Wednesday, February 24, 2016

WOYWW: Just One More!

  
 Here is my desk this morning. 
It's got all these ribbons, ric rac, lace, etc. that I have not put away yet.
Detritus from my toilet paper roll project.

 I made a lot of gift packs out of toilet paper rolls.

 I enjoyed using stickers, ric rac...

book paper, roses made from long strips of scrap fabric,
and hearts from a bracelet  I took apart.

and 
"Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest..." Matthew 20:26
There really is very little to be said about what Jesus says here to His disciples. Jesus' ways are so contrary to the world's ways and we can see the way God thinks by understanding Jesus' words. The journey to the Father's heart is by loving others. How can we say we love God if we do not love the people we see and hear and talk to. If we do not serve them.

Recently I took the time to talk to someone I usually do not talk to. I found out he was sick and worried because he was wondering where his family would get the resources needed to pay for his hospitalization and medicine. He said that sometimes he thinks that it would be better to die. I got my bottle of holy oil and prayed over him. By the time I finished, he was wiping his tears and said he appreciated my prayers. What else can I do for this man to serve him? Plenty. I find that if I think about all the people that need my help, I get paralyzed and do not do anything. But if I think about just one, I am able to serve. 
Just one more for Jesus!!!




Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a 
peek at desks and projects!

I find a lot of inspiration
visiting my friends here:

Blessings!
Patsy

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

White as Snow

 This is what I came up with
when my sister asked me to come up with a craft 
for our monthly papemelroti e-newsletter.

 I have long wanted to make use of the 
never ending toilet paper rolls that pass through my hands.
It seems a pity to throw it away and for it to end up
in our trash mountains in Payatas!

 And so here are some of the "packaging" I have come up with
using the lowly toilet paper roll, book paper, 
and all sorts of embellishment I found in my drawers.

I went to Art Fair Philippines last Sunday,
and here are some of the art that impressed me-
Jethro Vin Rafael's painting on newspapers.

A corner of Jethro's installation.
He sort of recreated his living area with a bed, plants,
collages....

and his collection of tea pots!

Huge stuffed mamas sewn on to batibot chairs!

My favorite artist was Daniel dela Cruz who 
made these whimsical bronze sculptures...

as well as interpretations of the 7 Deadly Sins, the Beatitudes, etc.
So amazingly intricate!

This is a lady confessing to a priest.
I could have stayed to look at all the details a looong time,
but there were so many people who wanted to see it.
I love going to art fairs!

"Come now, let us set things right, though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow..." Isaiah 1:18

In my other Bible, this verse reads: "Come now, let us argue this out," says the Lord, "No matter how deep the stains of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow."  Freshly fallen snow can be blindingly white. Many times when we sin, we cannot forgive ourselves, and we are too ashamed to come to God. In Ezra 9:6, Ezra was appalled at the sins of his people the Jews and prayed to God, "O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. Our whole history has been one of great sin." Have we ever blushed because of our sin? Has our guilt for all our wrong doing reached up to the heavens?


Recently I have discovered this reality show of a family of celebrities on the the E! channel because we switched to another cable provider. I had heard of this family before but had never watched their show. I have to confess that I was fascinated. They showed all their dirty laundry for everyone to see! One daughter was complaining to their mother about some expensive tiles her mother had used without her permission. All of them were convincing one of their sisters to date because she and her husband separated. They were all advocating doing what makes you happy. Their lives revolved around making money and having the time of their life, and experiencing the "best day ever!". I have this propensity of praying for celebrities because I know they influence a huge swathe of people. I pray for the conversions of TV hosts, sports stars, etc. But I did not think of praying for this family, maybe because I thought they were too far gone the other side! Ha ha ha! God is reminding me that it is so easy for him to erase sins, and who am I to judge! Compared to the holiness of God, MY sins are just as scarlet! I really should blush with all that I do that deeply wounds God! Yes please Lord, let me set things right! Though my sins be like scarlet, may they become white as freshly fallen snow! 




Wednesday, February 17, 2016

WOYWW: Call Loudly to God!

 Well, here's my very messy desk again!
Really! I have no shame!
No shame at all!

 A closer look at one of my projects.
This was on the left side of my l-shaped desk.
A toilet paper roll wrapped in book paper.
I think this will make a good gift pack for jewelry
or any small gift once I embellish it with ribbons, lace, dried flowers, etc.
Still deciding! I need more toilet paper rolls!
It could even be a livelihood project one day!

 And on the left side, I am starting to paint some backgrounds.
This needs a lot more paint, and stamping
to make some interesting textures. 

This is how I start out on my daily meditation.
After I read scripture, I choose a picture
that illustrates the verse and trace it on to my Bible
or a background.

