My boss, Craig Gross of XXXChurch.com wrote an incredible article for CNN.com yesterday.

People are blowing up the comments section and it even landed on the front page!

You can go read the full article here!  

*Guilt for all of the people that I have hurt, wronged and caused to worry.

*Shame for the things I have done in pursuit of a "fix".

*Intense joy for the fact that God pulled me [and continues] to pull me out of it, against all odds.

*Thankfulness for all of the wonderful friends and family who have rallied around me and supported me through the years...

But I think most of all, I still deal with a great deal of anger.... anger when I think about all of the things that my addictions have taken from me and from those around me.

How many things have I missed out on because I was too messed up to function?

How many opportunities have I passed up on because I let my food addiction/substance abuse/self-injury/depression/you-name-it dictate who I am and what I do?

Although I am not and angry person, and I don't think that it's healthy to maintain prolonged anger, I'm thankful for the anger because it's great fuel for me to continue on my recovery journey.

Everyone who is in recovery from an addiction knows that no matter how far along you are in your recovery, there are still days where is takes absolutely everything in you not to throw in the towel. I started my recovery journey in the summer of 2006 and still, 4 years later, it's a daily battle. And while I am at peace with that... I am determined to not let the battle dictate my life.

I'm taking back what belongs to me.

How excited is everyone about Fall?

I REALLY am, especially because Las Vegas has finally started to cool down [not much, it's still above 100, but enough to make it more tolerable!]

I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to Christine! Christine is the fabulous counselor who answers all of your questions in the the "Ask a Counselor" section! Here is a little more about her...

Christine has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology and received a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.  She is a licensed by the State of Pennsylvania as a Licensed Professional Counselor and is a National Certified Counselor.  Her professional memberships include the American Counseling Association, the Pennsylvania Counseling Association, and the American Association of Christian Counselors.  She has over nine years experience working with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families.  Christine maintains a limited private practice in northeast Pennsylvania and especially enjoys working with adolescents and their families.  Christine is a devoted walker, enjoys reading, and loves hanging out with her husband and son.

So please, give Christine a warm welcome to the site!

Basic training went fast. I had fun I got to shoot guns, throw a grenade, run obstacle courses, and see what 3 lbs of C4 inside a claymore mine exploding looks and feels like. After basic training I went on to my first of two AIT schools (Advanced Individual Training for the civilians) that would be where they train you in your army specific job. Normally you only have one AIT but because the job I signed up for is a field the military considers “Voluntary” based on how hazardous it is along with the fact that there was a 90% wash out rate from difficulty they train you in a regular job in order to keep you in the army should you fail. The first one was 10 weeks long then after that I would get sent down to Florida for the second one but life didn't play out that way.

After completing the 10 weeks instead of leaving I was put on security hold because my top secret clearance hadn't been approved yet. So for the first few months of security hold I stayed in the same barracks I had already been in for school but moved to an area where holdovers were kept. The holdover area consisted of people who were on security hold, medical hold, PT hold or those that were getting kicked out for whatever reason. It was pretty laid back we just did little jobs around the barracks during the day then hung out at night. Generally people get moved on to where they should be going but I was there on hold for a year. Within that year the made me permanent party, meaning I got a job on base, had a little apartment and was able to have my truck shipped to me. I was able to go off base when ever I wanted after work and on weekends etc. I made some civilian friends that I would hang out with as well. I got bored and being my nature of greed my first major act of fraud happened while in Alabama. Not going to give details being I can't seem to find if the statute of limitations is up but I never got caught. If you believe that everyone in the military is an honorable person you must live in the same bubble where there aren't racist police officers and politicians always tell the truth. EVERYONE is capable of inappropriate behavior. I knew many people in the army that were not good people doing drugs, alcoholics, fighters you name it the military has it just like everywhere else. After all it is made of up humans and we aren't perfect. The other thing I did in my boredom was shoot video and learn web design. That would be where my interest in the porn business came from as well.

