Click on images to download Download Leadership Guide Download Handcards for Meetings  MOPs Leadership Guides - Find Your Fire: Breathe Free and Easy Protecting Your Nest Being a Good Neighbor Serving Your Community & Finding Balance How to Find Your Fire and Not Get Burned Building Your Fire Never hosted a Bible Study before? Nervous? We found a great resource from Laura Krokos of Missional Women. We recommend reading this while you prep for the Bible Study.

HOW TO FIND YOUR FIRE AND NOT GET BURNED

How to stay active in advocacy

Being a mom is exhausting! No one juggles more activities than moms. One of the great things about moms is we get things done, but with all the demands on moms, how do we keep ourselves sane? It’s easy to start something but how do you continue to advocate without wearing yourself out? Or, more importantly, get burned to the point of quitting?

There are so many causes that need volunteers and leadership. MOPs, PTA, church groups, VBS, community concerns all need help. How do you choose on what to focus on and how much time do you spend to keep balance in your life? Creating boundaries and managing expectations are all a part of preventing burnout. Self-care is critical too.

SPEAKER OR VIDEO PROGRAM

Mom Business Leader, Mom Elected-Official, Spiritual Leader from Church

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Are you already overwhelmed in your volunteer activities? Why?
2. How do you say no to a volunteer opportunity?
3. What’s the best organizing advice to keep you sane while managing life?
4. What can you do to support a fellow mom who might have taken on too much?
5. How many hours is too many for volunteering?
6. How do you prioritize which things you are going to volunteer for?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Discuss with Church Leader about challenges you are facing.
• Ask for other MOPs to pray for guidance.
• Toxic Charity

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR OFF MOPS MEETING WEEKS

• Give yourself a spa day.
• Have a pedicure party with fellow MOPs.
• Do a girlfriend day where you swap names and do something nice for the name you draw.

DIGGING DEEPER

Maybe you had a passion before love, marriage, and family and have stopped pursuing it. Maybe your passions changed after the family came, but you've never taken time to develop your new interests. Whichever the case, following your passions is an act of selfcare which actually makes you a better mom. We understand that maybe you can only spend an hour a week on your passion but an hour a week is better than zero hours a week. 

1. Spend some prayer time asking God to guide you to your passion. It's always wise to start with God first. It may take weeks spending time with God listening to hear where he wants you to serve. Just because you've identified your passion doesn't mean you know where to focus your valuable time. God will lead you and he might surprise you to boot. 
2. Ask friends and family for their input. Sometimes the passion we seek is right in front us and we can't see it. Your family and friends know you best. They can help you achieve clarity or maybe even provide focus for pursuing your passion.
3. Assess your skill set. There are plenty of tests online and Pinterest too. Take a couple of different ones and see where the overlap is. Ask others what they think your skill set is. Knowing your strengths can help you say yes to projects and maybe more importantly saying no. 
4. What did you love doing as a child? Still struggling to find your passion? Maybe think about what you loved as a child. Maybe you wrote poetry or sketched? Maybe you took nature walks and explored God's creation. If that was your passion, maybe volunteering at a nature center and getting free annual family passes in exchange for volunteer hours is something you should explore. Were you a shell collector? Maybe you collect shells and pick up liter along the beach noe. We have a lady who walks every morning and picks up liter on a busy street. She didn't wait for permission or ask her local government to do it. She just does it. If you are a litter hater then help keep your community beautiful. Do it with friends twice a month and make it an excercise-mommy-community-beautification thing.
5. Notice when you lose track of time, or what you hate to stop doing. Does time fly when you make cookies? Or quilt? Or help organize things? All these things can be converted into service to others. Make cookies for shut-ins at the church or firemen at the local station. Make quilts for new borns at the hospital. Help a friend organize and then donate what they don't need to a non-profit or help organize a rumage sale for a non-profit fundraiser. The opportunities are limitless you just have to open you heart and let God lead.