As we are coming to the end of the year everything seems to be changing from office location to finances. And while I am at 82 percent support, many of the one-time gifts I have received have been used and those monthly gifts I receive are falling short of the amount I need each month. My next newsletter will be sent out at the end of November, but if you are interested in becoming a financial partner, just let me know.

For those who are already supporters I want to thank you so very much for your faithful commitment to the ministry here and to what I am doing. I could not do what I do without you. I thank you also for your prayers which are essential and that is evidenced more each and every day. Knowing that you are praying keeps me going when the days and work gets tough.

God is good and is working mightily

"God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him...Now I'm alert to God's ways; I don't take God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works;...I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes." - Psalm 18:20-24 (The Message)

We've been in a bit of an upheval here lately as we move our offices and deal with financial struggles as a ministry. But God often reminds me why I'm here and reminds of from where I've come. Everything in my life up to this point has prepared me for where I'm at right now. All of the training, lessons, struggles, joys, hurts, excitement and experiences have prepared me to do what he calls me to do right now. And I continue to learn how to deal with people and how to show compassion to those around me.

For those who haven't heard, we are in the process of moving out of our old office and into the Yellow House. It will be a tight squeeze, as we have as many as five people in some offices, but it is likely to increase our communication! Our whole development team (Larua, Terry Andrus, George and our two Mission Year interns) will be in what has previously been the Yellow House office. For the most part we are limited to the space in front of us and a small two-drawer file cabinet and portion of a shelf. Surprisingly this works well and isn't as cramped as we thought it would be. In fact, it's rather homey, although my bamboo plants may have to go if space becomes an issue.

This move has been good for us all, I believe. I love moving because it gives me a chance to sort and throw away all those things I didn't really need in the first place. Old files and random paper that takes over my desk. It also gives me a chance to revisit things I was probably supposed to do some time ago and forget because they got burried. It is also one more great reminder that I don't really need most of what I have.

In addition to all the moving that has taken place at work, I have been nesting, as they say, at home. I was able to purchase a wonderful couch a few weeks ago and have loved finally having my first piece of "big girl furniture." Even after college I had borrowed furniture, so this first independent furniture purchase felt great. It is also a much needed addition to my house as prior to that couch I spent my evenings sitting on a barstool.

In addition to everything else that is going on we are in the midst of preparing our end of the year newsletters for each staff member and for the ministry as a whole. This newsletter will be a little different and a little more labor intensive for our staff, so I am working to do as much in preparation as I can so it is a smooth process that takes as little time as possible.

I wish I could have taken a picture of New Orleans this morning. As I was driving back from the airport I came over the rise to see downtown and it was shrouded in fog and illuminated by the sun. It was an amazing sight and it just reminded me again how much I love this city.

The past few days have been crazy as I've been battling allergies which appear to have turned into a minor cold. Something I ate didn't settle right Wednesday which made for a long night. But, I was able to finish the initial and largest portion of our quarterly newsletter mailing yesterday before going home to get some sleep.

October is poised to be one of the busiest months since I've been here with a lot of publications and mailings happening all at the same time. Our quarterly newsletter goes out as soon as possible, staff newsletters are in process, as are October thank you notes and we are beginning to work on our end of the year letter and mailing. We are also working on packing up our offices to move to the Yellow House. Thankfully, Laura (my boss) and I have been blessed by two interns from Mission Year, each of whom work half a day. They have been and will be a great help as we ramp up projects in the development office in preparation for the end of the year.

In addition to everything else, I am still working on raising support as much of what I am receiving now is only from monthly donors. I am at 62 percent, but some of that includes money that will be sent in each month by my monthly donors. As I approach the half year mark I need to be sure that support level is increasing so that it does not become a strain on the general fund, which is already lacking for the year. If you are not already a supporter, I'd ask you to prayerfully consider how you might help and I'd love for everyone to be in prayer, as I am, for God's provision in this area. Thanks!

Wow, so much has happened since I last wrote. Perhaps the biggest news is that I am now officially a Louisiana resident!

Thursday afternoon I was talking to some ladies about where we go to vote from this neighborhood and I mentioned that I still needed to register. One of them let me know that the deadline was October 6. Wow, that was coming up fast. So as I got online that night to see what I needed to get a driver's license I began to panic. I lost my social security card some time ago and just haven't made it a priority to get a replacement.

Well, one of the things you need for a license is your social security card. Go figure. As an alternative form of ID I can use a passport so I tore up my apartment Thursday night looking for that. I finally found it and several documents which contained my SSN.

I arrived at the DMV at 7 a.m., even though they don't open until 8, and there were already 12 people in line. When they opened the doors then you go through another line to get a number for another line. My number came up about 8:30 and when I got up there they told me that isn't where I was supposed to be, but the lady decided to be nice and take care of me anyway. So by 9 a.m. I had my new license!

Because we are so close to the deadline for registering to vote, I couldn't do it at the DMV. So yesterday I headed to city hall to take care of that. It was all the way down at the end of the hall and, of course, there was another line. I told the lady I needed to register and that I hadn't registered in Louisiana before. She told me to fill out the form and when I gave it back to her, she didn't even ask for my ID. Why am I surprised? I don't really know. After all, this is New Orelans.

On another note, we are experiencing a lot of change here in the ministry. We will be moving out of our offices the last week in October and we'll be moving into the Yellow House. For those who aren't familiar with the house, it is where all of our teams stay. There are four main rooms on the first level toward the front, and that is where we will be staying. Behind those are bathroom, shower and laundry areas and at the very back is the kitchen. Upstairs are two apartments and rooms where our teams stay when they come to serve.

It is going to be a tight fit and a big change from our spacious offices. The move is due to a serious financial crunch that has been coming for several months. Our operating budget is very low and we are looking to make some changes to help alliviate that as we work on continued fundraising. Moving out of our offices will save us approximately $5,500/month.

Our other big news is that for the time being we are delaying the building of our new community center. We want to be able to build out of a position of financial strength and know that we will see and increase in both ministry and expenses once we move. We want to be sure we are prepared in every way and so we have decided to delay the project until we are able to bring our operating budget up to where it needs to be. More information about this issue will be available in our upcoming quarterly newsletter. If you are not on my mailing list, but would like to be, or would just like a copy of this newsletter, please leave a comment and I'll be sure to get one to you.

I covet your prayers for the ministry as these are trying times. We have confidence, however, in a God who has known this is the situation we would face at this very time before it came to be and we know that he will provide in ways we can't even imagine. As we go through this we are looking forward to growing in our faith and seeing how God will work. Please pray not only for provision, but for wisdom and discernment about how to move forward and for protection against spiritual attack as we seek to do God's will.