WOYWW: Lent

It is amazing to me that the week has whooshed by and it is Wednesday again.  And this Wednesday is what we call Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season.

From Catholic Culture. Org...

"Remember, man, you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." 
So says the priest as he makes the sign of cross with ashes on our foreheads...This is a vivid reminder of our mortal nature. We are bodies fashioned from dust. "Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being" (Gen 2:7). Our bodies were made from nothing, and will return to nothing when we die. Ashes are a symbol of this passing world, a reminder of our death. 

Last Friday, we got a reminder of how fragile life as we know it is.  My father-in-law, who was a very strong and independent man, suddenly fell after he choked on his morning glass of lemon water. He fell and couldn't get up again.  He lost all his strength and control of his arms and legs and just lay face down until someone turned him over.   What a timely reminder that everything can change in the twinkling of an eye.

Today, he is confined in the hospital.  He has regained some movement in his arms and legs but he has no strength in his fingers.  There is talk of surgery of the cervical spine (in his neck) but I am still hoping and praying that he can recover on his own.  Won't you pray with me?

Here is a verse I printed out and taped to his wall... "They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

God bless you!

'Til We Meet Again

Socorro "Corit" Alejandro

January 12, 1934 - February 15, 2014

My Mother is an exceptional woman and her example greatly influenced who I am today. In the career I chose, my hobbies, in parenting, in being thrifty, in having faith in God and in many more ways.

She finished B.S. Architecture, and I decided to become an architect.  She loved making all kinds of crafts, and I do too.  When we were young, I remember how she cut and glued felt into shapes of fried eggs and pancit (noodles) so that we could play make believe kitchen or dining.  We did not have a lot of store bought toys but with her example, we made our own.  She showed us how to make paper dolls and playing with paper dolls and making them kept us busy for a long time. Given an old box and a Sears Roebuck catalog that Daddy would pass on to us, we would cut out pictures of clocks and curtains and glue them to the box to make our own dollhouse.  We would make all sorts of projects together with Mommy.  And so when my daughter, Elyse was a child, I would sometimes have our neighbor's daughters come over and we would also do arts and crafts like potato printing, crayon resist and drawing.  This way of creating things, of teaching others to also make things became the seeds of the work I do now in our family business.

Mommy wanted to have a store and she prayed for it.  But even before that, she would make stuffed toys and Daddy would bring them to his office to sell. And they would get sold! When we needed to transfer residence because daddy needed a phone line for his work, we transferred to Tomas Morato, where there was a store space on the ground floor and we lived on the second floor.  At first, Mommy made the stuffed toys and displayed them in the store window.  She also bought dolls without clothes and sewed clothes for them.  When a customer rang the doorbell, she would go down and also be the sales lady.  She was so industrious and she taught us the value of work.  When we had started making figurines and plaques, she hired us to paint them or hammer on them to make them look antique.  We found out that it felt good to have someone buy something we made!

I am really thankful that mommy and daddy started our business (Papemelroti). Not only has it given me my livelihood and an opportunity to take care of my daughter while working, it has helped many people and this is why I love my work. We are able to provide livelihood to those we employ and to our suppliers, it enables us to express ourselves and our beliefs of love of God and family and the environment in the products that we sell.  Her favorite saying was "Yard by yard, life is hard; inch by inch, it's a cinch."  And that is the way she built the business, little by little, one step at a time. It grew to become more than she ever dreamed of.  She gave all the credit to God because she thought of herself as just an ordinary housewife.

Mommy taught us to be thrifty and even when income was not that big, she really tried to save money, putting aside a certain percentage as savings and spending the remaining balance; a really good example of knowing how to live simply and spend on what is important.  She was not one to go for beauty parlor visits (well, she was already beautiful) or shopping for herself.  In the early years, she sewed our clothes.  I remember she sewed our school uniforms. To be thrifty, they needed to be "one size fits all" and we would wear them as hand me downs.  And to be thrifty, the blouse was kinda short (less cloth). But then, when I would raise my hand, I also needed to hold my blouse down, LOL!

Even when she could already afford to buy clothes from the mall,she still preferred to sew.  She loved altering clothes to make them fit her and while she was altering them, she would often change the design as well.  With that example, when I have the time, I also alter clothes that don't fit (but I don't change the design).

