Sherry: I hear from women around the
world who say that their experience in
MOPS saved their marriage because it
gave them the perspective and the hope
to not just give up and walk away. I hear
them say that MOPS caused them to be a
better mom, to be able to have that perspective and take a deep breath before
you overreact with your child. They lean
into another woman to talk about the
depression, the frustration, the isolation,
and to get a Godly perspective.
TOS: What do you love the most about
MOPS?
Sherry: Research has shown that the
“preschool stage” of a child’s development is the time of life when a mother
will be the most frustrated or experience
the most depression, the most isolation.
Therefore, we focus on ministering to the
needs of moms of preschoolers. It’s hard
to find a moment when your preschoolers are not talking to you or yammering
at you, and it’s really hard to get a moment alone away from them because
they’re not taking long naps.
We aim at that stage of life because
research has shown that if a mom will
partake in those types of activities [so-
cial and mentoring situations], it will
definitely impact her life. Moms are
lonely at that stage, so they’ll come to a
MOPS group just looking for a friend,
Being a mom is the
most influential
thing you can do in
the world . . . .
just looking for someone to talk to, but
within that, due to conversations and
the resources we provide for the group,
they realize something much, much big-
ger: They realize that there’s a God out
there Who loves them. He loves them so
much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ
to die for them, and many women have
said, “That’s where I began my relation-
ship with Jesus Christ.” Then their fam-
ily started coming to church, and their
children became involved in the church’s
children’s ministry. It literally changed
the trajectory of their family. When I
hear stories like that, that’s when I know:
MOPS matters.
Kendra Fletcher is the homeschooling mother
of eight, aged 19 down to 4. She has never
known what it means to homeschool without
the presence of preschoolers and loves to encourage other moms who are beginning their
homeschool journeys with little ones underfoot. Kendra reviews for the TOS Homeschool
Crew and is the author of a popular E-Book
about creating a Circle Time for your homeschool. Her website and blog can be found at
www.preschoolersandpeace.com. Visit mops
.org to learn more and to locate a MOPS
group near you.
HSF Ambassadors help families homeschool through hard times. Visit www.homeschoolfoundation.org/volunteer to learn more.
Home School Foundation
. . . the charitable arm of HSLDA