Write It Down! with Tracey Bianchi

On Wednesday, October 6, we welcomed Tracey Bianchi as our speaker. Tracey is the author of the book Green Mama: The Guilt-Free Guide to Helping You and Your Kids Save the Planet. She speaks at various churches, MOPS groups and conferences about a variety of topics. Not only is she a public speaker, but she also writes for MOPS International, Christianity Today’s Gifted for Leadership Blog, FullFill Magazine, and other organizations. Read more about Tracey at www.traceybianchi.com. We are thrilled that Tracey could join us!

Tracey spoke to us about storytelling and keeping a journal. When we tell our stories, we are telling the stories of where our children come from; who we are as moms; and we record and capture the essence of our families.

One way to journal is to write down the "quote of the day" before you go to bed. Write down just one thing one of your kids said to you. In the future, these quotes will lead to stories you will tell to your children.

Writing is for:

1. Ourselves, as we process our own life;
2. Our kids, for themselves and their siblings, to connect their past to their present to their future;
3. God, as we connect ourselves to the story of God through our own stories.

Some ways to make writing easier in our busy lives:

• Keep your calendar from year to year, and write small things on the calendar, such as "first tooth" or "first soccer game."
• Write one-liners at the end of every day. At the end of the year, you will have 365 lines.
• Creative journaling; keep coasters from a special restaurant, ticket stubs, etc. Write the date and significance right on the souvenir.
• At dinnertime, share the best part of the day and the worst part of the day. One of these retellings may end up as your one-liner for the day.

Some ideas of what to write:

1. Follow the church calendar: what happened during Advent, Christmas, and Easter?
2. Write about the item of the week; a leaf, a teddy bear, a gift.
3. Journal about what happened at the dinner table.
4. Write about the emotion of the week: first day of school, birthdays, etc.
5. Write down your reaction to world events.

During our meeting, Tracey had us write down one quote from one of our kids. I had to sit there and think for a while. But then I remembered this: We drive past a big cemetery quite often. Just the other day, my five year old, Lydia, was staring out the car window at all the gravestones. She said, "All those people are pretend, right?" As my husband and I tried to tell her that no, real people are buried in the cemetery, she insisted that no, they were just pretend. When I finally asked her why, she said, "Because the real people are in heaven!"

Thanks, Tracey, for having me write that down!

Karyn Humphries: Don't Push My Buttons!

At our meeting on Wednesday, January 20th, we were delighted to welcome Karyn Humphries as our speaker. Karyn is a certified trainer, speaker, writer and coach. She is a MOPS Council Coordinator and a former MOPS Mentor. She serves her church and community as a creative arts leader, spiritual gifts coach, and a Good $ense Budget Counselor. She is the mother of two boys and has been married for 25 years. Read more about Karyn on her website: www.karynhumphries.com

How often does someone push your buttons? Who pushes your buttons? I know my five-year-old seems to know EXACTLY which buttons will make me angry!

Karyn talked about the buttons which make us react the way we do. We have three emotional needs: self-worth, the need to experience love, and the need to stay safe. We also have physical needs: Food, Water, and Shelter. Our spiritual needs are Harmony, Access to God, and Peace (Forgiveness). When we perceive a threat to any of these "buttons," we react--and sometimes our reaction is not pleasant!

Karyn telling a story.

Instead of reacting when our buttons are pushed, we can try to respond. There is about a 20 second difference between reacting and responding when our buttons are pushed. This is why counting to 10 is so effective in getting us to respond calmly when someone pushes our buttons!

Karyn helped us understand those pesky buttons!

What can also help us when we become frustrated with life? Our spiritual buttons! They transform the self so that our emotional buttons become activated less. In Christ, we find our WORTHiness. In Christ, we experience unconditional LOVE. When Christ is in control, we feel most secure and SAFE.

What did you enjoy about Karyn's talk? Did you learn something new?

If you have any questions for Karyn, feel free to email her at karyn@karynhumphries.com.