A little more controversy

As you may have already guessed if you don't already know me too well, I like to dig deep. I like to question. I am motivated by discovering truth.

What really impresses me (and totally surprises me!) is that Jim Carrey and I seem to be alike in this manner. Below is a link to his article regarding vaccines. While I don't have a particular stance at this point (and certainly do not criticize anyone who does!), I endlessly appreciate his candor in his own research and feel that his search has a lot to offer us all. I find it extremely well-written and surprisingly neutral--that is, neither for or against vaccines directly, rather challenging our assumptions (which I think is almost always a very, very good thing!).

Here's a quote from his article that has me thinking:

"The truth is that no one without a vested interest in the profitability of vaccines has studied all 36 of them in depth. There are more than 100 vaccines in development, and no tests for cumulative effect or vaccine interaction of all 36 vaccines in the current schedule have ever been done. If I'm mistaken, I challenge those who are making such grand pronouncements about vaccine safety to produce those studies."

So, again, this is not to say that vaccines are/aren't safe. Rather, as parents, as adults, as educated humans, let's take responisbility for what we put into our kids' bodies and discover the BEST for them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-carrey/the-judgment-on-vaccines_b_189777.html

The Weeping Prophet

Sometimes, deep in my soul, I feel akin to the weeping prophet (Jeremiah). He was weeping over the state of his city, his Jerusalem, his people, his God's chosen people.

I remember being very young (Jr. High?) and coming across my first images of famine in Africa. These black and white images blown to the size of a TIME magazine page of skeletal babies sitting in dust--actual age: ten years old. One image really made me mad (and I believe I still own it). This wealthy merchant walked up to a rice stand run by a starving family and stole a bag of rice. Tall and in white flowy gowns and a matching turban, the obviously wealthy and well-fed man didn't even look down at the skeletal frame of the little boy who reached his hand out to stop him but whose skeletal frame was too weak to get up to chase after the thief. Justice is so clear in that picture. So clearly not served.

I used to read The Economist and other foreign policy magazines to learn about national atrocities. I would take the most descriptive images and tear them from the magazine and tack it on my bedroom wall. This, I knew so deep in my heart, had to stop. Tack. Up on the wall they went until my room was nearly covered.

I look at marriages and families today with some of the same intense passion of justice not being served. Of women and men who lie about their marriages--first to themselves and then to the rest of the world. Of people afraid. Afraid to seek God's best? Of men who refuse to stand up, die to themselves and start leading the way by following in Christ's example.

I am now learning about childbirth in America. Suddenly, I feel like the rest of the world could be teaching us. "Even though the United States has the most intense and widespread medical management of birth--99% of women give birth in a hospital--we rank near the bottom among industrialized countries in maternal and infant mortality....According to the World Health Organization, we rank second to last among 33 industrialized countries in this regard and 30th for maternal mortality. Although we are superior in saving the lives of infants born severely premature, women are 70% more likely to die in childbirth in the United States than in Europe."

"In the countries with the best maternal and infant outcomes....the vast majority of laboring women get individual support from a midwife, are free to move about and birth in whatever position feels best, and are rarely induced, anesthetized, or cut" (Pushed, xv).

This is wrong. It's wrong that we have stigmatized birth and a woman's natural process of labor by declaring it a medical condition. It's wrong that we wreak our fear all over their bodies and force them to take great risks to protect the doctor's backs.

Don't even get me started on the food processes and toxic chemicals that NO OTHER country in Europe will even touch but that we hand out as safe because IT MAKES US MORE MONEY. Pesticides are poison!!!! I don't know how we can be so ignorant. If it kills the bugs, it CAN KILL US. And don't even get me started about the ridiculousness of fortified foods that MAJOR COMMERICAL CORPORATIONS pass off as "healthy."

"Selling salt is actually a side line for salt companies; they make most of their profits pulling out the minerals and selling them back to us through health food stores and to companies like Kellogg's that take a naturally healthy food, process the pee out of it (till it's worthless) and then add back some minerals and vitamins. The minerals come from the salt companies. This is called fortified food."

"For every gram of PTS (processed table salt) that your body cannot get rid of, your body uses twenty three times that amount of cell water to neutralize the salt. Eating PTS causes excess fluid in your tissues which can contribute to cellulite, arthiritis, and kidney stones."

