Chronicles of Charyl

Driving is a very important aspect of our lives here no matter which country you come from. Most of us, if not all, are equipped with this skill so we can carry out our errands and go to work more conveniently. Because of this, when our driving skills get hampered by whatever reason, it can be devastating to our emotions. Imagine this for your elderly loved one when they suddenly encounter events that make driving unsafe for them. The emotional impact of learning how driving is no longer safe can affect your aging loved one’s confidence. While there are exceptional providers of transportation services that can be safe travel options, your loved one still needs to be informed when driving is already unsafe for them. With that, here are some tips to help you start a comfortable and respectful discussion. ·          Select a time and day when your loved one is in a great mood. At this point, they may be open to discussing the subject of...

Are you the primary caregiver of your aging loved one? You could be  concern ed with a lot of aspects about their wellbeing. Even simple activities , such as caring for the hair , can now seem challenging due to their aging condition. Yet, even simple activities as hair care can already improve their wellness. To encourage you in helping your aging loved one do make this matter seem lighter, consider these helpful tips on senior hair care. 1.     Be Cheerful When you’re attending to your elderly loved one’s hair, strive to keep a cheerful attitude no matter what happens. When you’re fixing their hair, you might hear or experience unpleasant reactions from them. When this happen s , maintain your cheerfulness. A positive attitude is contagious and your senior loved one will eventually feel relaxed. 2.     Do Simple Styles As the caregiver, aim for the comfort and convenience of your senior loved one. Select simple hair styles ...

"Come on! Buy me! Buy me!” The light gray pair of pants called out to the elderly man with a cane, who was intently inspecting every clothing that was hung in that corner of Men’s Essentials store.   It was almost dusk, and the pair of pants had been depressed the whole day.   He was just told by his seller that if he won’t be purchased on that day, he would be put on discounted sale.   He never liked to be put on sale because he knew what it means – his value just depreciated. “You’re going to be one splendid pair of slacks! The president of any nation would be glad to wear you!” He remembered his Tailor telling him, as he smoothened every edge of his cloth, and slowly handled the machine to tie up his loose ends.  And oh how he believed his Tailor so much!  He trusted him with his every fiber; that he had been made into a unique and comfortable pair of pants every man would love to wear.  But it’s already a year since he was put on display on Men...

Sometimes, or perhaps most of the time for most, when love has not been reciprocated, remember this: It’s ok.  Love isn’t meant to be reciprocated.  It’s meant to be given and received by the recipient. That’s all.  The reciprocation is only icing on the cake.  Without it, love still is worth celebrating simply because in itself, love is good.  So many heartaches could have been relieved if we only truly embrace and live out this truth. Ang laing version kay.. It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. #GugmaPaMore

Well, speaking of moving on, I’m sure that for some of us, the phrase “move on” is such a hard pill to swallow, right?   It’s so easy to say we have to move on, but the actual experience of moving on is not automatic.  There’s the part where you’ll have to go over memories that hurt you.  There’s the part that you have to swallow your pride and admit that it’s over; swallow your pride and accept that you also played a part in that heartache.  There’s the part that you have to cry and cry again because it just hurts so much.  There’s the part that you look down on yourself and drown in self-pity, and crave for someone to affirm that No, you’re not what you think you are.  And there’s the part that you have to repeatedly confess forgiveness…forgiveness for yourself, and forgiveness for the other person.  Can you relate with this?  That’s what happens when people tell you "move on", or when you have to pick yourself up and say, I h...

Alone.     The pink kite flipped right and left, back and forth, as it sailed through that breezy afternoon, above my favorite trees.     Later on, it wouldn’t be seen anymore, because the night is catching up with the sun amazingly fast.   “Hey kite!  What are you doing up there?  You seem to be going nowhere!” I called out to it.   “I don’t know!”  It called back.  “I was just enjoying the strong wind, you see.  My little friend was just happily pulling on my strings, and I’m not sure what happened next!”   “Oh! Your strings are cut!” I shouted back, now sounding alarmed as I noticed the dangles following the kite.  “You’re going to be lost!”   “I know! I know! And I’m afraid!  I have no idea where I’m going!”  The pink kite is not really that near, but somehow, I can sense its voice quivering.  Maybe it’s crying?  Out of fear?...

“Hi! My name is Hetty!”   A fair-skinned beauty sits primly on a small table while mustering all her effort to extend her right arm, as if to receive a handshake.  Her curly white hair which attractively adorned her head lay loose.  She’s wearing striped jumper shorts that matched her plain, white, collared shirt, which supposedly were to attract attention.   But they did not.   “Hi! I’m Hetty!” She called again to a pigtail-haired girl, who was grinning with her two front-teeth missing, and pointing at her while tugging at her mom’s hand.  Well, the mom just dragged her away, unmindful of her fading smile and teary eyes.   “Sigh! I guess I’m going to stay here forever.  Oh! I hope not!”  Hetty sadly bowed her head.  She looked around her, and saw the other stuffed dolls beside her.   “I know I’m better than them!”  She said to herself.  “Look,” talking to ...

