We are so very much looking forward to our beginnings at the market. We have almost everything in place but we have encountered a few delays along the way. We want to have all our ducks in a row before we head out and offer all our yummy treats to you. It does require quite a bit of research to make sure we meet all the requirements in place by various state agencies. So here we are waiting eagerly to serve YOU! In the mean time we get to offer a little tasty sample of our goodies at the Converge Art Show. You will find us there Friday evening from 6pm to 9pm at the Christian Study Center off University Avenue.

Please come out and show your support for the local artists and us (our art is food).

See you there.

Alex

Soul Filling

Every once in a while I have this feeling of absolute contentment. Not that I usually go around in a perpetual cloud of discontentment, but every so often I feel, a momentary fullness, when all is right with the world. It is a mixture of melancholy and some deep memory of the past wakened by a smell, a color, a sight, a taste, or a song. It is different for each of us. That little seed from days gone by that make the past come back to life and form some umbilical connection with the present creates this overwhelmingly satisfying feeling. Like a lingering scent wafting in from the past to tempt the present, to fill the empty moments of the present with its delicious aroma and a heavy fog formed of the intermingling of past sensations and present circumstances. It is like meeting a resurrected friend come to tame today’s loneliness. Suddenly the road that seemed long and hard takes on a well-traveled, comfortable look. For just an instant, I know that I am on my way home and the journey is satisfying. It is usually a fleeting sensation, lasting but a moment, but that moment contains all the colors of life, my life. What lingers on after that moment has passed is a sweet taste, like remembering a dear friend’s smile, or the smell of grandmother’s kitchen, like cinnamon and vanilla, the warmth of a fire, and sound of my name lovingly called. Those are the moments melting away, like a tasty morsel on my tongue, yet leaving their mark behind. Those are the moments when there is no doubt of the goodness and fullness of God and the life he intended for me to live. That satisfied feeling comes from knowing without a doubt that the path of life takes us full circle, we are always on the way home. It is truly beautiful.

For some, though, that feeling never comes; those smells do not evoke joy and satisfaction. Instead, somewhere along the way they jumped lanes and ended up on a road they were never meant to travel. No warm smells that whisper of Christmas past, no grandmother’s cookies to melt in your mouth, no deep and satisfying fullness. Instead confusion fills their heart, this feeling of never belonging, of not having a home is more overpowering than any other thing in their lives. Only uncertainty, loss, and loneliness fill their souls' crevasses.

I am satisfied with my path, the journey I am on; it is colorful, beautiful, and tasty in every way but it is most filling when I practice the ability to take up a lonely hand, guide a lost soul and be a comforting presence. Nothing more. I just love to be there. I do not have all the answers. I do not know where you are going and do not need to know where you came from. I do not know what you are meant to do. But I will gladly keep you company, walk down the lane with you a bit, offer you a cup of coffee, chat comfortably with you as old friends do.

Immediate Needs

If you have been considering donating, this is the opportune moment.

We have two needs which must be met before we head to the farmers' market:

1) Before we start our booth at the market, we need to have insurance. The cost of the insurance premium is $800.

2) We also need a canopy for our farmers' market stand.

We're hoping to make our first appearance at the Union Street Farmers' Market on March 17th.

We are also planning to complete and submit the 501(c)3 status application in the next two weeks. There is an $850 application fee required to submit this form.

If you can help us in any of these ways, please contact us as soon as possible:

Alex Braddy (352)281-5816

Christy Carnell (239)961-5700

theheartandsoulcafe@gmail.com

Reason Speaks, Love Sings

What I love the most about children is their uncanny ability to see the world with awe. A child’s view of the world is unencumbered by what grown ups consider reality or fact. They simply believe and, for them, everything inspires awe. With little effort, creativity springs forth. I know this is why Jesus loves children. They just believe. They ask no questions, need no proof, require no absolute facts. They do not try to justify away love. They just believe and receive. Simplicity and awe are the trademarks of childhood. Tell them a good story and they accept it with twinkling eyes and gaping mouths; they see it come to life and they believe. Offer them friendship and love and they gladly accept it, no questions asked, no proof required, they just accept the gift. They want to be loved and to love. As we grow, the world around us works very hard to dim the ability to see fairy lights, to accept the unseen as truth, to believe in things other than facts. As those abilities dim they are replaced with reason, science, and proof. Le Petit Prince travelled the universe looking for a grown up who could see past the tip of his nose, and Jesus travels the world looking for adults who have the faith of a child, who are able to accept his gift, the greatest love that ever was. Grown-ups are often plagued by what is most valued by this world: reason and justification. They must see things to accept them, know all facts before they believe the truth. Grown-ups even work hard to justify away the love they are freely offered. Precious time is wasted in constant reasoning of why Jesus cannot or should not love us, why such a love cannot be. And yet in each of us, a child lives who very simply wants, craves, desires to be loved and cherished. It is what we were made for and yet we deny ourselves for the sake of reason. But Jesus does not speak to us reason and facts, he sings to us about love.

We can talk all we want, make excuses, justify everything with words and explanations, reason away the days, but Jesus, he just sings and only the faith of a child can hear his song of love.

Update 03/04

I absolutely adore mornings. I sometimes wish these early morning hours before the world truly shakes of its sleepy mantle off night could last all day. I get such immense joy and peace from a cup of coffee in hand, the sounds of little birds slowly trying to waken the sun with their songs, and the look of sleepy children fumbling around as they rise to greet the day. I can hardly describe these hours. I cherish them. I truly hope whether you are an early bird or a night owl that you find in your day these little stolen hours.

