WOYWW: Last Day of the Year!

The year has flown by so quickly and it is now the last day of the year!

I have a different desk for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday because we're taking a vacation in the beach. I brought my colored pencils with me...

Because I'll be doing my prayer journal illustrations... 

This illustration was for December 29.  St Teresa of Avila wrote... "The just Simeon didn't see any more than the glorious, little poor child. For by the way the child was clothed and by the few people that were in procession, Simeon could have easily judged the babe to be the son of poor people rather than the Son of our Heavenly Father." And so I wonder, would I have recognized the Messiah? And do I recognize Him today?

As the year ends, I look back and thank God for all the many blessings of this past year.  All of you, your visits and words of encouragement are among those blessings!  May the coming year bring all the best for you!

Also sharing in Inspire Me Monday and Word Art Wednesday.  If you're on Instagram, you may be interested in my other account which is for arts and crafts (username "peggy_aplSEEDS").

WOYWW: A Blessed Christmas!

This day before Christmas is also my birthday! 

And although there is an empty space on my desk, it is only because I have also taken over the floor for my wrapping activities!  This new Christmas book I bought has wonderful quotations...

May this blessed season bring you and your loved ones abundant blessings and like the wise men, may you "rejoice with exceeding great joy!" Matthew 2:10

Wishing all of you from What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, Word Art Wednesday and Inspire Me Monday a very Merry Christmas!

WOYWW: Finally Getting Started

After the calm of last week, my desk looks like a storm passed through because I finally got started with preparing Christmas presents.  But peeping thru all the mess, I found a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.  This is a study I made for decorations for a Christmas party (I decided on something else though)...

Indeed, great and wonderful are God's works...

...and whatever we go through in life, God is with us.  Whatever challenges we face, we can always have our blessed Christmas Hope ...

May you experience the blessings of Advent and Christmas in the midst of the busyness of the season!  God bless you!

Linking up with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, Word Art Wednesday and Inspire Me Monday.

WOYWW: Getting Ready

Advent is a time of preparation, of getting ready.  Ready for Jesus' coming; past, present and future. Past, as we celebrate His birth this Christmas; present, as we become aware of how he comes to us everyday or prepare for when we finally meet Him face to face, and future, when he comes again in glory.

My desk is also getting ready!  All is clear and it looks like the calm before the storm (by the way, the big storm Hagupit - which is a Tagalog word for a beating - did not pass our way.)  I am getting ready to do some gift wrapping and since there was no space on my desk, I just had to tidy up.

For my prayer journal illustration, I have a drawing of Jesus' Mother Mary, my favorite painting subject and a lovely quote from Pope Francis...

"The mystery of this girl from Nazareth, who is in the heart of God, is not estranged from us. She is not there and we over here. No, we are connected. Indeed, God rests his loving gaze on every man and every woman! By name and surname. His gaze of love is on every one of us. The Apostle Paul states that God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph 1:4). We too, from all time, were chosen by God to live a holy life, free of sin. It is a plan of love that God renews every time we come to him..."  

Like Mary, "let us also recognize our truest destiny, our deepest vocation: to be loved, to be transformed by love, to be transformed by the beauty of God."

Linking up with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, Word Art Wednesday and Inspire Me Monday.

WOYWW: A Blessed Advent 2014

Before Christmas, there is Advent, "a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is an Anglicized version of the Latin word adventus meaning 'coming'.  For Christians, the season of Advent anticipates the coming of Christ from two different perspectives. The season offers the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming." - Wikipedia

There is another perspective of Christ's coming that I also reflect upon, which is how Christ comes to me personally.  This Advent, I will do the Examen of Consciousness, a way of praying developed by St. Ignatius Loyola.  It is a daily exercise which helps people recognize God's presence in everything. Aside from my journal writing, I also have an advent calendar to fill out with keywords of God's "gifts" for each day...

In the few days I have done it, I have found it to be a wonderful way to find God and prepare for His coming.  I will never know at what hour He will come again, or at what hour I will meet Him at the end of my life.  I would like to be prepared...

Linking up with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, Word Art Wednesday and Inspire Me Monday.