to come.

When the black dresses are hanging in the closets. The media has packed up and gone home. The cards stop coming. The neighbors' lives go back to normal.

And in the quietness of her own grief that mommy finds something. Something that breaks her heart all over again. And in that space of pure grief, she feels horrifically alone.

Please Lord, let my prayers go there. Prick my heart to fill that chasm with layers of prayers from my mommy heart. Let me take the deep grief of that moment so she doesn't have to be so alone.

Though she won't see me or hear my prayers, may she feel an unexplainable sense of Your presence. And know. You.

That's what I pray she does find. You. With her. Comfort. Peace. Healing. Hope.

Oh God, show us how to pray.

Dear Lord, thank You that Your Son and Holy Spirit pray for us when we don't have words. Please fill in the gaps of my prayers, but also help me respond when You prompt me to pray for the hurting. It's only by Your sufficient grace we can do this. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Our Christmas Party

Our Christmas Party is Tuesday, December 11 beginning at 10 AM in the gym located in the Mace building at Bethel Assembly of God, Martinsburg, WV.  We will have an array of activities to do with our children from playing on moon bounces, decorating cupcakes, make an ornament, and sit on Santa's lap! 

We will enjoy lunch together accompanied with games and prizes!  Moms please bring a dessert to share with everyone.  The main course of subs, pizzas, chips, and drinks will be provided.  We are very limited on high chairs so it is recommended for you to bring a stroller or portable booster for your little one in order to eat.

Because this event has a catered meal, all participants were asked to RSVP by signing upif they were attending.  Please contact Sherry White, Event Coordinator, about this event.

Giving back this Christmas!

During the November 27 topic meeting, we made fleece baby blankets in an array of designs.  Moms paired up with one another, scissors in hand and got to work.  Everyone did an amazing job and all the blankets were beautiful!

Each blanket will be donated to City Hospital in Martinsburg, WV to be distributed to new moms and their babies this Christmas season!

Thank you to everyone who came and made a blanket!

Inclement Weather Policy

In case of bad weather, our group will follow the local school cancellations in Berkeley County, WV. In case of a two hour delay, the meeting will be cancelled.

Take Christmas to People who have nothing

Excerpt from the book "52 Things Kids Need from a Mom" by Angela Thomas

Kids Need Their Mom....
to take Christmas to people who have nothing

My husband says that when he was a little boy his mom would put him in the car with a basket of food or a bag of clothes and then drive him across town.  Wherever they stopped, she would have him get out of the car and carry in whatever she had brought to the family they were visiting.  He never had to say a word, just be polite.  His mama did all the talking, and Scott just carried things in, stood, and listened.  He says he can't count the number of trips he took with her or the number of places they went.  "Anywhere she heard there was a need," he says.  But the lessons of those trips are the lessons that shaped his huge heart of compassion.

When the children and I married Scott about three years ago, he had already been taking care of several needy families in town.   I had no idea while we were dating because he never said a thing.  For years, he had been quietly taking holiday meals, gifts, and back-to-school supplies to several families who were surviving on next to nothing.  The first Thanksgiving after w weere married, he went to the grocery store, bought meals for several families, delivered them, and forgot to tell me until later.

"You did what?"  I couldn't believe he forgot to mention this huge detail to me.  So he told me what he'd been doing for years.  And I told him, " I want in on that! And I want my kids to do what your mom taught you."

So the week before Christmas came, and I got to work.  Scott bought his regular carts of food, and I found out that he also buys toiletry items, detergent, soap, and things like that.  I loved adding to the joy by baking some cakes and cookies, and buying and wrapping individual gifts for each person in the families.  The night we packed up our car was such a blast.  I think we may have even driven two cars.  We loaded up all the kids and told them what we were going to do.  "We're going to visit some families who don't have very much and give them some things to make their holiday brighter."  The kids wanted to go, but none of us had any idea how addictive the giving would be.

The night we pulled up to a tiny home that Scott had visited for years.  There were no signs of holiday there. No Christmas tree.  No strings of lights.  Not a wreath on the door.  It took all six of us several trips to unload the food and gifts we had brought.  The elderly grandmother cried and cried.  Her sons wiped tears from their eyes.  Her grandchildren stood in the kitchen awestruck. They kept telling our children thank you with each new box that was stacked on the table.  I watched my kids take in the sweetness of giving.  I could see how humbled they were.  I could see the obvious registering in their hearts we have so much, they have so little.

Before we left, Scott asked if we could pray for them.  My kids needed to stand in that dimly lit kitchen holding hands with people they had never met, smelling the smells of nothing on the stove, feeling the cold of not enough heat, and bowing their heads to pray for God's provision for that family.  I know the family was grateful we came, but I was so incredibly grateful that my children were standing inside a lesson that would shape them for a lifetime.  As we left that first home, the grandmother hugged all the children, spoke blessings over them, and told us all to come back anytime.  The seed of giving was planted in their hearts.  I prayed it would become their passion.

We made a few more stops that night and all the holidays since, but this past Christmas we had a different version of the lesson.  This last December, one of the families knew we were coming, but when we arrived, the house was dark.  And it wasn't just dark.  It was spooky dark.  The kids and I thought nobody was home, but Scott had a different idea.  He knocked and knocked on the door, and finally the back door creaked open about a foot wide.  The man Scott knew was there, along with several other people.  It was the situation Scott had feared.  The were home, but using drugs, too embarrassed or too strung out to answer the door.

So there we were, a family of six bringing Christmas to a crack house.  I didn't have a clue what to do.  Do you give Christmas to a whole houseful of law-breaking drug addicts?  Well, apparently you do.  Scott told the kids to unload the sleigh, and there they went, sliding one box and bag at a time through the barely open back door.  Scott did all the talking to the person inside the house.  Nobody else said a word.  Honestly, that stop went pretty quick.  I was ready to get into our car, lock the doors, and get out of there.  When we were on our way, I looked over at Scott like, Oh, my, what just happened?   Loud enough for everybody to hear, he humbly offered, "Everybody needs Christmas."

No one in our car needed another sermon about what just happened.  God had preached a sermon that would shape our souls.  Everybody needs Christmas.  Everybody needs the love of Christ.  Everybody needs somebody to be Jesus to them.

We have to teach our children that no matter how much we have, there is always something we can share.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, November 27 Topic Meeting- Special Outreach Project- Please bring scissors with you!

Join us at Bethel Assembly of God in Martinsburg, WV from 9:45-11:45 AM for a time of brunch, discussion, and fun!  Childcare is provided!

Monday, December 3 Ignyte's Women's Christmas Dinner at the Historic McFarland House beginning at 5:45 pm.  Tickets are on sale for $20 each.  Attire will be "Christmas Dressy."

Thursday, December 6 Meet at Jessica Brown's home at 10 AM for a fun time together.  Each guest is asked to bring a soup to share with the recipe.  Contact Jessica for directions.  Children are welcomed.

Tuesday, December 11 Christmas Party- Join us for fun and fellowship at 10:30 AM at Bethel Assembly of God in the MACE building,gym.  Lunch will be served.  Please RSVP if you are planning to attend.