War with Fibro

I woke up feeling like I've just gone through a battle in the warzone. LAst night, it was horrible. I couldn't sleep much at all. It was only after much prayers that I managed to get some ZZZzzzzs.

My body felt terribly bruised and exhausted. I guess it is just another chapter of living with Fibro. It is raining now. Perhaps the weather makes the pain worse.

Anyway, I should start moving around and hope the pain lessened.
Good day to you all!

Angelina Bong's Room of Passion

Hello all,

I just wanted to say that I have just started a new blog entitled Expression of My Soul.

Basically it is a blog-room storing and displaying creations of my hands from paintings to hand-made crafts. I wanted it to be separated from this cavern of mine because it will be mainly images and little descriptions of artworks as compared to this blog where I rant on poetry and express encouragement to fellow readers about faith. It is a different kind of expression :)

Feel free to drop by often.

Here's the link to my first post. A big welcome to you!

http://swakgel.blogspot.com/2013/08/angelina-bongs-room-of-passion.html

God bless you!

Xoxo

Walking Bible

Sometimes we emphasize so much on our careers and what we should do in our life that we forget why we do them and the people surrounding us.

I plucked a huge excerpt from the late Blessed Mother Teresa’s book, ‘Heart of Joy’ below ( I hope she won’t mind)

“What counts is not what we do, nor the amount of things we do, but the love we put into our actions, since those actions are our love for God in action.

“Your calling is to belong to Jesus. He has chosen you for himself, and work is only a means of love for him in action. So the work you carry out is of no importance. What is important is that you belong to him, that you are his, that he gives you the means to do what you have to do.”

The same is true of us: it does not matter what we do or where we are, as long as we bear in mind that we are his belonging, that Jesus can do with us whatever he wants, that we owe him our love, and that we love him. Whether we work for the rich or on behalf of the poor, whether we work among people of high society or among inhabitants of the inner city, what is important is only the love we put into carrying out our job.

Maybe you and I are the only ones through whom Jesus can come to those whom we are touching. Because in the rich, it is not that we love the preciousness of their gifts but that our love addresses the person who belongs to God, the child of God who is our brother and our sister.

Therefore, let us try to spread this love of Christ –above all in our own family, among our own, my husband, my wife, my children. Does my home, my community burn in love? Do I have time to devote to my sisters? Do I have time for my children, for my husband, for my wife?

Smile at each other.”

I hope you’ll be inspired to spread joy and love wherever you are be it working from home, at the desk, on the off-shore platform, on the stage, at the school, in the monastery, at the gardens and etc. Someone said that we might be the only walking bible people around us might ever read so I sure hope we represent the right Gospel!

Little Acts of Kindness

The world need a little kindness every day.

I would like to share this post entitled 'Kindness of Strangers'

A lady by the name of Bernadette Russel decided to be a little missionary of kindness in London by doing little acts of kindness to strangers by giving away cakes and flowers to strangers, writing letters to soldiers returned from  Afghanistan and etc.

This is truly inspiring.

Please click on the link below and listen to what she's got to say. I hope you'll be equally inspired to be kind...just do little things.

http://www.prx.org/pieces/90121#description

God bless!

English and Fashion Design Tuition offered online - LRNGO

Dear buddies/friends/strangers/passer-bys,

I have just signed up with LRNGO to teach online. I am not sure if it actually works but I am going to try it out.

I am offering English lessons via online (writing/speaking/reading or conversational). I have tutored foreign speakers before. They were Koreans actually. As you can see from my blog here, I have no problems in written English. I have been lecturing for the past years using the English language as well. If you are interested to learn English, feel free to drop me a comment. I assure you my price will not be high.

I would also like to offer Fashion Design tuition to students/designers who might need some boost or brainstorming or idea generation needs. I have been lecturing Fashion Design in a university for a long time and if you need some tuition, you can contact me too. I check my blog regularly.
Fashion Design tuition offered varies on individual basis as in depending on your needs (brainstorming/idea generation/exploration/branding/conceptual writing/marketing ideas)

Hope to hear from you soon and looking forward to working with you or teaching you via online!

God bless.