I am a colt tied up on a tree.   Many things have tied me up actually. My guilt for risky relationships. My laziness. My lack of faith. My lack of prayer. My ability to put things off. Many to mention. I feel so tied up - useless, fruitless and just waiting for who-knows-what. What I don't know is that outside of my village I've been seen by God-in-the-flesh Himself. He had seen me from afar. He had known my thoughts. He had seen the potentials I don't see. And He's going to untie me from all my inhibitions.  He was going to fetch for me. And He did.  Two of His disciples came for me. They were very intentional. They were very specific. They came for Me.   I was that colt tied to that tree that Jesus wanted for Himself.  I'll slowly take it in.  Jesus...wanted...me! But..how come?  After all that I've been through, He still wanted me - to use me for the fulfillment of a prophecy about Him, the awaited Messiah of the world.  He would enter Je...

(Reflections of a consistent patient) So there I was inside my pink, floral blanket, curled up on my right side, trembling as if in cold though I was burning with high fever, and with the throbbing pain at the inner back portion of my skull as bonus.  I could feel it beating in sync with my pulse.  I thought my temples would burst any minute.  All my joints were also crying in pain, but I felt too weak to massage any of them.  It was Tuesday, past three in the morning, and as soon as I was awakened by that excruciating headache, I was not getting back to sleep.  All my roommates are in their dreamland for sure.  I wished I was at home where I could just cry out “Tay!” with that agonizing voice, and then my father would just scramble to my side and touch my forehead and massage my elbows and knees which “magically” heals us (that’s what I thought as a child).  But I’m no longer at home, and my father has already passed away some three years bac...

Angelic minds, they say, by simple intelligence Behold the Forms of nature.  They discern Unerringly the Archtypes, all the verities Which mortals lack or indirectly learn. Transparent in primordial truth, unvarying, Pure Earthness and right Stonehood from their clear, High eminence are seen; unveiled, the seminal  Huge Principles appear. The Tree-ness of the tree they know - the meaning of Arboreal life, how from earth's salty lap The solar beam uplifts it; all the holiness Enacted by leaves' fall and rising sap; But never an angel knows the knife-edged severance Of sun from shadow where the trees begin, The blessed cool at every pore caressing us -An angel has no skin. They see the Form of Air; but mortals breathing it Drink the whole summer down into the breast. The lavish pinks, the field new-mown, the ravishing Sea-smells, the wood-fire smoke that whispers Rest. The tremor on the rippled pool of memory That from each smell in widening circle goes, ...

The same everlasting Father who cares for you today, Will take care of you tomorrow, and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering Or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it… Be at peace then, And put aside all anxious thoughts, Put aside all imaginations. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today, Will take care of you tomorrow, and every day. Today, be at peace.. Tomorrow, be at peace.. And Every day, be at peace. [From the hymn by Haven of Rest Quartet, as quoted from St. François de Sales ]

“May grace and peace be multiplied to [me] in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”  (2 Peter 1:2, ESV) This verse really struck me now, and I can’t believe I’ve totally missed this before!  This verse just tells me that grace and peace can be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ.  Or, another way of saying it is that the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ has the capacity/power to multiply grace and peace to me. Now, this struck me because I pride myself as someone who has quite many knowledge of God and of Christ (as far as information is concerned).  I mean, that’s why I’ve volunteered in a student ministry even if I’ve already graduated in college, worked in a broadcast ministry for seven years now, enrolled myself in theological and missions courses, read my Bible in three different versions already, and having Philip Yancey and CS Lewis as my favourite Christian writers.   It’s because of these (and more) that I’ve ...

... that God cares double for the person/s I care about.

Biblical:  Hebrews 11. Fantastical: “One word, Ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm goin...

I really had this weird dream last night.  Sure, I did have many other dreams since as far back as I can remember, but there are dreams that are just so disturbing they really stand out in one’s memory.  And last night’s was one of those. I dreamt that I was already a ghost, but I didn’t know it.  I still kept on spending time with my family and friends, talking with them.  I didn’t actually realize they weren’t able to see me.  But one day, for some reason, my older sister saw me (which turned out that I actually and supposedly let her see me), and she was the one who revealed that I’ve already died.  And I asked how I died, and she said I was hacked to death.  I was so shocked and scared at what she said, especially that I realize I didn’t remember being physically hurt.  I woke up in the middle of the night panting because of that.  And I remember asking myself while still in my dream, why wasn’t I in paradise?  Wasn’t that w...

One of the songs I learned to sing from a really wonderful friend, with prayers that she may taste & see how highly, deeply & greatly she's loved by Him.  MIZPAH! :)

My Train Wreck Conversion As a leftist lesbian professor, I despised Christians. Then I somehow became one. by:  Rosaria Champagne Butterfield ------------- This is a testimony that both blessed and stirred me. Surely when God transforms, there's no hint of the past at all.  The apostle Paul definitely knew what he was talking about in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

You were reaching through the storm Walking on the water Even when I could not see In the middle of it all When I thought You were a thousand miles away Not for a moment did You forsake me Not for a moment did You forsake me After all You are constant After all You are only good After all You are sovereign Not for a moment will You forsake me Not for a moment will You forsake me You were singing in the dark Whispering Your promise Even when I could not hear I was held in Your arms Carried for a thousand miles to show Not for a moment did You forsake me After all You are constant After all You are only good After all You are sovereign Not for a moment will You forsake me Not for a moment will You forsake me And every step every breath you are there Every tear every cry every prayer In my heart at my worst When my world falls down Not for a moment will You forsake me After all You are constant After all You are onl...