You think you deserve that promotion? You think that you need that house in the Hills, with an ebony-pearl A5 parked outside. Well, what trouble could come from thinking like this?  The trouble is that you think you have time, while all our tomorrows are just a hope, not a promise. I used to think that way too until I began to understand the value of our true currency, time. We don’t stack chips here on earth for the hereafter.

On a chilly Halloween morning in 2016, my father peacefully transitioned from his sleep into the arms of The Lord.

One man died and changed my entire life. The following March, Samson and I returned to Los Angeles, where a memorial was held and he was laid to rest alongside his father, mother, five brothers and beloved nephew Jr. Samson and I were both welcomed to southern California with unconditional love by my Cousin George, his wonderful grandson Michael, and my father’s Kezios family. Battling depression, as I continued witnessing the laughter of little Michael, I thought less about giving up on this last name that I had been so blessed to humbly carry, and more on giving back in it instead. Cousin George immediately encouraged me to meet with a courageous group of Christian missionaries working from a Greek Orthodox Church outside Santa Barbara, California. These brave men and women have dedicated their lives in pursuit of clean water for communities and villages abroad still saturated by hardship and less fortunate living conditions. Within every teardrop-shed is where The Lord is leveling us up to our full potential, and living with the end in mind can help all of us in prioritizing The Lord’s work over our own. When measured alongside eternity, all we’ve prioritized over God will become insignificant the very moment our lives become apart of history. The place to find meaning is in our compassion for each other. And so it began, an alliance of grace, dedicated by faith to fulfill The Lord’s work together. A foundation’s pledge to live by the mantra of leaving people better than we found them, and a bittersweet opportunity for me to kneel in gratitude before God, for the greatest blessing He has ever bestowed upon me, the beautiful life of my Dad.