Thursday, August 15, 2013

Sometimes things aren't on the back burner

A few months ago I began to contemplate the idea of sponsoring a child. My grandparents have sponsored children in Africa for years and I felt that it would be a tangible way to help change someone's life. Like many I struggled with the idea of sending money overseas when there are people in need in my own neighborhood. This struggle and other life changes allowed me to put the idea on the back burner until things "calmed down" and I could reevaluate what I wanted to do. One thing I know for sure about God is that He doesn't have a back burner and He certainly doesn't leave things on ours if they are important to Him.

About a month ago I decided to go to the 8:30am church service so that I could have more time in my day to study for an exam for work (which I passed!). As I walked into church there was a huge banner that read "Child Sponsorship" I had to smile knowing that my plan to delay my decision was nearing the end and perhaps this was a subtle reminder to revisit my interest. After the service a man was welcomed on stage and began to introduce the organization he was with. My attention shifted when he said he was from San Francisco, CA. Practically my backyard, especially when you compare it to organizations overseas. He was a part of SF City Academy a program designed to reach at risk youth in the tenderloin of San Francisco. As he finished explaining the program he encouraged people to get involved and sponsor a child so they could be enrolled for the upcoming school year. Sponsorship includes their education costs, after school care and food. I left the auditorium and felt encouraged that I could return home and really make a decision on which organization to sponsor a child with. As I said hello to a few friends in the lobby I felt called to visit one of two tables set up for the organization to at least get some more information about the program. I debated whether to stay inside or wonder outside to a less crowded table. As I navigated to the outside table I had no idea how instrumental all of my decisions that morning leading up to this moment had been.

Upon arrival one of the volunteers was helping someone sign up for a child sponsorship so I waited patiently. When it was time to help me she began answering my questions about sponsoring a child; where does the money go, how do the children get selected for the program, etc. It was then that another volunteer handed me a flyer for one of the children who needed a sponsor. Evelyn Rosas, kindergarten, date of birth 5/12/07. My eyes filled with tears. About six weeks ago while searching online through a larger organization I was having trouble deciding how to select a child to sponsor and I told myself that I would find a child that had my birthday so we could share it and celebrate together regardless of how far away we were. There was no way that volunteer could have know what she had done by handing me Evelyn's flyer. Every doubt I had about rushing into sponsoring a child vanished. I knew that this was exactly what God wanted me to be doing and I was overwhelmed with joy. As I explained my story and the secret prayer I had made to find a child with the same birthday as me and that Evelyn had been born on my 18th birthday, the volunteers came to understand my excitement. I signed the paperwork as fast as I could and a few minutes later I was sponsoring a beautiful little girl who was about to change my life more than she could know. The program is designed so that sponsors can be as involved as they would like. We are able to visit the school and meet the children we are sponsoring, and we can also write letters and send pictures. I have to be patient as she is only six years old and writing letters is probably not a skill she has learned yet. I look forward to the relationship we will build over the years and hope to meet her one day. For now, I will delight in knowing that she gets to start kindergarten in a few weeks and will pray that she enjoys school and we get to meet soon.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

"The trouble is you think you have time" - Buddha

Growing up I loved Diet Soda, Diet Pepsi to be more specific. I was only allowed to have it on special occasions and days when my grandparents came to visit called for Diet Pepsi. I would be excited all day knowing that later that day I would get to see two people who loved me more than I loved Diet Pepsi! I was lucky as a kid to grow up near my family. My other grandmother still lives in the same town as my parents, my grandparents lived in Santa Clara which seemed farther away as a child riding in a car, than the 45-60 minutes driving as an adult. Our dining room table was in a front room in the house with a giant window that I was tall enough to stand in front of and wait for their car to arrive. I felt like I would stand there for hours waiting for my grandparents to arrive. One time in particular my mom reminded me of the common phrase "a watched pot never boils." She would make me do something else and eventually the dog would bark and I knew the moment had arrived and my grandparents were here!! I would run out the front door, usually barefoot, to give them both hugs, ask how the drive was and walk with them back inside.

My grandparents were married 61 years, exactly. A year ago this Sunday my grandmother passed away after having a stroke and further complications. A year ago I wasn't able to speak at her funeral. I couldn't find the strength to stand in front of a packed church full of friends and family members who loved and adored my grandmother to speak about the woman who had such a tremendous influence on my life.

My grandmother was full of compassion for others. She was constantly doing things for other people. As one of five grandchildren, I was continuously reaping the benefits. I know people say their grandmother's cooking was the best, or their grandmother's recipes were incomparable; but my grandmother made the best cookies. She was famous for her chocolate chip cookies. These were not your ordinary chocolate chip cookies. She would add several ingredients that would make her signature cookie! She would mail each grandchild a bag of cookies a few times a semester when we were away in college, I think she knew we'd have plenty of friends around while we had cookies in our room. I was fortunate enough to go to college in my home town and was able to go and spend the weekend with my grandparents. One Saturday afternoon we got out the cookie sheets and cooked until we ran out of supplies. I continue to make her cookies and think of the afternoons we would fill the kitchen with cookies and how my grandfather would wait with great expectation knowing there would be fresh cookies when he got home from playing tennis.