Hey, but it comes in a nice, handy box! And the men who sell it say it's healthy--mmmmm, fortified! Must be good for us--the cartoon Tiger says so! These are the same type of men who we criticize for running companies like Enronr, AIG, etc. Come on, guys. THEY WIL SELL YOU ANYTHING!

We are poisoning our own people from the inside out.

It brings me to tears, to weeping. I want to scream. I used to want to move to the developing world to feed them myself. I used to want to get into politics. But slowly God started showing me that I am not the Holy Spirit. I can't make lasting change. Only He can change hearts and that's our real problem. I started to see that the greatest method to bring about change is genuine, transparent motherhood. Suddenly I want dozens and dozens of children.

Oh, the difference a year makes!

I sit here amazed at what a year can bring.

This last year brought unexpected blows to me personally. It all started five years ago--when I got married. Watching my wedding video last Valentine's Day, Rory and I both found ourselves emotionally impacted by how trusting, how joyful, how confident I was in Rory's hands. But as the next few years would show, Rory had no idea what to do with that. Little by little my confidence and joy and trust were thrashed. I found myself alone and hurting and crying--a lot. And he didn't know what was wrong with me. Even worse, I didn't know what was wrong with me.

I started to think and feel like I was going crazy.

Then we found the gospel of Jesus. Don't get me wrong--we were raised Christian and I knew Jesus intimately most of my life. But we hadn't heard much about how Jesus is supposed to behave at home. And by Jesus, I mean the husband, the spiritual leader, the stronger partner of a marriage who is called to love and walk in His likeness.

I remember a man asking me one day to name some emotions that Jesus caused me to feel. I hesitated and so he helped me. By the end I had a list that looked something like this:

safe
loved
important
accepted
cared for
heard
valued
respected
beautiful

And so on and so on. Just touching those wonderful emotions that Jesus causes me to feel brought me to tears. He then compared that list with how I was feeling at home: alone, hurt, neglected, unimportant, like a bother, etc. That list really hurt to talk about.

Then he looked at Rory and asked him if Jesus would make me feel the way he was making me feel. I was an emotional basket-case at this point.

This was the beginning of our realization that I wasn't crazy. I wasn't the problem at all. By getting married Rory took on a grave spiritual responsibility that few people in the world are truly aware of. He became the leader of my spirit. There was no way out of it. We were one (Ephesians 5:31). We were partners. I am the weaker, he is the stronger (1 Peter 3:7). He is the leader, I am the follower. He is the head, I am not (Ephesians 5:23). He is the Jesus, I am the church (Ephesians 5:25).

Suddenly, Scriptures I had read my entire life became alive. The living word of God spoke to us and applied to us. And began to change us.

These changes have literally taken years. We are having to re-learn our ways and our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). And it has been hard. It is often misunderstood by the world and even the church.

But it works. I didn't always believe it would, but literally about four years into it, I felt my heart open up to Rory in a way I had never imagined and could have never manufactured. I wasn't loving him just because I married him, I found myself deep in love and respect for him out of his selfless care and love for me. I began to feel, literally in my very core, the things that I had once ascribed only to Jesus. Safe, loved, very important, etc.

It's why I can say that I get to live with Jesus. Rory has literally spent the last four years of his life learning to lay it down. For me!!! ME! Little old, used to be crazy, me. This kind of love blows me away. I can't tell you what it has done for me to have my husband's undivided attention, complete heart and whole understanding. We are truly one, now, in heart, mind and spirit. Something I never knew to imagine!

And I did nothing. Just like the gospel of Christ. He did it all. It humbles me more than you can ever know.

Cue the big blow of my heart. Last fall, Rory made a horrible decision and let a relationship with a mutual friend go too far. Nothing technically happened but he lied about it. And I felt like dying. He had opened his heart to another woman. And just when I had finally found faith in him. But again, he was the leader. He has full control over my spirit and he had spent that last four years learning to understand it (1 Peter 3:7). He acknowledged the pain, his horrible decision and learned how vulnerable he is. And somewhere in the middle of all that, all his years of work and self-sacrifice, appeared to me and convinced me deep in my heart that he loved me.

We still talk about that situation and thank the Lord regularly for what it taught us. And we are learning that there are lots of people who can relate to it.

