The musings of a wandergeselle about faith, literature, music, dancing, culture, food, travels, art, fashion, photography, life experiences, and everything in-between from journée to journée.
Hi, beloved readers! I’m going to share with you today a quick video I made featuring our farm and some of our developments there. Because life is not all about being broken or heartbroken. 😉 And whether heartbroken or not, I am always busy doing something, especially if it is for God and His kingdom. 🙏
I recommend watching this when you’re ready to sleep because my sleepy voice will lull you to sleep. 😅 I also would like to share with you an essential item that’s also part of my emergency preparedness checklist – a reliable dog tag where you can attach important keys and a whistle.
This dog tag is in my everyday bag, and I always wear it when I’m at the farm. But you may want to include this in your Bug Out Bag (BOB) just to make sure you won’t forget to bring it with you during an emergency.
Is there a camera phone out there that doesn’t have a default selfie filter where your irises are enlarged and your pupils are dilated?
Though I also suggest hiding this dog tag underneath your shirt because people might think you’re in the military (if you’re not), and it might cause you more harm than good, especially when “chaos” starts. A construction worker at the farm actually thought I was a police officer when he saw me wearing the dog tag.
He asked me, “Ma’am, pulis ka tabi kay an kulintas mo…?” (Ma’am, are you a police officer, because your necklace..?) I told him that no, I’m not a policewoman and that my dog tag was given to me by my brother (he’s the real military officer 😃).
Dad’s my contact person in case of emergencies.
If you plan on having one made for you and your family, I recommend purchasing military-grade dog tags because they are highly durable. You won’t have to worry about them breaking off easily. 👍
“Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.” – Genesis 2:15
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” – Deuteronomy 31:8
Hi, poetry lovers! I am republishing this poem because I did a voice-over version of it to give it more life. This is dedicated to all those who still chose to love despite the distance. 🙂 Enjoy! ❤️
If Only I Can, But Until Then
by Christine Lailani
If only I can see you one more time, but until then, I’ll remember every part of you in my thoughts…
If only I can talk to you and say what I really feel, but until then, I’ll pen these words that you will never read…
If only I can be beside you and feel the comfort of your presence again, but until then, I’ll learn how to enjoy being alone…
If only I can touch you and hug you tight, but until then, I’ll love you from a distance…
If only I can give you all of me, but until then, I’ll let time heal my wounds and let faith sanctify me to be worthy of you…
If only I can, but until then, I’ll ask God to make you feel the love that I can’t show you now…
A love that transcends oceans and mountains, remaining steadfast under the stars, even as seasons change…
Until then, my marvelous love…
“We love each other because God loved us first.” – 1 John 4:19
P.S. I did promise I will be hibernating on WordPress starting this November until December, but I just felt I had to post this before I do that. When the heart beckons, I take heed. 🙂
2023 has been my most painful year. Yet God has still been good to me because He opened doors that I believe will remain open starting next year and the years to come.
So, I am starting my WordPress hibernation early for my year-end/birthday prayer and fasting to seek clarity, discernment, and courage moving forward. I promise this post won’t be the last though, but I’ll see you next year. 😉
🕊️
Here are some of the things that I am believing and manifesting for 2024:
– new places for a wider perspective
– new faces for more fellowship
– new challenges for personal growth
– new opportunities for helping others
– new me for a renewed purpose
– new spiritual family (Hello, Victory Sorsogon!)
BUT the same God working in every one of these. 🙏🙂
“Thank You, Father God, for You have remained faithful in every season. Thank You most of all for Your love and the gift of salvation. Indeed, You are more than enough. May my lifecontinue to bring You honor and gloryuntil my mission here on Earth is finished. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” – Matthew 6:33
“No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.
Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”
I am writing something short for today’s post. It’s more like a prayer actually for my brothers in Christ – single and married.
I pray that in every relationship you wish to pursue, may you outgrow your craving for limerence and eventually mature to real love because the latter is what will sustain your relationship until death parts you both.
