Happy New Year

Feeling challenged and inspired by this right now. A lot to consider in the next few days as I look ahead to this brand new year.

Worthy of Consideration

Yes we must...

It's Time To Get Real

The Unbearable Lightness of Election 2008

Send a Letter to Your Congressional Candidates

Nearly nine million children in America do not have health coverage and millions more are underinsured. The elections in November provide an extraordinary opportunity to bring attention to this critical issue. We must seize this historic opportunity to ensure that every candidate running for a seat in the U.S. Congress understands that providing coverage for all children is something the American people want, that our children and nation can't wait, and that their commitment to children is a condition of your vote.

Send a letter to your Congressional candidates today asking them to sign the Children's Defense Fund Action Council's pledge.

Vote Out Poverty

From September 10-16, 2008 people of faith across the country will be mobilizing their communities to ask their local, state and national candidates what they will do to address the pressing issues of poverty and opportunity in America in their first 100 days in office.

In communities across the country, people of faith will be calling and writing the candidates, holding forums to discuss these issues with civic and political leadership, engaging in interfaith community service to aid those in need in their communities, and otherwise highlighting the need for increased leadership on these issues.

What will YOU do?

With the convention spotlights dimmed and the partisan parties over, we still have two long months until Election Day. Don’t stay on the sidelines – now is the time to get involved. Get behind something meaningful this election season, something that goes beyond partisan politics.

Sojourners’ Vote Out Poverty campaign asks voters and candidates to make the needs of our neighbors living in poverty a national priority and to follow the lead of the church in serving the needs of all people.

The Vote Out Poverty pledge says that we want a national plan from the next president and Congress that will:Cut domestic poverty in half over the next decade, and Provide the leadership necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, a set of international goals for reducing global poverty.

Commit today to help put poverty on the national political agenda by signing the Vote Out Poverty pledge!

What I am Thinking About

The little boys are back in school. And as the summer wore on, I must admit that I was ready for their return. I've got a "to do" list that is miles long and limited time in which to accomplish these things that are so much simpler without small children in tow. But I am also learning to cherish the time I do have with them. To give to them - joyfully. And this is a hard lesson for me as I sadly default to resentment when I feel stretched too thin. This came to my inbox this morning and I am considering it slowly, thoughtfully that I may take it to heart. That I may keep it at the forefront of my mind. Both as a mother and a daughter. Another hard lesson, one that I am reminded of daily on this journey of mine as a mother, is grace and thankfulness for my own mother who plucked so much of herself for her little ducklings. Thanks Mom - I love you.

Because You Never Know

SafetyTat is a fun and colorful kids temporary safety tattoo that’s uniquely personalized with your cell phone number. When applied to the arm of your child or loved one, SafetyTat provides an immediate, highly visible form of identification that stays in place even when wet and lasts for 1-5 days.

Why Bother?

Going personally green is a bet, nothing more or less, though it’s one we probably all should make, even if the odds of it paying off aren’t great. Sometimes you have to act as if acting will make a difference, even when you can’t prove that it will.

Read the rest of this article by Michael Pollan here...

Why Our World Needs Montessori

http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/blog/2007/07/why-our-world-needs-montessoribadly.html

Eat Out, Support the Atlanta Community Food Bank

Great Health and Wellness Website

Nourish Your Kids

The Sad Truth

Tell Your Members of Congress to Invest in Every Child: Secure the Future

Did you know that a baby is born into poverty in America every 35 seconds? Did you know that almost 13 million — one out of every six — children in America live in poverty? Test your knowledge about child poverty in America

Did You Know...

• Worldwide, 1 child dies every 3 seconds due to malnutrition and mostly preventable diseases. One billion children, almost every other child in the world, live in poverty. (source: UNICEF)
• Fourteen million children worldwide have lost one or both parents to AIDS. (source: UNICEF)
• Ninety percent of war casualties are civilians — almost half of these victims are children. (source: UNICEF)
• Everyday in the U.S., more than $1 billion is spent on the military while 1,700 babies are born without health insurance and 2,500 babies are born into poverty. (source: Children’s Defense Fund)
• Fifty-seven percent of the U.S. 2006 discretionary budget goes to military spending — everything but Medicare, Social Security and a few other small-ticket items (source: U.S. Office of Management & Budget.)
• The U.S. military budget plus additional funds allocated for the “war on terror” is as big as the defense budgets of all other countries combined. (source: Institute for Policy Studies)
• In 2006, U.S. taxpayers spent $535 billion on national defense and $19 billion on international development. (source: U.S. Government, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)
• Seventy-eight percent of Americans favor helping poor countries develop their economies as a way to fight terrorism. (source: Center for Global Development, 2004)
• World leaders have committed themselves to a set of eight targets called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which if adequately funded, will halve extreme poverty worldwide by 2015. (source: U.N. Millennium Project)
• More than 60% of Americans believe that contributing 0.7% of the GNP to meet the MDGs is the right thing to do. 0.7 refers to the repeated commitment of the world's governments to commit 0.7% of rich-countries' gross national product (GNP) to Official Development Assistance. (source: U.N. Millennium Project)
• On average, humans use around 20% more resources than the Earth can replenish. Americans use 500% of their share, Italians 200% of their share and Mozambicans use around 40% of their share. (source: Global Footprint Network)
• Women spend 83% of the money in the U.S. We can use this economic power to create enormous change. Inspire women to flex some economic strength on behalf of children! (source: Time Magazine)
• The percentage of female representatives in national legislatures is: Rwanda: 48.8, Islamic Republic of Pakistan: 21.6, US: 15