A year or so ago, we had a miscarriage. But while I was still pregnant, I shared with Rory my heart in having a midwife help me give birth. Boy oh boy did he let me know how ridiculous that idea was! He shut me down so quickly that I knew not to bring it up again. His fear had crushed my spirit.

Here I sit, a year later and several major blows under my belt, and laugh. In sincere joy.

Now, as he has learned to value me and truly seek the Lord as he seeks to understand me, things are so different. Just last Sunday at Easter, Rory sat at his family's dinner table and explained in long detail about the birth process and the benefits of having a home-birth. Can you believe it?! I sat there, eating the delicious bar-be-que, listening to my husband share with his family how blessed he feels to be able to learn all about birth and to be able to have our baby at home. He talked about how talented and educated our midwife is and how important the birth environment is and so on. He has become my biggest champion. And I find myself becoming very quiet and humbled and beaming with respect in the process.

I am literally laughing out loud as I type. Oh boy. A year ago it was such a different story. And there are so many other stories we have as our testimony to the value of a husband truly taking up the call to love and live as Jesus--even in his very home.

It makes my heart shout, "The gospel of Jesus lives!" It's in my very home. I invite the whole world in to come, see, taste and feel the goodness of the Lord.

Sunday is coming...

This week feels like death week.

On Monday I got news that one of the spunkiest, most intelligent and confident women I have ever met, passed away just shy of her 94th birthday. My Great Aunt Edna lived in New York so I never got too close, but just hearing about the way everyone spoke of her and chatting with her a few years back when my grandpa died, kind of bonded me to her in a unique way that I don't even think she was aware of. I was sad on Monday but proud of her long life and strong legacy.

Yesterday was Rory's birthday (which is like a mini-holiday for me, too, because he's so much fun to play with on his birthday!) and in the middle of the movie we went out to see, he passed his phone over so that I could read an email from our Children's Pastor. One of the smartest and wildest little boys that I had known through Sunday school was killed in a car accident. Marco was in 2nd grade but we would always let him hang out with the 3rd-6th grade boys because I think it made him feel good about himself. I remember praying strong prayers for that boy. And I remember the strong prayers he would pray during class.

Today I found out that some dear family friends lost their father/grandfather in the wee hours of the morning. I didn't know him too well, but his passing is a definite loss in our family.

And all week long, being as it is Passion Week, I've been gearing up for the horrible Good Friday. I know, I know. Sunday is good news!! But I can't read His last words and last steps and not grieve.

I felt very sad on Monday (not directly because of my aunt's passing) and called Rory to ask him to come home early if he could just to be with me. For some reason he had already felt the need to go home early so he was on his way. When he got home I just cried and sat with him. I couldn't explain the melancholy.

Now I feel surrounded by it. It's not a depression, it's not even grief. Just sadness.

I remember being a young girl and hearing for the first time of someone I knew who had died. She was my grandma's roommate of sorts (she rented a room in my grandma's duplex). She had lived long and her death was not a shock--at least not to anyone else. But I remember hearing the news and telling my mom. Tears came without notice.

Death has always hit me hard.

So today I am mourning and honoring the lives of three amazing people and preparing my heart for the most powerful death of all time: Jesus'.

Rory and I are reading through Jesus' words and actions during Passion Week (we are using an amazing book I used in Bible school that blends all four of the Gospels to give a chronological telling of Jesus' life) and I am struck by his repetition of love, love, love, obey, obey, obey. It was on the night of the final Passover meal (Thursday) that He implored them to lose their lives for His sake. He talked of how the world cannot receive them (the apostles) because it could not receive Him. How the world hates them and Him because they are not of the world.

He also talks a lot about the coming kingdom--the end of this world and Satan's rule as we know it. This helps me a lot. This confirms that this world is home to no one who is His.

It's not that I grieve for their loss or even for ours. Death has clearly lost its sting and the grave its power. I don't believe for a second that death is not appointed or fitting.

But it is just so sad. I think of the Jews and the wailing wall and how openly and publicly and loudly they grieve (almost all of the Middle East grieves death very openly). And I feel akin to them. There is something healthy in acknowledging pain and grief--not living there, but being very present in it while it lasts.

So here I am, the day before Good Friday, feeling very, very present in death.

Sunday, come quickly!!

