Soap for Jesus

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, ...

I am naturally a strong woman. So are all the women in our family, in usually most areas bar one. Currently, I'm looking more and more towards living my life as a single woman (which is really not up for discussion as all I usually get is jeers and you-can't-do-its), but as this post has been in my head for some time, I figured I'd write it anyway. Women all have some kind of guy-requirement list that they look for in a man, particularly in a man they'd like to marry. Part of the "qualifiers" I look for in a guy are not just that he is a Christian, growing actively in God and seeking to put Him first in everything, not just that he is tender-hearted but wise, not just that he is thrifty but not stingy, but that he is stronger than me. Believe me, that's very hard. *grin* I've only met two guys in my life that are. My Achilles heel makes it so there has to be a guy who is stronger than me in my life. Most girls hate me when I say it, but to some degree,...

You know those points in life where things just hit you? It came to me as I was washing up in the kitchen, snuggled in my fluffy grey dressing gown, the electric light off and the warm glow of the sunset fading in through the window, Michael Card's Celtic music playing in the background. I'm 21. And finally life seems to be coming, in a way. So many plans and hopes and dreams buzzing through my head, so much that is likely to and so easily can be smashed. "I'm fine on my own," I said aloud, laughed, looked up and sighed. These moments where I'm the only one in the house and can talk out loud on everything with God - cause He already knows it - and know the intimate closeness of Him in my spirit. "No, I'm not. But I'm okay with that. You're here, and You'll be with me until the time is right." Marriages are sprouting up all around me as my friends begin to pair off, and the middle-aged-21 crisis struck me. Not so much because...

So I was pretty stoked to write on an issue of waiting on God recently, which was going to be today's blog post. I'm not writing very much this year. :P Oh well, there has been a lot going on! Emotionally, if nothing else. No, you don't get an update on that. Another upcoming post will be focused on marriage to someone with a past, and on a lot of budding relationships recently that have been cut short by either "caring" parents or by the participants themselves because of something to do with the person's past. That's still developing though. :P Tonight an issue cropped up where a friend of mine asked me what I thought on him being married to his girlfriend with a witness before God and outside of a legal wedding. My response was that I'd have to think and pray about it. Still not done on the praying issue yet, but here's some of the thinking - thanks to the 15 voters who chose this post. ;) In an ideal world, church and state would be uni...

Hands cradling a tall, slim mug of hot chocolate, I leaned back in the red leathery chair and stared at the patterned white ceiling. Music from John Waller - "While I'm Waiting" played low in the background. I'm waiting, Lord. But peaceful? Oh yeah...painful. And not easy? Boy, that's an understatement. I hate my hurting heart. Still trying to figure out how pain like that can be so bad that it physically hurts. Raising my left hand, I stared, blank, at the wedding ring on the fourth finger. Using my knees to hold the mug, I twisted the ring, as usual, looking for the join, but it's never there. Why? Because it's a perfect circle. No beginning; no ending. It's endless. Love endures everything. I'm blinking back more tears as I'm writing this. Apparently it is possible to cry for two days. This is God's love for us. And this is how we should love one another. Love is patient . Love is kind. Love is not jealous . Love does...

Once upon a time... There was a princess whose parents, at her birth, gave her a special gift. Her first kiss. I am here to tell you another part of the story. The prince and princess did not only swap their kisses on their wedding day. When God had brought them together, they both also held one small gold box each, gifted to them by the Creator Himself. Opened many times in many ways to bring joy to those around them, this was the first time the gold boxes would actually be exchanged, although the Prince and Princess had shown it to each other often before as they grew closer in love and to their God. On that special day, as they exchanged life-long vows, a covenant never to be broken, the Prince and the Princess took their boxes, and gave them one unto the other, then placing them together and opening them as the Sun burst out of the clouds, pouring bright sunshine down in blessing. The gold box was a unique box indeed, for as soon as the rays of the Sun touched it, it ...

You Never Marry the Right Person Timothy Keller Thursday, 05 January 2012 How our culture misunderstands compatibility. In generations past, there was far less talk about “compatibility” and finding the ideal soul-mate. Today we are looking for someone who accepts us as we are and fulfills our desires, and this creates an unrealistic set of expectations that frustrates both the searchers and the searched for. In John Tierney’s classic humor article “Picky, Picky, Picky” he tries nobly to get us to laugh at the impossible situation our culture has put us in. He recounts many of the reasons his single friends told him they had given up on their recent relationships: “She mispronounced ‘Goethe.’” “How could I take him seriously after seeing The Road Less Traveled on his bookshelf?” “If she would just lose seven pounds.” “Sure, he’s a partner, but it’s not a big firm. And he wears those short black socks.” “Well, it started out great ... beautiful face, great body, nice smile. Everything ...

By John Blake, CNN (CNN) –True love doesn’t wait after all. That’s the implication in the upcoming October issue of an evangelical magazine that claims that young, unmarried Christians are having premarital sex almost as much as their non-Christian peers. The article in Relevant magazine, entitled “(Almost) Everyone’s Doing It,” cited several studies examining the sexual activity of single Christians. One of the biggest surprises was a December 2009 study, conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, which included information on sexual activity. While the study’s primary report did not explore religion, some additional analysis focusing on sexual activity and religious identification yielded this result: 80 percent of unmarried evangelical young adults (18 to 29) said that they have had sex - slightly less than 88 percent of unmarried adults, according to the teen pregnancy prevention organization. The article highlights what challenges abstinence movem...

