I wrote this entry for my sister-in-law Rhonda who used to be a leader of a MOPs group. 🙂
Charles Stanley once told a story in his book, How to Handle Adversity. I’ll retell it the best I can.

There was a farmer who had raised some pups. They were expensive full breeds. He went to town, parked his pickup truck and began to wait for a customer to drop by. Along came a small boy. The boy told the farmer he wanted to buy a pup. The farmer told the boy they cost alot of money. The boy reached deep into his pockets and pulled out as much money as he could find. It was 39 cents.
The farmer took the money and then called for the Momma. The Momma dog came followed by four cute little balls of lively fur bouncing happily toward the small boy. After that came a smaller pup tagging along and because of a limp, moving a little slower. The boy confidently told the man that the last was the one he wanted. The farmer tried to discourage the boy from taking him. It was the runt. He told the boy the pup would be sickly and not very playful.
The boy looked at the farmer and then reached down and rolled up one of his pant legs to reveal a brace that had metal rods trailing up each side of his leg. Then he told the man, “You see sir I don’t run too well myself and that little pup will need someone who’ll understand.”
Someone who can relate, understand and empathize, can build a bond with another that is beyond verbal description.
When my three sons were small (3 toddlers about 18 months apart), they truly were a handful. I stayed home with them. Just trying to keep up with the demands of each of their individual young lives took a lot out of me. And then getting the house cleaned for my husband’s arrival after work kept me running.
One time I remember getting on my knees and crying out to God to help to have the great amount of patience and energy needed to keep my small sons safe, healthy and loved. The demands of small children can quickly wear on you and doing this day after day makes the struggle even greater! I do thank God that I had my mother, my sister-in-laws, my sisters (and my husband, of course) who could strongly relate and give support me in our little family matters.
Just in case there’s some mom out there reading this that has small children and needs someone to relate to, ask some serious toddler questions to and just vent some frustration on. There’s an international organization that can link you up with other mothers like you.
It’s called MOPs (Mother’s of Preschoolers), International. It is a Christian organization and is usually linked to churches.
I just want any mother out there who has one or more active preschooler(s). It’s hard to believe at this moment in time that you will ever get relief from them but you will. It will take a few years but they’ll grow just like mine have in the past 10 years and now are entering their teenage years! My Mom always told me to enjoy them while their little ’cause they’ll grow up fast.