Promise of Love

Towering high

Hovers over us

Smiling in silence

It shines

Heaven knocks

Seven colours shade

A message

To proclaim

Art of care

Glowing bright

Spectrum of love

It speaks

Twinned bow

Double blessings

Noah’s tale

It continues

Paint from rain

Father’s gaze

A promise

I love you

Twinned Rainbow

Sunset seen from my house

p/s: I saw this twinned rainbow just mins ago..feel compelled to write and show you this..a lovely reminder of our Loving Father who loves us and look upon us with so much love that He paint the sky with rainbows..a promise that He'll never forsake us. 

p/s 2: The other picture is just the sky from another angle..thought it was lovely too. The photos didnt do justice to the rainbow or the sky though..

God knows who I am

I am thankful for this cavern to rant and ramble my most obscure, absurd or just plain simple thoughts. On rainy days like this, I am glad to be alone hiding in this corner where some might pass by, stop by or never do. It does not matter because it is my space in both the cyber world and the earthly life.

I am not used to speak eloquently of my feelings but rather listen to what people have to say. I socialise but am an extrovert with an introvert’s soul. Weird as it is, I am labelled as mostly sanguine by those who know me but deep inside, I have a melancholic soul but perhaps no one notices that part of me.

I am a ball that rarely fits perfectly in any holes making me an oddball of some sort. My life is surrounded by people from all walks of life who love me in different ways. Poets think I should stick to painting. Artists think I should continue to write. Writers think I should blossom as a fashion designer. Designers think I should teach. Teachers think I should do business. Businessmen think I should be in the monastery. Nuns think I should be in the marketplace. Jack of all trades but master of none so I am beginning to wonder what defines this oddball on earth.

Today I don’t feel like doing anything or be anything. Just a cup of coffee and a book that speaks of both poetry and abstract ideas on the couch will be quite fun. Then again, am I to idle my life away? Should I waste the time ticking away indulging in a pleasure that might not even be pleasure?

Tired of putting a label on whom I am; I am thankful that God knows who I am. I need not crack my head to figure out how to live like an artist or a writer or behave like a non-conformist designer or simply a contemplative in a bustling city. I am glad to know I have a creator who moulds me and remoulds me till I am perfect and this is in His time and not mine. I am tired of figuring out with reasoning and meditations and which course of action to take so I’ll simply trust that He’ll provide like a little child holding His Father’s hands walking towards a fun festival. As long as I hold His hands, I will not be lost even though I might lose my eyesight or get covered by a hidden fog.

What random rambling this has turned out to be. Oh well, God..you know who I am and what plans you have for me. So I am going to take this verse below to heart today and let you change the compass whenever you want and wherever you wish to take this funny creation of yours. And God, thank you for this cavern of yours.

Jeremiah 29:11 

"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to 

prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Dance My Pen

The rain woke me up,
Splatters of drops,
Behold my clothes are wet,
Spring alive from death's wish,
Bear no more witnesses

Aroma of coffee too strong,
Imaginary brainstorms,
Indeed life throws me back,
Stirring a note too late,
Or is this a beginning

Sleep off the despairs,
Kicking monologues,
Calling on heaven's door,
Coffee swells to save the day
Alas death will not come

Shift of clothes spinning,
A cry of breathless whisper,
Heart attacks wait again,
Not the time yet to go
Patience tick with a pen

On the couch life anew,
A book befriend a blackberry,
Sit with God and myself,
A flick of mystery to dwell,
My pen starts to dance

Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace

      A shepherd quietly tends to his sheep in the high mountains of Pakistan. A mother nursing her little newborn with sweetness of joy in her bosom right after delivery in the hospital of St. Louis. A dyslexic kid trying his best to convey his thoughts by learning as much as he possibly can in the neighbourhoods of Matang. An elderly man trimming away his gardenia plants in the cool evenings of hot summer in California. A stranger jog past an old beggar sleeping on a bench in the beautiful parks of Perth City and flashing her white teeth, gives him a huge bright smile. In the lovely apartment at the corner streets of Tokyo, a teacher is marking away tonnes of exam scripts with red ink splattered all over the papers till wee hours in the morning. Faraway in the remote Masai village,  a beautiful black sister is baking a cake for her beloved sibling who turns 21. On Monday mornings in the district of Serian, the garbage man walks by every terrace house and collect the rubbish and waste of hundreds of households.

      I can go on and on describing the stereotypical common routines of life. There is nothing extraordinary about the things that they do and even as I am typing away on my keyboard, billions of people around the world are quietly and passionately living their life as they should. Perhaps a minority lived radically like missionaries, monks and nuns but how many of us are actually given the luxury to be that different. How many of us can afford to shrug away our commitments to our families and communities? How many of us can be like Pope Francis? There is only one pope needed, perhaps one pastor needed for each church and etc. If everyone wants to be pope or a pastor or an official missionary, what would become of the world? Don't get me wrong. I am not belittling their calling. In fact, their life is exemplary but what I am exhorting to you and to myself..we are all made differently, with different roles and for different purposes. 

