Like the birds in the air, she longs to be close to heaven. But little does she know that to be closer to God, she does not have to fly, for He lives in our midst - He is in everyone, in everything, in herself.

Look around, look within.

"Could all that is lost ever be found?
Could a garden come up from this ground at all?

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us.”

Remember that love is a verb and is not a fleeting feeling. You can love God. You can love your parents and your siblings and your pets. You can love your classmates, your Churchmates, your enemies, your friends you haven’t seen in a long while. You can love your job, your workmates. Love without getting tired, love without cease, love with forgiveness. Guard your heart, yes - guard it from a lot of things that will hinder its growth - but do not guard it from love. 

I have received so much - it is only right for me to give more and to not keep God’s love to myself only. 

You have taught me more about selfless giving through these kind people I see everyday, Lord. They do not know how much light they hold. They are kind, and that is what the world needs more of. 

This was inspired by the potted Christmas Tree my Mom gave me last year. It is present in my view (not just December) 

at all days of the year. :-)

Some watercolor shadow dogs!

"Your love so deep is washing over me." 

Inspired by the song Sinking Deep by Hillsong United. 

There is a fine line between naivete and humility.

Rest. :-)

I was lying down on the bed and I remember being pulled into darkness. I struggled to wake up; my hands felt like they were chained together. I couldn’t pull myself from the vacuum. I also remember wanting to say God  and the words ‘vision of hope’ rang clear in my head. I saw myself being with my family and my friends, safe and sound. I said that I still need to wake up, I have so much to do, that I won’t be giving up, that I’d be fighting the good fight. This was the thought that I clung to, until thanks be to God, I woke up. 

I caught on - I was finally awake. Trembling and cold, I said, “God.” And I turned on the light immediately.

This was insipired by a woman with a beautiful smile and eyes that looked heavenward in Humans of New York. :-)

I’d like to see a world where love is pure, where we try to rise above nature and hidden insecurities and envy and ulterior motives. I’d like to see where we treat each other with respect, we tread the waters carefully but joining hands, where a man and woman ask God for faithfulness, and if they have not taken faithfulness seriously, for the saving grace and beautiful redemptive mess of forgiveness. Where friends and families sit in a circle and release their anger through words and tears, and cover them up with hugs and apologies. This is being vulnerable. There is nothing bad about being vulnerable before the people that are important to you, before God who is your strength when all you see is your weakness.

"The heart is a heavy burden." - Sophie, Howl's Moving Castle

She is alseep on the palm of the Almighty.

"When things are falling apart, things are actually falling into place." - Bo Sanchez

I tried to think about the beautiful things I should have seen if I had not kept my eyes closed out of fear. Leaves swaying against the golden afternoon light, that child giving a flower to his mother, two people forgiving each other with a tight and messy embrace, old friends who passed by in the crowded city streets. These are beautiful events to witness, I believe. I wonder at the number of things I should have seen if I kept my eyes open. I didn’t know what I was missing.

They were the best of friends. What joy it must be to have discovered that they all share the love for animals!

Because of looking too much into the mirror and counting the people who admired her, she couldn’t see the flowers sprouting from her eyes, the inner goodness she had, the little girl who once dreamed to build orphanages and who always took care of her sick grandparents.

- - - - -

Beauty in this age has become so tainted. We don’t see the person we are talking to - we see his hair, we look at his lips, we notice her red cheeks, her clothes. We read about pleasure instead of respect. We look for appeal instead of wit and humor and kindness. We look for admiration instead of love. There is something more important here, something we are not hearing, something we are not seeing, all because our eyes cannot entirely behold someone’s beauty as a human being, as a saved person, as a beloved individual.

"Our hearts are restless until they rest in You." - Saint Augustine

Sometimes, my hands are just so full of His love and His joy that I cannot just stand there at take it all in. I have to give. I have to give. I have to pass it on. As what my friend Denise once said, "We are blessed, so we can give."