All I gotta say is, we're moved out.

Well, it's here. The moving week. Today, Tuesday, and Wednesday is when it's all going down. Today and tomorrow we're working on getting our stuff to my brother's to storage, and to our temporary house, and then Wednesday, the shippers are coming to pack up everything that we're taking to Greece. That stuff is gonna be put in a big storage place till we tell them to ship it over. Yikes. HUGE change. For everyone. But more for me and my parents. We would really appreciate the prayers, and I know some of you have already been praying. Thank you.

Read this in our family devotions this morning and it's an awesome reminder and encouragement that no matter where I am, God is there. And He was there before me.

¹ You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalms 139:1-10

I don't deserve this. I don't deserve anything really.

But that's why it's called a BLESSING. And that's why it's called GRACE.

Today, my room became just another room. I took down and packed up most everything in it. This was the last little sanctuary in my house for me that wasn't changed yet. So now, it feels real. I'm really starting the change. Besides depressing, the only way I can really describe it is…just weird. Who would think that little pieces of paper would have such a hold on your heart and memories? If you've ever been in my room, you would have probably seen that on my closet wall was taped almost every sign, note, and (drawn) picture I have been given. There was an ache in my heart taking those down today. But don't worry. I did NOT throw them away. :) Heck no. Maybe some day I will…but not yet. Anyway, please keep praying for me as I'm going through this. It's not easy.

There are 700 things going on in my life right now.

I don't know how much more of this I can handle.

Guys. I witnessed a wreck today. Involving three cars. A fire truck ran straight into a little blue car and it bounced back and hit a black car behind it. The person in the black car jumped out immediately as well as the person behind the black car. A few seconds later someone got out of the blue car passenger side and when got on the phone. When he turned his head, we could see his face was splattered with blood. I don't think it was his. When we finally passed the accident, the driver's side of the blue car was completely smashed. I don't know if that person is still on this earth or not. But the scariest thing of it all? It happened in a second. In one second, someone's life was lost, someone else will probably be messed up for years getting over the trauma, and someone will be filled with guilt the rest of his life. One second. That's all it took.

I don't even know where to go from here. We take our life for granted so much when in a moment it could be taken away. I just…yikes. Makes you stop for a second and think, huh?

Helpless.

I was driving to work today, and when I got off the interstate there was a little old homeless man huddled on the side of the road, with a sign, hoping to get some money. He looked so cold. I started tearing up as I thought about the life that he lives, but more than that, I cried because I felt helpless. I felt as though there wasn't much I could do to help. Yes, in some ways he needs handouts like the basic food and shelter to survive. But he needs so much more than that. Love, friendship, the warmth of a smile…Why am I so selfish with the huge blessings that I have? God has given me things so that I can turn around and give to others. But I don't know how. And this drives me crazy. Again, I feel helpless. Part of it comes from simply being a girl. Generally speaking, it's not SAFE for me to try to befriend someone on the streets. But should that stop me? Would it be right not to help someone because it's not, in the world's eyes, safe? Should I just trust God to protect and provide? IT'S. SO. HARD. GUYS. And I'm so TIRED of turning my head and looking away. I'm ashamed to meet their eyes. I just wanna help…Is that so much to ask?

"And through all of this, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, no fear, no insecurity, no doubt, no hesitation that will ever stop us. Because we are the sons of the Living God, the children of the Almighty, because we are the residents of the kingdom of heaven, and we are soldiers and an army of the immortal. And when we speak life, life happens. And when we speak healing, healing happens. And when we speak truth, truth happens. And when we go take what we have found to a dead world, we will see it come to life again. And when we take what we have found to a hopeless world, we’ll see hope come back. We’ll see the hearts of our world start beating again and we’ll see the color come back into people’s face. And absolutely nothing will ever stop that and mountains will move before us and oceans will part before us and the dead will raise before us. And the world will know that our God is a God that heals, and our God is a God that lives, and our God is a God that loves unlike anything anyone has ever felt before, because we are fearless and we are His hands and we are His feet forever, and ever." -For Today, Talmindim (The Servants)

I would like to dedicate this post to my two best friends, megan and amber.

I have had more tears, more laughter, more embarrassing memories, more hilarious memories, and more talks with these girls than anyone else. They love me when I'm grumpy. They love me when I'm hyper. They hug me when I'm crying. They roll on the floor laughing with me. There are so many things that I could say right now that would confuse the heck out of you, but they will understand. But I won't. Just so you're not uncomfortable. :) But for the sake of keeping this short, I am SO SO SO thankful for my two best friends. I don't know what my life would be like without them, and I don't wanna know. They encourage me when I'm struggling and pray for me. We've had our fights and our misunderstandings. We've had the awkward silences and the deadly quiets. We've been on road trips, camping trips, mission trips, and sleepovers together. We've danced, we've sang, we've spooned together. We've talked about countless boys…and men. ;) These are my homies. My girls. My chica's. My missing piece…(for now :) My crazy friends. But most importantly, these are my sisters in Christ. And no matter what happens from now on out, they will stay my sisters. No distance, no fight, no sadness or joy, no boy. They will always be my sisters. And I love them so much. So thank you Aler and Megbe. I love you more than you know.

Fact.

Fact: I have not blogged in a long time.

Fact: I'm not sure if it even matters because I don't know if anyone reads this.

Fact: I'm still going to write something just because I feel like it.

Ok, so have you ever felt like there's so much going on you don't know where to start? Yeah. That's me. But I won't bore you by spilling out my life. I just want to share two things.

