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This article was featured today on MSN. It echos what you have been hearing from me for the last two years as we set out to find out what is really in the food we buy and revamp our menus to weed out the processed, high salt, corn syrup laden foods that are often promoted as "kid friendly."

Michele, Natalea and I have been meeting with food reps locally to sample their more natural products and do a cost comparison so that we can take the next steps in this process. We have eliminated the pre-fried options, going whole wheat and more "whole" food this year, next we take aim at mechanically processed meats, meat "glue," and "pink slime" added to meats. (Don't ask what those are unless you really want to know.) Just trust me you don't want to eat that stuff but know unless you eat 100% certified organic meat-you have been.

McDonald's and another chain recently took a big step in stating that they will no longer accept meat treated with amonia. Now if they'll just use real chicken...

Read what public schools are going to be asked to do.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10234671-students-to-see-healthier-school-lunches-under-new-usda-rules 

Ephesians 4

 ¹ Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. ² Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. ³ Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

It can be hard to live in this world and rise above the anger and pettiness all around us. My pet peeve of the last two days has been people tailgating me. I'm not known for driving slowly unfortunately and it has been more than a bit terrifying on a couple of occasions. Frustrations with being unable to move out of their way led me to mutter less than kind things that I am glad they couldn't hear. I really needed to read the passage above this morning and make allowance for other's faults. Living together is messy-at work, at home, in the community and especially in traffic.

See what you can do with this one today. It sure stepped on my toes.

So we did it up big around here.

From the time I was a very young child one of the things I have felt most personally responsible for was being a good steward of God's natural gifts. My parents were very frugal having been born during the depression and growing up poor. We were very careful to reuse things until there was no use left in them and my dad was semi-organic in his practices on his "hobby farm." It is with great pleasure then that I brag on the accomplishments of the Grow To Know teachers and on Schweitzer as a whole.

Every class did something for Earth Day, many did activities and lessons for the week or the entire month. They planted, recycled, learned about taking care of the earth and took home information to encourage all of you to do so. From the youngest groups they discovered that they too can play a part in taking care of our earthly home in honor of our Heavenly Father.

I hope that you got to see the recycled art work and are enjoying the plants and other things the children brought home. I hope also that you took the time to read the lesson plans posted by your child's teacher and/or any class newsletters to get the fuller picture of all that took place.

Schweitzer held their Go Green picnic and did a beautification project for the apartment complex next door. Posted at the door near the gym were these facts: Schweitzer saved 52 dumpsters of cardboard, 52 dumpsters of paper and 104 dumpsters of plastic and tin from going into a landfill from 2007 to present. Way to go green!

Join us in our efforts to keep this a wonderful, clean and safe place to raise our families.

Just SAY NO! Especially for your kid's sake. Please read this article.

http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/03/30/fast-food-is-like-heroin-studies-find/

You may see and hear this phrase over the next few weeks and months. In order to renovate and create secure nursery and toddler space and to expand preschool and elementary age space for Sunday School and subsequently our classrooms, there will be a capital campaign conducted at Schweitzer. Campaigns such as this are always challenging but can be a huge blessing when God-given generosity of spirit is unleashed.

We staff members that blog have been asked to discuss what giving means in our life, so (and this is a tough one for me) here goes.

I was raised in a home where a tithe, or giving 10% of our income to our home church, was never optional. It was just something you did. My parents did so faithfully and I never felt like it was a burden or obligation. Something unsaid (they never discussed financial details) let me know that their heart and attitude were right about this committment. I never got an inkling that they would do this begrudgingly. My parents were careful stewards of their money and possessions-possibly a bit more than "tight" with it and yet faithfully gave their offering every week.

I received good teaching on this discipline at home and remember Sunday School lessons on being not just a giver but a cheerful giver. I went into marriage with the intent of always at least giving the minimum of 10%. Well, life happens, marriages fail and debts must be paid and it isn't as easy as it was before when I did it out of habit. Perhaps now it means more to me than then. I didn't think much about it when it was just something I did.

Sacrificial giving is a whole new ball game. I freely admit that this is a slightly new paradigm for me. I am back in the learning and growing stages of this discipline again. I have yet to determine what the $ amount of my committment to this campaign will be, but for me it won't be a sacrificial offering given joyfully unless I excede the amount of a 10% tithe to do so.

Completely believing in the call of God to increase our available space to provide for all of the new children and families who are coming here to seek and serve God is compelling reason for me to give to this specific need. Seeing firsthand how crowded our children and youth programs are on Sundays and Wednesdays I feel it is more than money well spent-it is money invested in eternity. Children and youth must receive a sure foundation in faith if our world is to have any hope at all. More children come each week and we need to give them our best, not simply squeeze them in and hope for the best.

