By Tiffany Brooks

​We've been moving at the speed of light lately, so much so that I forgot to catch everyone up. We have a published paper now on our work with Food Apartheid, that was published by the International Academic Forum, which is super exciting. We also scored some really dope partnerships with the University of MD: College Park as well as University of Minnesota, however, I'm at that point of tension again where things are moving quickly, but it's not the right things, well in my opinion. With ordination approaching etc.. I just want to be focused and prepared for ministry, focused vision LLC, school, and to function like a normal human. We are still forging partnerships, praying for a school testing site and funds for the software we need a long with the bandwidth to conduct our research. We also have had some not so great partnerships, but I guess that's all a part of the process. 

By Tiffany Brooks

​This month has been very exciting, without giving too many details Focused Vision’s presentation in Hawaii was a huge success, and ever since we returned with have been making huge strides. We have formed exciting new partnerships and have a lot coming down the pipeline in terms of identifying a school site to test out our hypothesis, and securing grant funding as well as resources for the school and its community. I want to share everything in details including names and locations however I am learning that not everything needs or must be shared especially in its early stages of development. It could be that tension between me always being secretive and protective over my ideas or a fear of everything falling apart and having to backtrack. I’m still optimistic, just cautious and working through allowing God to be God regardless of what that may look like. 

By Tiffany Brooks

​Last month’s reflection was about patience and now the lesson has been on the need to prioritize rest. It seems like at the snap of a finger everything began speeding up. The partnerships that were created had now gained speed and traction, but back to the need of finding balance it’s all becoming quite overwhelming. Between school, work, church responsibilities and Focused Vision I can barely find time to breathe. This is also due to me taking on way more than I can handle. One of the issues that I have been working through personally is being ok that sometimes everything won’t go according to the plan that I have created. I typically like to get things done and out of the way which at times causes everything to intersect at once and what ends up happening is I unnecessarily burn myself out. The turning point for me was when I got sick towards the end of this month and could not go home to celebrate the holidays with my family. The sad part is that, that was my first time resting, but my body had to literally shut itself down in order to do so. So, for the sake of moving forward and finding balance, resting will be my priority. 
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