1: Today in sunday school, we were challenged to take a prayer walk on Thanksgiving day. You can do it by yourself or with others if you want. But for the first half of it, focus on giving thanks to God for any and everything. Obviously you don't want to be shallow and "ohhh thanks for this food and my new clothes"Don't get me wrong, we need to be thankful for everything, but try to focus on deeper things. Really search your heart on this one. And then for the second half of the walk, take time to give back to God the areas of your life that you have tried to control. Get it? Thanks…Giving…thanksgiving. :) ok. i'll stop. But anyway, I really hope I take time to do this, and you do to.

2. Life is crazy. A never ending process of change. And this is becoming more and more a reality for me. I wanna ask for your prayers. On January 1st, we will have renters moving into my home. And at this point, we probably won't be moved yet. We're still at 90% support raised and cannot leave till we reach all of this and get our visa's. So this means that I will be living in SC, but not at home. I am SO SO thankful to still be here, but this will be incredibly hard for me. Shippers are coming December 29th to pack up all our stuff. Guys. This is my home. I have never lived anywhere but this wonderful home back in the woods with the "mile long" driveway. I can't even think about it…..without crying…..

Please pray for me. Ask God to prepare my heart for this. In some ways I think this is more difficult than just moving. But having to see other people in my home but still live here. Also, please pray that God will provide somewhere for us to stay while we are still here.

I could go on and on. But I won't. I really am so thankful for everyone of you and everything God is taking me through. Even if it's so painful and hard.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Dear Future Husband,

yes. this might be premature. but i just wanna say. i have a few requirements for you.

1: you're gonna have to love Jesus more than you love me

2: you're gonna have to have a heart for missions

3: please don't be attached to money

and 4: don't settle for the normal

that is all for now. i hope you got that. :)

Love,

Rachael

i hate drama. someone please make it stop. why can't we all just be friends? that would be cool.

The Future.

And no. I'm not talking about the time when we'll have hover crafts and be able to teleport. I'm talking about the next few weeks, months, years. It's so daunting! Never when I was little did I think the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" would be so difficult! But it is seriously the hardest question I have had to answer. Well, that along side "Where to go for college?" question. Growing up, I was never like, THIS! is what I want to do when grow up. (well except that phase where I wanted to be a grocery cashier:) And even now, if I'm completely honest with myself, I THINK I just want to take pictures and get married. That is all. Is that so much to ask? Is it fine that it's not the most practical thing ever? These are all the things I have to think through and pray through. And it's SO tough. But something encouraging to me…I met a college girl at a FCA thing the other night and I was telling her about college stuff and all, and after telling me she would pray for me, she told me "yeah. These decisions are so big and we feel like if we make the wrong choice we're gonna ruin our life. But we HAVE to remember. No matter what desecion we make, God uses it. He already knows what we decide and has planned it all out." (maybe she didn't say it like that exactly but that was the jist of it.) I so needed to hear that. If I didn't get anything else out of the night but that, it was a night well spent. Cuz guys, it's true. We can't mess up God's plan. Our failures and mistakes are in His plans. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." This doesn't let us know which college we should apply to, or who to marry, but it does take some pressure off. But goodness people, if you think about me, please pray for me. This is a very hard time for me right now in alllll the decisions I have to make. More than just college stuff. That's all I got for now. Thanks guys!

Today's Prayer.

1. Jesus cast a look on me,

Give me sweet simplicity

Make me poor and keep me low,

Seeking only Thee to know

2. All that feeds my busy pride,

Cast it evermore aside

Bid my will to Thine submit,

Lay me humbly at Thy feet

3. Make me like a little child,

Of my strength and wisdom spoiled

Seeing only in Thy light,

Walking only in Thy might

4. Leaning on Thy loving breast,

Where a weary soul can rest

Feeling well the peace of God,

Flowing from His precious blood

5. In this posture let me live,

And hosannas daily give

In this temper let me die,

And hosannas ever cry!

really? realllly?? when are you going to get it that i'm not a little girl anymore?

it's done.

well, it's official. they are hitched!!!!! it was a WONDERFUL, beautiful, Christ centered, emotional, fun, overwhelming, and exhausting weekend! but totally worth it. FOR SURE. emily was the most beautiful bride i've seen and i couldn't help but tear up watching my brother recite his vows. i'll have to post some pictures later and write some more when im not so exhausted. but, THEY'RE MARRIED!!! (and happily honey mooning in San Fran!) ;)

you make me smile. :)

It's wedding week people.

Did you get that?? WEDDING. WEEK. holy moly im SO excited!!!!! :) THE first Luther family wedding! EVER!! (well for my family) I still can't believe it's here!! Back in may when they set the date it seemed FOREVER away. But it's here!!!! AHHHHHH!!!! I hope you'll join me in praying for the most wonderful (and NON stressful!!) weekend ever for Jason and Emily. They certainly deserve it. :)

this probably won't make much sense. it kinda just came pouring out.

I think this is a record of posts in one night…but I'm just thinking alot tonight.

Think about this, "life can change, in a blink of the eye." Do I live like I believe that? No. I am so comfortable in my life and take EVERYTHING for granted. What would my life be like if I lived out that quote? Would I be so worried about how I look, what I wear, what I drive, what people think about me? Or would I invest more time in relationships, and MEANINGFUL relationships? Would I take every chance that came to share my hope with other people? Or continue to normal mundane conversations about the latest things?

I'm not saying any one those things are bad. Of course they aren't. But I do believe that I am way to caught up in them. They become what's important to me. But those things don't last. They aren't going to save me from my sin, they aren't going to be personal with me, and love me for who I am, no matter what I do. They can't create universes or grow a flower with one word. They can't save the lives of my friends, even the ones that I tend to believe are hopeless.

