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Today is not one sparrow's third anniversary. It was very early on the morning of May 16th, 2008 that the first batch of emails was sent out announcing our humble entrance into the small world of faith-based animal advocacy. And while a bit more fanfare accompanied our second anniversary last May, it's still meaningful to pause for a moment and realize we've made it another year, by God's grace.
As not one sparrow enters our third year of striving to be a Christian voice for animals, I've been looking forward for a while now to take the opportunity to go over some of the basics of our cause and motivation. A refresher in our foundation of faith and what that means for how we advocate for animals might be meaningful for our newer readers (welcome, and thank you!), and hopefully for the rest of our community as well.
Sometimes it's possible to become so invested in and overwhelmed by a cause, or even just part of one, that it's hard to keep both the forest and the trees in front of us. I know I've felt that tension more than a few times since committing to the issue, and am grateful to take some time to re-ground myself in the reasons why we're called to care about animals, and how God might want us to go about doing so.
Updated on August 23, 2010 by
Ben DeVries
One last anniversary highlight to pass along ... We just opened a brand new, official not one sparrow apparel and gear shop at CafePress! $5 of every item you purchase goes toward supporting not one sparrow, and we're very grateful for the word of mouth and support!
Our CafePress shop has several styles of men's and women's t-shirts, both white and black (including some organic options), as well as long sleeves and sweatshirts, kids' and baby shirts, and even a few fun items like mugs, tote bags and a doggie t-shirt!
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turning two... Yesterday marked not one sparrow's second birthday! Since we don't often have the opportunity to see each other "in person," I thought I might put together an informal video retrospective. It looks back on some of the developments not one sparrow has seen this past year and what might be ahead in the coming months. It also touches on the kind of community we want to be, and some of the need we continue to face. I hope you'll watch it!
Marian McElroy, a dear friend of my family for many years, recently stumbled across the following story in her personal files. It describes an experience she shared with her grandson, and my grade school friend, Richard rescuing a backyard baby sparrow. I'm very grateful to Marian for sharing this memory with us, and thought it might be especially appropriate as we commemorate not one sparrow's anniversary this weekend ...
One day in the Spring of 1987, my neighbor phoned and asked, “Would Richard like to come and pick up a little bird? It has fallen out of the nest, making a lot of noise and flopping all around." So we took a strawberry basket and headed for the neighbors. There we found a tiny creature with no feathers, a yellow beak and two small wings, and “hollering in a loud voice.”
As we head into our second anniversary this weekend, I'm very grateful to be able to introduce not one sparrow's inaugural advisory board to you! It consists of three members, myself included, and I'm honored to call the other two friends and colleagues. They've both proven themselves to be trustworthy and invaluable supporters of not one sparrow's mission and community, who were additionally available and perfectly suited for a governing board. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce to you (drum roll, please!) ...
Denise LaChance - You may already be familiar with Denise, who heads up our companion animal suffering and grief support group. Denise is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity, and she lives in Los Angeles with her dogs Mia and Skipper and cat Clara. Last Fall, she lost her beloved dog Ben (pictured), which she wrote about previously.
Earlier this year I received an email from a not one sparrow reader in South Africa, Cherie Sindall, and we quickly struck up a running conversation. Cherie's story of decades of faithful work among the animals and people of her adopted homeland, despite intense seasons of economic and other need (including recent months), impacted me deeply.
We'll be sharing more of Cherie's amazing story and experiences in the coming months, but as not one sparrow is celebrating our 2nd anniversary this week, I tentatively asked if she might be willing to introduce herself and share a bit about how not one sparrow has been an encouragement to her and her work. I'm deeply grateful to Cherie for doing so, and for the steadfast encouragement she has been to me, and to our community ...
still fledgling, but no longer hatchling ...
(see the development of our unofficial mascot 'Spoggy')
This past Saturday, May 16th, not one sparrow turned one year old. As alluded to in a recent blog post, anniversaries are often special to me, and this one was especially so. When I think of all the ups and downs of the past year, I'm grateful not one sparrow survived some difficult circumstances. Launching and maintaining an animal advocacy effort in the Christian community was going to be a stretch in the best of times, and Lord knows this year has been far from that. Maybe some of you can relate.
