There's nothing interesting on my main desk so for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, I'm featuring my prayer desk, all nice and tidy with my bible opened up to a WIP illustration.
And to show you what I've been up to this past week, here's a picture of me and my hubby during our office costume party.
This was my post for last week but I didn't get to post it. My desk is just as messy today so I just decided to post this.
Something's new on my desk for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, and it's not just the New Year! My eldest son surprised me with a wooden laser cut WOYWW sign that he made himself! Isn't it great?
May this New Year bring abundant blessings and answered prayers to all of you!
My prayer desk seems to be getting really small and there is hardly any space to work on an entry in my journaling bible. Time for a tidy up! And this isn't even my main desk!
Last Sunday was All Saints Day, a big day in the Philippines. The cemeteries are super packed on that day so we usually go a few days before. Visiting the graves of loved ones that have gone on before us makes me think about the end of this life and the promises of God for the next. One of them is that...
A wonderful promise, my name inscribed in heaven. And so although goodbyes are always painful (even the passing on of fellow WOYWWers that I've never met saddened me), my greatest consolation is the hope of eternal life.
My Mom used to go to mass every day and one of the other daily mass goers would say goodbye afterwards by saying, "See you in heaven!" When my mom passed away, we had the wake in the hall beside the church she went to every day. What a surprise we had the following day when we found out that her friend from mass had also passed away and the wake was in the hall upstairs! What a wonderful thought that they would, indeed, see each other in heaven.
My desk is filled with the detritus of my preparations for my fur baby's birthday party. (I learned that word detritus from Julia, also known as the Queen of What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday.)
Oreo turned 1 year old last August 30 and I made him a birthday hat (and cat ears for myself), decorations with his name, and a tuna birthday cake. I also prepared giveaways of cat food with stamped labels (of course, I told the humans that it was for cats!)
My very cooperative hubby put ears on the plates...
and decorated our mirror with a cat face!
We all had a paw-some time! Happy WOYWW, everyone!
Last Sunday, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of our prayer community, Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon (The Joy of the Lord). For our celebration, we all came in "Filipiniana" outfits and on my desk today for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday are some of the accessories I wore or considered to wear...
I wore a T'boli blouse with these beads I bought in General Santos City.
"The Tboli are one of the indigenous peoples of South Cotabato in Southern Mindanao" -Wikipedia. The blouse is filled with wonderful applique and embroidery...
See the 40th anniversary logo my daughter designed? And the banner that I designed...
"Starting out with 41 men and women in July 1975, the Ligaya now counts some 1,900 members (including children of all ages) from diverse socio-economic backgrounds bound by the common desire to live out the Christian life to the fullest and to serve the Church as a body." - LNP website.
And so we celebrate God's goodness and faithfulness to us through all these years. When we offer him whatever little we have, like the little boy and his 5 loaves and 2 fishes, our mustard seed faith can grow and become the largest of all garden plants...
The What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday anniversary is coming up soon and as I looked at my prayer desk today, I realized that there are anniversary themed stuff on it, too! My hubby and I celebrated our anniversary last April 20 and this is the paperbag my son, Chris wrapped his gift in...
Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon (The Joy of the Lord), the community I belong to, is celebrating 40 years in July this year and I am designing the stage. Here is a study I made...
God has been so faithful to us as a community. An excerpt from the Ligaya website says, "Starting out with 41 men and women in July 1975, the Ligaya now counts some 1,900 members (including children of all ages) from diverse socio-economic backgrounds bound by the common desire to live out the Christian life to the fullest and to serve the Church as a body."
And so, because of God's generosity and faithfulness, "it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:20
Today, I am also grateful that Mary Jane Veloso was spared from death last night. "Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in April 2010 for allegedly smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin in a suitcase. She has maintained her innocence, claiming that she was duped into carrying the suitcase after her godsister convinced her to go to Indonesia after losing a job in Malaysia." - Wikipedia
Well, that is such a serious topic for a WOYWW post but WOYWW is, after all, not just about desks, but about everything else that matters, at least that's how it's turned out to be after all these years of showing off desks. Happy WOYWW, everyone!
My 98 year old Auntie Eliza died last night and we had a late night so I almost forgot that today is a Wednesday and time for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday. My main desk did not stay tidy for long and even my prayer desk is filled. There is a book about Jesus that we are studying, my copy of The Word Among Us and one of my prayer journal illustrations, just in time for Ash Wednesday today...
"Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting, is the first day of Lent in Western Christianity... Ashes are ceremonially placed on the heads of Christians on Ash Wednesday, more often by being marked on their foreheads as a visible cross. The words used traditionally to accompany this gesture are:
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
In the 1969 revision of the Roman Rite, an alternative formula was introduced and given first place:
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.
The old formula, based on the words spoken to Adam and Eve after their sin, reminds worshippers of their sinfulness and mortality and thus, implicitly, of their need to repent in time." - Wikipedia
Last Sunday, it was the first death anniversary of my Mom, and on Monday we were back in the same hospital where she died to bring my Auntie. Indeed, we are dust and to dust we shall return. A blessed Lenten season to you, if you celebrate the season.
A clear desk for this Valentine edition of What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, to make my hubby happy, since he sometimes gets tired of seeing my messy desk. And for you, my visitors today, I searched my desk for Valentine hearts...
and I found some in this cute little stuffed toy I won from Grimitives Art Dolls some time ago, in a whistle I bought in China...
the ID and raincoat I used, and a souvenir t-shirt from Tacloban that a friend gave me.
Pope Francis came for a visit to the Philippines (January 15 to January 19) and these past few days have been such a blessing for us! Just to catch a glimpse of him, we Filipinos would walk long distances, brave the crowds, wait for hours, and stand in the pouring rain (they say Filipinos have a rainproof faith!) Everywhere his vehicle passed, the streets were filled with people excitedly waiting and as he would pass by, the crowds would give him a rapturous welcome. When those few seconds were over, we would rejoice in the blessing of his visit and feel that the wait was all worth it. In Him, we saw the light of Christ, a man full of mercy and compassion, our spiritual father, a shepherd who loves his flock.
The joy we felt when we finally saw the Pope made all the challenges worth it. Life is also full of challenges but the joy of seeing Jesus is worth much more. We will forget all our difficulties with one glimpse of Jesus. Oh, I look forward to meeting Jesus face to face!
The theme song for Pope Francis' visit was "We are All God's Children" and he reminded us not to forget our true identity. Here is a video my community, Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon, helped to make (I know a lot of the people dancing in the video)...
Do you see these children on the streets
Have you walked the pavements where they sleep?
Do you feel their hands
When you give them alms?
Did you ever give them bread to eat?
Have you seen their homes washed by the floods?
While a mother tightly holds her child
Do you hear the wind
Of the raging storm?
Can you tell them where it's coming from?
Let us show our love and mercy
With true kindness and humility
For God loves the weak and the needy
Just like you and me
We are all God's children
We are all the same
He is calling us by name to help the poor and lame
And learn what life is really for
It's to know and love and serve the Lord
Stand together and let's do our part
Hear their voices mend their broken hearts
Choose to be brave fight for their rights
Give them back their honor and their pride
Please do not be blind and just leave them behind
To struggle in darkness or give them empty promises
We are all God's children
We are all the same
He is calling us by name to help the poor and lame
Happy New Year this first Wednesday of the year! My regular desk is not a desk these days. More like a dumping ground for gifts that need to be put away and other stuff. So I am showing you my small prayer desk with a work in progress...
When I was in Bangkok recently, I bought a rolling shelf from Ikea and here is the top view, with my colored pencils and pens and some rolls of washi tape...
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
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...
I can't believe it is time for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday again! I thought I would try to greet everyone a Happy WOYWW Anniversary last week but the week seemed to go extra quickly! I am still making ATCs and this time, I'm putting words on them...
I make a photocopy of the mirror image of a word, and use gel medium to paste it face down on the card...
When the gel medium is dry, I rub off the paper with a wet finger and the word gets transferred to the card! Here is one I've finished rubbing...
I am still celebrating the WOYWW anniversary and if you asked for a trade, I'll have some new cards ready to trade soon!
And as always, for Word Art Wednesday, here is a page from my journal, reminding us that God always leads us...
Thank you for your visits and encouragement. I hope to do more visiting in the coming week, this time to greet you a belated happy WOYWW anniversary!
I am from the beautiful tropical country of the Philippines and I like to think I am sowing seeds around the world as I make my blog - seeds of faith, or hope or maybe, creativity. I am blessed to have a wonderful husband and three great children and I spend my work days designing paper products, gifts and decorative accessories for our family gift shops, Papemelroti.
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