But you know what can? God. The kingdom of God, living and active in the world around me, and living and active in ME. A treasure farrrrrr beyond any Mac, any DSLR camera, any Porsche, A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G. in this world. THAT. is what's up. So, will you join me in the INCREDIBLY difficult? In making this life matter? Not for me. Not for my family. Not for my friends. But for God.

*note: As we all know, I am human. So tomorrow once again I'll be living the exact opposite of the way I should. So don't be thinking that I'm all super good now. NO. HA. these thoughts just kinda came pouring out of me so I thought I'd share.

You know what would be cool?...

…If I was like "Hey there God, just wondering, what am I supposed to do with my life? Where am I supposed to go to college? Where do you want me?"

and if He was like, "you know what? I want you [insert school here] and I would love for you to [insert career, marriage, profession here]."

Yeah, that would be cool.

maybe disney's got it right this time...

AHHHHH!H!!!!!!

i realized today that next week, i'll be marking the following weekend of work completely off. why? Cuz my brother is gettin freakin married!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

ALSO, im gonna go to the needtobreathe concert!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!

"The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

Woah. Rejoice over you with singing? Just stop for a sec and think about that. Too be honest with you, I can't grasp it. But I think it'll be an amazing experience when it sinks in. God,the awesome, mighty, gentle creator of the UNIVERSE, rejoices over YOU. And if it's not enough that He just rejoices over you, it's with singing. with SINGING. Have you ever been so excited about something that you just want to jump up and down, shout, or sing? Yeah, well that's how God feels. about YOU. Overwhelming, huh?

Heaven.

Heaven is a hard thing to imagine. But I imagine it will something like last night where I sat around with my friends and sang worship songs for a hour. But a billion times better. If that's the case, I can't wait.

I just don't understand...

Why do we say we are Christians, yet turn around and criticize those who are different than us? Why can't we accept the fact that God made each and everyone exactly how He wanted them, that there's no "normal"? We all have personalities. Accept it. Is there a point of being too forgiving, too generous, too nice, too loving? God calls us to love Him, and love others. If that's the case, then shouldn't it be that there isn't a point of being too much all those things I said? Why do we call ourselves followers of Christ, yet turn and try so hard to fit in with the world around us? Why do we try to cover up the times when our conscience is working, or when we stand out? If we are what we say we are, then show it.

"Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God's Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God's creation, says:

I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

Here's what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that's been through the refiner's fire. Then you'll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You've gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.

The people I love, I call to account—prod and correct and guide so that they'll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!

Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That's my gift to the conquerors!

Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."

Revelations 3:14-22

Note: I will be the first to admit guilty to all of these things

Encouragement.

So I was just going over the list on my blog that had all the posts and I was deleting the drafts that were never posted. Well, I saw a post that had a comment on it and was like, hmmm i don't think i ever saw that. So I read it, and sadly it was anonymous. But I wanted to thank you, mr./miss anonymous. Cuz that really just encouraged me in 1: what you wrote and 2: that you were actually reading my blog :). so thanks.

I hope everyone had a great first week of school (well as good as it can get) and that God blesses you this coming week in the things you'll be doing! Remember, you are the vessels and pictures of God to other people. Show them how awesome He is.

Change.

It's inevitable. But right now, I'm not ready for it. I hope that changes. I hope I can make the best of what God has given me. cuz He knows what's best.

the little things....

to continue with my list of things that i am blessed with and thankful for....

61. family nights
62. seeing my friends start off onto new chapters of their lives...even though it's extremely sad.
63. best friends
64. skype
65. papa
66. grandma
67. sunsets
68. that i am here
69. God works in wonderful ways
70. Vacation Bible School
71. Grace Point Presbyterian Church
72. new pastors
73. Hebrews 13:5 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

i can't find it in me to write my thoughts...

i've come here about 3 times, each time meaning to write a recap of the summer. but everytime, i just can't put it in words. at least words that will make sense to you. but in a nutshell, this summer has been....surprising, wonderful, hard, learning, stretching, adventurous, memorable, fun, exciting, emotional....there's probably more i could say, i just don't know how. but i do know that in the big events and even little things i am doing now, i am SOO thankful because i didn't think i would be here this time last summer. everything im doing that last summer i thought was the last is such a blessing. and i thank God SOO much. but i ask wanna ask you to keep praying for me. im starting to say goodbye to people leaving for college and such, and who knows when the next time i'll see them is? will i ever? this is so hard for me. but i'm trying to trust God in all of it. which is so much easier said than done.

theses verses are becoming some of my favorite and i ask that you pray this for me if you ever think about it...

"Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there." -1 Corinthians 7:17 the message


"14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -Ephesians 3:14-21

Up and down...

...and up and down with boxes of belongings. this week im putting my house on my lawn for friends and strangers to come and buy. Depressing? Yes. But also freeing. Some of these things we don't really need at all, but some, well i'd rather keep them cuz it makes a house a home. But I can't keep everything. And it's not the end of the world either. They're just material. Someone once said these wise words..

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."
Matthew 6:19-21

I'm not saying these things are bad. There's actually some pretty cool stuff out there. So if you get a chance come by tonight (6-dark), tomorrow (10-5), or saturday (8-1) and see if there's anything you like! :)

Also, just keep my family in your prayers as we go through these different stages of moving. Pray that we keep our eyes and God and trust in Him to provide and lead us.

I'm really going back...