Oh hope, where doth thou lie?

Are you afraid yet?

Random shootings.
Legal threats to homes-schooling.
Legal threats to Christianity.
Obama's pledge to dis-arm us nuclearly (is that a word?).
Obama's health care Plan B.

I have lots of reasons to be afraid. I think of India (our soon-to-be daughter) and wonder at the world she will grow up in. I imagine the worst a lot of the time. Sometimes I get quite afraid.

Then I heard David (Stockton) talk about the book of Esther. He focused on chapter 4 last night. He explained how Mordecai, the Jew who had been exiled from his homeland and isolated when his cousin moved into the palace, received notice that his days to life were numbered--literally.

"Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and little children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. "

Hmm....I sit around and ponder the worst while Mordecai literally faced the worst. The end. Death. By legislation, royal edict.

First he responded with despair--as I would. Then, he takes it a step further and turns to prayer and fasting. As David said, when you encounter the kind of knot that just cannot be undone, prayer and fasting often undo it. After praying and fasting, he not only realizes God's plan, but speaks hope boldly.

In encouraging Esther to risk her life for her people, he boldly adds, "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place."

WHAT?! Another place?! Man, if I were him, Esther would be my only hope.

Ah, but Mordecai find hope outside of man. He found it in the Lord.

Here is what the Lord promises (and He wrote them down for us in case we forget):

1. He has promised to supply every need we have. The Bible says: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:19.
   
2. God has promised that His grace is sufficient for us. (II Corinthians 12:9).
   
3. God has promised that His children will not be overtaken with temptation. Instead, He assures us that a way of escape will be provided. This promise is recorded in I Corinthians 10:13. Jude wrote: "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present your faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude v 24). Darius, King of the Medes, said to Daniel, "Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee" (Daniel 6:16).
   
4. God has promised us victory over death. He first resurrected Jesus by way of assuring our resurrection. Peter said: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:32). Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3,4). Later on he adds: "but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:57).
5. God has promised that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully (Romans 8:28).
   
6. God has promised that those who believe in Jesus and are baptized for the forgiveness of sins will be saved. (Read Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38).
7. God has promised His people eternal life (John 10:27,28).
   

And my personal favorite, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Could I face a literal death threat with hope? Not if I counted in man. But I am very encouraged by Mordecai's submission to God's plan.

And how did Mordecai's story end?

"King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews."

David was quick to point out that the name Mordecai means literally, "little man." He was a nobody. A nothing. Until he was faced with despair.

Environmental Toxins--Copied from Gwyneth Paltrow's E-newsletter GOOP

A couple of years ago I was asked to give a quote for a book concerning environmental toxins and their effects on our children. While I was reading up on the subject, I was seized with fear about what the research said. Fetuses, infants and toddlers are basically unable to metabolize toxins the way that adults are and we are constantly filling our environments with chemicals that may or may not be safe. The research is troubling; the incidence of diseases in children such as asthma, cancer and autism have shot up exponentially and many children we all know and love have been diagnosed with developmental issues like ADHD. Perhaps it is a coincidence, but perhaps we can do things to reduce illness in our children and ourselves. Below you will find some of the most prevalent facts and also easy, affordable ways to reduce exposure to substances which may be harming us.

Peace out,

Chemicals in Everyday Products and Children’s Health:
A Small Dose of the Facts
By Philip J. Landrigan, MD

Our children are our future. Our sacred responsibility as parents, grandparents and elders in society is to do all that we can to protect our children’s health, to ensure they reach their full potential and to empower them to be happy, productive and caring individuals.

But the reality is that patterns of illness in children have changed dramatically in the past century. Ancient infectious diseases such as polio, cholera, measles and malaria, have largely been controlled in the United States. The major diseases now confronting our children are chronic and disabling conditions:

• Asthma incidence has nearly tripled in the past three decades. It is the leading reason children are admitted to hospitals and the leading cause of school absenteeism.
• Cancer, after injuries, is the leading killer of children in the United States.
• Leukemia and Primary Brain Cancer have increased in incidence – brain cancer by nearly 40 percent in the past three decades.
• Developmental Disabilities are now commonplace, with ADHD, dyslexia, other learning disabilities and mental retardation affecting one of every six American children.
• Birth Defects such as hypospadias, a birth defect of the reproductive organs in baby boys, have doubled.
• Autism is now diagnosed in one in every 150 American children.
• Childhood Obesity has quadrupled in the past ten years.
• Type 2 Diabetes, previously unknown among children, is becoming epidemic.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. To me, as a pediatrician and epidemiologist, these increases in the rates of chronic disease in our children are a stark warning that something is going very wrong. Many toxic chemicals are known to contribute to these diseases. They deserve special attention because most are preventable sources of harm. Children are at risk of exposure to 80,000 chemicals, 3,000 of which are high-production-volume synthetic chemicals produced in excess of one million pounds per year. Nearly all of these are new chemicals developed in the past 50 years and never before seen on the face of planet earth. These chemicals are used widely in consumer and household goods like personal care products, cleaning supplies, pesticides, paints, toys, home furnishings, carpeting and electronics. Most disturbing to me as a doctor is that nearly 80 percent of these chemicals have never been tested for toxicity or examined for their potential to damage children’s health.

We must understand an important fact: Children are especially sensitive to environmental toxins. They are much more vulnerable to toxic chemicals than adults.
• Pound for pound of body weight, children have greater exposure to chemicals because they drink more water, eat more food and breathe more air than adults.
• Children’s unique behaviors put them at higher risk. They live and play close to the floor; and they constantly put their fingers into their mouths.
• Children’s metabolic pathways, especially in the first months after birth are immature. Generally they are less able to metabolize, detoxify and excrete toxicants than adults and thus are more vulnerable to them.
• Children are undergoing rapid growth and development, and their developmental processes are easily disrupted. From conception and throughout fetal development, toxic exposures can cause permanent impacts.
• Since children have more years ahead of them than most adults, they have more time to develop chronic diseases that may be triggered by early and repeated exposures.

In addition, we’ve learned that if a young child who is still developing (unlike an older child or an adult) is exposed to toxins like lead or pesticides during a critical early window of development, this exposure can affect their health for years to come. In fact, many prenatal exposures have a larger impact on the health of a fetus than on the health of the mother.

The growing brain is an organ that is especially sensitive to toxins. Scientists are also extremely concerned about the newest animal research which suggests that chemicals can alter gene expression in cells throughout the body. In essence, repeated chemical exposures during early development can change how genes function and subsequently increase the likelihood of disease. Suspicion is rising that toxic exposures during moments of heightened susceptibility in early life can cause disease and disability in childhood and possibly contribute to diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease later in life. Tests for developmental effects are not routinely required before a chemical is used in everyday products.

What can you do to protect yourself and your children? My advice is that you take simple steps to reduce your exposures to toxins and chemicals in the environment, and that you work together with other parents in your communities to push for safer alternatives where your children live, eat and play!

Dr. Philip J. Landrigan is a pediatrician and the Ethel Wise Professor, Chair of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine; Director of the Children’s Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is a Founding Board Member of Healthy Child Healthy World.

Top 10 Easy and Affordable Steps to Creating a Healthier and Nontoxic Life
By Christopher Gavigan

It’s hard to get those recommended seven to eight hours of sleep a night. Five days of exercise would be the greatest luxury. Your leisure reading pile consists of books like Goodnight Moon and Pat the Bunny. But your sacrifice is for the best smile and hug in the world – from your child. Welcome to parenthood.

Yet, we are a new generation of parents. We strap helmets on our kids as they skateboard and bike, we strain our necks putting on outlet covers, but there are new realities when it comes to keeping your children safe and healthy. Parents are beginning to understand that protection from harmful chemicals in everyday products is equally important. For example: hormone disruptors in baby bottles, toxins in cleaning products and pesticides on strawberries. The good news is that you can do something today about these chemical hazards in your homes, and be, as my grandmother often said, “better safe than sorry.” There are many easy nontoxic solutions and precautionary measures (like that bike helmet) to prevent harm and ensure a safer, cleaner and healthier future for your children.

And remember, no one can do everything but you can do something. Your children, your family and your planet will all thank you.

1. Eat intelligently. Organic foods are the best investment you can make for your child’s health. They can be more nutritious, sourced closer to home and are typically in season, but can cost a bit more. Prioritize wisely. Pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene recommends purchasing varieties of these organic foods in order to most effectively reduce chemical exposures: milk, potatoes, peanut butter, baby foods, ketchup, apples, beef, soy and corn.