Our tax dollars at work: The 2008 US budget request for military spending, now referred to as “security” spending is projected to be $699 billion – bigger than all other military budgets combined. This represents a 61% increase since 2001. For a number of years, experts have confirmed that 15% of the budget could be shifted to programs that nurture & protect the lives of children without weakening the strength of the US military. SHIFT HAPPENS!!!! Mothers*, it’s our job to decide how we want to spend our tax dollars, because business-as-usual just got an urgent memo from its mother saying her children will no longer be ignored. Learn more at Mother's Acting Up.

Farm Bill - Action Needed Today

Please call your representative and senators by noon Eastern time Friday, April 25, at 1-800-826-3688. Tell them we must pass a new farm bill now, and must not lose the nutrition increases and food aid changes already passed. At a time of sharply rising food prices, these increases are especially critical. Modest commodity reform could pay for these increases without resorting to tax increases or other cuts.

Background information and talking points are available here.

World Hunger Crisis

It's being called the "Silent Tsunami." In three years, prices for the basic staples that feed the world—wheat, rice and corn—have risen by a staggering 83% and this week, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said that if left unchecked, global food shortages could set the world back seven years in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease. For people in the developing world, affording enough food to eat is becoming a daily struggle for survival. Without action to stop the upward spiral of food prices, 100 million people around the world will face deeper poverty and hunger, and hundreds of thousands will confront famine and starvation. Help the ONE campaign reach a new goal of 100,000 ONE members urging President Bush to rally the G8 to take emergency action against hunger and to invest in agricultural productivity in the developing world. Click on the the image...

Healthy Child Campaign

By the end of today, one million children will have been born without health coverage since the start of the 110th Congress — a Congress in which the House of Representatives was convened on January 4, 2007 with these words, "For all of America's children, the House will be in order." Unfortunately, Congress has not yet succeeded at being "for all America’s children." Despite attempts last year to expand health coverage for children, Congress was unable to override vetoes by President Bush and today 9.4 million children in America are living without health coverage.

Every 41 seconds, a child is born uninsured. To emphasize the stark reality of this crisis, I have added a "counter" to my blog that has been counting the number of uninsured children born since the start of the 110th Congress. Later today… that counter will hit one million.

In honor of those one million children and the millions of other children suffering in America without health coverage, I ask you to step up, take action and help solve this crisis. Tell Congress there is still time to truly make this a Congress for all of America's children by supporting legislation to ensure health coverage for every child and pregnant woman.

During this busy election year, send a clear and overpowering message to our Members of Congress today to make children's health coverage a priority. Children cannot wait.

Please take a moment and send an email to your Members of Congress today then ask your friends to do the same.

You can also help spread the word by adding a Healthy Child counter to your own website, blog, or social network profile!

ONE is launching a petition campaign to tell our senators that we want them to support record increases in funding to treat and prevent the spread of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
Please sign ONE's petition and ask your senators to join us in the fight against these deadly, but treatable diseases.

Enjoy a Good Meal for a Good Cause

On April 23rd, nearly 200 restaurants in the Atlanta Metro area will participate in Dining Out for Life donating a minimum of 20% of food and beverage sales to Project Open Hand.

Open Hand is one of the largest producers and distributors of home-delivered meals in the United States. Each and every day, the organization -- with the help of over 125 volunteers -- prepares and delivers more than 4,500 freshly cooked, nutritious meals to people in metro-Atlanta whose health complications have impaired their ability to prepare meals for themselves. Clients include homebound seniors, dependent children and persons with chronic, critical and terminal illnesses - 93% of whom live below the federal poverty level. With only 30% of Open Hand's annual budget coming from corporate and government sources, the organization relies on contributions from individuals in order to continue to serve the community. Dining Out for Life -- their largest annual fundraising event -- plays a vital role in helping bridge that funding gap.

Make a point dine out on April 23rd in support of Open Hand!

Call to Lament and Repent

Next week will mark five years since the United States invaded Iraq. We all lament the suffering and violence that continue after these five heartbreaking years, and we all share in responsibility for a war that has been waged in our names and with our tax dollars.That's why I've added my name to a public statement repenting for the Iraq war, which Jim Wallis and other Christian leaders will be releasing next week - with the signatures of thousands of Christians of all theological and political stripes. Support for U.S. wars and foreign policy is still the area where Christians are most "conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2). We must commit to put our love for Christ ahead of obedience to a misguided government, and to ask our brothers and sisters to join us in working for peace.

Will you join me in signing the statement? Just click here.

Want to Be an Activist?

Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities in which we live.

Bread for the World members write personal letters and emails to and meet with our representatives in Congress. Working through churches, campuses and other organizations, we engage more people in advocacy.Bread for the World works in a bipartisan way. We enjoy the support of many different church bodies. Bread for the World collaborates with other organizations to build the political commitment needed to overcome hunger and poverty. For example, Bread for the World is a founding partner in Bono's ONE Campaign.

Here's how you can help.