Keeping Watch with Jesus

Jesus asked his disciples,
"Could you not keep watch with me for an hour?"
(Matthew 26)
I hear His frustration here.
He knows what is about to happen,
and He knows how His disciples are going
to need strength and grace.
Yet, they cannot stay awake
and keep vigil while Jesus prays,
and goes through the pain of knowing
what He has to prepare for.

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week.
Believers around the world
may choose to keep vigil with Jesus.
Yes, it is finished,
but it is but right to
watch as he is anointed with oil at Bethany,
as He is betrayed by one of His own,
as He is brought to trial,
as He is crucified...

To watch so we may better appreciate
His sacrifice,
so we may offer, like Mary,
a sacrifice of our heart
in gratitude.

I am truly amazed how much
God loves us,
that He loved us first,
and did everything,
so we could join Him
in His Kingdom!

Linking up with Graceful for Hear it on Sunday,
Use it on Monday. and Soli Deo Gloria.

Five Minute Friday: On Distance

Here's 5 minutes worth of writing for
Gypsy Mama's prompt: On Distance.
Come join us!

I have always felt that it was
wonderful to be living in these times.
Even if my home is in the Philippines,
I am connected to the whole world.
Blogging has brought me friends in so many continents.
The news about other countries
is just a mouse click away.

The irony is that computers
and the internet have also
put a bigger distance between
the haves and the have nots.
Schools in the provinces have no computers
and so the children there have no way of learning
how to use it.

My son has been using the computer
ever since he was a baby.
Now he is 16 and he learns so fast,
reads so fast, knows more than I do
about gadgets.
Recently, he impressed his grandfather
at how quickly he learned to use a plasma cutter,
just by following the tutorial on the computer.
Then I talk to my helper
whose family is in the province,
and she says how can there be a computer in
the schools when there are not even enough chairs?
Not even enough school books?

Picture of the schoolroom is from
Canadian Food for Children Website.

Freedom to be ME!

I hesitated to post this picture of my desk
this morning.
It is such a mess.
Obviously, I just let things pile up,
and now I cannot even find my crochet thread
which I need to sew on my buttons.
To think that the thread has a drawer
of its own, with a label!
Here is my canvas so far.
I've been doing some dirtying up.
Now I am auditioning what to put on it-
buttons, scrap cloth, a curtain ring?
Whatever!
Here is my journal for today.
I realize that the Word of God is alive.
If we read it, there is always an effect.
Most of the time, we do not notice the changes.
But if we keep reading,
eventually, even we will see how we have changed.

I have been reading the Word of God for a long time.
And I know I have been set free from
negative feelings about myself,
too high expectations,
pressures to be a perfect
wife, mother, daughter, businesswoman,
leader in our community....

The list goes on.
and on.

Of course, that's also why my craft room
is a whole mess.
If I was always thinking that I needed
to keep it neat and tidy,
I doubt if I would be free
to create anything!!

Visit Julia of Stamping Ground for more
desks and ongoing projects.

Linking up with Laura for Playdates with God,
and Word Filled Wednesday.

The Lord's Day

Our family is part of a Christian Community,
Ligaya ng Panginoon (joy of the Lord),
which in turn is part of a community of communities
around the world called Sword of the Spirit.

Today, my husband led the prayer meeting.
We had a good time worshiping
the Lord, singing and praying.

Then we had a teaching about the
Lord's Day, or the Sabbath.
I've heard a lot of teachings about this,
and honestly, I thought,
I don't think I'm going to learn anything new!
But I did!

In John 19:28-31, Jesus said,
"It is finished."
With that, he bowed his head,
and gave up His spirit.

Jesus proclaimed this on the 6th day,
God finished His work of creation on the 6th day.
Jesus rested on the 7th day,
and God rested on the 7th day (Genesis 2).
Jesus completed His redeeming work,
and He is the fulfillment of the Sabbath rest.
It is obviously very important to God,
that we set apart the Sabbath.
How wonderful that our God thinks
of even this for us!
We who are sometimes slaves to our work!

I decided I would do my journal,
and some reading, and refrain
from working to honor the Lord's day.
So here is my journal page.

I am linking this to

The nice pictures above are from
Pastor Joe Jones blog.

What's on Your Workdesk 96

Here is my workdesk this morning.
I worked on my journal
OVER my canvas.

I remember when I was young,
and God comforted me over a silly thing.
How much more can we depend on
His faithfulness and grace now,
over more serious matters?

Here is my unfinished canvas.
I'm going for a naif style.
We'll see how it will turn out!

