TWLOHA: Write It On YOUR Arm!

Hi everyone,

Check out this event:
TWLOHA Day

And write “Love” on YOUR arm! Show your support! I did!

If possible, add your photo in a comment below or if you're on FB, post your photo on the event page and tag me too. It'd be fun to see how many of our friends do this and help get the word out!

Mahalo!
Aloha!

A Heart for Hearts

Three stories.

The first one is about my dad. When I was about 10, my friends all signed a card to me with well-wishes for my dad’s health. It all happened quickly for me so I didn’t know enough to be scared but Dad was in the hospital.

Dad says that he went in for a regular check up at the doctor’s. The doctor heard something in Dad’s heart and sent him to a specialist. Next thing is that Dad needs surgery on his heart to replace a valve. [As an aside, my dad will always say that he liked Pastor Boaz because Pastor came to see him in the hospital, even though my dad didn’t come to church with us].

Today, Dad’s heart clicks and it is a good sign that the valve is working.
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Years later at the university, I’m sitting in Spanish class which tends to have a few athletes also enrolled. This class includes a young freshman on the swim team. He’s looks healthy, pays attention in class, participates, has a friendly smile.

Later on in the semester, teammates found him at the bottom of the university pool. I heard it said that he died from a heart condition. It may have been some other health complication, reports say he did not take drugs and tested clean. So I remember undiagnosed heart condition.
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Just last month, friends and I traveled to North Shore to watch the Billabong Pipeline Masters. It was a beautiful day. Over the speakers, every so often an announcement came for a car wash at a nearby church. The funds raised by the car wash was going to Friends of Kehau Sullivan. Kehau is the daughter of a surfer, Pancho Sullivan. The friend that drove didn’t need a car wash so we passed the wash and went home.

A couple days later, I’m listening to a podcast. The host, whom lives and works in CO, was in HI over the holidays. He stayed somewhere at the North Shore. One of the families he met on this trip was the Sullivans. So now I’m hearing for the second time about little Kehau. In the middle of the podcast, I felt God telling me to help.
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I think about the heart often. It’s difficult not to when I hear Dad click or when I’m stressed out and in pain. At times I worry that I am actually feeling my heart hardening and I pray to God to keep it soft.

Today, my heart feels strong and I thank God.

Please donate blood at a blood drive if you are able.

Kehau’s heart is strong, but needs some help for the long run, much like my dad needed help in his condition. She was born with a heart defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot. Click here to check out more of Kehau’s story. Check out the “Donate” tab and/or say a prayer for Kehau. Please give what you are able.

Mahalo.

Get the Message Out: TWLOHA

Back in October of ’08, from Hot Topic I picked up a t-shirt with a cause. Money from the t-shirt purchase went to a non-profit movement called To Write Love on Her Arms. The following is their description:

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

This began as an attempt to tell a story and a way to help a friend in Spring 2006. The story and the life it represented were both things of contrast – pain and hope, addiction and sobriety, regret and the possibility of freedom. The story’s title “To Write Love on Her Arms” was also a goal, believing that a better life was possible.
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Well, if you’ve been reading this journal for awhile or just recently, if you’ve spent any significant time with me, you could guess that I personally experience at least one of the 4 struggles that they list. After wearing the shirt, others have asked or told me more about the group. I believe in what they are doing and why.

It is not only my experience that brings this cause close to my heart. In both the November of 2005 and 2006, I attended the funerals of friends, former classmates, whom gave their lives to suicide. I got just a glimpse of the pain it brought their families and friends. One friend was engaged to be married.

I can only speak of it from my view to say that I was already in a dark place when I went to the funerals. I think of my friends very often.

All this to say please check out their website for more information and please support their mission! Chances are that you know someone who struggles with one of the areas.

Also, if you are one who prays, please pray for the people running TWLOHA and those they are reaching/could reach.

Mahalo.


http://www.twloha.com
http://www.myspace.com/towriteloveonherarms
http://www.facebook.com/towriteloveonherarms
http://www.youtube.com/TWLOHA
http://www.causes.com/towriteloveonherarms


[The previous entry where I first mention TWLOHA]

Christmas Wishlist 2009

You can skip this part. The real wishlist is the second half. ;)
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From LUSH: http://www.lushusa.com/shop/
The Sicilian Bath Bomb, 5.95
Honey I Washed the Kids Soap, 7.95
Miranda Soap, 7.95
17 Cherry Tree Lane Soap, 7.95
Each Peach Massage Bar, 8.75

GCs to: Charlotte Russe, Coldstone, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, LUSH, MAC, Nordstrom, iTunes, Foodland

DVD [widescreen preferred]: He’s Just Not That into You, 27 Dresses, any X-Men movie, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Twilight, New Moon, Facing Giants, The Blind Side [still in theaters I think]

