update

fastest update ever!

no internet at my house, no phone either.

Germany for Thanksgiving- 28 Euro
Naples for Christmas- 60 us dollars
Sicily for the new year- 100 us dollars

ticket to Africa-1295 US dollars
Africa for roughly 6 months- 2000 US dollars

my bank account contains, 80 US dollars

collecting memories while in my youth and doing the will of the Lord- priceless

if you can help that would mean alot to me and well.... the Kingdom of God.

love you all

Austria update soon! working on it:)

Rachael

  

update

I’m sure some of you are curious, about my roommates, there are 9 so I will be brief :)   I know they are excited to hear what I think of them…weirdos!

Federica- the Sicilian that I share a bedroom with, loud, opinionated, beautiful, teeny, organized, diligent, loves the lord, her family and talking on the phone to her boyfriend.

Marina- jersey girl, mild mannered, meek even, sweet, lovely, relational, quiet, bohemian.   

Mikayla- from Oregon, strikingly beautiful, fit, diligent, quiet, chill, misses her boo.

Drew- from Oregon also, she has a very Audrey Hepburn sort of look, short dark brown hair, fair porcelain skin.   With cute freckles.  She is incredible, diligent, organized, the girl can bake! She is intelligent and thorough. Did I mention she can bake.

Krizia- northern Italian, SWEET HEART!!!!, thinks Americans are very strange, but in a good way, she and her family went to the church affiliated with the  school before, and she decided last min to come this semester.  So we had met before, I love Krizia, she is into ethnic sort of things, speaks Italian and Spanish fluently, and a lot of English.  Oh and she is Dominican so she is a Latin sort of beauty.

Sara b- colorad-ean/ian/inese…she is from Colorado, athletic, very intelligent, competitive And crazy! She is the life of the party.  Down for anything, loves the Italians and the language, which is good! Full of energy and life.

Meg- from Ohio, has a slight accent that is funny,  she is non expressive, her face always looks the same so she has to tell us how she is feeling, ha!  Also misses her boo, so cute. She looks like an all American beauty, soft features, freckles, light brown hair.   

Sara s.- southern California girl, she has sort of vintage look about her, like photos of her should be only in black and white, or fading at the edges, fair skin dark hair blue eyes, she is sarcastic, which means…very funny, super chill. 

Ilenia- also Sicilian, very girly, always has pretty makeup or cute bows in her hair; she speaks little English, but thinks we are funny when we try to speak Italian.  She visited my last semester, the niece of a church family.  So exciting how many Italian students here are now!

In general, they are fun and wild and exciting and crazy, it will be nice getting to know all of them this semester.  Hope you will all subscribe by e-mail so you can find out more about my adventures. There is a box on the right hand side for you to subscribe.

So, about me then… I’m good doing all of my favorite things seeing all of my favorite people, and making all of my favorite foods in Italy! I love it here, I went to Venice yesterday, just for the day, to see a friends art exhibit on display.  So lovely, we took a water taxi and so…lots of pictures I’ll include some below so you can imagine you were there too!

Five days ago, I went to clean my contact lenses and I pulled out the left one, putting it in the new little contraption that I use that cleans it with peroxide, I struggled to take out the right, over and over again, I swiped my finger over my cornea, frustrated, I looked closely in the mirror, eyes open wide, jaw hanging loose, mouth agape, I focused my gaze on the area around my right pupil, there was no contact. Maybe it fell out at some point, but it was not there.  So I got out my glasses and wore them for the next couple of days because I had my contacts packed away for Africa.  I thought I would search for them some other day, give my eyes a break.  So a few days went by and I got annoyed with my glasses.

So I took that opportunity to begin my search. I opened my bags, looked through my zip lock baggies full of medicine, thread, other zip lock’s, hair ties, extra toiletries, I opened and examined each bag and every secret pocket in my luggage, there were no contacts to be found, I looked in my back pack, my shelf in the bathroom, my small closet area, I dug through, my drawer and in my purse, in vain for I knew there was nothing in there that resembled my contacts.  Finally in my makeup bag I found the treasure I had been searching for and I felt triumphant! I found one contact….one.

           

So, I have in my possession 2 contacts.  Monthlies, that I almost always push over one month to three, I know it’s wrong and I’m going to go blind some day… I know.  When you are finished scolding me for my irresponsibility, (thank God he uses sinners and screw-up’s to do his work too) I would like to ask you to help me in a way that I know everyone reading has the ability to do…. pray    

I don’t want to limit God in his provision, so I should ask everyone to pray for a miraculous healing of my eyes, that my poor sight would be restored to perfect 20/20 vision.  But I would settle for a couple of boxes of +1.25 soft contact lenses.  Because working with kids makes reliance on glasses, difficult. So let us pray, that the lord does his will, because it is better than mine.

On another note…

I just wrote a check for my tuition, at Bible College, it was painful.  In just a few days my bank account, which has a settling, and comfortable amount of money in it, will be emptied to a rather uncomfortable amount. That will last me hopefully until the end of the semester.   

I have little idea of the amount of money that Kari (Africa boss) has in my name,

for my flight to Africa (? ^$700),

my time there ($2000),

and my flight home (???)

that is my money issue, I can give a better idea of my money standings in the next post, promise!

I have a Dear friend who is inquiring to a place I might stay in Italy from Dec 9^th through Dec 31^st.  I have not heard back yet. Which means that as of the 10^th  of December, I have the potential to be sitting out in front of my flat, in the freeze of Northern Italy, alone, wondering where I will sleep.

So, as I sit in my beautiful Italian Flat, warm from the cold, drinking a home made soy latte, using the free internet on my laptop, on a comfy couch with my fun room mates, I am content in knowing what I am doing and where I am staying for the next few months.

However, I am also sitting here wondering about many things. 

I am hoping, beyond hope that the writer of my story is currently smiling and excitedly writing, “little did she know”.  Followed by a miraculous plan that will surprise us all. 

Though it pains me, as of today, all I can do is hope, because, of my future I am unsure.

The good news… is what I do know…

I know that I serve the author of time (Gen1:1-5),

that my father in heaven owns the cattle on a thousand hills, (Psa 50:10)

that God is uncompromisingly faithful (Heb 10:23),

that he will never leave me or forsake me, (Heb 13:5)

that he works all things together for the good,  (Rom 8:28)

that he longs to give me good gifts. (Matt 7:11)

that he will provide according to his glorious riches (Phil 4:19)

these are promises he has made to me…to all of us, sometimes he just has to get us to a place where we need them, or we can finally see that he was providing them all along.  I guess when you are jobless, homeless, alone and poor you have to see things in a different perspective.  In the worlds eyes I am poverty stricken, but I am a child of the king.  I have all I could ever need and more.  And the thing that makes me feel so rich….all of you!

People in my life who want to know how I am, read my stories, miss me while I’m gone, cheer me on, support me in prayer, support me financially, laugh to themselves when they think of a funny moment we’ve shared, have let me sleep on their guest bed for any length of time, have a picture of me in an album in their house, gotten lost with me at the flea market, have invited me over for dinner, sat in the living room and had a very long cup of coffee and conversation with me, taken me on vacation with their family, sang at the top of their lungs in the car with me, danced in the kitchen with me. Made my life better and loved me! Thank you. I am so wealthy with good friends.  

so anyway, to all of my friends.

send me love notes on facebook Here  

or in my e-mail Here.  

And for goodness sake subscribe to my blasted blog already!!!

I should not have to be telling you this so often! 

love you!