Soap for Jesus

Sometimes I think the world has a clearer grasp of right and wrong than we as Christians do, although they try to explain it wrongly. Christians tend to blur up the Bible in an attempt to accept everything they see around them. "Oh, God can't have said. God didn't mean." Well, maybe He did and you just don't want to accept it because you're putting your little code of what you think is right and wrong before His. While our faith is based on historical facts and logical processes, most of the day to day living is a sheer walk of faith. After all, isn't that why it's called our "faith"? Faith like a child. Trusting. Simple. Daddy loves me enough to catch me when I jump. Mommy loves me enough to keep me away from the hot iron and the cars on the road. Faith that while we don't understand and maybe never will understand God's ways or reasoning, He is right and just. Faith means grasping the simplicity of life and leaving the conf...

“Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself.” “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” “We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.” “We want not so much a Father but a grandfather in heaven, a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, 'What does it matter so long as they are contented?” “The human spirit will not even begin to try to surrender self-will as long as all seems to be well with it. Now error and sin both have this property, that the deeper they are the less their victim suspects their existence; they are masked evil. Pain is unmasked, unmistakable evil; every man knows that something is wrong when ...

Oh my gosh. I'm actually going. That was pretty much my reaction Wednesday night when Mom, oh so casually, directed George to also casually place an envelope containing the exact amount of money I needed to pay for my flight to America. Of course, it shouldn't have been any more than a little nice surprise, but it was. Because all the jigsaw pieces had to fall into the right place at exactly the right time. I think it started back at the beginning of this year/end of last year. Mom promised me that because of my helping out with some of the bills, she would gift me a trip to America when the money came through. I had two choices - the OYAN Winter Workshop, or Laura and Daniel's wedding. I chose the wedding. Which meant that when the date was set, the money would have to be through. I plotted out the trip, and asked Mom if I could take an extra trip - yes, all okay. Then the money didn't come through. Because the solicitors had to sort it out. Etc, etc. Poor Mom, ...

But as I post that and mean it from the bottom of my heart, that one can never have too many true friends, and one can never have too many messages from them, sometimes physical limitations get in the way. :P I have posted this on my G+ Wall and my blog, and am emailing it out to all my contacts as well. I've just taken on a secretary to deal with my rather large amount of messages/chat notifs/emails. I'd like to introduce you to my dear friend and adoptive sister Emma Alabaster, who will be answering some of the messages that come in to me. I will still be attempting to respond personally as much as possible, but sometimes I can't complete it on the weekend before the working week begins, and if this lapses too long, well. Some of you are waiting for a response after 2 years. Em will be operating on my FB and Gmail (and occasionally to perhaps answer blog comments) ONLY WHEN I HAVE SENT HER a private message stating that I need her to clear something for me. THIS...

Do you know the feeling of carrying the weight of knowledge that every single person you try to help is being let down by you to a small degree because of the amount of people you try to help while living? I pray you don't. But you might. Do you know the feeling of putting your arm around someone and snuggling them close in their anger and pain and tears, and your heart wanting to explode with the message of God's love and hope, and you're powerless to express it? I pray you don't. Maybe you do. Do you know the feeling of sitting next to your best friend and hearing them say they just want to be happy, and you know WHY they're lacking it, but you're painfully unable to open their eyes to their need of Christ? Do you ever stand and absorb the pain of those nearest to you, using your mind to understand their struggles, why they are where they are and realise you are standing knowing, but unable to do? Do you know what it's like to feel them lash out at ...

We cheered on the Olympians, and still more the Paralympians, with pride in our countries and awe at their amazing achievements. Those guys (and gals) sacrificed years and time and money and strength and purpose to one goal - to compete here. As Christians, we have our own Olympics to run. Our goal - which is Heaven, our struggle - which is life. And we are commanded to run in such a way as to win the prize - the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. I went to the opening of the Baptist Bible College in Telford area today. The guy who preached was Pastor David More. He talked on running the race. But not so much the beginning, as the ending. We need to end well. Many people, he said, start off enthusiastically and with zeal. But not so many end up finishing well, because they didn't run with dedication and purpose. We need to set our sights on Christ and following Him. That must be our goal. We may change immediate goals and our lives turn around in the me...

I heard a heart-breaking story today, but one that's only too often repeated - how a girl lacks the emotional connection she needs with her father, and therefore becomes easy prey to guys who promise to love and cherish - and abuse that privilege and then abandon her. Yes, I know that children who are well-raised often fall by themselves through no fault of the parents. However, I'm just touching on the majority of people that I've witnessed. Young men are far more likely to become addicted to pornography and girlfriends to boost their insecure self-esteem and girls are far more likely to dress immodestly (not counting in the peer pressure, of course) and move into relationships with boyfriend after boyfriend, even giving up their virginity, if they lack the emotional family connection back home - and most importantly, the influence of their father. When a guy has a close emotional bond with his father, and when a girl has an open communication and connection line wit...