I think one of the things I am most grateful to my grandmother for is the way she raised my dad. Given that Father's Day is also on Sunday I will take a moment to praise a man who I love with all my heart. Thank you for teaching my dad the value of a dollar, he has passed this along to my siblings and me and begrudgingly I have been saving since 16!  Thank you for teaching my dad how to love his family well. My dad coached every little league, soccer, and basketball team; if he happened to not be coaching he was certainly the loudest parent cheering in the stands. He always told us how much he loved us and was proud of us. After every heart break or disappointment he reminds me that he is always there for me and that I will accomplish everything I set my mind towards. I truly feel as if I am the luckiest girl in the world for having him as my dad.

I'm not sure which is harder: remembering all of the wonderful times together or thinking about all the moments I won't have my grandmother around for. I feel so incredibly blessed to have had twenty-three amazing years with my grandmother. She cared and loved me as if she was my own mother, but there was always something special about our time together. I don't know from first hand experience but I could imagine that the role of being a grandmother is similar to being a fairy godmother. Seeing my grandmothers growing up I was always excited knowing that I was going to be loved well and encouraged to chase my dreams. My grandmother always made it point to tell me how much she loved me and I can still hear her voice at the end of our conversations, I would say it first, "I love you Grandma" and she would say it back, "Love you." I'll never forget the way she said it, it wasn't in response to me saying it first, rather she said it as a fact. A fact that she would love me forever and always.

I hope as those moments come to pass without her by my side that I would continue to feel her love and be reminded of how proud she would be. My grandmother was kind and gave without expecting anything in return. I want to continue to live to serve others like my grandmother did.

I love you Grandma.


Friday, May 3, 2013

I'm going to be an Aunt!!

I am so excited to announce that Kingsley and Grant are expecting a little one this November!!

See their amazing video below...

http://www.lifeasgriki.blogspot.com/2013/05/were-expecting.html

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Brilliance

Last night I had the privilege of attending the Matt Maher concert held at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church. I first heard about this concert because Elizabeth Hunnicutt was going to be opening up the show. Elizabeth is a beautiful artist who I have been listening to since I met her while attending Open Door Church in college where she leads worship. Her music is a must listen, she writes from such an honest place that anyone can relate to; not to mention she is an awesome person!



As Elizabeth opened the show I knew I was in for a spirit filled night of music! The church was packed with families, groups of high school kids, and young adults all coming from different local churches and denominations. I was expecting to enjoy music from Elizabeth and Matt as advertised online...little did I know I was in for a huge surprise.


Matt Maher was performing with the band The Brilliance. Lead singer David Gungor is brother to the lead singer of the band Gungor, Michael Gungor. Talk about a musically gifted family! Matt left the stage during his performance and allowed The Brilliance to perform their own songs for about 20 minutes. To say I fell in love with their music would be an understatement. Their music both lyrically and instrumentally was food I didn't know my soul was craving. Traditionally backed by a full string quartet they were playing a stripped down versus in honor of the lent season. With a cello, violin, piano, drums, and a guitar they moved me to tears. Their music is based on the liturgist calendar. Many of their lyrics resonate with common prayers I grew up reciting in church. Two songs that I would like to share are "Does Your Heart Break?" and "Now and At the Hour of Our Death".  Earlier in the week I prayer that new music would be given to me that I could use to stay focused in my busy days and to play in moments of grave difficulty to be reminded that our God is right there with me. All I can say is thank you for delivering on a prayer I simply said in my head!


David Gungor (lead singer) and John Arndt (pianist) above promised to be back in the Bay Area this May! I can hardly contain my excitement!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Family and Baseball

Two things I love: my family and baseball, well the San Francisco Giants! This past weekend I traveled with the family (all six of us) to Arizona for Spring Training. I knew it was going to be a great weekend filled with laughter and warm weather!

There are too many stories to share so I have picked some of my favorites!

Friday night we landed in Arizona and were consumed by the warm air! This was a welcomed change from the cold weather that had rolled into the Bay Area as we were leaving! As the sweatshirts came off we learned that our rental car for the weekend was going to be a minivan!! Anyone who grew up in the 90s can understand our excitement! This brought back memories of the blue whale we grew up in! The silver bullet would be our limousine for the next 48 hours!



