Hey there, friend.

I know it’s been awhile since we’ve talked because you’re in Japan, sharing God’s love to those in need, but I wanted to write this letter to you to thank you even though you won’t read it until after many other people have. Although we aren’t as close as we were last summer, I still consider you one of my best friends, because any time we talk it’s like we never went weeks without talking.

Thank you for being a wonderful friend I needed the past year. You’ve helped me with all kinds of situations and obstacles the past year and I appreciate it so much.

First I want to tell you how great you’re doing, whether you know it or not. You are an example to those around you wherever you go as to what a godly young woman should look like. You carry yourself with grace and hold yourself to a standard of excellence. I’ve seen that in you since we first met, and I know it’s still true to this day. You are kind to everyone you meet and have such a joyful spirit inside of you, everyone else can’t help but want to feel the same joy you do. You are so beautiful on the outside, but inside is even more so. You are doing work for God’s kingdom that He set out for you before you were formed in the womb in Japan right now and will continue to do it in Moore, Oklahoma in a couple weeks. You are going to college as an honors scholar, which is pretty darn awesome, and I know you will be a light to your peers there as well. You strive to fulfill God’s plan for your life day in and day out and have a heart for His people more than most people do. Go you. Gold star for you, my friend.

Obviously, living 10 hours away from one another makes it hard to talk often and keep in touch, but I am still glad we talk when we get the chance. You are one of the most joyful people I know and only let God’s view of you guide you. The first time I met you I knew you were someone I could enjoy being friends with, and in the two weeks we spent together last summer, we grew closer as friends than I have with most people I’ve known my entire life. We shared everything with one another from our family struggles to boys we’ve dated to where we felt God was calling us to in our lives, and our friends we have or used to have; you name it, we talked about it. We even discussed attending the same college the next year and we agreed we had to be roommates when we decided where we would be going. It was like we became best friends in a matter of days, even though we knew we would be leaving one another to go back to our respective states later on. It’s been a whole year since then and even though we don’t talk as much as we did those two weeks last summer, I know I could pick up the phone and call you if I ever needed you and you would answer, and I would do the same for you.

Thank you, friend, for being a best friend I love dearly and will always hold close to my heart even if we end up on opposite sides of the earth. Thank you for being the kind of friend everyone deserves to have, even if you live 10 hours away.

Much love,

Mariah