The meeting for today's theme was "Giving Back". What a wonderful topic to cover, especially at the start of the Christmas season. We opened our meeting with a brief history of the real Saint Nicholas. A generous, humble bishop who truly obeyed Jesus' command to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor", he used his whole inheritance (from the death of his parents) to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. Later in life, he was imprisoned and tortured for his faith. The date of his death, December 6th, was commemorated with an annual feast, which came to mark the beginning of the Christmas season. On St. Nicholas' Eve, children would set out food for the saint and straw for his horses. The next morning, obedient children would awake to find their gifts replaced with sweets and toys. St. Nicholas' Day is still observed in many countries, and gifts are exchanged in honor of the spirit of charity that he embodied.
We followed this up with a short game to help us get into the Christmas spirit. Some of the questions asked were, "Who can say Merry Christmas in the most different languages", "Who will travel the most miles for Christmas dinner (the "winner" will be traveling 1300 miles to Florida!!)", and "Who put up their Christmas tree the earliest (the "winner" of this one had their tree up on November 1st already...really planning ahead!!)". We all had fun sharing our answers and traditions and learning more about the other moms in our group! And the lucky "winners" even got to take home a small prize!
Our speaker today was Barb Vanderburgh, the director of the Joy House (part of the Milwaukee Rescue Mission). For the past couple of years, Northbrook's Women's Ministries have been donating items and serving (by volunteering, making lunches, etc) at the Joy House. To show Barb our support for Joy House, we took up a collection of items that we could send back with her. These items included diaper cream, baby wipes, toilet paper, deodorant, toothbrushes, and other daily necessities. Thank you to all who donated....we were able to send a very full box of needed items along with Barb!! I'm sure your generosity will be much appreciated by the women, children, and staff of Joy House! For those of you that are not aware, there is a donation box in the basement/fellowship hall at Northbrook. Each month, there is a list of specific items being collected, but you are free to donate anything at anytime.
Barb's talk focused on 3 stories in the bible involving Mary and Martha. She used these stories to illustrate that we need to have our priorities in order. One profound statement was, "In order to have JOY, you need to have your priorities in line: Jesus, Others, and then You". What a reality check! She talked about how in each of the stories, one of the women seemed to have the right focus, Jesus, while the other seemed to be more focused on self and her own problems. Barb wrapped it all up by telling us to "be encouraged". She reminded us that God has given us unique gifts and that these gifts are to be used for his purpose. As Christians, we are all called to serve!
We finished our meeting with a short video about Joy House and a Q/A time. We learned about the mission of Joy House, that they are funded solely on donations, what other programs are housed at the MRM, and what items are most often needed. Barb said that some frequent needs are larger sized diapers (NOT newborn size) and pull-ups, socks, warm items such as mittens, coats, and hats during the winter months, diaper cream, Orajel, and any "basics" you can imagine a mom/young children needing throughout the day. They do accept new or used clothing, coats, etc. She requested that we do NOT donate used stuffed animals as they are hard to clean and can be dangerous to those with allergies/asthma.
This blog is dedicated to the Moms of Influence group at Northbrook Church in Richfield, WI.