You know the ink tattoos. Some people like them, some people regard it as too near the real thing to not be almost a sin. I'm not debating, but I do partial compromise. :P On days when I need to remember stuff, I'll use my arm as a piece of paper. It's far less likely (hopefully!) to get lost than paper is! Some things one needs to remember are dates, times, places, to-do items. Other times - it's a simple Biblical truth. If you remember, one of my favourite recent ones has been "Love Endures Everything". For the purposes of this blog, we'll narrow it down and say that there are two kinds of love. Sentimental romantic love, based off feelings and emotional spurts, and true love, based off something much deeper. The first type is what most of today's early marriages are made off, and that is why there are so many divorces. People promise for better or for worse, and when the tough times come and attempt to tear them apart, it's easily done because t...

Written by a 7-8 year old. I found it highly amusing, so thought I'd share it before disposing of the scrap of paper it's written on. 1. Are you a Christian? 2. When were you saved? 3. Are you Amillenial, Pre. or other? 4 Do you believe in evolution, Gap Theory, Millions of years, or other? 5. Will you ever divorce me or go off with other women or have secret affairs? 6. Are you Homosexual? 7 Tell me if you ever get bored of me? 8. Will you "train up your child in the way he should go" so "when he is old he will not depart from it"? 9. Will you buy a big house for Mom + Dad to live in? 10. Will you live here This is completely accurate to how it was written. I'm somewhere between laughter and tears. Some of these are no longer important to me. Some are majorly important and I'm glad they were drilled into me at such a young age. And...some show me too much of the child. ~Jane

The love story of the year so far is this one: Here comes the pride! Words by: JENNA SLOAN, Pictures: ARTHUR EDWARDS Published: 04 Apr 2011 Add a comment (12) STANDING proudly at the front of the chapel, Rifleman Paul Jacobs turns to greet his beautiful bride in front of 130 family and friends. It is a significant moment for any groom, but Paul's wedding on Saturday was even more emotionally charged than most. The 22-year-old, who was awarded a George Medal for bravery, will never see his new wife Louise. For Paul was blinded by a Taliban bomb blast while trying to recover a colleague's body in Afghanistan - and Louise was the healthcare assistant who tenderly helped him at Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital. Louise, 25, fought back tears as she said: "I'm so proud of Paul and everything he's achieved. I know he'll never be able to see me but that's not something I think about. I look past the disability and see Paul as my husband, just like anyone else. ...

If I ever get married, this is the music I want to walk down the aisle to. It's beautiful. Hope you don't mind, husband-to-be-whoever-you-are! XD :P

I am confused. I have three deep desires, longings, dreams, whatever, within my heart. And they appear to be completely incompatible. The first is the remnant from what I used to be before my last backslide. I had and have still a passionate desire to serve God and my country. I love my country with all the patriotic fire I possess and I would willingly die to serve her. As an Air Cadet Corporal, growing and developing within the Air Training Corps organisation, my passion, interest in the Royal Air Force and the strong stand God enabled me to make at my Squadron for His glory seemed to point to one thing. I was and am aware it will be an extremely hard life, that my desire to serve Christ and my passion for my country may sometimes seem at odds; my antipathy to men, attitude towards marriage, and the result of my first serious backslide left me convinced that singleness was for me – as well as the fact that it is a higher calling than marriage and I wanted – and want – to reach ...

I typed out so long a comment to my sister Samills's post, "My Kind of Modesty" , that I decided to put it into a blog. :) *faint smile* 1 - I understand this type of view too well. 2 - ....how stereotypical of the modern Christian's viewpoint that old ways won't change the world. 3 - How in the world is the world supposed to tell that you're any different if you look, talk and act their fashion? Isn't that called...compromise? Or worse...being a chameleon Christian? W: "So what's your name?" MC: "Ellie." W: "You're pretty cute. You free on Sunday?" MC: "Na, actually I go to church. Free afterwards though." W: "Oh right, you a Christian or something?" MC: "Yeah." *slight pause* MC: "Say, you know the latest song out? I think it really hits the mark." Umm. Okay. Before I'm judged (for being judgmental, pardon me). That might not be exactly the kind of conversation, but I'm...

WARNING: I'm not sure about the appropriateness of this for guys...so if you think it's bad, stop reading. Okay? I read Jay Lauser’s excellent post on A New Kind of Modesty (which you really, really, really should read, though I won’t post it up seven times like my big sister C’rissie :P) yesterday, and thought I would like to blog my struggle and weakness in that area for...encouragement? General opinion? Not quite sure, although it certainly wasn’t out of self consideration. :P Then I read C’rissie’s post connected with Jay’s, A Rant on Modesty ;), which you can read here . And decided that I felt too embarrassed after reading that, because they were both so good and covered the ground enough, so I wouldn’t. Well, this morning, I changed my mind. (Although after rereading it again just, with all the comments, I feel quite small about posting this...*hits send before I rethink*) It’s not too often that I gain a victory over my worldliness to be happy in the clothes I’m weari...

I have just put down a book by author and pastor Robert Lewis, called Raising a Modern-Day Knight after an hour's perusal. Or flicking through and reading the bits that caught my eye. It's all about talking to fathers and trying to guide them on how to relate to their sons. Showing them how much their sons need them to look up to; how much they need to be there and give love and support and affirmation and identity to their sons. At least, that is what I took from it. Why did I pick it up? Because. I was in one of my own usual moods; I was sitting next to my own dad and listening to some remarks between my parents - and I leaned back in my chair at the table and cast my eyes up at the bookcase next to me. This caught my eye, and I reached up and pulled it down, smiling satirically. Now, this should be interesting to see. What Biblical men really should be like, huh? HAHAHA. Because, as I've mentioned before, I have a pathetic amount of distrust, dislike and disrespect for ...