Being I was a young male with a pulse I looked at porn but aside from self gratification I also saw the money side of it. In the year 2000 sites were very low quality on the graphics side of things so I looked at that as “how hard could it be”. When I got out of the Army a couple years later I started going to conventions and making some contacts. If you happen to know the names Tera Patrick, Stephanie Swift, Stormy, Gauge, Peter North, Sky Lopez or Craven Moorehead check back in a month to hear how I know them... and you will also find out why I contacted XXX Church.

Vince, our pastor, started off by talking about the German legend of the doppelganger... how people used to believe that everyone essentially had an evil twin walking around, doing bad things when they weren't there. Although I don't believe in doppelgangers specifically, I think that it's easy to feel like I've got an evil twin living inside of me. Paul talks about this a lot in Romans, particularly chapter 7, verse 15 "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but I hate what I do." How many times on the road to recovery have you felt like there was an evil twin living inside of you, going back to your addiction countless times,  no matter how much you knew and truly believed that it wouldn't satisfy you? Speaking for myself and my own struggles... all. the. time. 

What's hard about this is that we often create a false version of ourselves that we show to the world. It's a form of protection. We're terrified that if the world knew us, knew who we really were [flaws and faults and all] that they would judge us. But showing this false self to the world does several negative things...

a] When people say they love you and care about you, you are unable to believe them. All you can think is "Yea, you love the me that I have shown to you, but if you knew the real me, you would hate me."

b] It wreaks havoc on your relationship with God. When we get into the practice of being inauthentic with people, it naturally follows that we will be inauthentic with God. And when we are inauthentic with God, as displayed in Psalm 32:3-4, His "hand will be heavy upon us." Why? Because God wants ALL of us, not what we want to give/show to Him, but ALL of us.

c] When we live as an imposter for long enough, there will come a point when we no longer know who is who anymore. 

Believe me, I have been there. I have spent a good portion of my life believing the lie that I cannot show people who the real me is. And I can also honestly say, that I let my inauthenticity, my imposter self, my "doppelganger" ruin my life for a very long time. I lived in the denial that by being fake I was protecting myself, when in actuality, I was just falling deeper and deeper into my addictions and pain and self-loathing. And let's be honest... at the heart of it, we don't want to take part in our addictions. We don't want to feel like we need drugs or money or sex [or whatever it is that you are struggling with today.] But when we live in denial of the problem, we cannot be healed. My favorite thing that Vince said last night was "whatever is being denied cannot be healed." 

And let me ask you this, do you want to be healed? Like really, DO YOU WANT TO BE HEALED?

If so, I think there are some practical steps that you can take to start heading in that direction...

a] Make God your hiding place. Instead of hiding yourself behind the wall of lies and inauthenticity... be honest and open and make God your safe place. God offers to be our refuge several times in the Bible, all we have to do is take him up on His offer.

b] Get accountable. Having accountability in your life is ESSENTIAL. I mean that. If you don't take anything else away from this post other than the fact that you need to get accountable, then I am okay with that. And I will be honest, accountability is tough. It's messy. It's not fun. It can be scary and embarrassing. We have to be completely transparent... but to be honest, there is no other way. God gave us to each other as a resource, and you NEED someone asking you about your deep, dark secrets... not only because knowing that you will have to tell someone what you've been up to will make you think twice before doing it in the first place, but also because, let's be honest... it's exhausting to be two people. Why not invite someone else into that so that they can help you carry your burdens?

Maybe today you feel like you haven't been yourself in a very long time. Maybe you feel like you've been letting your doppelganger run the show for a while now. Maybe you didn't even realize that you were living behind a facade until this very moment. Wherever you are right now, no matter how "bad", how "fake", how "ugly" you think you've become... today is the day it ends.

You are still God's precious, beautiful child who was and is worth dying for... so live like it.

Today is the day, dear friends. Step out of the facade and into life.

[Like I said before, this post was inspired by a sermon from my church, Verve,  here in Las Vegas. We'd love to have you come and check it out if you are ever in town! For more information and service times, head here!]

It's written by blogger Mat Slagle, and it was so great that I wanted to share it with you all! You can check out the original post here, as well as other great blogs by Mat!

It's a very difficult thing to always try to do right, to turn your back constantly on the things of the flesh. It's all to easy to forget why we live a Christian life. Living on the road has showed me how many evils are waiting for us out there. 

