WOYWW: A Blessed Christmas!

What's on Your Workdesk this Wednesday?

Oh my, even my prayer desk has been taken over by gift wrapping supplies! I haven't been drawing or painting but I did some decorating!...

Have a blessed Christmas, dear blog friends!

WOYWW: Advent

It's that time of the week again! Time for What's on your Workdesk Wednesday. What a difference a week makes, huh?   This is what my desk looks like today. I've been busy wrapping Christmas gifts. There's my box of ribbon scraps and gift wrapper...

In the midst of all the preparations of buying and wrapping Christmas gifts, putting up the tree and other decorations, I have to remind myself to observe Advent, "a season observed in many Western Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas... 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."  After all, as they say, "Jesus is the reason for the season."  

Have a happy week ahead!

WOYWW WOW

I call this my WOYWW WOW edition because this is the biggest area of clear desk I've had in a while! Without those newly purchased books at the far end, it would be even tidier! Wow, it's like the calm before the storm, considering I'll soon be wrapping Christmas gifts. I'm feeling so satisfied with myself... And so ready to mess up my desk again!

That's it for What on Your Workdesk Wednesday!  Happy WOYWW!

WOYWW: Purr-fect

I just got back from a trip to Bacolod, an hours flight south of Manila. My desk was filled with stuff I unpacked and someone was curious about the mess! Her name is Truffles (from the chocolates, not the mushrooms.)

One of the sights we visited in Bacolod is called The Ruins or the Taj Mahal of Negros (because it was built in memory of a beloved wife). There's a glass topped table on the grounds of this place and if you take a picture with it, you'll get this interesting reflection effect...

And that's it for this edition of What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday!  Happy WOYWW!

WOYWW: Something New

There's a new project on my desk...

And here's something I made with a new app I downloaded...

It's called MotionPortrait and animates portraits!  Such fun! 

This will be a short post for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday.  Oh, this is something new as well!  Happy WOYWW!

WOYWW: Mess!

It's not surprising. My desk is a mess.

But good and beauty that can still come out of this mess.

Seems like the world is also in such a mess. The terrorist attacks in Paris are just some of the ways we're in a mess. 

And yet, good and beauty can still come out of the mess we are in. There were stories of people opening their homes to strangers the night of the attacks. And in a Facebook post, survivor Isobel Bowdery shared how in the midst of the chaos, she witnessed numerous acts of heroism...

"To the man who reassured me and put his life on (the) line to try and cover my brain whilst I whimpered, to the couple whose last words of love kept me believing the good in the world, to the police who succeeded in rescuing hundreds of people, to the complete strangers who picked me up from the road and consoled me during the 45 minutes I truly believed the boy I loved was dead, to the injured man who I had mistaken for him and then on my recognition that he was not Amaury, held me and told me everything was going to be fine despite being all alone and scared himself ... you make me believe this world has the potential to be better,'' 

While on the ground during the shooting, Isobel pretended to be dead, closed her eyes and imagined the faces of her loved ones as she waited for a bullet to end her life.

"Wishing that those I love knew just how much, wishing that they knew that no matter what happened to me, to keep believing in the good in people...To not let those men win. Last night, the lives of many were forever changed and it is up to us to be better people. To live lives that the innocent victims of this tragedy dreamt about but sadly will now never be able to fulfill."

Praying for Paris and the world.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday
Word Art Wednesday

WOYWW: Contrasts

It's What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday and my post today is a study in contrasts. My prayer desk is neat and tidy, with only what's necessary on it - my journaling bible, my prayer journal, a little basket box of my basic pens and a pencil, some colored pencils...

In contrast, this is my main desk today...

I can hardly see the desktop because it is full of all sorts of stuff I need to put away. Seems like only my laptop is where it should be. And so of course, I can't get any work done on this desk.

I can't help but think about life and how I can't get anything done if my life is so full of unnecessary things. What should I get rid of, I wonder? Too much memorabilia? Old clothes that no longer fit? Pride and impatience for sure!  Something to think about for me.  I guess it is a never ending cycle of tidying up and messing up - my desk, and my life.  Hopefully, it is more often tidy.

Happy WOYWW, everyone!  Thank you for dropping by!

WOYWW: All Saints Day

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.

That's it for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday and Word Art Wednesday. Happy WOYWW and WAW!

WOYWW: Post Jakarta

Here is my desk today with my journaling bible opened up to my latest page...

I tried using some acrylic paint and Zig Scroll & Brush pens (newly purchased during my recent trip to Jakarta, Indonesia).

The view from our hotel in Jakarta was clouded by haze from Indonesia's worst agricultural fires in years. This is the illustration I made while I was there...

That's it for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday and Word Art Wednesday! What have you been up to?

WOYWW: Bible Journaling

My bible journaling is in full swing! Here is my desk for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday with an illustration in progress.

After getting over the reluctance to draw on a new, empty bible, the next pages were much easier to make.

Unlike my prayer journal illustrations which are quickly kept away after the journal is done, I'll be able to see these illustrations for quite some time. It will be nice to see this bible filling up! And it is always good to have some visual reminders to help me live out my faith.

Thank you for dropping by. I hope all is well with you.  Happy WOYWW, have a great week ahead!