❤️ Image Credit: WordPress ❤️
Meanwhile, here are some great reads on limerence and true love. May the Spirit guide you as go through them. 🙏🙂
“Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.” – Ecclesiastes 9:9
Here’s an acrostic poem I wrote to start our week right. 📝 I pray that the Lord will free us from anything that hinders us from our walk with God. May we not be weighed down by the chains that bind us, but instead, be given the power, courage, and strength to set ourselves free in Jesus’ Name, Amen. 🙏
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” – Galatians 5:1
The beauty in scars is that they leave you memories not only of the bad ones but of those that are priceless, too.
This article is my tribute to families who have very young kids and whose parent died or is suffering from terminal cancer. I was compelled to write this article after watching a video tonight. It just popped up in my YouTube newsfeed and came in timely.
Because yesterday, another young wife shared with me her husband’s battle with cancer after a recurrence (same as my Mom), and their youngest child is only 4 years old. She broke into tears as she shared their ordeal.
I couldn’t find the right words to comfort her, and this is what I would actually like to pray to God now. May God give me the wisdom to know the right words to say to people who are battling with cancer or dealing with loss due to cancer while I, myself, am dealing with my own loss. May the hope that I was given thru Christ be the same hope that I get to share with them. 🙏
Although I’ve read in an article that sometimes a “silent presence” is the best response just by listening to what they share. In one of the Breast Cancer Support Groups that I recently joined, another young mother was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer, and she has just given birth. When Mom died, I wrestled with the question “Why does she have to die this soon?” for quite some time.
And God probably saw how I struggled with this question in my heart, thus, He brought me to these people who reminded me I have no right to complain and ask that question because I got to spend almost 4 decades of my life with Mom before cancer took her away from us. Some kids never got the chance to know their parents while growing up.
Yes, we’re all broken, and sometimes life has a cruel way of reminding us every now and then of this brokenness. And yet by His stripes, we were healed. Jesus made us whole. He makes me whole again and again and again.
As I am writing this now, tears just rolled down my cheeks. I just have such admiration for these young Moms and Dads for being so strong for their kids. I don’t know if I can do the same if I am in their shoes.
Maybe this is why I never got pregnant. I thought it was a curse from God. But now, I realize that God may be protecting me knowing that I might also have the cancer genes, I might die early and leave my young kids behind, and I will be passing these cancer genes to my kids, too.
Maddy was a beautiful reminder to me how well we ought to live each moment of our lives knowing the future is so uncertain. The priceless memories she left behind will forever be engraved in the hearts of those who love her – families, friends, and strangers. ❤️
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” – Psalm 73:26
There’s a lot of tension and anxiety going on as Israel prepares for urban warfare against the militant group Hamas in Gaza. Yes, every day we see death. And yet, seeing them increase by the thousands every passing week can be too much to bear.
I’ve been keeping myself busy trying to avoid the news as I see photos and videos of the tragedy that has fallen upon the men, women, children, and elderly in the Middle East. I do not want to take any sides, so let me just instead offer a prayer to families who are grieving and those who are trying to survive. As we wait for the Lord, we pray. 🙏
Lord, please deliver us from the woes of war.
May God turn His face towards His people. May He give us the peace that we seek every day from the battles inside and around us. May His ears not be deaf to our pleas and our cries for help. May He end this suffering once and for all. And yet not our will, but His will be done in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:4
I woke up today feeling all nostalgic when I saw a notification here on WordPress. It’s another achievement unlocked – today’s my blog’s anniversary.
And I can’t help but smile and thank God for the 11 years of being a storyteller, sharing the Good News, and just being me. 😉
Thank you to my WordPress community for making my blogging experience so worthwhile. This is where my purpose as a writer started, and hopefully will not end here, either.
As long as I’m breathing, I will keep on writing. Thanks be to God for this wonderful gift. 🙏
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
“Why flowering trees and why not fruit trees? You can’t eat those flowers.”
Mom asked me this question last year when she saw the labels on the polybags where I’m growing the seeds of the flowering trees. Well, Mom had a point. So, I just smiled.