I'm one of four boys, the middle child in fact, and I have lived a very sheltered life. I have never smoked, been drunk, or done drugs. Traveling has showed me how much addiction run people's lives, that I'm not alone in my struggles with addiction. The ministry I am blessed with has been a huge part of helping teens with cutting, depression, drug addiction, and yes, porn addiction. So many teens have said that they are a new Christian and still struggle with porn addiction. I feel that this is a huge issue among young Christians. Don't let anyone tell you that God hates sinners. It's true, He does hates sin, but loves the sinner. Never give up on what God wants to do with you, without my struggles I'd fully see who God is, He is the God of my life and because I relied on Him, He pulled me through my addiction and I'm now living abundantly for Him. Have faith, no matter how dark the days might seem.

I'm no stranger to freak outs. I've reached my breaking point many times, with friends, family, my band members, and especially myself and God. The porn addiction is so difficult to pull away from, we all know that. Everything else becomes irritating, like everyone is on your back and attacking you. All the little things you never noticed before now seems irritating and annoying. The more stuff you have behind closed doors, the harder and faster it flys open when you turn the handle too far. What I mean by this is that when you go past your breaking point, all the mess behind the closed doors fly out and end up hurting way more than they needed to. To clear the air is to heal, it's a rehabilitating thing, it fixes things like you've never seen before. Talk things out, let someone in. If you just open up about your issues then someone can be your accountability partner, it's so difficult to do anything big on your own, and the more you try the more you will bend and eventually break. Have someone you can trust and confide in, they may be one of the keys to your recovery. Step one is trust in God.

I'm going to be totally honest, I don't really think this guy has a right to sue the company.

It's like the woman who sued McDonalds because she got unhealthy from eating too much of it.

The fact is, most things [not all things, but MOST things] are okay IN MODERATION.

Now, I don't eat at McDonalds at all because I think their food is gross, but if I DID eat at McDonalds, that would be MY decision and therefore, I would need to assume responsibility for my actions. Alternatively, I like to play videogames from time to time [Halo 3 anyone?] but I in no way think that the creators are responsible for anything that comes from me using their product. I'm certainly not addicted to Halo, but if I were and I started playing Halo 24/7, that's really up to ME and not them. 

I'm not trying to call anyone out or make anyone feel bad, I am speaking strictly from the perspective of an addict.

I can say this BECAUSE I'm an addict. 

I think that when we are struggling we have trouble coming to terms with the fact that WE are still the ones in control. 

I know what it's like to feel like my addictions are completely out of control. I really do. I know what it's like to just want someone ELSE to blame for once... but when it comes down to it, I am the ONLY one who can choose recovery for me. No one else can do it for me. I have to WANT to get well in order to do so, blaming other people isn't going to solve anything.

I mean, let's say this guy wins his law suit and gets a ton of money from it... what are the chances that he is going to use that money on counseling and recovery programs? From someone who know what it's like to be addicted, I am going to say that the chances are slim to none. I mean, we can hope, and I really do hope that he wants and gets the help that he needs, but I think about what would have happened had I come into a lot of money when I was struggling with substance abuse and it would NOT have been good.

I have copy and pasted some highlights from the article below, and you can check out the full article on Technology News. I would really, really love to hear your thoughts on this!

"The suit, filed by plaintiff Donald Smallwood against the company NCSoft, claims that he became "psychologically dependent and addicted" to the fantasy massive multiplayer online role-playing game "Lineage II," as it gave him "great feelings of euphoria and satisfaction." His charges against the game publisher include negligence and infliction of emotional distress.

Smallwood maintains that he played the game on average for up to nine hours a day between 2004 and 2009. He also claims that NCSoft did not warn him that it might be addicting."

My name is Danielle and I will be blogging on the fourth Tuesday of every month.   I have struggled with an eating disorder for nearly half my life and since I can remember. Athough have achieved freedom in many areas, I too still struggle at times.  I still make the same mistakes, believe the same lies at times.  I am no where near perfect nor am I here to give advice or claim  to be an expert by any means.  I do not even feel worthy to be writing here-- this is so out of my comfort zone. That is why I am so thankful that God does not look at the outward, but he looks at the heart.

