September Devotional

Thank you to Sarah Rettew for sharing with us this month!

Two years ago, I stood here & gave the one other devotional of my life. Last year, I was coordinator. I’m here to tell you that, for me, the devotional is harder. There’s just something about putting your feelings out there…

But that’s why we’re here, right? To be vulnerable. To have real conversations & make real friends & to just be ourselves. That’s what I want so much for all of you…

If you look around the room, you see the words “we are the starry eyed.” What you don’t see as often is the second half of the tagline… “we are the starry eyed & we choose to see the light.”

My favorite word of that is CHOOSE. That’s not a passive word, or a word that just lets things happen to it. It’s a word that is intentional. To choose is to make a conscious decision. To evaluate the options & decide which one you want to go with. It applies to all three of the theme elements this year… choose kindness. Choose wonder. Choose hope.

Matt 5 says “let your light shine before others.” This year, how will you put your light out there? How will you shine before others? FOR others?

There are easy things & hard things for all of us. For me, I’m actually an introvert. Staying home with yoga pants & Netflix is kinda my jam. When it’s time for the Moms Night Out, there are SO many reasons that I shouldn’t go. You know the reasons, right? It’s raining, I’m too tired, I feel bad leaving the kid with my husband, I’m too busy, my hair needs to be washed, Jupiter isn’t aligned just right…

But this year, let’s shine… & I’m talking to myself too. Let’s put ourselves out there. We’ve all been the awkward girl. I know you may think you’re the only one, & you look around this room & everyone seems so put together & happy & like they have this mom thing all figured out. But I’m here to tell you that we don’t. We’ve all felt left out. We’ve all sat in a roomful of people & felt kinda alone.

This year, reach out to the person next to you or across the table from you. Sprinkle your kindness like glitter. Allow yourself to feel wonder. Remember that every day is an opportunity, & that is hope.

Last night, I was here at setup & feeling overwhelmed by the logistics… it was the first setup of the year, & the projector screen was missing. One of the Boulevard pastors & I were crawling around the floor & rummaging through closets to find this screen & I could feel the panic rising because OH MY GOSH, WE NEED THE SCREEN. Obviously, we found it… but when I left setup last night, I felt frazzled. I had the crazy eyes like a rabid squirrel. You know that feeling, right? Please tell me I’m not the only one.

So I’m running to publix & I’m running home & I’m racing around like a crazy person, & I click on my facebook app because FACEBOOK, & the first thing on my timeline, even though it was posted 5 hours earlier, is something that is EXACTLY what I needed.

Ashley Bailey (shout out, table 6) had posted a quote by Mother Teresa… “If you can’t feed 100 people, then just feed one.” And I stopped & remembered that ONE person is the only thing that matters. If just one of y’all are touched by this morning, then what an accomplishment! If just one of you connects to the moms at sitting at your table, then we’ve succeeded.

This year is going to be a great one. I just know it. I’m so happy you’re here. This year, let’s choose to do this MOPS & mom thing together. I can’t wait to get starry eyed with y’all!