request for help...  Every effort has been made to avoid leading with this request so far, and we're always grateful for your encouragement and word of mouth, but not one sparrow urgently needs your financial support as well.  Keeping in touch with community members, posting new content to the website and blog, networking with other efforts, developing other outreach opportunities and administrative responsibilities all require a substantial amount of time and energy far beyond volunteer hours.

Most of the work invested in not one sparrow has been pro bono to this point, coming up on two years, and as you can imagine it makes for a very precarious situation for myself and my family.  Without going into gory detail, it's a situation which we just can't afford.  I'm grateful to our accountability partner and nonprofit professional, Jessica Stackhouse, for reviewing our records while we look seriously into tax exempt status.  Whether occasionally or regularly, would you please help support not one sparrow's work in the meantime?  We need you, and thank you for your grace in allowing us to ask.

on the weblog...  Our blog featured a series on pet loss and grief over the turn of the year which announced our new Companion Animal Suffering & Grief Support Group on Facebook, led by Denise LaChance (read her introduction).  The series began with this post and also featured contributions from myself on the loss of our cat Bubba, Dean Ohlman on whether animals have souls and Nancy Janisch on vets and pet suffering. 

Most recently we've been highlighting wild birds from a number of unique perspectives, including Kendra Langdon Juskus on being a reluctant birder, Ray Paunovich's stunning video short "Life on the Wing," Tracey Clarke on a vulnerable swallow family, Dean Ohlman on valuable lessons from chickadees and Joanna Pritchard on feeding backyard birds during winter.

Other blog contributions have included the art of Lidija Ivanek, Leslie Strovas's "Christian Conversation on Food," Karen Swallow Prior's "Three Dog Nights," Sharon Sigethy Coughlin on rescuing a rabbit and Stephanie Muzekari on innocence and animal suffering.  If you're looking for some humor, check out our posts on a shoplifting seagull and laugh-out-loud cats.  I also posted audio and images from my recent not one sparrow talk at Wake Up Weekend.

roll credits...  A sincere thanks for recent plugs from Aida Collazo and Forgetting the Former Things, Eileen Glenn and SustainLane Creation Care, Kendra Langdon Juskus and Flourish, Lidija Ivanek for a Kreativ Blogger Award, Mike Morrell and Post Christian, Ric B., Sarah Transeau of Tranquility Farm Equestrian and The Source, Stacey and Compassion for Change, Tom Eggebeen and CovenantStuff, Veda and All-Creatures, and all our friends at Wake Up Weekend.  If I missed anyone, please remind me!

Thank you, always, for your grace and encouragement,

Ben DeVries, not one sparrow

{could you help not one sparrow and our blog?}