forgive me

i have been a large slacker in terms of updating my blog over the past several weeks...i always get to this place...where i feel overwhelmed with how much has happened and how little i have written on here. i think....where do i even start to write about all that is going on. so i hope you can give me a bit of grace as i try to summarize some of the things that have been going on around here.

my parents visited...which was a blessing. so good for them to see the life i am living here and meet the wonderful community God has placed me in here. I think my dad was happy to know that i will be here for awhile too...he wont have to move me for a long while! ;) then after they left my sister came to visit! it was lovely to have here here too!

however the week in between their visits and the weeks after MUCH has happened. Mama Kati and i met with a woman who is a Market Place customer and she has bought a couple houses in the Norwich Corridor (the urban core of brunswick- 30min away from Waynesville) anyway...she has the heart of God and really wants to be apart of what we are doing. so we have had a couple meetings with her and are praying about one of her houses!

we have envisioned a place of restoration...an oasis in the desert, a safe haven...not a half-way house...a hOME...a place that has the atmosphere of heaven. we dont know what will happen but we are praying about me being the BIG MAMA in the house. there is MUCH to be discussed and processed...pray for discernment as we go through this...i will try to post more about it later.

then Bo Mann, a friend of the Brooks' and someone who has the heart of God...he loves the marketplace and what much ministires is about. he is opening a coffee shope today actually...called WAKE UP! its all about getting people to think about where they buy there products from and how it effects the world. he is going to carry books to get people thinking...all his gifts, bags, jewelry etc. are fair trade products. All his coffee is fair trade or direct trade..its really amazing...and very much things i too am passionate about.

when i think about extending MUCH ministries to KCMO i see this being something i could definitely do...a coffee shop like this! so we have decided that i will spend 10-20 hours a week working with Bo Mann @ WAKE UP! i wont be an employee, but all the funds i would get to work there will go to much ministries! its very exciting. i'm not a coffee drinker and to be honest i never planned on being one...but this opening and purpose of this shop makes me think i might have to expand my world to coffee...

so in my world right now...mama kati has somewhat released me from being @ the Market Place so much. I am spending more time in brunswick working with the baptist ministry in the Norwich Corridor and more time on the island helping bo mann at the coffee shop. More investing in relationships and loving on people...not that i dont do that @ the MP, but its really good!

i have connected with a young hispanic girl...she is 15-year old and has a 2 month old baby...her father is gone and her mother doesn't have a job...they are in a tight spot...i am picking her up every wednesday to come with me to the BMC (baptist ministry center) so she can help translate if we need it. she is a beautiful girl and i am so excited to get to know her, invest in her and her family! this is one example of several moving forward right now, by being in the neighborhood more.

With the house we arent moving forward until january...even then we do not know...it is in its infancy...brainstorming...processing...discerning...praying...we'll see where it goes...

also...i am honored to have one of the best presents ever...for christmas my parents are purchasing my ticket to go to haiti with the team...so i actually got it today...i am going a week early to see my babies at Dorothy's and then off to bercy Cabaret for the mission trip there. i am so excited!!!!

ok...hope that was a descent wrap up of whats been going on here...please ask questions...feel free to comment...I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE DO!

thank you for everything...for reading...for praying...for embracing and being a part of this journey...