Tomorrow, I'm going back for one of the most incredible trips of my life. Last year, which was my first year going, I didn't think I even had a chance of coming back. And up until about a month ago, that stayed the same. But thanks to the overwhelming and undeserved grace of God, I'm leaving tomorrow to fly to New York and have my heart stolen by kids. I'm. SO. excited. so much so that i just don't have the words to say to describe God's goodness, my excitement, my undersevingness (yeah i made that word up), God's grace, and the fact that I'm going to NEW YORK CITY for the 3rd time in a year!!!! Please join me in prayer for this trip. That I would have a heart for these kids, that they would respect me, that I would have patience, that I canpour out the love of Jesus into their lives, and most importantly, that God's hand would cover this entire trip and that He would work in ways unimaginable.

Truths.

I am going through this book that i bought at camp for my devotions. It's AWESOME. I just wanted to share some of the things that it said. I studied Colossians 1:15-22 today and it asked questions and said some stuff that was awesome. But to sum it all up, at the end, there was a list of truths. I hope they mean as much to you as they do to me!

~God sees Jesus in me

~I am identified with Jesus

~Jesus has presented me before God as holy

~I am pleasing to God

~God likes me

~Because of Jesus, there is no accusation against me from God

in the unearthly hours of the morning...

well here i am. sitting on my computer. at 6:34 in the morning. on a saturday morning. i have to be at work in approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. why am i up, you might ask? i woke up almost an hour go with a horrendous ear ache which is just recently causing me to be nauseous. oh my. this is going to be a long day. BUT, while i am up, i thought i would continue on with my list. just because i feel awful, doesn't mean i can't remember the little things and big things of the past couple of days and be thankful for them. so here goes: (oh and btw i kinda stole this list idea from a friend...i hope she doesn't mind. and something tells me she wouldn't)

46. long time family friends

47. visiting long time family friends

48. kayaking through a marsh at sunset

49. summer nights

50. summer night on a screened in porch with a guitar, banjo, harmonica, spoons, and a cooler drum

51. swings. i LOVE swings

52. AC

53. AC that worked when driving in the heat of the day...when normally this AC doesn't work very well

54. coolness of night

55. coolness of night when the AC didn't work on the way home

56. summer storms

57. summer storms on the beach

58. the ocean and all it's vastness

59. USA SOCCER

60. CAROLINA BASEBALL.

:)

the little things...part 2

so this is part two of the little things. the little moments, the things i love, etc...but it's not always little moments. sometimes it's huge moments that make me go wow. so those will be included in this list. (well some of them)

31. summer nights

32. SUMMER BREAK

33. camp

34. seeing our youth group revived and set on fire for God at camp

35. windows down, music up

36. laughing so hard you cry

37. crying so hard you laugh

38. being so happy while worshiping God that i couldn't stop smiling

39. playing guitar

40. seeing God in my friend's lives

41. having "moments" with friends where you know what's going on but others look at you like your a freak

42. having God open the way for me to go on an incredible mission's trip

43. spontaneity

44. skype

45. pictures

and that's all for now...there's more. but i'll have to finish later...

Randomness is what this blog is all about..

Ever wondered "why bother making new friends when i'm just going to leave them anyway?"...i know i have. thoughts?

when i can't find the words, song lyrics speak for me.

Give me something brighter
Give me something I can see
Give me something vicious
Give me something I can be
Give me all the love and peace
To end these wars
Give me something sacred
Something worth fighting for

It's clear enough to me
The ugliness I see
Is evidence of who I need

Give me an answer
Give me the way out
Give me the faith
To believe in these hard times

Give me the answer
Give me the way out
Give me the faith
To believe in these hard times

Give me motivation
Give me all my heart's desires
Show me something gorgeous
Show me 'til my eyes get tired
Give me all the drums and
Show me how to play them loud
Show me how to move
When I can't feel that you're around

It's clear enough to me
The ugliness I see
Is evidence of who I need

Give me the answer
Give me the way out
Give me the faith
To believe in these hard times

Give me the answer
Give me the way out
Give me the faith
To believe in these hard times

We hide like thieves in shadows
Scared of the sun
'Cause we know the light will find us
Us and all we've done

Give me an answer
Give me a way out
Give me the faith
To believe in these hard times
Give me the answer

Give me the way out
Give me the faith
To believe in these hard times
Give me the faith to believe in these hard times

"I know...but..."

Sitting in church today, I suddenly realized a phrase that I say all too often. "I know...but...." For a few examples:

(when talking about moving) "I KNOW it will be awesome BUT i....don't wanna lose my friends, it's gonna hard, i don't know the language etc..."

(talking about the fact that i will probably loose all my pictures cuz my hard drive crashed) my friends that are trying to encourage me: "well at least they are on facebook!" me: "I KNOW and that's good BUT the quality isn't as good!"

(when out somewhere with friends) "i KNOW! im glad we can hang out! BUT ugggg i have to leave at ____ time! :("

You get the idea. I tend to look more at what i DON'T have, can't do, or won't experience, then what i WILL have, can do, and will experience. The other night, I was bemoaning to a friend the fact that i wasn't apart of something this summer that i wished i could have been, and unlike most people i have talked to about it who were like "oh i know! i wish you could! that's so sad!" etc.. he kindly reminded me that hey. God's got it ALLL in control. He knows that this is what I need to be doing and that this will be better for me now and in the future. So why can't i just accept that and move on? move on and actually accomplish something with the time He's placed before me instead of pining away at what i can't do. Sometimes, i'm sure it's ok to do that. like miniature grieving. Sometimes it's worse not to acknowledge that you'll be missing out on something or such. But there's that fine line between the "grieving" something and...oh what's the word...dwelling on it. And I think I cross that line all too often. But since I just realized this today, I don't have any inspiring stories about how I am doing better at it, or anything of the sort. but I would like to ask that if you can think of any encouraging verses or anything to help me with this, would you comment por favor? :)

I think this post is more of a journaling type post than I usually do. Nothing inspiring or anything...just me thinking out loud. well not technically out loud. but you get the picture. anyway, i'll stop blabbering now.

