April 10, 2007
MOPS Convention
As I wrote in last week’s journal entry, occasionally I will be reposting archived journal entries instead of writing a fresh one. I have a lot that I already want to share with you from this week but I’ll need to wait to write about it. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy or re-enjoy this cup of “Coffee Talk.”
September 30, 2005 - MOPS Convention
What an awesome convention and what a wonderful organization. If you are not familiar with the ministry of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) you must take a moment and learn more about them at their website www.mops.org, especially if you are a mother of a preschooler. You will definitively want to join a group near you. They are so good at encouraging, training and equipping young moms (and old moms with young kids.) :)
Each year they hold an international convention. This year it was only fifteen minutes from my house in Grapevine, Texas at the gorgeous Gaylord Texan hotel. Staying there was, in and of itself, a real treat for our whole family. What an amazing facility!
We have been preparing for this convention for months because the MOPS organization wanted to have a real, fast-paced, talk-show format style program. I was asked to speak at one of the general sessions and I felt impressed to choose the subject of guilt. I so wanted to persuade these young moms that we all feel like failures most of the time, they are not alone. Among other things, I encouraged them to take that guilt and use it as a reminder to pray for their children. We should certainly do the best job we can, go to conventions, read books, etc., but ultimately, we can only do so much from the outside-in. Only God can touch their hearts from the inside-out and He loves to do that as a response to our prayers.
I was very nervous about this session for many reasons. First of all, because I’ve never felt led to do an entire teaching on the theme of guilt. It was also incredibly intimidating to share the platform alongside such anointed speakers as the president of MOPS, Elisa Morgan. She is just downright adorable! You could almost forget that there is a dynamo inside that tiny body. Elisa was a pro at navigating every detail. Besides, she’s really fun to hang out with – and so real!
Another speaker I think I could enjoy being friends with is Julie Barnhill. She is hysterical! Her book, “She’s Gonna Blow” is a must for every mother. If you struggle with anger (and what mother doesn’t) you must check out her website, surf around, laugh a lot, and order her books.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear Sarah Groves sing much, but what I did get to enjoy was delightful! I also missed one of my all-time favorite worship leader’s, Kim Hill. I caught a bit of Out of Eden and, of course, the ever-popular, Al Denson, but for the most part I was holed up in my hotel room, alternately, panicking and praying.
I had the delightful opportunity of meeting Dr. Kevin Leman. What a funny – and wise – man. He told me he fell in love with me the moment I mentioned that I like The Waffle House and the movie, “Three Amigos.” The feeling was mutual the moment I caught a peek of his hot pink socks and discovered his best friend’s name is “Moonhead.”
I took advantage of the opportunity to ask him his advice on rearing teenagers and he taught me something fascinating about birth order. I mentioned to him that I had read his ground-breaking book on birth order and that my children fit the descriptions perfectly but in the wrong order. Without hesitating he asked, “So, which one of you is a perfectionist, you or your husband?” I replied, “Oh, definitely my husband.” He answered, “Well, there you have it. Your first born learned early on that he wasn’t going to be able to live up to the standard so he relinquished the first-born role to the second-born (or boss), he took the baby (or clown) position and the youngest assumed the middle-child, (peacemaker ) role.” Wow, that’s dead on! I can’t wait to order more of his books.
The highlight, and the most stressful, part of the convention was my bonus session on Creative Correction. I basically had the same material but I presented it in a completely new way.
I showed DVD vignettes from the Bible study, and shared home movies and personal photos of my kids, we gave away tons of free books and acted out corny skits. Steve, Tucker, Haven and Clancy were a huge part of the program and they were awesome! The ladies loved them.
We made Cauble family history, too. With Steve on the piano, Tucker on the guitar, Haven on drums and Clancy on the bass, I sang and led worship. It was sooooo much fun. I was popping with pride for my talented and adorable family.
I don’t know if it was the unrelenting schedule, the emotional stress, the hours of signing books at the booth, or the fact that I was fighting a cold the whole time but it has taken me a week to recover from last weekend. But it was well worth it. My MomTime friends helped Steve run the exhibit booth so I got to hang out with them, my children joined us in ministry, we got to stay in a beautiful hotel, (we even ran into Joel Osteen and his family who had evacuated from Houston because of Hurricane Rita) and I do believe the Lord took our best offering and anointed it to touch a group of the sweetest ladies you would ever want to meet – mothers of preschoolers!
Posted by weblion at 02:58 PM