I received a wonderful surprise package in the mail
from Jo or Twiglet of Sisters Crafty Creations.
I only expected a few pages of this vintage
Alice in Wonderland,
but she sent me the whole book!
I don't think I can bear to tear the pages either-
maybe I will make an altered book with it.
Thank you Jo for the
beautiful card that went with it!
Now I've seen a dumfing close up!

For more projects and workdesks,
neat and messy, visit Julia of
Stamping Ground.

WOYWW 95

Here is my desk this morning.
My canvas isn't finished yet.
what I've done so far is
apply wall putty to the house and grass,
and molding paste to the flowers
(my first time to use this product).
I painted it with acrylics
and glued on some paper.

My journal has a drawing of Moses
because the reading today is from Deuteronomy 4,
when Moses was admonishing the people
to appreciate that there was no other people
to whom God spoke, and left statutes.

I take this as a reminder for me as well.
I have to remember all that the Lord has done for me!
I have to appreciate and write down
when He intervenes in my life,
helps me, guides me, gives me grace for the day!
To always be grateful!
That is my message for today!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday
is hosted by the very amiable Julia.
Visit her for more desks and projects on display!

WOYWW 94

I finally did a bit of cleaning.
Here you can see my desk
with my journal on it,
brushes, glue, odds and ends.

I also decided to start on a canvas
which you can see on the left.
I've just pasted old dictionary pages on it as yet.
Have no idea where that's going
but I want to try some stuff I've seen on the web.

And here's my journal page for today.
From Matthew 20,
and all about how different
the way God thinks from the way man thinks.

Whoever thought that if you wanted to be great,
to be important, to be somebody,
that you should serve others?

See other desks and projects at Julia's Stamping Ground!

WOYWW 93 My Alphabet Box

Here's my journal page for today.
Psalm 51 is so appropriate for Lent.
Sometimes we think God wants sacrifices from us,
but what He really wants is our heart.

I decided not to show you the same messy old space.
Here is my alphabet box, which I use whenever
I make collages with words, like the one above.

Do you think I'm crazy for
cutting up all these letters?
I have fabric, leather, cardboard, even a small silver E
aside from all the magazine cutouts in my E envelope.
In some envelopes I even have punched clay letters.

Thank you to Julia of Stamping Ground.
I doubt I'd post once a week if not for WOYWW,
especially as I'm still feeling poorly.
Thank you to all who dropped by and all your good wishes!
They are much appreciated.Drop by Julia to see some interesting desks and
projects in the making!

WOYWW 92- I'm back to using my bed again!

After a strange bout with costochondritis that landed me
in the emergency room yesterday morning,
I am back to working on my bed again.

Costochondritis, or inflammation of the
rib or cartilage of the rib,
is notable for feeling like a heart attack!
Thank God, my ailment, though strange,
is non life threatening, and will go away
without some serious medical intervention.

Here is my work "bed" and my journal page for today.

For Roman Catholics, today is Ash Wednesday,
the start of the lenten season.
The lenten season is the 40 day period
(excluding Sundays) preceding Easter,
which is a time of soul-searching and repentance,
and renewing our relationship with God.

In my journal, I put a woman looking into a mirror.
The Greek saying,
"Nipson anomemata me monan opsin"
which can be read from left to right
and right to left, and was found in a
washroom mirror in Europe, means
"Wash the iniquity, not only the face."

I am reminded of a funny song we have
here in the Philippines,
"Lipistick ng lipistick, hindi ka naman
nag-brush your teeth!"
which translates to,
"You keep putting lipstick,
but you don't brush your teeth!"

Sometimes we are only concerned
with how we look on the outside.
Lent is a time to look inward and see
how we can grow in loving others,
and loving God more.

Visit Julia's Stamping Ground
to peek into more desks and projects!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday! Whoa! That was fast!

It's Wednesday again and

I wasn't able to visit many of you
as we were out at the beach
for a three day weekend.

Here's what my family was up to,
just in case you want to come visit
our Philippine beaches for a vacation!
Kayaking

Sailing on a Hobie

And making huge bubbles!

Here's my desk-
I really need to find a bigger desk.
That's my excuse today for the pile up!
Thank you to all who suggested names!
They are great!
It is now quite difficult to choose
what name to give him!
And here's my journal for today:
Jesus really thinks differently
from man!
Imagine if He didn't come to tell us
that if we wanted to be "great",
we needed to serve others!
How would we ever realize that on our own?!