 I, like many of you,  am still on the journey to freedom.  My goal in all this is to  share my experience/thoughts/opinions and what Christ has done in my life all with the possibility of  bringing hope.  I want to let you all know that you are NOT alone, you are NOT terminally unique, and that freedom IS possible.  Yes that's right, it is.  Despite what all the doctors and "experts" will argue I am here to tell you the truth and the truth is that with Jesus Christ ANYTHING is possible-- even freedom from an eating disorder or addiction.  You DO NOT have to live the rest of your life living in bondage-- do not believe those lies!

I, along with all of you, will continue throughout our time to explore the may ways to get there and achieve this, but remember that it is a process, a journey, and folks, for the majority of us it is not going to happen over night.   No, this journey will most likely take time and perseverance. It will be hard and we are going to have to fight.  Fight and persevere against doing this your way, how you think is right, and reach out for help in doing this different.

As the apostle Paul states that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance produces proven character (and what are we without character and integrity?)  and proven character hope.  And we may hope because God does not disappoint us, it is Him who works through as we accept and seek him in our lives.  Try to look at this in light of eternity  with hope because you do not have to go through this alone. As people who struggle with food this is especially hard, and I will go into more depth at a later time, but we MUST reach out and ask for help. We cannot do this in our own strength or alone.  So this month I encourage you to  reach out, ask for help, share your story and thoughts with the community here, cry out to God and let this struggle mold and shape you into the person you were truly created to be.  

That's the world we live in. People are obsessed with trying to find satisfaction and pleasure in all the wrong places.

God addressed the problem in Jeremiah 2:13...

For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

A modern-day example of that would be paying for a fountain drink at a restaurant and receiving a cup with a big slit in the bottom. No matter how often you go back for a refill, every time you take it back to your table, it will leak everywhere - it's incapable of holding liquid.

Just like that broken cup, our attempts at finding pleasure and satisfaction apart from Christ are also broken and pointless. It's just going to get messy. Your pursuits in the world are ultimately incapable of holding pleasure. The little that they do hold will leak out quickly leaving you empty again.

The picture that God paints in Scripture is that finding pleasure from anyone or anything other Him is like having an affair - it's cheating on God (read the book of Hosea). He loves, supports, and provides unconditionally, yet many people feel the urge for more and they go running off with that thing or that person.

We live in a world whose slogan is "Life is short. Have an affair." In other words, "Life is short. Do what feels good." Don't buy the lie. It will get messy.

Lust is a lie.

Envy is empty.

Porn is poison.

Fame is fleeting.

Don't buy the lies that the world offers. Jesus offers life. He's the only source.

They Haunt You.

Sitting on a stool in the middle of the stage, lights low, candles lit, and 150 students staring at him, a youth pastor began explaining what Ghosts really are.

In my mind Ghosts were things that looked and acted like Casper the Friendly Ghost. Casper was see through, had a sense of adventure, and always liked to help people out because he was friendly. I was wrong though. Ghosts weren't anything like Casper.

The youth pastor shared stories of having meaningless sex.

Fake friendships.

Years of addiction.

"Ghosts are the things that haunt you."

These Ghosts didn't look or act anything like Casper. These were real Ghosts that caused fear, pain, and doubt.

We all have a battle with our Ghosts that cause us to doubt and fear. We could be on the road to recovery, feeling great about our progress with our addiction, then a Ghost arrives. A memory arrives in our brain that causes us to stumble. That tells us we aren't good enough. That we will always be an addict. That we can never change.

Ghosts are the things that continually remind you of your mistakes.

I don't know where you're at with your addiction and whether it's internet, porn, drugs, money, or whatever type of addiction; we all get to the point where we begin to doubt ourselves. We begin to doubt our abilities to recovery. We remember the times when we failed miserably and we think how will this time be different? But that's where some of our problems arrive. When we start to think that WE can handle our own problems.

I've carried this ton of trouble,

lived with a stomach full of pain.

Long enough my arrogant enemies (Ghosts) have looked down their noses at me.