Knowing that the church wishes to eliminate current debt before building/renovating gives me great confidence in the leadership of this congregation. I cannot think of a more responsible plan for our church.

Right now children may be experiencing some scary things in the world around them with Halloween decorations popping up. Some children investigate scary things on their own initiative to learn about their world and how to deal with what is unknown. They may be fascinated with sharks, monsters, dinosaurs, or other "scary" play ventures. Trying things on in play helps them to determine what they think about these ideas and to experiment with handling uncertainty and fear.

I just saw the film Where the Wild Things Are  which deals with this issue. Max creates scary fantasy to deal with his angry and uncertain reality. I carefully observed young children in the theater to see how they would react. Several asked to leave even though they didn't seem outwardly upset. Some moments were fairly intense, either with sadness, anger or aggression. It made me tear up. There were also a couple of spots that I thought would be fairly scary to a young child. The emotional content and message or meaning of the movie was far too abstract for a young child. Due to this and the powerful aggression in their fighting I would not recommend taking younger children (under eight or ten) to this. One boy of about three or four years of age said it was boring. The good emotional content was clearly over his head.

The fighting scenes are very aggressive as they push and hit each other hard with dirt clods and sticks. One monster is injured profoundly. They push each other very forcefully and angrily. I am waiting to see children bring this into their playground play. This is the aspect of the movie I most expect to see imitated. In one online comment I read viewer said her daughter bit her for the first time after seeing Max bite his mother in the film. While I loved this film as an adult viewer, I think the purpose of exploring anger and tantrums is better served by snuggling your child on your lap and reading and discussing the book.

As you head into Halloween or off to the movies remember that you should pay attention to a child's reaction to these things. If they are hesitant don't push. Have them talk things through before deciding to participate in any activities. Our fall festival on the 25^th is one less scary option.

Growing children need a growing faith to help them understand and deal with what is scary and unknown. Knowing God's love is the security every soul seeks. Introduce them to faith at home and through the many opportunities here at church through children's ministry and Grow To Know.

What do those two things have in common? Nothing as far as I know except that both of those things are occupying my mind in regards to what to blog about today. Got your attention though, didn't I?

Today's Ideal Bite green newsletter reported on organic jeans and the environmental impact of traditionally grown materials for denim. The figures were scary-$70 and upwards for jeans from the purest cotton sources. That is not in my budget. They did say however that WalMart and KMart now offer "Greensource organic denim options" for Route 66 and Faded Glory .

From Ideal Bite September 14, 2009 at daily@tips.idealbite.com

Now for the less pleasant topic. We are in contact with the health department to have plans in place should there be a significant outbreak of swine flu locally. You all have been receiving some information from this blog and the Growing Times newsletter for preschool. Today we started a small committee of staff members to look at implementing sensible precautions church wide. The primary methods of preparedness remain these common sense ones:

Wash your hands with soap and running water; often and thoroughly.

Cover your coughs and sneezes with cloth not your hands.

Stay home/keep your children home if you are ill.

Follow good hygeine and keep your surroundings clean and germ free.

I LOVE VBS WEEK!!!

There are oh, so many reasons that I look forward to this week each year. It's busy and vibrant and fun for the kids. The teachers get a unique experience, varied from the normal flow of preschool. A child's spiritual life can deepen dramatically when experiencing a full week of targeted Bible teaching and worship with hundreds of other children. The teaching is so focused and of such quality that they will remember in detail the things they learn in Crocodile Dock.

One added blessing is that I get to see so many of our GTK graduates! I collect hugs from little ones we used to hold and love that are maybe not so little anymore. Our early ones are looking at High School this fall and many times they are the VBS staff these days. Time plays it's ugly tricks on us. We see their parent coming toward us and remember them from years past. Then a sickening realization dawns; that great big kid with them is the incarnation of the tiny one we remember. Blessings arrive when we take joy that they are now taking action-moving from student to teacher; full circle.

It should be our ultimate goal to live lives that add to those around us. Let me give you two examples: one just beginning-one just ended.

Leah Wreath was one of our early preschool aides way back when we first began Grow To Know. She loved the children she helped with in the two and three year old classes. Every year she returned to help with VBS and would always bring me stories of the children she had in her class that she still kept up with or would run into. She babysat for many of her students and other Schweitzer kiddos. She always had time to help non profit groups as a volunteer and helped elderly and disabled neighbors non-stop. Leah left us for her permanent heavenly home last week but she is one who lived beautifully for others.

On a happier note, the next generation of children who are learning to give of themselves have someone among their ranks that they can admire and strive to be like. Candace, a former GTK student, has made a donation to the scholarship fund. She received donations from others when she put out toys she had outgrown with a note that they were free but if anyone wished to make a donation the money would go for preschool scholarships. What a great example. It is a timely gift, as scholarship money is going out as fast or faster than it is being donated right now.