Proud MOFia member

I joined the MOFia about three years ago. It was shortly after the Beast was born actually. In fact, I was one of the first members when it was founded. We've grown since then. Some members have left the group never to be seen again. Some have gone, but realized they can't live without us, so they came back. Some members turned on us. They were promptly deleted from our group. Most of us, though, have become lifelong members, and we'll be loyal to our dying day. I'm one of those members.

I check in with the other MOFia members just about every single day. I sit around and shoot the breeze with them, telling jokes, offering suggestions, or just enjoying the fact that I'm not the only one like me. It's true what they say about birds of a feather.

"What the heck is the MOFia?!", you may ask. It's an online message board for LDS women. MOF means "My Online Friends". We added the "ia" later when we started having to band together on behalf of other members. MOF doesn't sound scary. But, who in their right mind wants to haggle with the whole MOFia?

We're a pretty big group, sometimes having a total membership of about 135. We're each wildly different from one another, and yet we're all so much the same. We understand each other's jargon and terms like dh, mil, rofl, ttc, pg, gno, gwo, imo, ita,dd, ds, and eta all make sense to us.

We just "get" each other. I think it's because, even though we're all so different, we have one major thing in common: We're all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Some of us are strong, active, wise beyond our years members of the Church. Some are newer members still struggling to get our bearings. Some of us are lifelong members also still trying to gain an understanding of where we fit in the mix of it all. No matter where we are in our religious progression, though, that's the thing we have in common. It's amazing what being of the same faith can do for people, isn't it?

Oh, don't think for one second that we just sit around and quote scripture, suggest new and exciting techniques for darning socks, or hero worship our husbands all day. The MOFia couldn't be further from all that. (In fact, I don't think sock darning has EVER been mentioned...and we certainly don't WORSHIP our crazy husbands!). I suppose we do talk about church, and our callings and try to discuss some aspects of our faith as they come into play. Mostly, though, we talk about everything. Really, we talk about just about anything that you can think of. And, remarkably, we have specialists on almost every topic.

Want to know the safest carseat for your baby, and how to put it in the car? We have someone for that! Want to know what your fertility signs are and how to get pregnant quicker? We have someone for that! Need some tips to spice up your life in the bedroom? We have a lot of people for that one! (Certainly not me, though. I'm much to shy to talk about...um....well....you know). Are you wanting to learn a new talent like photography, sewing, scrapbooking, singing, playing an instrument, bargain shopping, teaching, or using Photoshop? We've even got people for all of that! Ever wonder if that weird rash you keep getting is normal? We can tell you whether it is. Ever wonder if your mother-in-law is normal? Well, she's probably not, but we can confirm it for you. You know those crazy neighbors you have that are driving you nuts? We call them the McTrashy's, and you can come over and vent about them all you want. We'll join right in and support you. Need house decorating advice? We can help you with that, too. We can help you find that totally obscure recipe you've been dying to make. We can reach out and work with you while you deal with your child's special needs. We can help you survive your kid's first day of Kindergarten or *gasp!* their first day of a very long summer vacation. Does your kid have green goop hanging from their nose and a whole list of other disgusting symptoms? We can probably diagnose your kid for you and have them cured before you ever make it to the doctor's office. Really, there is NOTHING the MOFia can't do for you.

We hang out in our underwear chatting away, posting nonsense in one thread, and serious topics in the next. We're a team. I guess I should clarify that we're only in our underwear because we can't actually see each other while we're typing. We do see each other once a year at our annual Girls' Weekend Out. And, depending upon where we live, some of us even have regional Girls' Night Out events. We send cards to each other when someone is sick and have an annual Christmas card exchange. The really nice part is that everyone there knows someone else in real life. That's the only way you can become a member. Well, almost everyone knows someone else in real life. We have one special member from Australia. None of us have met her in person yet, but she's coming to the States someday. In the meantime, we talk to her on the phone. She's the real deal. Cute accent and all. And, I can assure you that she's not some dirty old man reading our posts and having a grand old time. No dirty old man can fake a cute voice like that.

So, there you have it! That's what the MOFia is. Those girls are my best friend. Oh! Did I mention it's girls only? No men allowed (although the King does often read over my shoulder). If you put all of those girls into one, though, they really have all of the qualities you could ever want in a best friend. So, I say they're my best friend. They were there with me when Snort was so sick. They've been with me through at least 5 miscarriages. They held my cyber hand when the Beast had his surgery. They were one of the first to know when the Beast could hear. They rejoiced with me when we first heard heartbeats on Pretty and Snort. We go with each other through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the McTrashy's.

Honestly, I think the world would be a better place if everyone had a MOFia chapter they could join. It might be the answer to world peace. Alas, there is only one chapter of the MOFia in the whole world. And it's by invitation only.