The greatest gift- A Story about love.

Posted by sola on August 29th, 2021

1999 was the year that changed the course of my life. It was the year my grandparents moved to America from Moldova and paved the American way for my parents and our family. Growing up, I could never quite understand the sacrificial love my grandparents bestowed upon our family. It wasn\\'t until life threw me a few lessons that I finally could comprehend the lesson of love which is; love is simply making someone great. This isn\\'t so much a story about the greatest gift I\\'ve ever received, not jewelry,bracelet or others but rather one of the greatest love stories ever lived.

Growing up, my parents always stressed the importance of being productive. Being in a Christian household and also being centered within the Ukrainian Moldavian culture, my parents involved my siblings and I in many activities. These activities included sports, clubs and more than anything, vocal and musical lessons. So starting at age 7, I had the opportunity and privilege to take piano and vocal lessons. Money was never an issue when it came to these things. We were never wealthy and at times even struggling financially, but my parents made it a priority to invest into our lives and into our futures. The gift that this essay is about however, isnt from my parents, even though they blessed me with so many things. The gift that this essay is about was given to me by my grandparents,it is not about bracelet,jewelry or brand bag,it is about love and future.

As mentioned before, my grandparents paved the way for our family here in America. They moved here not knowing the language, not understanding the laws and not knowing what was going to happen once they stepped foot onto the American soil. Moving from one of the poorest countries in Europe, they had little to nothing. However, the story doesn\\'t end there. My grandparents are one of the hardest working people I have ever met. Despite all the challenges and stumbling blocks in their way, they managed to build a life here, not for themselves, but for my parents who were still living in the poor streets of Moldova. As they established a life here for themselves, they were also establishing a life here for my parents and were able to welcome them already with job opportunities and a shelter over their heads. If it wasn\\'t for my grandparents contribution, life here in America would simply be a distant dream. 

For my 10th birthday, I received a gift that changed my life and brought me to where I am today. You may have guessed it, it was a gift from my grandparents. Having put together the little to no money they had left in their savings, they went on to buy me my very first keyboard. Now at the time, I wasn\\'t able to appreciate this gift as much as I do now. At the time, I wasn\\'t able to look into the future and realize how my life was going to be changed with this one gift and how blessed my life will be because of this gift. Thanks to them, I began studying the keyboard and mastering my skill. I quickly fell more in love with the instrument and developed a heart for music and music theory. At the age of 12, there was an opportunity at our church for me to be involved in the churchs worship team. Our church was small and consisted of about 50 people so as they say,the harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few.”. Without hesitation, I took the chance to involve myself he church and at a young age, I joined our worship team as a keyboard player. A year went by and our worship leader stepped down from ministry, so I stepped up and took the role as one of the worship leaders. A few more years went by and now, I am honored to be a full time worship leader at my church, serving alongside my husband who I met on the worship team! 

So this story isnt just about a gift. Its not about how much money I received from this gift, or what brand this gift was. This story is about the gift of love. The love that my grandparents had for me was greater than any gift I could ever ask for. Their sacrificial love brought me to where I am today. Today, I joyfully serve at my church. Today, I know what it means to be a leader, and I am blessed with a skill set that came with my personal experience within the church body. Today, I am married to the love of my life whom I would never meet if it hadnt been for my time in the worship ministry. Today, I am able to give back to my grandparents and serve them, just as they did to me when I was 10 years old. Today, I get to love because they loved me. That is the greatest gift ever given to me; an unconditional love that trespasses all understanding.