MOPS Prayer Journals and a Summer Challenge

I love this time of year in our MOPS semester. It seems that the tables of moms have finally gotten to know each other and we are really able to share and relate during discussion time. I love the encouragement I receive from these ladies twice a month.

As we put together Prayer Journals for our craft, it was incredible to see the excitement building for us moms to get in the Word and get focused on prayer. And cute "tools" are always helpful. I used to think "Is that wrong that I feel motivated to write out my prayers in a cute journal?" But I have come to the conclusion that my creative God made this world full of colors and details - it is merely a reflection of Him when we are drawn to beautiful things.

I had prepped the supplies ahead of time, cutting the papers and rounding the corners to help speed up the craft time. The cheapest place to get a large quantity of the composition notebooks was the Dollar Tree. Although I picked up a few of these at Ollies for 79 cents!

Each journal could be covered by picking up a small, medium and large piece of paper. I cut the paper the way because it was the best way to get the most out of a 12x12 sheet of scrapbook paper. For projects like this, I love to purchase one of the big 180-sheet pads of paper from Hobby Lobby ($10 during the 50% off sale) because its easier to match up the patterns and colors.

The small and medium pieces of paper would cover one side of the journal.

Large - 9 and 1/2 x 6 and 5/8"

Medium - 9 and 1/2 x 5 and 3/8"

Small - 9 and 1/2 x 2 and 3/8"

While the large piece would cover the other side.

Some chose to have the solid piece of paper on the front of the journals while other placed it on the back.

Using a punch similar to this one, I had pre-cut enough tabs for each mom to have three. These divided sections could be used for prayer requests, journaling and praises. Or one tab for each child. Or just for decorative purposes.

There were also four options of prayer quotes/verses that could embellish the front cover (I can email the pdf to you, if you comment below with your email address).

We are challenging each other to read through the New Testament together this summer. If we hope to raise our children to love the Lord, they've first got to see that this is important in our own lives.

I love this printable because it is broken up into 90 "bite -size" portions. If you missed yesterday's meeting, I would still love for you to join us in our reading challenge. I am excited to encourage each other as we read along.

By gluing an envelope inside one the covers, a place was even made available for prayer cards or notes.

I can't wait to hear what God does with these simple notebooks that we are planning to use as we get to know Him. 

Cereal Box Journals - Welcome to MOPS!

We had our MOPS kickoff meetings yesterday. Our church is hosting a morning group as well as an evening group (for working/homeschooling moms) this year.

I was able to attend both meetings yesterday. It felt like a MOPS Marathon, but I loved every minute of it.

It seemed that we faced many obstacles yesterday: traffic, a shut-down interstate, a fire alarm and building evacuation and a minor car accident...

But God still showed up and ministered to the moms that attended.

We had a MOPS Memo waiting for each mom, a little bag of candy, a magnet with the dates of this year's Mom's Night Outs, and a pen.

The MOPS Memo had our meeting dates and corresponding topics, our verse/theme for the year, a list of free or cheap activities to do with your kids in our area, our nursery policies, and a list of the restaurants that do the free/cheap kids meals on certain nights of the week.

Our pastor challenged us from 2 Corinthians 4 to make sure that we are filled with the right things and to not give up.

I found this idea for our first craft from this blog. I loved that they used these simple journals to give some important information as well as provide some places for the moms to take notes at upcoming meetings.

We had a title page, a page with a verse and theme for the year,

a list of the meeting dates and a place for them to write down contact info for moms they have met.

We had most of the craft prepped ahead of time. My crafty partner and I had collected cereal boxes all summer. We had cut the covers and the pages, stapled them together, and prayed over the recipients of the journals.

The covers were 10"x 7" - once folded, it made for a 5"x 7" journal.

The ladies picked up a journal and three 5x7 inch pieces of scrapbook paper.

They glued the scrapbook paper to the inside front and back covers.

And the third piece of scrapbook paper was folded and glued over the staples.

We then punched little holes in the front cover with a mini-hole punch. The moms cut a 40 inch piece of twine and selected a button.

A super big knot was tied.

Using a yarn needle, they attached the button to the front cover.

And some were so proud to learn how to sew on a button.

The long strand of twine then is used to secure the journal.

I am so excited to see how God will fill those blank pages of the journals. Whether it's memories, quotes, verses or prayer requests, I know that He has some great plans for these moms. We plan to make up the left over journals for moms that join later on in the year. (So, if you missed the first meeting...we will have a journal for you!) We want them to have a place to record what God is doing in their lives too!

I love to journal my prayers and what God is teaching me. And I love this verse.

As moms, it is our job to instill truth into "future generations." What we are learning at MOPS helps us to lead those "future generations" to praise the Lord. I pray that this journal provides a place to record those truths. 

A Daily Journal that Works for Me

I love to journal. I especially love recording my prayers and little quotes that I have read in my quiet time. When I say "journaling." it usually means my reflection time in my daily devotions. And I don't always write something every day.

But I wanted to try the daily journal. I would love to be able to look back on a daily archive of my life.  I wanted something to record the milestones Hudson was making. I wanted to write down trips we took and fun surprises we experienced. I've seen ideas on different blogs - and I even tried this one. It was a cute idea, however, after just a few days, I found myself frustrated. I wanted to write more than I had space for.

So, last year, on New Year's Eve, I had an idea...(It's amazing that I could come up with any idea at all due to a new baby and sleepless nights.)

I ran out to Walmart (It was like a mini-vacation to be able to get out of the house then!) and purchased a large daily calendar/agenda. Mine is an 8 1/2 by 11 size.

Since it was last minute and I wasn't sure if I would stick with this daily journaling commitment, I purchased a plain-Jane black calendar.

Each day, at the end of the day. I would write down some detail from the past twenty-four hours. Sometimes, it was a detailed paragraph. Other days it was three or four words.

I found myself loving the different colors of ink. I would add post-it notes of a quote I read. If I pureed Hudson some butternut squash, I put the produce sticker on that date.

Some weeks, I would forget to write a thought each day - I would usually catch up on a few days, simply recording a detail I remembered or a place we went.

It was so easy to keep up with the first time Hudson clapped or the first time Jeremiah and I got to go on a date after having the baby.

The larger calendar with a daily square for writing appointments seemed to provide the perfect size space for me to write what I wanted to remember. I also love that I am limited to a small little space of lines - this keeps me from writing every minute detail down. Who has time for that?  I think I was able to continue this journal because it wasn't an overwhelming task. I could accomplish it in just a few minutes each day, and if I fell behind, it was easy to catch-up.

Since I did journal for an entire year, I found a pretty calendar in the same size for 2014.

I am so excited to see what our family will experience in the next year.

I thought this would also be a great way to record a thought or something learned if you were aiming to read through the Bible in a year.

Is anyone else out there a daily-journaler? If not, why not give it a try this year! I don't think I'll ever be disappointed that I recorded these memories.