Soap for Jesus

I've had nothing to say for a long while. Kinda long while, anyway. I just want to take some excerpts from a few emails and chats and pray God they encourage you. "While you are alive in Christ, you still have a sin nature - a dead weight, a dead body, that you're chained to, much like a Siamese twin. That burden you carry around for the rest of your earthly life. And to prevent us from thinking of ourselves as gods, I think He lets us have the weaknesses to try and make us rely on Him more. All of us struggle with idolatry in every shape and form. It's not even as simple as a graven image. And any addiction when submitted to becomes Idolatry. And yes, the sin is big and black and monstrous in the eyes of a pure and holy God. But what we forget is that He's looking at us through the red blood of Christ - and we're already pure. The biggest struggle is what you're enduring - getting up and going again. The righteous man falls seven times and rises...

Oh Lord. How much longer? I've just pulled off the bandage to expose an arm of itchy, inflamed skin. The inside of my top is splattered with blood. My entire epidermis is so fragile that two small rakes of my fingers to relieve the endless irritation causes blood to either ooze out or spurt out. Then my skin dries up because of the blood and the scratches and it feels like parchment being stretched. My shoulder is so raw from hand foot and mouth that I can't put anything on it without a bandage. My back is bleeding and Lord, I can't see. I took the liberty to wear an ankle length - more like floor length - skirt today with no socks. And Lord, my legs are now a mass of inflamed, swollen bleeding red flesh. Burning so bad I could cry. And have. Lord. I asked You to use this for Your glory. Then show me how. Patience through pain, physical and emotional? I'm guessin' You know all this. You know what it feels like, far, far more, to be splattered and stin...

Tweet earlier: I stink of alcohol. And blood. Not mine. Will explain later. Please pray for my new friend Noel. Thanks. :) Walking home from the X51, I was heading to the 404 when I approached these three dark-skinned kids (you know the type, baseball caps, etc) around this older white man on the floor. At first I thought they were beating him up, but one was offering his hand and another attempting to help him stand, which didn't quite make sense. On asking what was going on, they said that they'd seen him collapse and were just trying to help him back up again. Two community support officers (kinda like police backup but without much power) came up to us then, and they told me (I'm going to tell it you all in one bunch so you don't have to try and piece it together like I did) basically, that he'd been drinking (Noel claims he hasn't drunk all day, he's just on a hangover) and that he'd walked into a window earlier uptown, and that he'd been...

I received a letter this morning from my sister Juliet. In it, she told me a story. Now it is my turn to tell a story. This is for you, Juliet. Once upon a time. No, that is the beginning of a fairytale. Once there was a small bird. He was brave, bold, reckless and fearless. Everywhere he went, he brought a song, a note of joy into someone's heart. This bird had an unusual tale. He was raised up by his mama and papa birds in their safe nest, with all his other siblings. He was taught to do all the things that he should do. How to sing beautiful praises to their Creator, how to fly, how to eat nourishing food, and many other birdish things. But in his heart, he rebelled against doing all the normal healthy things that a bird should do. He wanted to be different, and he felt his heart calling him away. But at the same time, he knew that it was bad for him to want to be other than what he was made to be. So one night, he flapped his small wings and flew away...far, far...

Finally! I figured out why I'm so busy online! And...it makes me happy cause I've figured it out. Are you curious? Now I can manoeuvre stuff to make time, so I don't feel so bad about never being on Holy Worlds, OYAN or the Rebelution. Here's a comprehensive list of my online activities - social networking, etc. Walk With Us - my personal blog Poema - my poetry overspill blog Snapshots - a collaborative story that isn't going very well at present, on a girl with a broken family that suffers with abuse. In the Footsteps of Hymns - a blog on the meanings behind the dear, getting-forgotten old fashioned hymns. Rejuvenating the RAFA - my newest blog coming out on becoming a member of, growing into and starting recruitment for the Royal Air Force Association, and my ideas on how to get younger people involved. MademoiselleSJ - my Twitter handle Sian Garner-Jones - my profile on G+ Sian Garner-Jones on Facebook On Tumblr LilCorpJanie18 ...

I want to heal. Not because I want to be pain-free. Because I expect to feel pain in the future. If I don't, I'll be worried. No, I want to heal so I can minister to others without being focused on and blinded by pain. I want to use that pain - to USE it. Not to be lost in it. God can use everything - and that is why He has safely brought and is bringing me through. I want to use it to reach out to others - to know the pain in their broken hearts and not to guess at it. To give, love and live the love of Christ and be a vessel to bring healing to them. If you don't have any pain in your Christian life; be worried. If there is no pain, no matter how small or large - if you're just gliding along on a peaceful smooth trail - start praying. For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. It doesn't have to be cyclonic. Just see if there's somewhere God is testing you or growing you. Even if it's trusting Him with school scores. ;) It's not because you haven...

It's painful. And it's sore. It's so sore I spend washtime dabbing water on portions of my skin because if I shower properly, I end up crying with pain. It's inherited genetically. I remember Daddy telling me his started when he was 19. It went all over his entire body - including his face. He had the wet kind - weeping, they call it - on his face. He had to go to work every day like that. And he said he felt disgusting, like a leper. Until he took aloe vera tablets, which reduced his eczema to some kind of controllable level. It started when I was a kid. Behind the backs of my knees and in the crooks of my arms. Then it faded until I only had it occasionally on the elbow of my right arm. Last year, it flared up again. REALLY bad. On my arms. Then I went to America. It was bad when I arrived. Came back a little in Oregon due to the dryness of the air. But otherwise, it was cleared. I forgot I had ever had eczema. Then I came home. And started work. ...

A thousand novels could be written and still not all could be explained of the complex, intricate creation of love… Where care meets protection there must be a balance. Love never hurts in the name of care. Love has self-control. Love stays through hurt. Love breathes. Love is gentle. Like a friend with patience that abounds, love listens. Love does not condemn. Love looks at others before itself. Never does love find blame in others to clear its name. Love is merciful, pure, kind, and forgiving. Love remembers the past, but does not let it damage the future. Where love stands, all can be overcome. Love should be calming. Like a blanket that keeps you warm and a roof that stops the rain. A sword for protection though not wielded against you. Love is safe and sound; calm and peace. A refuge from the storm of life. Love is not prejudice. Love is free from seeing self and viewing image or one’s own safety. Love sees what is and not what is wanted. Love does not change over t...

It's an interesting title. For a blog post. It'll be even more interesting as a film - if it gets made. “To Turn Back Time” is the story of John, who has just graduated college, when he wakes up one morning to discover that his long deceased father is alive. After getting to know his father—something he’s longed for his entire life—he discovers his dad’s presence isn’t the only thing that’s different. The rest of his family has changed too, along with his own ability to help his girlfriend Alyssa through the death of her mother. In the end, he’s faced with a terrible choice: to stay in the world where his father lives and lose the man he’s become, or give it up for the sake of the love of those around him. The story of “To Turn Back Time” is intensely personal to writer / director, Keifer Lucchi, who lived through the death of his father at the age of seven. As memories and buried emotions started to resurface, Lucchi allowed himself to deal with what had happe...