2. Drink plenty of pure water. Bottled water is completely passé. It’s overpriced, unsustainably overpackaged, and not necessarily cleaner than regular tap water. Invest in a water filter (a simple pitcher option is fine) and a reusable stainless steel water bottle. Over time you’ll really see a big savings, plus you’ll be keeping countless plastic bottles out of landfills and oceans.

3. Embrace natural beauty. Ever read the chemical ingredients list on your shampoo or lotion? Not an easy task. Sixty percent of what goes on the skin is absorb into the body – so avoiding chemicals here is super important, especially for pregnant moms. You will reduce your family’s chemical exposure by opting for products made with natural and organic ingredients, like those from Care (Stella McCartney), California Baby, Perfect Organics, Aveda or Dr. Hauschka. Or you can even make your own! For a rich body moisturizer, combine ½ cup coconut oil with a ¼ cup cocoa butter and a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Protect your baby’s skin with a little olive oil, which also prevents rashes on his bum. At the first signs of redness, bathe your baby in warm water with a little baking soda or apply a small amount of aloe vera gel.

4. Detox your nest. Home cleaning products often have harsh chemical ingredients that require words like “warning” or “danger” on the label - totally at odds with maintaining a healthy home. Safely opt for effective, nontoxic cleaning products for laundry, surface, dish and bath – many are no more expensive than their conventional counterparts. I’m a fan of 7^th Generation. Or go old school and clean the way our grandparents did with common kitchen ingredients. Baking soda is great for scouring. White vinegar diluted with water magically cleans windows and countertops (killing bacteria and odors, as well). The acid in lemon juice fights grease and mineral scum.

5. Breathe clean air. Many people associate the smell of bleach or synthetic air fresheners with cleanliness. But, the smell of clean is actually scent-free. According to the U.S. EPA, indoor air is typically two to five times more polluted than outdoor air, and most people spend 90 percent of their time indoors. In addition to using nontoxic cleaning products, just opening your windows for a few minutes every day to let in some fresh air will do wonders. Vacuum regularly with a HEPA filtered vacuum. Growing houseplants also helps filter and detoxify your air while bringing a bit of the outdoors in. Turn on the exhaust fan or open the window when showering and cooking at the stovetop with gas. Remember to clean and replace your heating and AC filters regularly – these trap the germs and chemicals you don’t want recirculated in your home.

6. Take playtime back to the basics. Having a child shouldn’t mean turning your whole house into a toy box. Kids are better off without piles of plastic play things, battery powered gizmos and all sorts of complicated gadgets that profess to make them smarter. Simplicity is better for your child’s imagination, intellect and health – and, yes, much better for the planet. Stick to toys made from natural materials like solid wood and organic textiles, and opt for nontoxic art supplies and recycled paper. Use items you already own as playthings, like cookware drums or sock puppets, and visit our website (www.healthychild.org) for a quick video on how to make homemade play dough.

7. Ban bugs and whack weeds using common sense instead of chemicals. Pesticides are harsh poisons designed to kill rodents, bugs and weeds. Pesticide residues can end up on your grass, in your home and eventually on your child’s hands (which every parent knows will end up in his or her mouth). Prevent pests by keeping your home clean and removing their source of food. Distilled white vinegar will eliminate any weed. Be sure to wipe your feet on a doormat, or better yet, remove your shoes at the door to prevent tracking in dirt, dust, grime and other contaminants like lead or pesticides (and clean less!).

8. Go on a diet. I don’t mean cutting calories, but rather a diet from stuff. Reduce consumption. In the US, 90 percent of purchases end up in the trash within six months. We’re all familiar with the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle” and while most people have embraced recycling, reducing is the first and best step. And it means saving money. You will also reduce your children’s exposure to unnecessary chemicals, consume less of the earth’s resources, and decrease the amount of pollution generated by manufacturing and disposing of all the stuff your family uses. Convert the money you save from scaling back on the purchases toward investments in the higher ticket green items like organic food, sustainable clothing and healthy furnishings.