 "Call loudly to God..." Jonah 3:8

The story of the prophet Jonah for all its humor holds a very serious truth and lesson for all of us.  We Christians sometimes have a holier than thou attitude and have a tendency to think we know how God thinks.  Or perhaps we wonder why God is not punishing this or that person for his sin. Jonah was asked by God to preach against the great city Nineveh for their great wickedness offended Him. Instead of setting off for Nineveh, Jonah took a ship to escape his divine commission, got caught in a storm, and was swallowed by a huge fish when he was thrown off the boat by terrified mariners. God commanded Jonah again to preach to the Ninevites so they will repent, and finally Jonah obeyed. He walked through this great city for three days, announcing, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed."


What impressed me here was the King of Nineveh. He believed that Jonah's words came from God and he repented. He covered himself in sackcloth and sat in ashes. Then he proclaimed that the whole city go into a fast, cover themselves in sackcloth and call loudly to God. "Every man shall turn from his evil ways and from violence," the King announced. With the elections approaching, I cannot help but think that we should elect leaders who know how to be humble and accept God's correction. We should have a President who can lead us to turn away from corruption and greed, and selfishness. Just like God did not carry out the threatened destruction of the Ninevites, He will show his face of mercy towards us.  Lord, raise up men and women to lead our country on the path to righteousness. We need leaders who will listen to You and follow Your laws. We call out loudly to You O Lord, give us wisdom to choose rightly!



Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a 
peek at desks and projects!

I find a lot of inspiration
visiting my friends here:

Blessings!
Patsy

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

WOYWW: Spring Cleaning

 On my desk is my planner.
There's such a hooha (not a real word) about planners these days.
I see it on Instagram and Facebook and realize that a lot of
people (more women than men, a LOT more women than men)
spend so much on their planners! 
And buy expensive planners (sometimes more than one!!!)
I don't want to do that, so I mostly just cut up stuff from magazines.
But I do have some washi tapes and stamps that I use as well.

 "Create in me a clean heart, O God." Psalm 51:10

Today is Ash Wednesday. For years my goal was to get through Lent, 
to endure it, to just bear it. 
I did not see Lent for what it was. A gift. 
The word Lent is from the old English word "lencten" which meant spring. 
The ancient Jews used to thoroughly clean their homes in anticipation 
of the spring-time memorial Feast of Passover. 
There was an instruction in Exodus 12:15 that the Jews were to look for 
and remove every trace of yeast from their homes during 
this Feast and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 
Even the New Testament Christians observed this Feast. 
As Saint Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, "Let us celebrate the Festival, 
not by eating the old bread of wickedness and evil, 
but by eating the new bread of purity and truth."

 Whenever yeast was mentioned in the Bible, it almost always represented sin. 
So during this festival of remembrance of when the Jews fled Egypt following their slavery, they were supposed to only eat unleavened bread. 
The unleavened bread of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus, 
the "Bread of Life" in the New Testament. 
To receive Jesus into our hearts, into our homes, into our lives, 
we have to do our own spring-cleaning. 
Just like the Jews had to search for every bit of leaven hidden in their home, 
we too have to hunt for whatever sin is lurking in our hearts. 
God knows how freeing it is to find sin, and to remove it from our midst. 
But it is not easy. And so we pray to Him for help and grace and mercy. 
We have to go into our own "war room" and pray, and fast, and give alms. 
We have to go into our own "desert" just as Jesus did when he was here on the earth. 
That is how we shall "spring-clean" our heart this Lent. 
But what a great blessing of freedom it will be to welcome with all the faithful 
the celebration of Easter, and our own rising from the ashes of sin. 

 Lord, what will I work on this Lent? 
What will be the focus of my own "spring-cleaning'?

 "Can it indeed be that God dwells among men on earth?" 1 Kings 8:27

This was King Solomon's question. 
"If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, 
how much less this temple which I have built!" he continued in awe.  
Are we in awe when we pray to God?  
Are we amazed that God came down to our level to be with us, the Emmanuel? 
Do we marvel that the creator of Super novas, the majestic mountains, 
mighty dinosaurs, allows us to visit Him in churches built by man?  
And not only that, He wants, desires, longs, that we invite Him into 
the temple of our own feeble hearts.  
He actually prefers to dwell in our hearts rather than the grand Cologne Cathedral, 
the historic Notre Dame in Paris, the awesome Sagrada Familia, 
no matter how beautiful they are. 
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, 
and we can moan and groan about this 
Lenten journey of fasting and abstinence. 
Or we can welcome it as a pilgrimage to walk more closely with 
the God who loves us so inconceivably. 

One of my favorite songs is "More than Wonderful"
best sang by Sandi Patty and Larnelle Harris. 
It goes, "I stand amazed when I think the King of Glory would come to live within me; 
I marvel just to know He really loves me, when I think of who He is and who I am. 
For He's more wonderful than my mind can conceive, 
He's more wonderful than my heart can believe; 
He goes beyond my highest hopes and fondest dreams; 
He's everything that my soul ever longed for, 
Everything He promised and so much more; 
More than amazing, More than marvelous, 
More than miraculous could ever be; 
He's more than wonderful; That's what Jesus is to me!"



Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a 
peek at desks and projects!

I find a lot of inspiration
visiting my friends here:

Blessings!
Patsy