Thank you for dropping by!
I really appreciate it.
For more desks and work tables,
visit Julia at her Stamping Ground.

What's on Your Work Floor Wednesday!

Well, I am back to the floor again!

My desk is full of sewing stuff
and I had to cut the cloth of this project on the floor.
This is the first time
I am attempting a stuffed toy.
Not that this looks like one.
Someone asked me if it was a bag!

If you'd like to suggest a name for him,
I'd appreciate it!
And here's my journal page.
I put my prayer on Wisdom's dress,
asking for the gift of wisdom
for all my roles in life!

See what's on other
crafty people's desks (or floors!)
on Julia's Stamping Ground!

Pay It Forward

Here's something new!
I promise to send something handmade to the first 3 people
who make a comment on this post.
BUT
you have to repost this
and offer something handmade to
3 other people.
The rule is, it has to be sent sometime in 2011
(that's a lot of time!)

I will check your blog before sending your gift off
to see if the Pay it Forward post is there.

I got this fun idea from
Andrea of Falling Ladies.
She draws, you guessed it,
falling ladies!

Who's game?

OWOH Winners! and why it took me so long....

Here is the reason for my delayed posting

of the winners.
I tried putting numbers in my comments
using the instructions here,
but numbers didn't appear,
no matter how many times I tried.
Finally gave up.

Then I tried to put the image of the
Random Number Generator.
Again I didn't manage that!

But here are the results-
I just copied the box and this is what came out:
(I assure you the max number I put was 240!)

True Random Number Generator
Min: Max:
Result: 55

The winner of the heart necklace is:
Esme of Chocolate and Croissants.


True Random Number Generator Min:
Max:
Result: 166

And the winner of the flower collage is
Ophelia of Ophelia's Art.

Thank you so much for all the
wonderful comments and encouragement!

Can you see what's on my Workdesk?

All my pictures were super dark,
it looked as if I was working in a cave.
I had to use ever faithful www. picnik.com
to brighten them up.
I finally decided to clean up my table,
by dumping most of the contents on the floor!
I have still been making brooches.

I scrounged around my jewelry box and
got my old brooches to attach
to my flower collages.
See how these turned out!
My other pictures were too dark to salvage!
My lizard brooch nestling among the roses.
And here's my cat brooch.

Amazingly, the theme of my journal page today?
Jesus healing the blind man and asking:
"Do you see anything?"
Coincidence? I think not!
It's God's way of emphasizing to me
that we are all blind in some way
and need new vision!
If only we could see
others the way God sees them,
I'm sure there will be more
generosity and love in the world!

See other desks and projects on
Julia's Stamping Ground!

What's on Your Work Stool Wednesday

My desk is still full of things,

and since I have neither the time nor inclination
to clean it up,
I worked on the floor,
with some of my sewing stuff on a stool,
while sitting on a kiddie chair.
This is how I left it last night.
I hurriedly finished a follower giveaway
for my OWOH post as I had promised
all my followers a chance at my giveaways.
Then I continued making flower collages,
using some lace I had dyed a long time ago,
an old curtain, some buttons from a dress,
and scrap cloth.

A close-up of the unfinished flower collage,
still have to cut it out from the felt backing.

Find more projects and work desks (or stools)
on Julia's Stamping Ground!

Or on the slim chance that you don't know about the
One World, One Heart gigantic blog party,
you can start here!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesady

My desk is as usual a whole mess!

Let that be a comfort to all those
who merely THINK their desks are messy!
I barely have enough room for my journal
which is quite big,
let alone the other materials I use.
This time I decided to paste the bible diary page
and illustrate the story of Jesus' presentation in the temple.
There St. Simeon saw him and said:
"Lord, have fulfilled Your Word!"

I'd like to quote from Michael Esses
who was born a Jew.
He said, "There is so much of Jesus in the Old Testament!
I don't see how the Jews eyes, including my own,
could be so blind that we could not see the 333 prophecies
concerning Christ in the Old testament
were gloriously fulfilled in the New Testament.

"When I was speaking in the University of Oregon,
I was told that two of their computer scientists
had run this problem through the computer.

"The odds against one man
fulfilling these 333 prophecies
were 67 to the 10th, a figure so astronomical
that it approaches infinity!
What an answer for the intellectual
inquiring about the validity of Jesus!"

See more messy, tidy, organized, and
awesome desks at Julia's Stamping Ground!

Would you like to win prizes?
Scroll down and
join my One World, One Heart Giveaway below
and visit other OWOH participants here.