The Power of Your Story

Discovering MOPS I am Blerta Veliu, and I was born and raised in Tirana, the beautiful capital of Albania! I am the mother of two sons, Melkid and Naason, who are eleven and five years old, respectively.  Today, as I am writing this, I am 36 years old. However, I was only 26 when I first heard about MOPS, which was a ministry for mothers with small children.  "I was going through a not-so-beautiful period in my life." At the time, I was a young mother with a two-and-a-half-year-old child, and I was going through a not-so-beautiful period in my life.  It was during this time that my cousin and good friend Bona came to Albania and invited me to be a part of the MOPS ministry to support her vision for the mothers of our country.  As a young mother and wife, I had various insecurities and was often dissatisfied with the lifestyle I had. I felt alone and didn't try to engage in activities or relationships with other mothers. I found myself complaining more than having a t...

Forgot yourself? When I first had kids, there were days I thought, "I don't even know who I am anymore!" Does that sound familiar?  When moms think about meeting the needs of their kids and their husbands and everyone else and forget to care for themselves, it can lead to regret, numbness, and contempt.  Knowing how much courage it takes to change, we wanted to give moms a day to taste something different. Daniela, a friend of mine, described what happened at the Fierce Flourishing conference, " In the previous years I was only thinking about my kids and my husband but not about me.”  Join me while I tell the story of that day and the impact it had on the lives of women like Daniela. A day just for You The next few months were a bluuuuuuuur! The team kept working and working. And working.  We translated Fierce Flourishing , a devotional book for moms.   We opened a Facebook page. We invited moms from Tirana and all over the country.  We promoted the e...

Sadly, many leaders fall flat on their faces because they start out alone. Over time, this can lead to burnout, isolation, and hopelessness. When you start to move forward, it helps to have someone who can catch you when you trip. Someone who will help you get up after you've fallen. When you have a team of people like this, passionate about a common goal, you are ready to do whatever it takes to get there. Anila, one of the leaders of MOPS Albania, put it this way, "We did great things with the strength that God gave us because we love mothers!” That's what I'm giving you here today - the story of our team. Check out what motivated us and share what has motivated you below. The Dreaming Team After I talked with Cris in Brazil and Monica in Guatemala about their conferences, I went to our team in Tirana—Irena Crawford, Blerta Veliu, and Anila Qiriazi–and I told them about this vision. We started dreaming. “For women who have never been to MOPS, they could hear the mes...

Did you STOP dreaming when you STARTED to grow up?  Have you had a fire burning in your heart?  Did you let it die?  Or did you fan the flame?  Sadly many moms dread the drudgery of doing the same thing day after day. They’ve let their passion die. When I had a passion for a MOPS conference, I called up Cris. Eight months later, hundreds of women were gathered for a conference in Tirana. Over the next few weeks, I’ll tell you about this call, how we dreamed as a team and the impact of this day. Check out my story and the testimonials below. A Fire Burning That was me. Albania. 2013.  It was like a fire burning inside to start a MOPS group in Tirana. I wanted my cousin Blerta to experience the freedom that I had experienced. I wanted the women I grew up with in Albania to flourish as I did in relationships with people like Heather, Della, and Jennifer. MOPS had grown much more quickly than anyone imagined–from one group to two groups to three groups. With...