Have an awesome memorial day!!

oh and i would like to take a minute and mention my wonderful papa. He passed away several years ago, but served in many wars and was a decorated veteran. (including a purple heart) i am really proud of him and loved him a lot. he was such a jokester and prankster and always could provide a good laugh. :) im so thankful for everything he and all the other military veterans and soldiers have done for our country! may God bless you!

He said WHAT????

Well folks. It happened. The moment we've all been waiting for. (and by we I mean the Luther family and those close to us.) Yes. This weekend, 6 luthers went to New York, and 6 Luthers and 1 Luther to be came back! :) My brother Jason proposed to his girlfriend Thursday night, at about 9:58 p.m. on the Christopher Street Pier in NYC. Needless to say, i am EXTREMELY excited!!

oh and in case you were wondering, we DID make it to the airport. but not in a limo. :( and we had a wonderful time in New York! :) When I have more time maybe i'll tell you all about it. But for now, pictures will have to do.

God has a sense of humor?

So. I'm sitting here. anddddddd im SUPPOSED to be on the way to the airport to fly to NY. but umm yeah we got our stuff all in the car and ready to go, and guess what? the car won't start. yep. it WOULD happen to us. it's 9:12 now, our flight leaves at 11:45 and it's about an hour to the airport. the funny thing is, we're about to rent a limo to take us to the airport because the rental car place is out of cars. HA. wow. what a great start to this crazy adventure. one thing is for sure, this is a weekend i'll never forget for very many reasons.

Please lay down your arrows
For they're sure to pierce the skin
And water from a broken well
Will make you thirst again
When all things you've acquired
Are tested by the flames
And you can see them melting
Then will you call his name

It's worth it brothers
It's worth it friends
To know your maker
To lose your sin
Did you know that you are dearly loved

To the slaughters you are being led
Being told that it's a party
That this God is in your head
And every single lie
Sounds just like the greatest truth
But the one truth you're not hearing
Is that he died for you

No greater joy
No greater peace
No greater love than this

It's worth it brothers
It's worth it friends
To know your maker
To lose your sin
Did you know that you are dearly loved

Today i was driving and looked up and noticed a little patch of blue sky in the clouds. It made me think about how often we think it's cloudly and an awful day with no sunshine, but we can't see above the clouds and we forget that there is ALWAYS blue sky above the clouds. This is sooo similar to life. Alot of times we forget that we can't see the big picture and focus on what we can see. We forget that God's up there and He can see the blue sky above the clouds now and the blue sky above the clouds for the next day, and the next, and forever. So next time I'm feeling down, or not having a good day, I wanna try to remember that there IS something good in it, even if i can't see it then. That even if today is rough, tomorrow is always a new day, and maybe that new day will have hope. And I pray that God will bring me above the clouds, to see His work and His picture for me.

Do I shine the light of Jesus?

Tonight in youth group we wrapped up our theme of "Illuminate the mission of God" and went straight into "Illuminate YOUR mission from God"...and why do those tie together? becuase without knowing God's mission, how can you know your own? anyway, the main point of tonight was that generally, our mission is to be a light of God to other people, to SHINE on them the love of God. I thought this was really cool because the word "shine" is kinda like my theme word...if there's such a thing. there's a verse in Phillipians that i also adopted and it says

"Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of god, without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you SHINE like stars in the universe.."

and tonight we also read another verse in matthew 5:14-16 that says

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light SHINE before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.."

i really just LOVE the idea that we, as Christians, can be this beacon of light, or hope, to other people. That through our actions, people can see Christ in us and praise the Father because of it. gosh that's so cool. but now the real question is, am i living in a way that shines the light of Jesus? i really pray that i do. i know i can't all the time and i don't lots of the times, but i know that there are things that i can change in my life now that will help me. i just need the courage and strength from Jesus to change, because i can't on my own.

Sometimes we forget how much people affect us in our lives and the difference we can make in others. I know there are several people in my life that I will NEVER forget because of their kindness and friendship, but more importantly because of the light of Jesus that I see in them. It's truly encouraging to me.

But anyway, I hope I can encourage you to live as a light, to not be ashamed of your faith and hide it when it matters most. You never know who will be changed because of it. And in the end, God is the one that judges us. and His light never fades. so let His light shine in you till the end.

p.s. im telling this to myself just as much as I want you to hear it. i probably need it more.

the little things part 1

so i made this picture a few years ago. and i thought about it today. and decided i wanted to do just that. to notice the little things. and there's a lot. i wanna focus epsecially on today. as you should know, today was easter, which meant going to church, and then spending the rest of the day with most of my dad's side of the family at my grandparents house. this is tradition that i have known all my life. chirstmas and easter and, for the past couple of years, thanksgiving, are som of the best memories of my life. we always have a HUGE lunch and just spend the rest of the day chilling out together, playing games, and just being family. like seriously guys? i have the BEST family in the world. i don't care what you say. they are the best. hands down. but enough blabbering....the rest of this post will be an organized, or maybe not, list of the little things that touched me today. oh and on a side note, today was the last holiday i will spend with my family before i leave for Greece so it was especially easy to notice those little things that i love...so here it is:

1. the genuine love of Christ that is shared between everyone

2. the high fives my grandma gives to everyone

3. randomly bursting into song and then in seconds there is 3 part harmony going on and sometimes even little beat boxing....and no one cares if it sounds bad

4. the mutual knowledge and love of the smothers brothers

5. sitting together at a one huge table for lunch

6. wiffle ball

7. announcements

8. sitting in the clover and solving the worlds problems with tori (or maybe just ours...but you know, you have to start somewhere)

9. precious second cousins

10. my grandma and great aunt and how they giggle behind their hands

11. sitting on a dock and dangling my feet in the water

12. jello eggs

13. more wiffle ball

14. more singing

15. laughter

16. joy

17. pictures. pictures. and more pictures.