I wanted to take a moment to update all of you on our current progress. Amazing things are happening and it is truly awesome to watch them unfold. We have the help of both an attorney and now a very generous and capable business man who is ready to write grants for us. What an amazing gift to be able to hand over such tasks to those far better suited for them than us.

Our beautiful brochure is ready to go to press. It was created by some of the most gifted young people I have ever met. The logo (pictured below) which will also be on our shirts was created by a sixteen year old young man. I just love how God always puts just the right people in your life. Frankly, I just love people.

The shirts are available to all for $15. If you would like to order one please email us at theheartandsoulcafe@gmail.com. Send your check to the following address 2514 NW 31^st terrace, 32605 or bring it in to the first market date.

We will be headed out to the market this month with all our wonderful goods. We will keep you posted on our dates. Most likely, our first market date will be sometime in mid-March. We will also be attending a benefit art show at the Christian Study Center on March 26^th. We truly hope to see your there.

Many of you have asked how you can help. Well, we have several opportunities:

-We need volunteers to help print and fold our brochures during the next two weeks.

-We will need help to set up and take down at the markets and art show.

-We will also need volunteers willing to act at kid wranglers when we go to the market. Ready to play some ball or hide and seek? In order to help in this way, you must get a background check which can be completed at the police department.

Finally, this is really important, we need all of you who are able to pick up brochures to pass them out to family and friends and spread the word about our mission. Let people know what the Heart and Soul Café is doing and ask them to contribute. It is an easy and essential way to help our mission move forward. Brochures will be available at the market, art show and at the First Assembly near the intersection of 39th Ave and 34th St.

Our Progress and Current Needs

We have officially discovered why there are so many lawyers around. For at least the past several hundred years, lawyers have been crafting all the documents pertaining to anything that anybody anywhere might want to do. This is done in an effort to self perpetuate their profession endlessly. They have purposely made these forms as complicated as possible so that even educated people would walk around with stunned looks and perplexed demeanors. For the past several weeks, I have been one of those people, walking around sporting a perpetual question mark on my forehead. How am I supposed to fill out a budget for an organization that was just created? How can I file this form if that one must be filed first but the second is required to file the first? What the heck? This is obviously a grand conspiracy. But with the help of some much smarter than me college students and a very generous attorney, we have completed the majority of the documents and we are now fully incorporated with an official employer ID number. We are official, only one more giant form to go! This merits some big cheers.

So where are we now? We do not have a location yet. Since we are finally official, we can now raise the funds to purchase a location and hopefully open our doors by September 1^st. Know of a perfect location? If you have any recommendations, let us know. We also need individuals ready to help renovate a location once we find it, so keep in touch.

Starting in March, we hope to begin selling products at two of the local farmers’ markets. Just to tempt you, we are including a list of the items we plan on selling. Please spread the word and come visit us once we are there.

We do have several needs that are imminent to the success of the café. Below you will find a list of these needs. Please help us meet these in the next two weeks.

Current needs:

Tables/Chairs/Small tent for farmers’ market stand

Label Maker/Packaging for our farmers’ market products

Sam’s Club Membership

Licensed Kitchen for preparation of farmers’ market products

Funds for:

501(c)(3) status application fee

Insurance

Shirts and aprons to be worn at farmers’ market

Farmers’ Market Products:

Hummus

Tzatziki Sauce

Bleu Cheese Sauce

Pesto

Aubergine Dip

Eggplant Caponata

Banana Bread

Greek Honey Cookies

Semolina Cake

Clafouti

Spice Molasses Cookies

White Chocolate Tart

Chocolate Ganache Spread

The Gift of Hope.

The other night as a storm raged outside, every fiber of my body wanted nothing more than to sink blissfully into a sleep induced by the mesmerizing sounds of the rain. I was instead kept awake, watching my dear little boy trying to find peace and rest in the midst of the sounds that bring him nothing but terror. You see, the sounds that I find peaceful and beautiful, sounds that make me want to sip a cup of tea and read a good book by candle light, make my son shiver with intense fear and seek a hiding place—usually with our dog who suffers from the same phobia.

Once I got over the fact that sleep for me was only a distant dream I began to think (I do this a lot). I realized how this fear, though it plagues him and causes emotional distress, is nothing like the fear that many live with. The world is filled with men, women, and children who live in fear of the abuses they are subjected to daily. These victims are often hardly noticeable from our comfortable homes, through the sounds of rain and whirl of life. They live on the edge of society, a ghost from another time. But if you look closely, you can’t miss the injustice which fills our world, and the people who are its voiceless victims. My heart weeps for the lack of regard we have for human life. We look at the cruelty of other periods and consider individuals barbarians for their behavior, but we seldom look at the atrocities of today. Right in our own backyards, people are harmed and abused without regard to the life and potential behind each set of eyes.

Fear is something that many live with daily, but we can do something about it. Just as when my son lies terrified of a storm and I comfort him, I can work toward alleviating the fear of others who suffer from injustice by restoring their hope. “Hope uncovers new possibilities and shows us what can be done. It wrestles with angels, looks impossibilities in the eye and winks. Hope springs eternal.” --Barbara Johnson.

In our hands is the power to give hope to those who suffer from injustice. That is what organizations like the Heart and Soul Café, Arbor House, and Peaceful Paths do. And you can help: pick up your panties, gird up your loins (I’ve always wanted to use both expressions) and give your time, money, or both. Partner with us to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, to restore hope to those who have lost it.

Let’s not sit idly by as the storms of life terrorize the hopeless. Let’s give hope.