One of her favorite stories about me as a baby was about how I could sleep through the night even in a soaked diaper.  To be thrifty with laundry soap and water, during the day, if a diaper was only very slightly wet, she would just let it dry and at night she would make a super diaper for me made of clean diapers sandwiching these reused diapers. It made her so happy that I slept thru the night, the first time I did something to make her happy.  She really could find ways to be thrifty.

Mommy was also very generous.  When the business grew and we had some employees already, it was her dream to provide housing for them.  My dad's sister told my parents about a property in Bulacan with an area we could use for a factory and some apartment units beside it.  They bought that property and her dream came true. When her church group, Women for Christ, honored her, they shared even more of how generous she was with helping many of their members. She was generous with her treasure because she was generous with her love.

Mommy, Me, Elyse and Pepito (her "baby" egg)

In the area of parenting, I learned a lot from Mommy.  She was a hands on mother.  When I was pregnant, I decided to work full time with our family business so that I could be with my daughter during the day.  She was an example of loving unconditionally, of taking parenting very seriously, of being firm in what was important to her as a parent, of providing for her children.

She wanted to provide for us in the best way she could.  She and Daddy bought lots near to them and we were able to build our houses in these lots.  She wanted to save for us and she wanted to have enough so that she would not burden us financially in her old age.

She wanted to protect us and was quite strict with her rules. No dates without a chaperone, no boyfriend until you are seriously considering marriage. I was already a widow and I still needed a chaperone.  Good thing our kids were our ready made chaperones.  When my daughter rolls her eyes at those rules, I tell her, but look how we ended up with excellent husbands.  The guys knew we were precious to our parents and they would only persevere in courting us if they really valued us also.

But more than all these admirable qualities, more than anything, Mommy is a woman of faith and she passed on her faith to us.  I am blessed to have been brought up by God fearing parents who taught me the values of loving God, of honesty and of knowing right from wrong and choosing to do right.

In the late 70s, Mommy started going to prayer meetings and eventually, I was curious enough to go with her.  Going to these prayer meetings led me to attend the Life in the Spirit Seminar, and have a personal relationship with God.  It was in one of these prayer meetings that I first saw my future husband and it is thru him that I became a member of Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon. The legacy of faith that my parents passed on to me is the most precious inheritance I can ever receive and this is the same legacy I strive to pass on to my children.

When Mommy was already very ill, we got a caregiver and nurses to care for her.  They were so sad at her passing and they said it was because she really touched them.  We wondered how that could happen specially since one of them never even got to see Mommy when she could still communicate.  She said she grew to know Mommy by the family that Mommy had, by the children and grandchildren she raised with Daddy.  How wonderful to know that Mommy lives on in us.  And I will continue to live my life according to what she taught me.

No goodbyes, because the faith that she passed on to me, makes me certain that she lives on.  I know she will be praying for us and we will see each other again. I know that she continues to love me even now.  'Til we meet again, I love you, Mommy!

WOYWW: Finding Meaning in the Mess

What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday finds my desk in a state of disarray (so what else is new!) with some gifts waiting for their gift cards...

And in the midst of trying to get at least some of my Christmas list done, I remind myself that in this challenging time, when we are caring for my Mom, Christmas is not really about having my gifts ready on time for December 25 (the Christmas season lasts until Epiphany in January).  It really is all about Jesus who came to save us.

As the Advent reflection from Online Ministries states, "The powerful advantage of Advent is that it offers us light in the midst of darkness, hope in the midst of despair, liberty in the midst of captivity, and peace in the midst of war or conflict. The key to a grace-filled Advent is to begin by identifying where I am experiencing darkness, despair, captivity and war. Recognizing our own unique version of these struggles is the first grace of Advent. We can’t say “Come, Lord Jesus” with any real meaning unless we have a felt experience of what it is we need. Once we experience our need, then the desire can formulate in our heart to ask for what we need."

This Advent and Christmas season is specially meaningful for me because in the midst of my Mom's suffering, I can truly say we need a savior and I am so thankful for Him.  Come, Lord Jesus!

I'm also sharing my prayer journal illustration with Word Art Wednesday.  In spite of the busyness of the season, may we all have a meaningful Advent and Christmas!

WOYWW: A Mystery

A great big thank you to all of you who visited and accompanied us through this challenging time in our lives.  Your support, prayers and words of encouragement are much appreciated.  I'm sorry that I did not find time to visit back.  On my desk for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday is today's journal page in progress...

Making a journal page, I start out with a blank page, make a rough sketch and then go on to complete it.  Looking at the blank page, it is a mystery to me what my final work will look like.