Kingsley found a sushi restaurant online that had great reviews and made reservations for Friday night! She was hoping the food would stand up to the critics but had no idea we were in for such an entertaining night. We arrived a little after 9pm and the place was packed! As we ordered way too much food and waited with what felt like empty stomachs we noticed that the table behind us was there to celebrate. What appeared to be a group of business men enjoying dinner turned into rounds of sake bombs. As the night went on one gentleman in particular had out partied himself and appeared to have fallen asleep. Leave it to my brother to capture the whole thing! Shortly after the photo below was taken he fell out of his chair and woke up! Thankfully we were close to leaving, it was hard to contain our laughter!



After finally sleeping in Saturday morning after what felt like months of early mornings we headed to the ballpark. Having never been to Spring Training I was eager to see what the hype was about. Giants fans all around! Black and Orange and a little green for St. Patrick's day, it was everything I imagined! I didn't know the games were played in a such a small stadium, maybe 10,000 people. Compared to AT&T park it felt like a college game! This could be my new favorite vacation, baseball games during the day (and some night games) and a great little downtown to explore! Old town Scottsdale is filled with boutique shops and fun restaurants. Don and Charlie's was my favorite, from the moment you walk in you are surrounded with sports paraphernalia.





Two baseball games, two sushi restaurants, an entertaining night at BLT Steakhouse at the JW Marriott and we were returning to the Bay Area. Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful weekend amidst all of our busy schedules. I am so lucky to have such amazing parents who never get tired of three (now four) kids with a non stop sense of humor! I am so excited for the season to start and hope the Giants have another great year!!






Saturday, March 2, 2013

I think I can, I think I can

Today I get to check off an item from my bucket list: I finished my first 5k! I couldn't have done it without my amazing running partner Chelsea! We woke up bright and early this morning, fought the traffic and then the lines to be in the first heat of the race! After avoiding the volunteers eager to douse us in colored corn starch we made our way through the "Color Run!" As we rounded our way to the home stretch I mustered up the energy to sprint to the finish line! Hand in hand with smiles ear to ear we finished the race!




Friday, March 1, 2013

Griki Returns!


I am so excited to announce my sister and brother in law are moving home to California...tomorrow! Around 4:30pm tomorrow afternoon Kingsley and Grant will land on California soil and I could not be more thrilled.

The above picture is from my visit to Tennessee in June 2011! Can't wait to spend time with you both!!!

I love you guys so much!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

What are you afraid of?

I am blessed with friends that encourage me daily via calls, texts, facebook posts, etc. this is a text I received today and loved the truth in it:

I will be more afraid of spirit unrest, of soul disturbance, of any ruffling of the mind, than of earthquake or fire. When I feel the calm of my spirit has been broken by emotional upset, then I must steal away alone with God, until my heart sings and all is strong and calm again. Uncalm times are the only times when evil can find an entrance. I will beware of unguarded spots of unrest. I will try to keep calm, no matter what turmoil surrounds me.
Prayer for the Day:
I pray that no emotional upsets will hinder God's power in my life. I pray that I may keep a calm spirit and a steady heart.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Dr. Seuss... in twelve months

One fish two fish red fish blue fish...

This has been on the cover of my notebook for the past year. This notebook has travelled many places with me- into sanctuaries, on airplanes, numerous coffee shops, one friends house after another and spent countless nights on the table next to my bed. I would often get asked if it was the commonly known Dr. Seuss book and would open the book to show my handwritten notes and post it's. Clearly identifying this book as my own. As I finished my last entry in this notebook I began to reflect over the previous pages. I found sermon notes, favorite quotes, books to read, songs to download, prayer requests, telephone numbers, and drawings. All of which brought back the trials and triumphs of the past year.
All I can say is wow. Which out of curiosity I looked up in the dictionary to find the word defined as: "Expressing astonishment or admiration." I think wow is the perfect word to describe the last twelve months. I do believe it is rare to use a notebook for exactly a year but happened to date both my first and last entries and found the dates to be 2/15/12-2/18/13.
I am astonished at the the events that have taken place over the last twelve months and admire the decisions I have had the courage to make and the failures I am humble enough to surrender to. I hope to continue to grow as I open up the next notebook and pray over the journey I know will take place as I begin to fill up the pages.



Monday, February 4, 2013

42 Life Lessons

A friend posted this online today and I have read it before but thought it was too good not to share.

My favorites are 14, 31, and 39!

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short – enjoy it..
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
10. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
11. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
12. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it…
14 Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
15. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
16. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
17. It’s never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.
18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
20. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
21. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
22. The most important sex organ is the brain.
23. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
24. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’
25. Always choose life.
26. Forgive but don’t forget.
27. What other people think of you is none of your business.
28. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does..
31. Believe in miracles.
32. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
33. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
34. Your children get only one childhood.
35. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
36. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
37. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
38. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have not what you need.
39. The best is yet to come…
40. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
41. Yield.
42. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

What's your favorite??