Take a good look at me, God, my God,

I want to look life in the eye, So no enemy (Ghost) can get the best of me or laugh when I fall on my face.

I've thrown myself headlong into your arms--

I'm celebrating your rescue. I'm singing at the top of my lingoes, I'm so full of answered prayers.

Psalm 13:2-6

When we begin to put our trust in ourselves we will fail. It may not be immediately, but eventually failure is imminent. Lets face it, we suck at being accountable for ourselves. If we were that good we would have stopped by now, right? We would have realized that we're spending way too much time on Foursquare or Facebook.

Maybe you don't have that problem though. Maybe your problem is you put way too much hope and faith into one of your friends or mentors.

"Well you didn't answer the phone to keep me accountable"

Friends can fail you. Parents can fail you. Organizations can fail you. Pastors can fail you. Churches can fail you. And sometimes, it feels like God can fail you.  But as cliché as it might sound, God won't fail you.

Sometimes it takes awhile.

Sometimes it may not be like you planned it.

Sometimes it hurts.

But God is waiting to rescue you and me from all of this. From all the hurt. From all the confusion. From all our Ghosts.  

Society has a huge influence on what we think about money, but how much of it is really truthful? For this blog, I would like to challenge the view of money that the world takes, and offer some alternative perspectives on the concept of money. One thing that society tells us, is that money will equate freedom and security. Basically the concept is if we make enough money and have enough investments, we will accumulate enough interest, properties, stocks, business, etc... that we will not ever have to work again. We will be so rich, we can live off interest and the income from our investments, and do whatever we want to do. And that is what we should bank our lives on.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying being successful at business or a wise investor is a bad thing, in fact, I think it's a good thing. However, loving money to the point where it's where we put our faith in is a huge error I believe. This is my first alternative perspective. I mean just look at the last two years how the stock market has behaved. Some people lost everything they had worked for, for most of the years of their lives. Sadly many people take their own lives because of the large losses of money, or the loss of a job. Just recently, I had my e-mail hacked into. The hacker got my bank information, and took a large chunk of my net worth. Life is unpredictable, and as secure as we try to make banking, investments, 10 year plans or whatever, we cannot predict the future.

The second perspective is, we never had anything when we entered this world and we cannot take anything out of this world. Yet what we gain in the world can cause us to lose focus of the things that are truly important.

The ultimate point I am trying to make is, be wise with your money, but hold onto it's value and meaning in your life loosely. One of the things Solomon said from the book in the Bible of Ecclesiastes is, "Everything in the earth is meaningless a chasing after the wind, nothing is gained under the sun." Whether or not one is a Christian, it is still an interesting point. What will become of all our money and hard work? Who will we leave it too after we are gone, and how do we know they will be wise with our life's work? The answer is we don't. 

I know this was not the most uplifting blog, but I hope it gives some people a bigger perspective of the concept and idea money. Thanks for reading. 

*Assistance in housing, educational and unemployment opportunities

*Building constructive family and other personal relationships

*Stress management assistance

*Alcohol and drug free social and recreational acitivities

*Recovery coaching or mentoring to help manage the process of obtaining services from multiple systems, including primary mental healthcare, child welfare and criminal justice systems

These resources being delivered by peers, rather than by mental health professionals, have actually been found to enhance recovery and prevent relapse at a higher rate.

What do you think? Do you think that it's playing with fire or do you think it's best to get help from someone who's been there?

They're doing an awesome job of meeting the needs of those who struggle with gambling addiction!

________

Most of us enjoy a gamble.

In fact figures shows that 80 per cent of adult Australians take part in some form of gambling, whether it be buying our weekly X-lotto ticket, having a punt on the horses or spending time playing the pokies.

However for all the joy we get from gambling it can get out of hand.

Recently shown on ABC News was a creative and effective approach to help those who are feeling that they have lost control over how much money or time they spend on gambling.

The program is provided by Statewide Gambling Therapy Service, run out of the Flinders Medical Centre.

A professionally trained therapist, Sue Bertossa, visits our region on a fortnightly basis and is available to see people who are concerned by the impact gambling is having on their lives.

There is a range of meeting places in Ceduna that can be negotiated to ensure the privacy of each client.