Elfquest Graphic Novels 6, 7 or 8
Choice Organic White Jasmine Tea
A case of Arizona Green Tea
Calgon Morning Glory products
Glitzy-Glam keychain: http://glitzy-glam.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=6
Marit Larsen “If a Song Could Get Me You” CD [it’s not on iTunes :( ]
Clarinet, singing, or dancing lessons
A webcam
A weekend with HFH
A night at the symphony
A friend for Huggy Love Bear…?! :)
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A gift idea you could give to others that you probably haven’t thought of: Road ID items http://www.roadid.com/. I came across this as I was in California on my own, riding the bike to and from work, travelling to Oakland by public transportation, etc. I have the Fixx ID. It’s just an idea if you know someone kinda safety-minded and travels a lot.

Here’s the serious part. I DON’T NEED ANYTHING. I have a home, I have food, I have clothes. So I would rather have gifts of donations to any of the following: Ligonier Ministries, The Hawaii Food Bank, East Bay Habitat for Humanity or the Honolulu Habitat for Humanity [East Bay is because that is the one I volunteered with personally and they do a wonderful job]. This would be good also because I would like to donate more of my own money, but that is not much at all compared to the amount I would like to give.

Oh, another idea, I would like gift cards from any grocery stores, fast food places, Longs in the amount of $5-$10. What I will do with these is have a few in my bag with me mainly for when I travel on my own, especially on the bus. I will give them to needy people that I meet on the street. This would help me feel a little safer when I go around on my own by not having a lot of cash on me but able to have something for someone in need. Plus, this way I wouldn’t spend the GC on myself [which I probably would if it were cash].

I’ve had this frequent thought also to have an extra umbrella or rain poncho or jacket that I could just give away to strangers who need/could use one on a cold and/or rainy day. Maybe one of those portable/foldable extra bag things in case someone’s bag breaks or something.

So again, GC from Foodland, Safeway, Times, Jack in the Box, McDonalds, Burger King, any other food places; Longs, Walgreens, Target, and the like. Write a little note saying it’s for the GC Giveaway Stash, just so I know it’s not for me personally.

Well, I’m not even sure why I posted this. Not a lot of people read this I think.

Are there any charities you would like to recommend supporting?

Mahalo if you’ve read this!

A Meaningful Gift

Giving you guys a break in the heaviness.

The Chemist went on a trip recently and brought back gifts. I was given a pair of earrings. The earrings are beautiful so I had to try them on right away. I think you can see in the photo that they look good on me!

I love gifts that say that the giver truly had me in mind, but what really adds to the meaningfulness of this gift is that it was made in Nepal and sold as part of a nonprofit organization called Ten Thousand Villages. I’ll let you read the info off of the photos or check out their website [Ten Thousand Villages].

Last year I had bought an amber necklace whose proceeds go to a similar cause. See [Spending Splurge Sunday] for more information on the amber necklace.

Thank you to the Chemist for the wonderful gift! I’ve already worn them out in public once!

Mahalo for your continued support in reading my entries.

Spending Splurge Sunday

I am not much of a shopper at all. I do not frequent malls nor do I enjoy crowds, long lines, etc. On top of that, I am more of a saver than a spender, but every so often, I am just in the mood.



This past Sunday, I gradually got in the mood. It started by purchasing a necklace from a lady at church whom had just returned from a mission in Africa. It is an amber cross necklace made by women working to rise above poverty. Amber was used to purchase slaves so as Janet explained, it is a kind of redemption that the women are now using the amber to help themselves break that system, to purchase their freedom. Janet says that the crosses are Ethiopian Coptic crosses. PLEASE read the messages in the following photos for more information.



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After church, I caught whatever bus came next which happened to be going to Pearlridge. I strolled through the mall, waiting for Mom to pick me up after lunch. I was looking for something but didn’t find it in the store I thought would have it. I went to Hot Topic; I hadn’t been inside the store in years maybe. One of their shirts stood out to me. It read: TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS. Again, read the message in the photo for more info, at least check it out. [I would also say to look on the inside]. HT has the shirt in white, pink, black and green. I picked up a pink one. I like the concept. I like the cause.



Another nice purchase that day was a $7.50 pair of sunglasses for $3. And…they look good on me. I think. They are red.

So I have this weird thing that I apparently like buying sunglasses but tend to forget to wear them. I control the situation at the moment by buying cheap pairs. Okay, that’s also because I believe I have a tendency to break things. I had about 10 pairs at one time but seeing as how I hadn’t worn any in…years, I donated most of them to somewhere. Sad, I know.
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So it was a “splurge” in the definition filter lens of Jennifer. The total [including lunch] was under $75. The most expensive item: the amber necklace.

Somehow, shopping actually made me feel better that day. That almost never happens to me.

Mahalo for reading!