Click on images to download Download Leadership Guide Download Handcards for Meetings  Never hosted a Bible Study before? Nervous? We found a great resource from Laura Krokos of Missional Women. We recommend reading this while you prep for the Bible Study.

PROTECTING YOUR NEST

A Simple Toxin Free Home

Your job as Mom is to protect your children. That seems pretty simple but you could be inadvertently exposing your children to harmful chemicals. You are a careful shopper and have safety latches on the cabinets and that is still not enough. Your fire for your kid's health has already been found, now make sure you know how to protect your kids from the chemicals in your home.

One third of American kids are now suffering from one of the big four “A” childhood diseases. The diseases are asthma, autism, ADHD, and severe allergies. One third of our children are sick. What is causing these epidemic rates? Leading medical Christian doctors and university researchers are now linking it to our consumption of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are now saturated in our American lifestyle. Whether it’s plastics, fuel for transportation, or home and body care products with harmful petro-chemicals, we are unknowingly exposing our kids, ourselves and husbands to hundreds of exposures each and every day. Yes, they are tiny exposures but when aggregated they become a real threat that is even passed to our babies in the womb. We need to respond to protect our children.

SPEAKER OR VIDEO PROGRAM

Public Health Official, Pediatrician, Autism Specialist, EEN Director of Women’s Ministries

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What do you think our Biblical call to care for God’s Creation is?
2. As a mom, how does God’s precious love in the creation of a child make you feel?
3. God’s special preference for the most vulnerable, including children, is a consistent Biblical theme. Why might scripture place such an emphasis on care for the “least of these?”
4. Should we set some goals as a group to achieve together and hold each other accountable?
5. How can you share this information with friends and family in a way that will help them along their path of creation care?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Healthy Creation = Healthy Children Bible Study.
• Visit Moms Clean Air Force Toxic Chemicals Section on Website. Order pamphlets from Mom’s Clean Air to hand out at meeting.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR OFF MOPS MEETING WEEKS

• Host the Healthy Creation = Healthy Children Bible Study.
• Start to change out toxic cleaners and body care products at home.
• Find out more information about toxic exposure and the effect on your health. A place to start is TedX website.

DIGGING DEEPER

As a mom you have so many jobs and there is so much information out there. How do you know what is right? Well, you can’t be an expert at everything. Follow these five strategies to make better choices. 

1. Learn how to read labels. We can't count on the makers of food or our government to tell us everything in our food. Partly because there is so much. So learn to read labels. The good news is many children's foods have responded to the concerns of parents. Some have taken out the harmful dyes and added sugar. Still we have to educate ourselves. A good place to start is look at companies who are spending their own money to get thrid-partied certified. That means they are trying to be as transparent as possible to give their customers piece of mind. Some of those vertifications are USDA Organic, Non GMO Verified, and Oregon Tilth. We are not saying everything has to be organic but know that organic food passes rigerous inspection. Terms like "natural" actually means nothing. It's not regulated by anyone so food manufacturers use it when they want to give you comfort but don't want to be transparent. If you want to learn more from a mom, check out Robyn O'Briens The Unhealthy Truth. Here are two videos to get you started on reading labels. How to Read Labels | How to Read Organic Labels Part 2
2. Dumped processed food. Too many chemcials and sugar. There is processed food and there is processed food. We have to be transparent, we understand your need for convenience. There are good choices and bad. We are not saying dump your favorite mac-n-cheese. However, if you read the label and you can't tell if any food is actually in the box then cut back. Don't serve it once a week or several times a week. Make it a real treat and serve infrequently. Processed foods are full of three really dangerous things for kids...sugar, salt and chemical additives. Don't just look at the ingredients when trying to judge sugar. Look at total carbs and know what the proper amount is for your kids. Same thing with salt. For additives Top 10 Food Additives to Avoid. Please note: we are not medical professionals. If you have concerns please consult your medical professional first. 
3. Buy “Clean 15” organic fruits & veggies. So we had trouble fitting the correct language on the hand card. There are two lists to provide the best shopping tips for what needs to be organic and what doesn't need to be organic. The Clean 15 refers to 15 fruits and vegetables that you don't have to shop organic. The Dirty Dozen are the 12 fruits and vegetables you really should buy organic. The good news is some of the items are easy to grow at home so you don't have to pay "high" organic prices. While we concede oragnics are probably more expensive, if spending 50 cents extra will prevent exposure to known probable carcinogens then won't it be worth it? We know budgets are tight that's why we like the Clean 15/Dirty Dozen list. It gives you the advice for to make budgets stretch. Get more on the latest 2018 "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15" lists released. 
4. Use homemade cleaning products. If food is barely monitored then household cleaners are pratically neglected by our government. Use vinegar, baking soda and lemon where you can. You will be surprised how well they work. Here are some recipes from the University of Georgia and check out our Pinterest board. Plus, it will save money so you can splurge a little on organics. If you need some cleaners then look for Green Seal or Green Good Housekeeping Seal. The idea is once again to reduce as much as possible the toxic cleaners in your home. We understand you might need something every once in awhile, but why not use the simplest ingreidents when you can? Need more green cleaning tips? Check out Going Green with a Bronner Mom and Clean Green Talk Show.
5. Swap out Body Care Products for toxin free. Did you know that a famous national brand of baby shampoo used to have formaldehyde in it? Guess what? It wasn't the government that had them remove it. It was moms who recognized the risks to their children. The last time Congress updated items that go into your skincare, haircare and cosmetics was 1938. Take a minute and think about it. Your grandmother is probably younger than that. To make matters worse, lead is legally allowed in cosmetics too. Yes, the substance that the CDC terrifies moms about not letting your child consume even a chip of old-fashioned lead paint lest it cause brain damage in your child, is legally allowed in lipstick. Yes, the lipstick that you probably kiss your kids with over and over. Why hasn't this changed? Because according to the EPA we don't ingest it. Why do you think we reapply it all day? And if you kiss your kids on the lips they might ingest some of it too. To make matters worse, Scott Pruitt's EPA is asking that the amount of lead allowed be INCREASED not decreased. We are not saying you should dump all your cosmetics and skin care at one time. We are saying be wise, replace with better options as you run out. You'll be surprised how fast it happens.