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Month: March 2015

Face to Face

Today, Lola Nitang died. Sadly, I hadn’t had the chance to really know her, but seeing my other relatives grieve her and the pictures of her spirit still in her smile circulate social media and somehow all of today had brought me to this song while playing the guitar: Face to face with Christ, my Savior, Face to face—what will it be, When with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me? Face to face I shall behold Him, Far beyond the starry sky; Face to face in all His glory, I shall see Him by and by! Only faintly now, I see Him, With the darkling veil between, But a blessed day is coming, When His glory shall be seen. What rejoicing in His presence, When are banished grief and pain; When the crooked ways are straightened, And the dark things shall be plain. Face to face! O blissful moment! Face to face—to see and know; Face to face with my Redeemer, Jesus Christ who loves me so. (Breck) If you’re familiar with hymns, the best ones always reserve the last stanza for heavenly imagery- the idea of looking towards eternity and being finally home with the […]

been in my heart lately

I wish I had courage like some of the women in my church. One in particular, who finds a way to steer her conversations to Jesus, even if her friends may think she is pushing her religion again. I wish I could not care like she doesn’t care- not care that they feel some way towards me. I wish I could care like she cares- care that they need to know Jesus loves them. There are some people in my heart, people who I ache for, who I just want to hand a New Testament Book and plead with them to read it. I want to sit down with them and share what God has done in my life, what He continues to do, and who Jesus is to me.  I want to proclaim how much Jesus has loved them that He was the promise fulfilled, the Savior who cannot be contested. And His love caused Him to lay down His life so we can be healed, so we can have life. He has come for the sick and the weary. He has come to give us hope, help in our affliction. I want sit down and tell them how […]

Post Thoughts

I don’t know why I don’t want to write about it. I feel like everything’s ok, but a couple of months ago, it was all I could think about.  It was what was determining my present, and causing me to look at bleaker tomorrows. Looking back, I remember my heart racing, spending long moments looking at my children, even looking at them play at a distance with their dad, wondering if it would be ok for them to be just that, without me. I was still in the waiting game, so my thoughts and prayers came with me battling my faith in Christ. And He won, always. You have to be ok with that. Because He had fashioned the world to its meticulous degrees. I remember one car drive to one of my appointments, this song came on and I just remember feeling the weight of it pulling me with it.  The lyrics and how it was sung conveyed a desperation for what only Jesus could fill. Even in your deepest fear. The chorus goes like this: I need You I can’t get enough of you I come alive when I’m in your presence, oh God of my salvation (Run […]

First day of spring

Found these buds today. Although the picture of tomorrow is unknown and still smeared, the image conveys that there is hope, promise, and expectation with each day that unfolds. It’s the first day of spring and snow is in the forecast. Surprises come, I guess, but underneath, there is always hope.

Elle Hearts Books

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. There’s so much that have transpired since there were substantial words shared. I don’t want to get into heavier things at the moment, so I’ll write about a silly cute little girl that is still awake in front of me, playing with the last tangerine stuck in an orange net while singing Christmas songs the very last day of winter. Tonight, we read 3 books alone for “bedtime”.  She’s voracious when it comes to reading time.  So here’s a small convo we had. Me: Time for Tom to go to sleep. The end. OK, it’s also time for Elle to go to sleep. Elle: No, it’s time for Frozen. Me: No, no Frozen. Elle: OK, can I go on Ate’s iPhone? The thing is, I don’t have a iPad. This is why I prefer reading so many books instead…too many people are becoming YouTube millionaires with the help of my toddler.

Bling on Spring

Fashion Crush of the Week: Gladiator and bling. Bling on the spring season, please. We’re over the snow.

Solo Day at Giocoso Strings

The girls had their winter solo day last Friday, despite being sick that week due to the snow piles and extreme cold weather. They’ve been having snow days that deterred them from attending school, so it gave them ample time to practice. Emma is now in Book 2, playing “Long Long Ago”. Zienne is in Book 1, playing “Allegro” with Emma supporting her with the duet part. I’m really proud of the two girls, esp. Emma who is starting to realize the importance of refining the tone of her sound, but fixing the meticulous way she plays her bow and getting the slurs perfectly as instructed. I know it’s not easy to memorize multiple pieces while also remembering every correct slur, so I’m excited to many years down the road when it almost becomes second nature to her. Zienne is doing quite well too, although still not completely familiar with her technique, but it also could be that she has a really bad violin. How do I know? Because the teacher told us Zi has a really bad violin. Sheesh…not like it cost us almost $300 or anything… *sigh*  We’re waiting her to go up a size.