Fire Tree
Golden Shower
Palawan Cherry Blossom
But in my head, the answer was simple: the pollinators. It is because of these pollinators that’s why I am planting the flowering trees. No pollinators, no fruits, no food. These small creatures typically go unnoticed, but they actually play a vital role in our environment.
Sad truth.
But if you’re going to ask me, why not choose flowering plants instead? I had climate change in mind when I thought about what type of plants to propagate on our farm. The probability of delicate flowering plants surviving the effects of climate change as it worsens year after year will be very low.
Flowering trees, on the one hand, have deep root systems and will have better chances of surviving periods of extended drought and strong typhoons. They will also provide sufficient shade when intercropping and will serve as a home to other species in the ecosystem. Not to mention that their beautiful flowers are such a lovely sight to behold, especially if there are plenty of them.
Let The Flowers Bloom
Last year, I bought 8 kinds of seeds of different flowering trees before coming to Bicol. Out of the 8 flowering trees I planted, I was able to successfully propagate only 3 of them. They are the Palawan Cherry Blossoms, Fire Tree (a favorite home of fireflies), and Golden Shower.
Praying the seeds of other flowering trees have a high germination rate, too.
Only 11 of the 15 seeds germinated, and we transplanted them last week on the farm. As much as I would like to plant a thousand of these trees now, I really don’t have much of an option. Because we need to take into consideration first where we will plant them inside the farm for future landscaping purposes.
These are tall and huge trees that should be planted 1-2 meters apart. I intend to grow only a few for each kind so it will be easier to get seeds once we propagate them later on.
God Makes Them Grow
Upon checking them yesterday, so far all of them were doing well except for the Golden Showers. I am praying the Golden Showers will survive. If not, that means I have to try propagating them again and again.
In every project of mine, I make sure I follow it through from start to finish even if I fail somewhere along the process. This way, I get to maximize my assessment on where I made a mistake and what areas I need to improve on to get my desired results next time.
By the way, the province of Sorsogon here in Bicol currently has a “1 Million Trees Challenge,” which is part of the LGU’s 7k Program. It is my prayer that the local government will not just target planting 1 million trees, but will also make sure that all 1 million trees will grow, survive, and thrive so generations after generations will benefit from them.
Back to the farm, I got a little bored during the latter part of the day yesterday so I decided to drive our old Innova around and started circling our Mango trees. When Dad saw me, he suggested I drive to the bushy part to flatten the tall weeds (I don’t see the importance of this prior to mowing, sorry Dad 😃) because he was planning on having them mowed later that afternoon.
Unfortunately, heavy rains poured so Dad had to postpone mowing the lawn. The good thing though was that somehow a huge portion of the weeds were flattened.
If I know how to drift, I would have drifted the Innova to make sure all the weeds really flattened out. But well, drifting an automatic car is quite a challenge, and I know Dad will make me walk home should I decide to do it. lol Just a little trivia about me, I have a need for speed that’s why I don’t drive. 😀
I’m a very impatient driver, and if you see a car that’s parked diagonally and all the rest of the cars are parked vertically, that’s probably mine. lol I think I was born to drive main battle tanks so I can easily ram it anywhere should the need arise. 😂
A Flowery Road
But thank God, there were no scratches and dents in any of our cars while I was the driver. That means I’m still a good driver, right? If my Mom’s still here though and saw me driving around in circles at a fast speed, I would’ve gotten about an hour long of her reminders and “whatnots” (love you, Mom).
So, let’s try to connect driving and the 1 million trees, shall we? lol Just try to envision driving down a winding road lined up with flowering trees. Ah yes, that would be such a splendid and a pretty romantic sight, don’t you think? I would love to see this as a reality one day, God willing, one tree at a time. ❤
This is the filtered expectation when you’re on a farm.
This is the unfiltered, no makeup reality with all the sweat, sunspots, and freckles. lol I took this photo trying to identify how this tree got 2 trunks.Twins, maybe?
“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26
How healthy is healthy? I wasn’t sure so I did my homework and here’s what I found – polyphenols.