So it is with life.  We never know what will happen in our lives.  It is a mystery.

Sometimes, suffering comes to visit.  It has come to visit the thousands in Eastern Philippines who lost their homes and loved ones because of Typhoon Haiyan.  We can only try our best to help them through this time.  Here is what a corner in our living room looks like, with clothes waiting to be dropped off for donation.  

Suffering is another mystery.  I believe in God's great, great love for mankind and yet He allows so much suffering in our lives.  Suffering has come to visit my Mom, too.  She was in the hospital for a week, but praise God, although still in need of much prayer, she is back home.

But as I reflected on these past days, I realized that I can always find some good in the situation. The great need of our countrymen has encouraged so many to be more generous so that we are no longer like the rich man in Jesus' parable (Luke 16:19-31) who just looked on as Lazarus starved.  As a priest once asked us, "Who is your Lazarus?"

This time with my Mom has given us an opportunity to care for her and show her our love.  It has given me a greater understanding of the value of life, a reminder of how precious our time with our loved ones is.  And always, I turn to God's word for the truth that I proclaim...

and I share this also in Word Art Wednesday with hopes that it will encourage you, whatever your suffering is at this time.

If you would like to donate even just a little bit to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, here are some ways you can.  Be blessed, my dear blog friends.  Thank you again for your encouragement.

WOYWW: A State of Calamity

My desk is still in a mess today for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday but it is nothing compared to the state of calamity that Typhoon Haiyan, said to be the strongest storm ever to hit land, left the eastern part of the Philippines in.  In the words of a CNN report, "The stories coming out of the Philippines are unimaginable. Rushing water and wind tearing children away from their parents' arms. A death toll that may reach 10,000. A city of 200,000 in which no buildings appear to have survived intact."

http://www.theguardian.com/

From the time the typhoon struck early Friday morning until yesterday, our cook could not get in touch with her family in Leyte.  She saw news of the devastation in her hometown, with all the homes gone, but she had no idea if her family survived.  Yesterday, she finally got the good news that although her family no longer had a home, they were NOT among the thousands who died in the storm.  Thank you, Lord!

Last month, there was a strong earthquake in a another part of the country and we had not even recovered from that calamity when this destructive typhoon hit. The need is just so great and no matter how much we, who are safe and dry, try to help, it just isn't enough. And that is why, even if I don't want to give you bad news, I decided to share with you. If you would like to help, CNN has a report on how to help survivors.  Any amount will help because even just $5 will feed a family for three to four days.

We have also had a rough weekend with my Mom's health and we continue to fervently pray for her. Through all this, I remember the words of Viktor Frankl, a survivor of the Nazi prison camps, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

And so I choose to say, together with the Psalmist, the words of Psalm 46...

I'm also sharing this illustration in Word Art Wednesday.  Thank you for dropping by!  I'm sorry but it has been extra difficult to find time to go visiting.  I hope your days have been more tranquil than mine.  Be blessed, my dear blog friends!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: Renovation Plans

On my desk for WOYWW, our weekly show and tell, are some plans I am working on.  My friend bought a house and the plan is not good (an understatement) so I am helping her plan for a renovation.  I don't think I have mentioned it before - I am an architect by education.

It is difficult to plan from an existing plan with existing structural foundations which can't be changed.  It is much easier to plan from scratch and build the structural foundation according to the plan. Much like life, I think.  Much better to make good decisions from the start, to try to live life according to God's plan for my life than to do it my way and have to fix up the consequences of bad decisions.  And so I try to follow God's plan, and do as this verse from the bible says...

Peeking out from under the plans I'm working on is a page from my Altered Book (for Elizabeth's Altered Book course).  My Altered Book has pages of different countries.  I am sure you can guess what country this page is about!

Check out other desks and join in the fun of WOYWW! And I'm also linking up to Word Art Wednesday,  Faith-filled Friday, Heartprint Hallelujahs, Art Journal Every Day and Spiritual Sundays.

Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled

The God who made the universe, who set the stars in the sky and created every creature on earth; the God who makes night and day, the seasons, the land and the seas; He is a God who loves us and knows everything about us, all our needs, all our concerns, all our fears and troubles.  And He says in His word, "Let not your hearts be troubled or afraid."

In Philippians 4:6-7, it says,"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I have passed through my own trials in life (which I shared in my post Though I Walk Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death) and I have experienced this peace beyond understanding.  My prayer is that you will, too.