Rode home on the bus yesterday after work, for the usual 45 mins - 1 hour after work. My friend Adam from up north was chatting me about half of the way home, bless him, which helped quite a bit. The remainder of the time I went from crying to calm to crying, until the other passengers asked if I was okay. >.> I had my Bible with me (I usually take it to work as the only time I get to read it is on my breaks) and randomly opened it for comfort, for a sign, for anything. I'd already flipped through it several times a day and found the marked passages from before that brought no comfort or meaning at all to a despairing heart. I opened it this time, looked down through tear-blurred eyes and my gaze fell upon Jeremiah 31:16,17. Thus says the Lord, “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord, “And they will return from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord, “and your ...

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 ...

Posted blogs or video blogs? Both have something going for them. For video blogs, you see a person. You hear their voice, watch their mannerisms, observe their surroundings, recognise emotion, faint at accents, recall memories. It puts pressure on for instant thought, creative speech and expressive body language. In short, it contains a lot more of the physical person in a small confined space of time and image. Written blogs, however, can be long - as long as you like. They require extensive and interesting patterns of thought, creative writing and usage of words to carry the reader through to the end. Painting pictures with words and imagery is completely necessary to carry an idea or a thought that you wish to share. You use eyes and ears and heart to read into what a person is saying through their words. You use fingers to type it out. People feel much freer to express themselves when they aren't visually exposed. In short, writing blogs is supported by the mastery of conversan...

Okay, I'm going to settle a little problem here, right here and right now. This is to prevent any further talking behind my back. I am busy. Very, very busy. In fact, most nights I'm so busy I'm actually falling asleep online. The other night, I even fell asleep in front of my mother online. Woke up until she went to bed, then fell asleep again until about 2am, when I finally gave up in despair and crawled off to bed. Most days, I get up somewhere around 6:30am and don't stop until 10:30pm. The times that I don't, I'm frantically rushing about online trying to sort out things like emails, and blog posts, and the S4C website. (The only thing I've been wasting time on is watching Dr. Who, and yes, I intersperse that with chatting.) I'm falling asleep a LOT online. I am very tired and constantly on the run. It's not that I don't want to talk. It's not that I'm ignoring you and leaving you in the past. It's that I'm very busy, and I...

There's an app on Facebook called 21 Questions. Recently, I found out someone had answered a question about me. In fact, LOADS of people have! Here are all the fascinating things I discover that people know about me, that I mostly didn't. Wow! Q: Do you think that Siân Garner-Jones is a good driver? A: No. Comment: Minor explosion inside. Although I'm sure that right now, they're pretty accurate. :P Q: Do you think that Siân Garner-Jones has smelly feet? A: No. Comment: Angelic smile beaming forth. I love thee, nice personage. XD Q: Do you think that Siân Garner-Jones is tone deaf? A: No. Comment: Inner radiant glow beams forth upon that person. You're wonderful. YOU LIKE MY SINGING! - maybe. Unless that response was off my siblings, who KNOW I'm not tone deaf and DON'T like my singing! XD Q: Do you think that Siân Garner-Jones spends more than an hour on facebook everyday? A: Yes. Comment: Someone knows me too well. V_V Q: Do you think that Siân Garner-Jone...

Warning: Unsuitable for children under the age of 14. "I am having a lot of difficulty with my feelings about late abortions - and all the pain that's there so much of the time after the baby is moving. So one day, in a need to arrive at a measure of clarity, I went into the room where they keep the fetuses before burning them. They were next to the garbage cans in papers buckets, like the take-home chicken kind. I looked inside the bucket in front of me. There was a small naked person in there, floating in a bloody liquid. He was purple with bruises and his face had the agonised tautness of one forced to die too soon. I then took off the lids of all the buckets and with a pair of forceps lifted each fetus out by an arm or a leg - leaving, as I returned them, an additional bruise on their acid-soaked bodies. Finally, I lifted out a very large fetus and read the label - Mother's name: C. Atkins; Doctor's name: Saul Marcus; Sex of the item: Male; Time of gestation: 24 we...