9. Reuse, reclaim, repurpose, recreate, rethink. In the same vein as above, consider buying the things you need from secondhand stores, designer consignment shops, Craigslist, Etsy and eBay. You can host your own “swap your swag” night with your friends, or look for items on FreeCycle or similar swapping services. One person’s trash is another’s treasure, right? Give something old a new look with organic textiles or no-VOC paints and stains. For older children’s items, look into the latest safety standards and recalls at CPSC.gov.

10. Spread the word. Now that you have some information, inspire and empower others in your tribe. They will appreciate the information if you offer it as a good friend and parental ally. And if you are like me – unrelentingly self-critical – give yourself a break and know that each small step will help your family.

For a complete parenting and lifestyle guide, get the new paperback on Amazon today: Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home

Christopher Gavigan is the author of Healthy Child Healthy World and CEO / Executive Director of the nonprofit of the same name: www.healthychild.org.

Q and A with Jesse Johnson

Jesse Johnson is the co-founder and CEO of Q Collection Junior, an eco-friendly and nontoxic line of baby bedding and furniture.

GP: What is the ethos of Q collection Junior?

JJ: The ethos of Q Collection Junior is simple – in every thing we do and make, we are focused on three things:

• Our children: Most baby furniture and bedding are made with paint, glues, wood and cotton that give off toxic fumes and contain harmful chemicals. Our materials don’t do either and are the only ones certified to ensure that your baby’s room will be free of indoor air pollution.
• Our communities: Our furniture is handmade in the USA. That means we’re creating jobs for people right here at home.
• Our planet: Just because your baby will be done with the crib one day doesn’t mean our planet will be. That’s why we use only biodegradable materials and packaging. And all of the wood for our furniture comes from within 150 miles of our factories. Using local wood helps protect our forests and climate by reducing our carbon footprint.

GP: How did you come up with the idea?

JJ: We started Q Collection in 2002 as a collection of adult furniture and textiles. It didn’t take long before parents started calling us asking if we also made children’s furniture and bedding.

At the same time, my wife was pregnant and we were looking around for nursery furniture. I was incredibly surprised to see what a striking lack of choice existed. If you were looking for great design, USA-made quality and ALSO nontoxic, healthy options you were out of luck.

GP: How important is it to have toxin free furniture and organic bedding?

JJ: Infants and small children spend the majority of their hours sleeping in a crib or bed.

Indoor air pollution is a growing concern for infants. The EPA names it as a top five area of concern and states that indoor air quality is three times worse than outdoor air quality. Home furnishings are always near the top of the list items of contributing to indoor air pollution, along with paints, cleaning materials, carpeting, etc.

There are also material toxicity concerns surrounding children chewing on crib rails and sleeping on certain types of bedding. In everything we design and sell, we have completely eliminated problematic materials that are commonly found in furniture and bedding including formaldehyde, brominated flame retardants, polyurethane, etc.

For more information visit www.qcollectionjunior.com.

Truth and Prophecy

I seriously need to eat breakfast but can't stop thinking about what I heard on the radio yesterday. 90.3 is my favorite radio station because they play Christ-centered music during the morning and afternoon but have sermons during lunch (David Zacarias, Charles Swindoll, etc.) and then Adventures in Odyssey at night.

During David Zacarias yesterday he was finishing up some thoughts on Daniel, the OT prophet. He read the verse that says Daniel was beloved of God. He then discussed prophecy in the OT and NT and asked us to think about who the greatest prophets of the OT and NT were. He said that Daniel is the single greatest source of prophecy in the OT and the disciple John is in the NT.

What do they have in common, he asked? LOVE. Daniel, the beloved of God and John, who is known as none other than the disciple Jesus loved.

How is this love so evident in their lives, he again posed to the audience. Scripture, again, is pretty clear: he that loves God obeys His commands.

Daniel is one of the few if not only people in the Bible of whom no sin is recorded. This is not to say that Daniel never sinned, but it is greatly worth noting that no sin of his is recorded. I forget what he said about John and obeying His commands, but even right here I was blown away!

He then went on to conclude that because of Daniel and John's unique love relationship with the Lord, He revealed special prophecy just to them.

As a believer with the gift of Prophecy (not future-telling, but a black and white, truth-motivated personality), what is my greatest struggle? What does Scripture pointedly demand about truth?

Speak it in love.

What would a life of truth and love look like? Like Daniel and John? Maybe--just maybe. I am certainly inspired for righteousness, truth and above all, LOVE.