18. everyone exclaiming over everyone else's outfits

19. my little cousin stripping down to his boxers and jumping in the pond

20. inside jokes

21. THE GORGEOUS WEATHER.

22. trying to imagine eternity with one cousin...and failing epically. our minds were just blown.

23. leftovers for dinner

24. sitting around the table and talking for hours

25. a little friendly competition

26. traditions

27. knowing that my family will always be my family. through good and bad, they will always be there.

28. hugs

29. smiles

30. more hugs

well that's it for now. i hope you had a wonderful easter too!

Why should I gain from His reward?

So this is the only good link i could find with this song. but don't watch the video, just listen to the words.

Christ is truly risen, alive, and reigns in our lives! Happy Easter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYV7hpD9JTI

We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or to throw it all away
We gotta tell them that we love them
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying

And if your plane fell out of the skies
Who would you call with your last goodbye
Should be so careful who we live out our lives
So when we long for absolution,
There'll no one on the line, yeah

Yeah, we gotta start
Looking at the hands of the time we've been given
If this is all we got and we gotta start thinking
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking
Gotta live like we're dying

well. this is the first time i'll have updated this after being home. which actually kinda sad because i've been home for about a month and 2 weeks! wow. that sounds so crazy! so i guess now i have to catch you up. well, when i got home, i went from 0 to 60 in about 4 days and haven't stopped since. but not that that's a bad thing. i love being busy. i think i would drive myself crazy if i wasn't. but here are some things that have happened in the past month and a half:

1. i have been VERY much enjoying my full license, thanks to my birthday being while i was gone.

2. i was able to play 4 more basketball games with my amazing thundercats team (cornerstone presbyterian church team) 2 of which were tournament games....we lost the semi final to our biggest rivals, which was a huge disappointment, especially since we could've won. but i greatly enjoyed playing those games and have SO much loved being apart of this team for the past 3 years. i will miss it.

3. my soccer season started with my church league. and with it, i suddenly became inspired to actually RUN. no no no, not outside of practice, are you kiddding me? but no. i ran a lot in practice and even more than i had too! crazy right?

4. i have been back in my youth group and church and that has been awesome. i love these groups so much and am so thankful for the encouragement and fellowship from them! i have been learning so much but two lessons have kinda stuck out above all the rest. first, we talked in sunday school one time about how Jesus needed to be our IV, and how we needed to figure out what was dripping into our souls and what we needed to "turn down". at the end of this lesson, my teacher challenged us to make a conscious effort that week to come to God in prayer or worship or something 8 times that day...or whenever we drank water. of course, i didn't count and im sure i didn't do it all every day but even the little extra time i took to come to God more often was awesome. i really felt closer to God that week. i've been trying to do it more than just that week, but have kinda been struggling with it. but anyway, the second lesson i have really learned from was one my youth leader gave last wednesday. she talked about spreading the Church to the world, first from Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, then to the U.M.P. Earth. yes that's exactly how she said it. but in clarification , it means the Utter Most Parts of the earth. but she used the example of how starbucks started as one little building in..boston? maybe? i can't remember. but yeah, it started there and now there are THOUSANDS of starbucks all across the world. and it didn't take very long for it to spread! now if only we could spread the Church like that! how AWESOME would that be? she also showed us this video of a african group that some people went to and devoted years to learning their language and when they could finally talk fluently to them, they spent several months sharing the gospel story. when they got to the part that Jesus took all our sins and provided a way to God for us, those people were SO excited, that they celebrated for hours! just jumping up and down and shouting and praising God. that really got me. when was the last time i was so excited about my salvation that i celebrated and thanked God for hours? probably never. but why not? most of the time i don't even give it a second thought to be honest. so from that lesson, what i really got was i wanna spread Jesus like Starbucks and be so excited about the redemption story that i could celebrate for hours. and you know the only way that that's going to happen? is through our Lord working in me. and i pray that He does.

5. along with being home and being with all my amazing friends comes the inevitable stress in relationships, stupid high school drama, and just confusion and difficulties that life brings. these have seemed to hit me a little harder than ever before but i have been SO thankful for awesome friends that have been there through it all for me and kept me in their prayers. a special shout out to tori. thanks friend. :) anyway, the other day, i was driving home from an especially hard day at work and a verse came into my head...

" Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." -Phillipians 4:6-7

i wanna just close with this. no matter what we are going through, no matter where we are, and no matter who we have to talk to, GOD will be there. HE knows EXACTLY what we're going through, HE is with us everywhere we are, and HE is more than willing for us to come to Him and talk. my wonderful friend hannah put it like this, " He longs for that fellowship with you and the heartfelt longing of talking to your heavenly Father". So be encouraged. and go to Him with your troubles. and after that, go and BE the Church.

until next time,

rachael

What the FRICATIVE am i saying????

so all this week we've been doing language learning sessions which is learning techniques and tips to learning languages, phonetics, fricatives, nasals, consonants, vowels, and today we learned some Farsi. (sp?) (the language they speak in iran and some other places.) So, bascially this week i've been saying things like gagagaga and thathatha fafafafa nœnœnœnœ and allllll sorts of other unatural sounds. ohhhh so entertaining...and also makes you feel so ridiculous! but it has also been very draining. along with the extended class room time (9-4 now) it seems like there are a ton of deadlines and projects and presentations that need to be worked on. so right now, im a little overwhelmed and feel like a walking zombie. i actually need to stop writing this and go practice for a service we're leading at our korean church. finish in a few...so yes. 45 mins later...anyway, this week has been much more intense and draining, but also very good. it's hard to believe that this month is almost over! it's flown by! and i would have NEVER thought that i would say that "this month has flown by"...i mean it has and it hasn't. if that makes sense. but i need to finish this up to work on some stuff..if you remember, i would greatly appreciate your prayer! please pray for focus and understanding in the sessions and language learning, and focus and diligent-ness and not to be overwhelmed with all the projects and stuff i have to work on. and also that i can enjoy this last week and have fun times with the people i've built relationships with here. thank you SO much!! i can't wait to get home and see everyone! i miss ya'll very much! ok. later!

"Paris holds the key to my heart...."

....but not really. it was awesome though. the song is from anastasia and me and hannah were singing it the WHOLE time we were there! (and im pretty sure we drove jenni and abby crazy) but you don't say "paris" with the "s". you say it the french way which sounds like "pear-ee" it sounds a little better.. :) hahaha so. anyway. Paris. 24 hours in Paris. What can you do in 24 hours and Paris and barley keep your sanity? Well. Let me tell you. We left right after the worship service on Sunday and took the tram and metro to the bus station, checked in, and got on the bus. Let me just say that was one interesting bus ride, for sure. The ride that was supposed to take about 3 1/2 hours ended up taking about 5? hours. While trying to get out of Brussels, our bus driver honked the horn like 15 times. and im not exaggerating but one time he held it down for at least 10 seconds straight. and i never knew what the problem was. hmmm. anyway, after a rough trip we arrived in paris and went straight to see the eiffel tower!! it was beautiful!!!! every hour on the hour at night it lights up and flashes and blinks! it was breath taking!!! we took some pictures and walked around it and under it but didn't go up. Then we headed back to the metro and figured out (jenni figured out) how to get to our hotel. Just going to pause and say that Jenni was a MASTER MIND with the transportation! she got us everywhere we needed to go! thanks so much Jenni!!! anyway, we had dinner at like 10 at a cute cafe across the street from our hotel. the best part? FREE. WATER. Yes, my friends, free water is very hard to get in restaurants. And if you ask for water they always ask you "do you want the kind with gas?" or "the bubbly kind?" because here they offer just carbonated water (which i think is rather gross. but to each his own i guess) hahaha anyway, i got a croque which is basically a huge piece of toast with things on top. so mine had ham, tomatoes, melted cheese, and a fried egg on it and it came with lettuce and home made fries and REAL ketchup. and by real i mean ketchup that im used to. alot of ketchup here is either just sweeter than normal or has curry in it. doesn't quite taste the same. SO. then we went to our hotel and slept. cuz everyone needs sleep. even in paris. We got up and left about 8:30 the next morning, grabbed a pastry for breakfast, and headed to the eiffel tower again. :) This time we actually went up it! Yes, I walked the steps and didn't take the elevator! AHHH! it was soooo awesome!!!!! but the ABSOLUTE best part of it all....when we started up it was sunshiney and blue skies, when we got to the first level it was still kinda clear but we could some dark clouds coming. By the time we started climbing up to the 2nd level it was slighty snowing, and halfway up it was practically a blizzard!!!!!! we're talking a TON of snow!!! so then we got up to the second level and it was still snowing but not AS hard. so we took pictures, walked all around, and spent about 15 mins? up there..basically by the time we went down , it had started clearing up again. it. was. amazing. MOST DEFINITELY the highlight of my paris trip, and very up there on the highlight list of my whole belgium trip!!! :) so after that, we went to the arc of triumph, took some pictures and then went to Notre Dame. it was beautiful! there was this nice old man who had bread and gave us some to hold so all these cute little birds at it out of our hands! it was really cool! then we went on the inside which was magnificent. SO much detail and stuff!!! i can't imagine going to worship on a sunday in a place like that....so after that we went and got some lunch at a cute cafe then went to the Louvre and toured that for about 2 hours. I saw the Mona Lisa. :) and the aphrodite sculpture. 2 very famous arts. By the time we finished there, we were EXHAUSTED and it was time to catch the bus ride home, which was a much better ride than the way up. so. 24 hours in Paris. That's what it looked like for me. I had a FABULOUS time and was SO glad i decided to go!!!!!! :) God was so good and amazing with letting us figure out where to go, getting there, seeing all that we saw, keeping us safe, and giving us such AMAZING weather!! i mean seriously? a snow blizzard on the eiffel tower and awesome blue skies the same day??? THAT'S. AMAZING! ok. i shall stop blabbering now. hope this was somewhat legible... :)

oh yeah. and check out facebook for pictures of all this. more pictures than you probably want to see but pictures nonetheless.

