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, 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
Because I’m a deviant (in a positive way), I tend to challenge the norm. Society’s norms dictate love poems be all mushy and romantic. But how about if we put a little twist to them? Here’s how it’s gonna look like:
A DEADLY KIND OF LOVE
by Christine Lailani
Can I stab you with love?
Or maybe choke you with joy?
What if I silence you with kisses?
Or hit you with sweetness?
Do I burn you with passion?
Strike you with compassion?
Then break you with kindness?
But crush you with gentleness?
And we all know how the story ended – they still lived happily ever after. But thankfully, nobody died. 😅
This is my lame attempt to copy a scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I was asleep when my college prof was discussing the play in class, so I just gave the plot a new twist. lol
And please no, not the balcony. It’s overrated. I’ll leave the setting to your imagination. 🖤
So, if you still felt alive after reading this poem, then let’s do a cha-cha. 💃
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
God is truly amazing. He knows how tiring (but very productive) this day was for me, and He knows exactly what will make my heart flutter.
When I was about to pick some Blue Butterfly Pea flowers for tonight’s tea, this was the spectacular view that greeted me – a beautiful butterfly perched just beside the flower. ❤️
Blue Butterfly Pea Flower & A Real Butterfly
And because I’m physically exhausted, my brain can no longer come up with enough words to describe the following random thoughts that popped up in my head in the last couple of days. You might want to search them on Google instead. 😉
– Armageddon(not the movie)
– Revelation 16:16
– woman, child, and dragon
– Caden
For Caden, I just had this sudden thought last week of having a baby boy for my firstborn (if I can choose 😀). And I saw the name Caden while browsing on the internet, and I felt like I also wanted that name as one of my choices for my baby’s name if ever.
My other choice for my future (if God wills it) child’s name is Zaphen, which is short for Zaphenath, Joseph “The Dream Interpreter’s” Egyptian name. When I search for Caden on the internet, it means “warrior,” “fighter,” “Spirit of Battle,” or “Spirit of War.”
That’s all for today. A blessed night, everyone! 🙏❤️
I am 80% introvert. The home is my life. Give me a book or in our generation now, the internet, and I can spend the entire day just reading. I sometimes forget to eat. If only books are edible, too. lol
If I’m not reading, then I’m tinkering with DIY projects. I love systems and processes and deciphering how things work. I just hate Math though, so no formulas and computations, please. But if you’re a Mathematician, do know that I’m very much intrigued by how your brain works. 😀
But as we all know it, adulting requires we do more than just read books or devote our entire time to hobbies or projects. We don’t have a choice, do we?
So, that 20% that I do get to go out to buy stuff that I need, do important errands, or spend quality time with people I love, I make sure the experiences will be worthwhile and definitely one for the books.
I also prefer to commute via public transportation when going out. I get to observe people a lot and this is how I get ideas for my next story. The solo backpacking concept has always been a dream of mine. But I already dismissed the idea because nowadays, traveling alone to unfamiliar places is not safe, especially if you’re a woman.
What Introverts Do When Outdoors
So, where do introverts like me go when not hibernating? Here are some places where you can find them.
My first BIA flight.Thanks to my sis-in-law, Heather, for this awesome capture! ❤
Do watch these breathtaking videos of Mt. Mayon during my flight. She’s simply stunning, always a “Daragang Magayon.“ ❤
How to get to places without getting bored inside the car? Take selfies.lol
Farm girl mode featuring the Japanese Tunnel during World War II.
Tinipak River
That photo where the subject became part of the background. lol
Sorsogon BoulevardSunset
Sta. Magdalena, Sorsogon
Baguio City’s Session Road
Palogtoc Falls/Irosin, Sorsogon
UP Diliman Bike Ride
Mt. Daraitan Peak w/ my hubby. This was a “budol” climb because we weren’t informed it’s not for beginners. lol But thanks be to God, we made it to the top ALIVE. 💪
I thought about writing this year-in-review (or year-end review) because I usually do a social media hibernation every December as part of my birthday prayer and fasting. I’m going to be another year older, yet another year wiser. 37 years have been tough, but I’m looking forward to what lies ahead than what is behind.
P.S. All credits go to my husband for taking these photos. Today’s Day 1 of us living apart, too, so I’m posting these photos as a remembrance of another meaningful chapter. It’s painful to lose people, but I know this is God’s way of testing my faith in Him, a way to refine our characters so we can be deserving to be called His sons and daughters.
Pained but sanctified. ❤
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” – Proverbs 31:25
P.P.S. I still have 115 rough drafts of articles that I need to revise and post here. They are more than enough for this year even if I post every day. lol How to stop the brain from thinking? 🤔
The Journeyman's Moments 