( WARNING: Some of this content may be unsuitable for younger children. ) You won't ever recover or get to your full potential in Christ as long as you're focused on the grey line. If you’re constantly saying, “I don't see the harm in it; as long as I'm not doing anything OBVIOUSLY WRONG, then it's got to be all right,” it's focusing on getting as close to the line as you can without stepping over, not on trying to get as far away from it as you can to please Christ. I feel like I want to go out down the clubs and spend time with some young people my own age in some tighter clothes and have a bit of alcohol and dance with a guy at a disco and do some necking in a car. My physical side's so achy I can't resist it. And the Bible doesn't say I can't. It says I shouldn't be immodest. Well, I'm not. I'm going to wear clothes that are a bit comfortable that make me look good without being revealing. It says I shouldn't get drunk. All r...

Linked to me earlier today by my big brother Jay Lauser . “Who am I?” By Dietrich Bonhoeffer (March 4, 1945) Who am I? They often tell me I would step from my cell’s confinement calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country-house. Who am I? They often tell me I would talk to my warders freely and friendly and clearly, as though it were mine to command. Who am I? They also tell me I would bear the days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly, like one accustomed to win. Am I then really all that which other men tell of? Or am I only what I know of myself? restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage, struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat, yearning for colours, for flowers, for the voices of birds, thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness, trembling in expectation of great events, powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance, weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making, fa...

Tonight, as you all know, OYANers convene in Olathe, Kansas. I'VE MET SOME!!!!!! *screech* We have, staying at the Garners, Wayfarer - Lindsey, Hakuna Matata - Erynn, Narniahannah - Hannah. Downstairs in the basement, silence and peace surrounds the sleeping forms of Rachel (Nairam), Grace (Grace), Carolyn, Erynn and Hannah. Um. Not in the corner of the next room on Jane's bed where Lindsey and I are curled up with my computer exploring Google Earth. At nearly 2 am. Lindsey moves over because of cramp in her foot and nearly sits on my eyelash curler. Me: Watch it! Lindsey: Oh, it's an eyelash curler. Me: Yes! It goes squeeze, umph and the eyelashes curl up. Lindsey: I know, I have one! Mine's Mary Kay. It's less sophisticated. Me: What's Mary Kay? Lindsey: You don't know who Mary Kay is...? Me:...nooooo? Lindsey: She's like this big make-up and skin care entrepreneur and she's really famous. Did you know Mary Kay even has her own copyrighted colour o...

So you need a rather rapid update. Recently, my Mom, Jose and myself have moved house. We went beyond the range of the BT Openzone hotspot, so I spent the first night scouring the list of connections. At present, I'm connecting to an open network called TP-LINK. I have two bars of connection, which is better than the BT one, and it breaks less frequently. On June 1st, Mom is having a BT landline installed, which will give us broadband back. God is very gracious. For the next three weeks, my life is going to be intensely busy before I practically disappear offline for two months. I will be taking my laptop and camera with me to the States, so watch out for updates, etc. :D Unfortunately, I won't be able to get a video camera, so you'll have to suffice with piccies. :) I'm trying to sort out the details of my trip at the moment, so when that is finalised as much as can be with the families I'd like to visit, I'll update you. For now, I'm trying to visit Texas,...

I have a slight problem. During my time on the internet, after I started to drift away from OYAN, I became more and more popularly accessible through chat. Now, I love chat. Don't get me wrong. I love all my people that want to talk to me, that choose to talk to me, and that put up with me. I love the variety of conversations, the happy chatter, the many people I can talk to at once. One of the most important things in life to me is my friends. Being there for people, listening and praying for them, trying to encourage them in their walk with the Lord. As far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest reasons the Lord put me on this planet is to bless the lives of others, and I really, really want to do that. Friends are more important to me than a lot of other things, and if I can put something selfish on one side to do that, then I will. But recently, as I get more involved with the blogging side and also with other internet sites, (and my emails), I find the pressure to chat beco...

So I've had a lot of new experiences really, as God changes my life and turns it upside-down, inside-out. I've learned to babysit, day in and day out, moving from a six-month old to five and two year olds. For a girl who wants a goal of thirty children (God and husband willing :P), maybe that's not such a bad thing! I've learned to cope with mildly primitive living conditions, with raw emotions and trying to support other people simply by listening, to dealing with shifts and changes, to eating things I don't like, doing things I don't like. Well, this experience was a new one, and I call it my first in home education - the reproductive system. We'll skip a small part, for while the childish candour had my sister, friends and myself in hysterical laughter, it might not be suitable for younger ears. Jamie (5) holds up the doll that his mom uses to teach her classes. (Toni is a doula, and teaches other women.) Jamie: "This is my baby, Rosie. Why haven...

Written by Luke, inspired by God, sent by a friend. Luke 7:36-50: When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love hi...