well it's been awhile since i've written anything. sorry bout that. i've been a little sick since monday :( now i know that isn't a good excuse but i really just didn't feel like it..and im also getting a little stir crazy. but yeah please pray that this nasty cold goes away! it would be much appreciated! :) so yes. i haven't really been up to much. saturday we went to Brugge, which is a REALLY cute town about an hour from here. im sure it would have been much nicer with better weather but we still had fun! we just explored the town all morning, saw the lake of love :), and a bunch of awesome old buildings. later we went on a carriage ride which was much fun and went to a chocolate museum (which actually wasn't as cool as it sounded, but we got free samples!) then me shannon and hannah did a little shopping. there was this one store that had all these like home things, decorations, dishes, and all sorts of stuff. ohmygosh. they were sooo cool! i wanted everything!! anyway, then we had dinner and BARELY made it back for our train! it probably wasn't the smartest idea to be out in the rain and cold all day but it was fun! and i got tons of pictures. once again. anyway, this week i've just been chilling and trying to get better. tuesday night we had a surprise baby shower for one of the ladies here! she was so surprised! it was her first baby shower for her so far and we had a really good special night. :) i've also been learning a little guitar and also how to play piano from lead sheets which is so much fun! me, shannon, maggie, and hannah had a great jam session last night! it's so much fun to be able to play with people and sing and mess around! :) ok. well i think i'll wrap it up with some pictures...if i can figure it out.

this is an

nie. she is such a cutie and brightens up the place! :)

and this is her sister lily. (aka baby e) who is also a a bundle of joy :)

a street in brugge..

the lake of love...

me and hannah tryin on hats in brugge :)

the main square at night.

somewhere in the middle..

for today's post, i just want to put the lyrics of a song that is one of my favorites and definitely emotional for me.. (wv 08 anyone? :) just something to think about...

(in case you want to listen to it as you read it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WN37XYqrmY )

Somewhere between the hot and the cold

Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle

so you might be wondering...

...is it all play and no work? and the answer is no. most definitely not. although it does kinda sound like it :)...no these adventures have happened in between and sometimes apart of our training. all last week we had morning sessions which consisted of a worship time, then some kind of speaker on different things, usually some type of activity to help make the point of whatever we were learning, and then more speaking. or something along the lines of that... it's been really good! sometimes the topics just go over my head but most of them have been ones i understand and can learn from. along with that, we are split up onto 2 different teams, a service team and a ministry team. for my service team i am on a communications team, which basically is a team that's in charge of a newspaper that goes out once a week and also collecting pictures to share for an end of the month cd. obviously, im not doing any of the writing. im just helping with pictures and such. :) also i've already mention the ministry team i'm on. we are working with the korean church and that's been going really well too. we are all also working on a little ethnography and cultural interviewing and journaling. so the answer is no. :) it's not all play and no work. until next time...

a few things for today...

well this is going to be short cuz im wiped out. hopefully it'll be legible. :) yesterday we did this Brussels Exercise where we were given this assignment and bascially had to go out and answer a BILLION questions about belgium and culture and all this stuff. it was lots of fun and we learned SO much! i could say a lot more about it but i just don't have the time now....Today, my service team (Liz (our mentor) Vitaliy, Marissa, Shannon, Abbey, and Jenni) went and worshipped at the Korean church we are working with. It was a great experience! Everything was in Korean but we had translations for everything except the singing. Most of the songs we didn't know but we did sing "My Jesus i love thee" and it was really cool cuz we had the english words which we sang while they sand in Korean. After that, they had croissants and pastries and boiled eggs and we meet some of the people there. Funny story: they had coffee and tea and so i got some coffee. Well they had a little container with sugar cubes in it and then a bowl with what looked like sugar. So, i tried to get some sugar cubes out but was having a hard time doing that with a spoon so i thought, oh i'll just get some of the loose regular kind! by the time i was putting the second spoon in I realized "oh you know what? this quite possibly be salt! oh no!" so I cautiously took a sip and well...let's just say it was NASTY! yeah. it was most definitely salt. gross. anyway, after a little snack me and shannon went up to the youth room and meet the some of the high schoolers and just hung out and talked and asked them all about themselves and belgium and such stuff. after that we all went out for lunch to this Thai food place. i got a delicious fried noodles and beef dish! it was so yummy! especially considering the facts that 1: it was 3:30 and 2: all i had eaten was some croissants and an egg. Then some of us decided to walk around Brussels a little and pop into a few shops. i treated myself to some gelato. :) yummm. i still have yet to get myself a waffle but i did take a bite of someone's and it was amazing! but anyway, i wanted to share a few things i've learned mostly just about belgians and the culture. (these are mostly from observing people and talking to people) let's make it fun and have a list..

1: belgium is most strongly racially divided in the french population and flemish (or dutch) population. there's SO much history behind the reasons for that but basically you are french or dutch (if you're a true belgian) and you hate the other side.

2: brussels is also hugely inhabited by internationals!

3: a huge attraction is a 2ish feet tall statue of a little boy peeing. no joke.

4: chocolate. yum. there are AT LEAST 2 chocolate shop on every block!

5. they have a pub, Delirium, that held the record in 2004 for the biggest selection of beer at one place. around 2500 different kinds!!

6: dogs aren't on leashes very much here (which means they are very well trained) and tons of people have them!

7: the political situation is so screwed up and ridiculous that most people just stopped caring.

8: most people here speak at least 2 languages... french or flemish (dutch) and then english and sometimes german and other languages!

9: the public transportation is a NIGTHMARE to figure out but i think after you get it figured out it would be ok.

10. the legal age to drink is 16 which means that kids my age regularly go to the bars and pubs and have a beer. and even kids who are like 13 go too! it's crazy.

ok i think i'll stop at 10. that's a good number. hopefully i didn't bore you out of your mind! thanks for reading! check out my facebook pics for stuff i talked about in the blog :) http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4778924&l=f69a7032f3&id=642339687