Romans 12: 4-8 states "For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

      Imagine life without your garbage collectors? Many of us do not even know who they are but quietly, they work to clean your life from the mess and dirt of wastes thrown from your houses. Do you remember the receptionists answering your calls of complains or would you recall the faces of air hostesses providing you comfort with meals and water to keep you hydrated on board that dreadful long-haul flight to Iceland? We probably only remember 1% of the people we encountered our whole lives but it does not mean they never contribute to making our lives better. Perhaps these souls are not heroic in saving your kitten from that fire or cured your migraines and fevers but they are here to serve.

      Do not belittle yourself and the role you are given. Do not think for one minute that your seemingly mediocre work is worthless and not worthy of praise. It might not seem much to you and people may never glorify you for it but it matters to God.Your works at office and at home done fervently matters so much to God. Continue to be faithful in that work that you do because God calls you to. 

Colossians 3:23-24 states 

 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving".

I am actually inspired to convey these messages to you after I read this wonderful book by Scott Hahn entitled 'Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace'.

I would like to leave you with a few excerpts from this life-inspiring book.

"...little things matter so much to us because they matter so much to God.....The smallest tasks can take on infinite value when we offer them to God, when we carry them out as works of God. Holy ambition strives for greatness even in little things, but it is content with the earthly results that God wills or permits. ....Holy ambition hopes for great things, but contends itself with whatever God wills. 

....St. Josemaria urged Christians: 'Do not lose that holy ambition of yours to lead the whole world to God, but...remember that you too have to be obedient and work away at that obscure job, which does not seem at all brilliant, for as long as God asks nothing else of you. He has His own times and paths.'....

....Reject any ambition for honors. Think instead about your duties, how to do them well, and the instruments you need to accomplish them. In this way, you will not hanker for position, and if one comes you will see it as it is: a burden to bear in the service of souls....sanctifying others through work. We offer our work as a sacrifice, for the sake of others and thus, in our daily struggles, we win graces for them in their struggles."

I want to end this with an advice from St. Josemaria, 

"May you sow peace and joy on all sides. May you not say a disturbing word to anyone. May you know how to walk arm in arm with those who do not think as you do. May you never mistreat anyone. May you be brothers to all and sowers of peace and joy."

The late Mother Teresa often quoted,

"  Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies....

Bloom where you are planted."

I hope both you and I can be 'little missionaries' to the people around us for they might never know one by showing our love and care in our daily tasks be it clearing dog's poop or quietly filling in inventories on the record books.

And so with much hope, God would be able to say to us,

"Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master." (Matthew 25:23)

God bless.

p/s: I strongly recommend 'Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace' written by Scott Hahn. Such profound truths and encouragement from such simplicity. I hope you'll grab a copy!

E Tempo!!!

The wolf calls

Summon tidal waves and winds

White petals falling on my hair

Chasing after the faces of winter

The shadow retreat from burning bush

Clapping mystical raindrops of magic

Wild oaks shout alabares of old

My fingers shed tears of blood

The old lady cries

Charmed by smiles bewitched

Grace knocking on my heart

Grips of memoirs lead the way

Across ancient rites of gold

True paths show the answer

My naked eyes burn with silver

The shadow persists

Wrinkles of bark to pursue

Thrown into pots of wild daisies

Wishes of love kiss me by

Planting thorns with freedom of joy

Sow seeds with death of evil

The journey floats

I run after the shadow that knows no one

Destroying beds of golden apples

Attacks of hunger to yield

Roasting sweet sapphire to behold

The secret garden lures to decide

To move or cure the curse of roses

Fragrance lingers

Heaven's note follows my soul

Sing to the choirs of the forest

I free my body of decaying judgement

Rushes of holy sweat

I chill with saintly owls of youth

Red blooms vanish

The white scent permeates sanity

Caresses silky thumbs of wisdom

The shadow dies

Invisible to many clever minds

Purging fires from the end of the world

Ring the bells of my conscience

Leave the bed of roses

Push and fall free

Jump off the cliff of prison and soar

Fly like butterflies with wings of an eagle

Turn and scream

E tempo!!!