There is a place where you belong. A community who understands you, who won’t judge you for being flawed, where people will come along side you and listen to your story. There is a community here at Ridge Point that meets every other Thursday morning to enjoy the company of each other with breakfast, speakers, crafts, and relationships. MOMS has been here since the beginning of Ridge Point. “It’s important for moms to be able to drop the kids off and be in relationship with other moms who understand.” This is what one mom said was the reason why she is part of the community. There are currently 55 moms registered within this community and registration is always open!
The focus is to create a community rather than just a social gathering. A community who is there for one another during the good and the bad. Karen VanHaitsma leads the ministry, and She shared a story about how this community makes a difference by relating to and caring for each other.
“At one meeting, a woman told me she had been at Burger King the day before and talked to another mom who was there with kids. They only chatted for a few minutes, but she somehow sensed that she should invite her to MOMS. She didn’t even know this woman’s name. As she shared this story with me, she even said, “I doubt she’ll come, but I wanted to tell you about it because it was out of my comfort zone to invite a stranger somewhere.” A little while later, the woman showed up! And after meeting her, I discovered she is a mom to 5 kids under the age of 10, has no community and 2 of her 5 were adopted through the foster system. So, we introduced her to Katie & Wendy from the Mosaic MOMS group. She immediately clicked with them and ended up sitting with them. Katie told me afterwards that this woman was planning to come to their next Mosaic event and wants to attend MOMS regularly! I have no idea what this new mom’s religious beliefs are, and it really doesn’t matter. Because of one Fearless Follower stepping out of her comfort zone and inviting a stranger to belong, she is now a part of not one, but two Christian communities!”
Every other Thursday morning I go downstairs to The Commons area where MOMs meet, just to see what God is doing. The place is ALIVE! I see groups of women throughout the room chatting with each other, smiling, and laughing. I can never make out any conversations though because there is so much going on. It reminds me of the high school cafeteria, so many people talking at the same time. I usually say hi to a few staff members I know with just a casual wave and smile. I make my way to the table where the food is to see what leftovers I can scavenge, and there is always extra food – lucky for me! Often, I see smiles, but the truth is, I have also seen tears. People suffer; motherhood is hard. I have seen the women comfort one another and pray for one another and cry with each other. God doesn’t promise us that life will be easy, he promises that he will never forsake us during the hard times. I know God is there every other Thursday morning with MOMs because of the love and compassion these women have for each other. The door is always open if you need a place to belong.