I'm linking up with Sunday Sketches, Inspire Me Monday, Word Art Wednesday and Blessed Beyond A Doubt.

So You Think You Can't Draw?

Today my daughter is graduating from Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication, Magna cum Laude (with honors)!  Four years ago, when she just started her course, she came home one day, so discouraged.  She said her teacher, dismayed at their drawings, told her class, "There are some of you here who have no right to be here."  My daughter told me, "I think I am one of those, because I don't know how to draw and some of my classmates are so good."  "What?!  Don't believe him", I told her, "That's why you go to school, to learn!  Prove him wrong!"  Well, the rest is history.  She did prove him wrong and now I use her as an example to those who say they can't draw.  Congratulations, dear daughter!

First step in learning to draw, believe you can!

Last Saturday, my sister Patsy and I had another "crafternoon paint party"!  First we made backgrounds and then, although I am no expert, I gave them their first lesson in drawing a face.  Everyone gamely followed instructions.  Here are some sketches I made while teaching them.  I had them draw an egg for the head...

and then I gave them guidelines of where to put the eyes and nose and lips...

I think they look quite pleased with their drawings!  They can draw, don't you think?

Here is a painting I made that day.  Patsy taught us how to transfer the words using gel medium and inverted letters printed in a copier...

Today, I am also celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary (with my second husband)!  If you haven't read my past posts, I was widowed when I was 33 years old (my sharing about that here) and remarried in 2002.    So it is a doubly special day today!  God is good!

Linking up with Paint Party Friday, Studio Sneak Peak, Sunday Sketches, and Inspire Me Monday.  And if you haven't yet, you may want to join my giveaway!

World Youth Day 2011: Part 3

As I have shared before, last August, I went to Spain to attend World Youth Day with my family.   If you are interested here is Part1 and Part 2.

On Thursday, August 18, Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Madrid.  In the welcome ceremony, he said,

"I have come here to meet thousands of young people from all over the world, Catholics committed to Christ searching for the truth that will give real meaning to their existence. I come as the Successor of Peter, to confirm them all in the faith, with days of intense pastoral activity, proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life; to motivate the commitment to build up the Kingdom of God in the world among us; to exhort young people to know Christ personally as a friend and so, rooted in his person, to become faithful followers and valiant witnesses."

Yes, this is what I want for my children.

That day, since we wanted to get a good view of the stage, we started out bright and early, arriving before the crowds (although some groups of young people had spent the night there)...

Before long, the place began to fill up with a colorful crowd of friendly people from many different countries...

 

 

 

We enjoyed making friends with the "pilgrims" around us, mostly Spaniards, Venezuelans and Guatemalans...

We exchanged souvenir tokens with each other and tried to communicate with them in our broken Spanish (remember the tokens I made?)...

We waited for hours that day.  Although we were under the shade, most of the other people were under the scorching sun.  As I thought of what we were all doing, on the sacrifice everyone around me was making, I reflected that, yes, there is always a price to pay and sacrifices to be made when we say yes to God, when we strive to walk in his ways, when we join a community of faith.   Yes, when we are in a relationship with someone, there is a price to pay.  It is not always easy to remain faithful and zealous and joyful.  At times we have to struggle to go on.  This verse comes to mind,

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

But, there is always grace available for us and with this grace, what we thought was impossible becomes possible.  I will share more about that in Part 4 of my sharing.

Linking up with Brag on God Friday, Spiritual Sundays and Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday.

Another Drop of Hope

Last January I shared about our visit to the Aeta Community in the province of Pampanga.  This is a community of indigenous people who were relocated from where they used to live after Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991 (the second largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century).  Unfortunately, the relocation site in Nabuklod, Pampanga (around 2 1/2 hours away from where I live) doesn't have running water.  They have to walk at least an hour to fetch water, and sometimes in the summer, around 3 to 4 hours!  And since the people are so poor, they don't even have good water containers to fetch water in.  Visiting them reminds me to be grateful for everything we take for granted, like running water.

Last March 20, we visited again and distributed a hundred water containers, taking part in the Patak ng Pagasa (Drop of Hope) project...

We had a medical mission where doctors prescribed and gave them medicine, as well as vitamins...

We had an eye doctor who gave them eyeglasses...

a dental mission...

and even surgery for two cleft lip patients.  Here is my wonderful hubby doing one of those operations.  He was one of those who planned the whole mission...

 We gave some gift bags to the children...

and gifts of food, slippers and clothes to the families...

