Wednesday, February 20, 2013

3 Lessons I Learned from MOPS & Resource List

What Can You Learn From Speaking To a Room of 60 Mothers

I had the honor of speaking at a M.O.P.S. event yesterday. Just being back from the mission field I felt under-prepared and a bit uncouth. Here is the short list of what I learned from that event.

MOPS at Florida Baptist Church at the Mall
1. Being THE ONLY Male Is Intimidating

Standing in front of the ladies who were ever-so-rapt in their attention, I was suddenly aware of my flaws. Then, it dawned on me that it just may not be my flaws but the traits of being a male; hole in my jeans, hair out of place, my beard suddenly feeling grimy and ugly.

Compared to the clean, well-dressed, well-behaved room full of shiny mothers I felt grimy. I half-expected one to jump up at any moment, lick her thumb, and press my eye brows down.

2. Mothers Want To Be Their Best

After the talk I was able to speak with several of the mothers. Several confessed that they were convicted that there may be babying their sons a bit. Some even confessed that they were not cultivating their husbands to be me. Though this was a mother's meeting, it is actually a meeting of family-driven women.

They pressed me for resources, asked for advice, and eagerly sought to be the best woman of the house they could be.

Men, listen up. I am convicted that we need to give a bit more grace. They women are gentle, graceful, and, at least at MOPS, were willing to admit a gap in their ability to serve our masculinity. I was honored to be able to speak to this in a small way.

3. MOPS Are Activists

Just some of the things the mothers are up to.
Nearly all the women in this particular MOPS group were involved in some form of activism. Whether it was Ida Mundell's 12x12 project, local events, church volunteering, or "Pastor" Jesse Goodman's church in an at-risk neighborhood; these women put skin in the game.

They may not take up arms, wield swords or light-sabers; but they make an impact. Consider them the Jedi mind-tricks instead of the fancy kung-fu.

Resources to Understand Your Man (Little or Big) More

Of all my talks, it was a potent room. We had synergy. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. In parting, several asked for resources to better understand their men. As promised, here is that list.



A Final Gift

I have assembled several free tools and resources over time. I list these tools and resources in the document above. A quick list is below:

  • Free Tool - '7 Day Spark Homework' - a 7-day tool for clarifying the goals that are most important to you.
  • My Book - 'H.O.P.E. from Here to Haiti' is an overview of the early work we did in Haiti and the lessons on hope we learned.
  • Coming Soon - 'The Top 100 Dream Igniter' - a comprehensive vision and strategy tool to walk away with total clarity on your life vision.
Gratitude

I am super grateful for being able to hang out with these awesome Mothers of Pre-Schoolers. Thank you. Let me know if I can serve you in any way. Let us know if these tools were helpful to you at all

--

Grant R. Nieddu

1 comment:

Ida said...

Love this! Thanks again for sharing with us! It was great!