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