Some people from our community provide English lessons and spiritual nourishment once a week (as well as water delivery) and we are also trying to look for livelihood opportunities for them.

Sometimes, if we are so comfortable with our lives, we can forget that there are so many people in need.  But I remind myself that I could have been born in that place, I could be in their shoes (or rather, in their slippers, since many of them don't have shoes).  Or I could have been born in one of those badly affected areas in Japan, so comfortable one moment, and heartbroken the next.

There is a joy in being able to help make this world a better place even in just a little way, a joy in being able to share with the less fortunate even for just a day.  Every little thing we do counts.  "Our deeds are like a stone cast into the pool of time.  Though they themselves disappear, their ripples extend to eternity".

And for Christians, there is also the added encouragement in the words of Jesus...

There is so much we can do to share our blessings, even from the comfort of our homes.  One click in the Hunger Site gives food to the hungry, play a game in Free Rice and each correct answer gets 10 grains of rice donated, or there are so many charities we can find through sites like Just Give or Charity Navigator.  Do you have a favorite way to share your blessings?

Christmas in Difficult Times

Christmastime is my favorite time of year; a time of celebration, of family and friends, of love.   It is a wonderful time to recall the blessings of the past year and to be grateful for them. But at times, when we undergo challenges and trials,  Christmastime can also be the saddest and loneliest time.  I know of many people having a difficult Christmas this year.  My friend's father and my sister's mother in law both died recently.  The parents of my sister's friend were both killed in a car accident.  A baby (due in January) of a young couple I know died because of placenta abruptio.  Heartbreaking.  In this season of joy, it is even harder to deal with grief and sadness.

Let me share with you about a difficult Christmas that I had and how I was able to celebrate it.  It happened a long time ago and all is well for me this Christmas, but it is still one of my most precious Christmas memories.  

As the Christmas season of 1993 approached, I started to feel depressed about the thought of Christmas.  My husband, Jing, died that year and I did not feel like celebrating at all. “What do I have to celebrate?” I would say to myself. “What blessings do I have to be grateful for?" 

One early morning, after another one of those seemingly endless sleepless nights, in my heart, I sensed the answer to my question - "What do I have to celebrate?"   I realized that indeed, I had every reason to celebrate, and I had much to be grateful for.  Christmas is much more than gifts, decorations and happy get-togethers.  Christmas is about how God loved us so much that He sent His beloved Son to be born as man!  To be God with us.  Because of this I had the Hope of eternal life for my husband.  The Lord and His promise of eternal life had been my greatest consolation and comfort.  I wondered, "Where would I be and how could I survive this greatest trial if Christ were not born?"  How grateful I was of this realization.

Then, the thought of a trip to Singapore sometime in November of 1989 came to my mind.  The Christmas decorations were already up and at the time, I marveled at the many lights, at how beautifully they had decorated the shops and streets.  And as I remembered the awe I felt while looking at all those decorations, in my heart, it seemed God was telling me that the most beautiful decorations and celebrations in the world are nothing compared to the beauty and splendor of Heaven.  I thought, how wonderful it must be to celebrate Christmas with the birthday celebrant (which was what my late husband, Jing was going to do)!  After this time of reflection, my heart, which was filled with dread and gloom, was suddenly filled with such joy.  This is the real meaning of Christmas, I thought.  And that first Christmas without Jing (which I dreaded) turned out to be perhaps the most meaningful I’ve ever had.

Reflecting on the joy I felt at that time, I realized God had given me the gift of true joy, a joy not based on circumstances, but just a gift.  Perhaps, it is a joy we cannot experience when all is well, because then, we would have a reason to be joyful.  But when we feel that our reason to be joyful is gone and yet we are able to experience joy, then we know, it is a gift and God can truly "turn our mourning into dancing" (Psalm 30:11).  For me to have experienced this joy strengthens my belief that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).   And although we never want to experience trials, this Christmastime experience of mine is precious to me.

A Blue Bear Giveaway

When I was a child, I had a blue bear named "Bluey Bear" (what can I say, I sure was creative in naming him, right?)   In those days, we didn't have a lot of toys and so, Bluey Bear was really special to me.  When he got old, someone said we should donate our toys to the poor children and so I did.  But later, I regretted giving him away.  Although of course, I like to think he made someone else happy too.

Anyway, I came across this giveaway in A Stuffed Life and well, of course I just could not resist joining!  I mean, you never know, I may have another blue bear (this one is named Blue Moon) soon!