Maybe by next year, I can also work as a Research Assistant with the extensive research I am doing now. 😉 So what are polyphenols and their role in fighting against cancer?
Lovely blooms.
Polyphenols On The Spot
“Polyphenols are a class of compounds found in many plant foods that includes flavonoids, phenolic acids, lignans, and stilbenes. There are more than 8,000 different types of polyphenols that have been identified so far. Some polyphenols that have gained popularity are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in green tea and resveratrol in grapes and wine.
“Most polyphenols work as antioxidants in the body, meaning they can combat environmental harm such as UV damage and pollution. Click here to learn more about antioxidants. In addition to their antioxidant activity, polyphenols have many other health benefits. Some studies strongly suggest that diets rich in polyphenols may offer protection against development of certain cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases.” – CSU, Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center
Here are other helpful links to articles and scientific journals that contain comprehensive information regarding polyphenols:
Meanwhile, I’d like to share with you some of the edible plants I started growing when I came to Bicol last year. I had no idea each of them contained large quantities of cancer-fighting components. They are very prolific growers, too.
I actually bought these seeds without knowing their full benefits. Indeed, God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
I wasn’t able to replant some of them this year though because of what happened to Mom. But I plan to resume growing them and increase the yield next year, God willing. Because “many are the plans of man, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”(Proverbs 19:21)
1. Blue Butterfly Pea
This is my favorite because the deep blue-violet color of the flowers just never fails to captivate me. And the funny thing about it is that I got these Blue Butterfly Pea seeds as a freebie (thank you, dear online seller) when I bought the seeds of some flowering trees I intend to propagate on our farm (do watch out for my next article on this). It’s also not just the regular variety of Blue Butterfly Pea, but she gave me the one that has double petals (yay!).
Blue Butterfly Pea Pod
Blue Butterfly Pea Vine
Double petal variety of the Blue Butterfly Pea.
To make the Blue Butterfly Pea tea, just add boiling water to 4 flowers and let it steep for 5-10 minutes.
You may read the articles below to learn more about this plant and its anti-cancer properties.
I usually steam this and eat it plain without any seasoning. Growing them is easy, but you would need at least 10 Okra plants to gather a decent harvest. It’s also best to harvest them young.
I love this fruit though it stinks quite a bit. When it comes to growing papaya, well, it just grows anywhere in the garden through bird droppings. Fascinating how nature finds a way to grow on its own, isn’t it?
This is my paternal grandmother’s (Maria’s her name) legacy that my Aunt is now continuing – tablea making. Tablea is unrefined chocolate made of sugar and ground, roasted cacao seeds. Tableas are always my favorite when making hot choco drinks because they’re perfect during the cold weather.
I started planting Mulberries at the farm last year as part of our poultry project there. But it might take a couple of years before we can harvest a lot of these berries. I’m so glad though that some of the cuttings started fruiting already. Unfortunately, I had to pluck them out to encourage root growth.
Newly transplanted Mulberry.
First Mulberry fruits came out only just a couple of months after we planted the cuttings.
The leaves were so huge. All thanks to my Mom for the extra TLC. 😉
Spinach Leaves
Spinach Plants
Ilocano Eggplant
If you are a believer of the “biophilia” concept, then the more you plant, the better it is for your entire well-being. And yes, I can totally relate to this meme I stumbled upon my social media newsfeed a couple of days ago. The world is getting cray cray every day, let’s just do all that we can to get by.
CTTO
We have to remember though that these edible, cancer-fighting plants may lower our risk of getting cancer, but I still highly recommend a regular checkup with your doctor. This reminder applies to me, too. 😉
P.S. I forgot to mention in this article of mine to include seeds in your Go Bag so you can plant in your Bug Out Location if food is already scarce. That means you may have to start practicing how to plant seeds now for higher chances of growing plants successfully later on.
P.P.S. Since today’s the last “Friday the 13th” of the year, I’m going to end this article with something upbeat to celebrate God’s goodness in our lives. 🙏 Try to see though how the two ideas in the sentence before this are connected. 😀
The Journeyman's Moments 