thanks! :)

http://matteroflifeanddeath.blogspot.com/2012/03/alice-and-snowflakes.html

Another.. :) thank GOD! :)

POSITIVE FASTING

“This, rather, is the fasting that I wish.” – Isaiah 58:6

I have personally found fasting a truly effective way of spiritual discipline. In fact, it is also a very practical way to detoxify the body.

Yet, I discovered long before that real fasting should lead you to love and serve more. I believe that fasting is depriving yourself so that others may gain more. Otherwise, you may simply be going on a cleansing diet.

Read how the verse above continues:

“… releasing those bound unjustly…

Setting free the oppressed….

Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,

bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;

Clothing the naked when you see them,

and not turning your back on your own flesh?”

At the start of this Season of Lent, complete your “negative action” of denying yourself with “positive acts” of charity, mercy and love for others, especially those who are truly deprived.

~Alvin Barcelona (apb_ayo@yahoo.com)

Reflection: Are others gaining from your denying of yourself? Love and serve someone today.

Do you know what it feels like to look for the right teacher and yet you could not find the one?

Now i know how it feels, Aang....
Teach me, please.

i love you strength of materials!! you make me feel so me  !!!!!!!! hahahaha! :)

praise God for making me feel so jubilant!! i'm so happy to have felt like this.. the feeling is much more beautiful than i ever imagined it would be!! :)

Ang aking Lolo

Hey! Ho! :)

here's a new year and its's time to celebrate! :)
Looks like a celebration is also celebrated in the photograph! :) i remember the days...

Looking back, i could recall valued people in my life. Unfortunately, some of those i recall are not with me to celebrate the new year anymore. Among them is my Lolo Fermin - the one with the wacky face in the photo.

My Lolo had been an important part of my growth and character development. He served as my second father, along with my Lola Lita  (still alive! thanks God!) as my second mother. As their first grandchild, i had been given the privilege of time and opportunity to bond and live with them. It was really very fun because our houses were only a walking distance apart from each other, but even so, i really still miss them often.

My Lolo, although very strict, is very fun to be with. i could even imagine a Santa Claus out of him because of his big tummy! i could remember him listening to the radio one afternoon and when a dancey oldy song is played, he takes Lola to dance on the floor. They really were very funny to look at because of the expressions on their faces - Lola who seemed a little embarrassed &Lolo who was making silly faces!  There is also something in the way i talked to him on the phone. Everytime we say good bye, he always said, "Baboy" instead of "Ba-bye".

He was also man full of skills! He is a fire fighter by profession. He is also an expert in repairing things. He sure does utilizes stuffs to their optimum capabilities. He is also a very wise chess player and i never remembered a game where i beat him. He seems to know everything; he even taught me how to make and fly a kite on the roof! He also has a very loyal fried, Tiger, their pet dog. Tiger was also trained and taken very well cared of.

A trivia you may want to know - he is a very big fan and supporter of Fernando Poe Jr. or FPJ (a famous action star in the Philippines). He really likes watching his movies. It's sad to see him sad though when news told him that FPJ died.

Sometimes, Lolo may not always be jolly and happy. i could sometimes see him alone, slowly fanning himself and thinking deeply about some thing. i never really bothered about his thoughts. As a child, maybe i just thought grown ups are just serious. But somehow, i could see in his eyes fear of the future, maybe.

Even if we were not always together, he showed his deep love and concern for his grandchildren. He teaches us the value of food, education and discipline. And i miss him so much for everything that he was. He died just before i could march for my elementary graduation, giving me just 12 years of being with him. It really is too bad he couldn't have waited for me to finish college... ;(      Even so, i thank God for the gift of a friend, a mentor, and a father. i'll always miss him. But his love will not die with his body, because it can be seen and experienced in the people he has left behind.

Lo, happy new year! :)
But, let me just sing you one song.. by Owl City
When violet eyes get brighter
And heavy wings grow lighter
i'll taste the sky and feel alive again
And i'll forget the world that i knew
But i swear i won't forget you
Oh, if my voice could reach back to the past i'd whisper in your ear...
Oh, Darling, i wish you were here..

Credits to my brother, Karlo, for teaching me how to do editing in Adobe...

my first! Wee!

Without Adobe + further editions:

somehow, i've realized that it was never about me..

it is about Him. :)

i'll always remember....

source: Reader's Digest Select Editions 1999 Vol 6. The Reader's Digest Association Inc., Pleasantville, New York

in places no one would find all your feelings so deep inside
it was now that i realize that forever was in your eyes the moment i saw you
cry

by the terrace

Black & White Cheesecake bars baked by Mama

 

    

Prayer on Finding God after a Long Search

St. Augustine's Prayer

Too late have i loved You, O Beauty so ancient, O Beauty so new. Too late have i loved You!  You were within me but i was outside myself, and there i sought You! In my weakness i ran after the beauty of the things You have made. You were with me, and i was not with You. The things You have made kept me from You - the things which would have no being unless they existed in You! You have called, You have cried, and You have pierced my deafness. You have radiated forth, You have shined out brightly, and You have dispelled my blindness. You have sent forth Your fragrance, and i have breathed it in, and I long for You. i have tasted You, and i hunger and thirst for You. You have touched me, and i ardently desire Your peace. 

Source:
Augustinian Spirituality

Copyright: Brown, et al

flowers! :)