Faith
Perspectives on Parenting©
by Nancy Lambert Davenport


Nancy Davenport's Column:
For Richardson News 05-07-00
Copyright Nancy Lambert Davenport 2000


"'Old' women, young mothers benefit from time together"


There are so many organizations in our area that support good family relationships, people have no excuse for not finding someone who wants to help them.

I had the pleasure of visiting such a gathering recently a MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) group at a church near my home.

I had forgotten, I have to admit, the high percentage of pregnant women there always is in such a group. Several of them were soooo pregnant, I wondered how they were still standing. But each pregnant woman was able to bustle about her business, having adapted well to her altered center of gravity.

One young woman in this condition was the leader of the group, requiring her to speak at the podium. To do this she had to turn slightly sideways in order to lean forward into the mike. Another had the duty of placing things in the middle of some large round tables. Not being able to reach that far, she perched sideways, on the edge of the table and leaned in to accomplish her task. None of these were first-time moms, of course, because of the nature of the group, so that may be one reason they took their conditions in stride so well.

The young mothers were there to socialize with each other, but primarily they were there to see and learn, as I was. The morning began with some. Wonderful food - enough to count as breakfast, which various people brought and shared. After some announcements of coming events, an "older" woman (about my age) who also served as a kind of hostess at one of the many tables, made an excellent presentation on the merits of reading to young children.

A guest speaker followed also an "older" woman, who addressed rather directly, some aspects of the young women's relationships with their husbands.

Then to top off the morning, the table groups completed a project for themselves for each mother to take home with her.

Each woman filled some empty eggshells with potting soil and planted seeds of various herbs to eventually place in their gardens. As we filled eggshells with potting soil, we talked about children. As we stuck seeds in the dirt, we discussed some aspects of our relationships with our husbands. As we wrote on the egg shells what was planted in them, we talked about the comments our speakers had made.

Right after finishing our planting project, we went home. It was a lovely morning that ended too soon for me, but we had to let the moms, moms-to-be and their pre-schoolers go home for naps.

These "older" women who assisted were clearly women from the Bible's second book of Titus, doing what they were supposed to do "encourage the Young women to love their husbands, to love their children." Before anyone starts thinking what noble, self-sacrificing "older" ladies these were for helping the younger ones, we have to realize why we "orders" were instructed to do this for the younger moms. It is to keep us out of trouble.

In the Biblical verse immediately before the one I just quoted we older women were warned not to be "malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine." So you see, these get-togethers are mutually beneficial.

With SO many families broken, splintered and scattered, I do not see how kids can grow up and young moms survive without support like this. Pre-school moms need a group to encourage them, so they should look for something in their neighborhood. They will benefit, but at the same time they may help an older Titus 2 woman or two. It is good for everyone.

This is an international organization and new groups are signing up now for the fall. Check the Web site wwwgospelcom.net/mops for a location near you. You will find a similar support group at the Woman's Center of Richardson, (972) 238-9516.




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Nancy Lambert Davenport
EMAIL: nancdave@swbell.net
URL: http://www.nancyldavenport.com