Step by step the therapy trains people to regain control of their gambling.

For example, by the end of the course of therapy someone who has been betting on the pokies should be able to sit in front of their favourite machine, all cashed up, and find it easy to resist playing.

The method is designed for any form of gambling addiction, including internet betting.

Statewide has been providing free and confidential counselling for more than 10 years.

Sue Bertossa said:

“Many people feel ashamed of having problems with gambling and the problems it leads to in their lives.

“However, what we have found through our service is that problem gambling is a very non-discriminatory habit or addiction – it affects people of all ages, varying cultural groups, men and women, both the rich and the poor.

“It may be hard to make the initial contact but good help can really make a difference.”

The program reported a 76 per cent success rate for those who complete the treatment.

Peter Miller, Aboriginal Elder working with the Ceduna Koonibba Aboriginal Health Service, is concerned about the impact that gambling is having on his community.

“To me, gambling causes all kinds of problems across the board; it affects everyone, it’s not colour blind.

“Gambling can really hurt families, tears people apart.

“The intervention happening in the Northern Territory where the government stepped in to control everyone’s dollars, I would not like to see that happen here in South Australia.”

Peter is widely respected in the community and has encouraged anyone he can to seek help.

“My message to anyone who thinks they have a problem is come in and talk it over, because it doesn’t have to be this way.”

To access support you can phone the Gambling Helpline on 1800 060 757, contact Peter at Ceduna Aboriginal Health Service or contact Sue at her Port Adelaide office, phone (08) 8240 0522 to arrange an initial appointment.

The Unattainable Lightness of Being

Is someone you know on a diet? Probably. Because just about everyone is on a diet, or at least watching their weight, or their carbs or their intake of fats and sugars. But when does normal moderation become not so normal? Is it when you start to see the outlines of ribs and bones that weren't there before? The situation doesn't have to become that extreme for someone to be suffering from an eating disorder. Over 5 million people in the United States have an eating disorder, and the majority are female. But the number is probably higher since so many cases go unreported.

We know the main names: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. But what many people may not know is how dangerous, debilitating and potentially fatal eating disorders can be. Patients with anorexia nervosa have a disturbed body image, an intense fear of gaining weight and pursue being thin at all costs. They are unwilling to maintain a healthy weight. Bulimia is characterized by episodes of compulsive eating, then purging through vomiting, excessive use of laxatives or diuretics fasting, and excessive exercise. With anorexia, bulimia or other eating disorders not otherwise specified, sometimes referred to as EDNOS, extremely disturbed eating behavior becomes a viable method of altering a perceived (and usually distorted) negative body image.

The Health Risks of Eating Disorders
While it is true that eating disorders are usually, but not always, curable medical illnesses, their underlying causes are so varied and complex, they can be extremely challenging to treat. They have been found to recur within families, can result from disturbances in the central nervous system and are often associated with temperamental features like perfectionism, low self-esteem or an extreme need for control. Those with eating disorders often display other psychiatric illnesses like clinical depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, substance abuse or anxiety disorder.

The medical risks of eating disorders are legion.

In the case of anorexia, the disease disrupts virtually all the organ systems. Anorexics are subject to hypotension (low blood pressure), bradycardia (slow heartbeat), and arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat), and individuals with serious degrees of weight loss can develop heart failure. Anorexia also causes osteopenia and osteoporosis, anemia, impaired growth in children and adolescents, and electrolyte problems. Additionally, anorexia has an extremely high mortality rate, with between 6 and 20 percent of patients dying from related causes.

Bulimia sufferers experience kidney problems, severe dehydration, chronically inflamed throat, swollen salivary glands, worn tooth enamel (from all the stomach acid passing through their mouth), gastroesophageal reflux disorder and intestinal distress from laxative abuse.

But whether it's anorexia or bulimia, we're essentially dealing with starvation, which, as anyone would expect, has profound physical and psychological effects on a person. Given that adolescent women are the main sufferers of eating disorders, with 15 to 19-year-olds making up 40 percent of all cases of anorexia in particular, these young victims can face a lifetime of health challenges.

The Media in the Mirror
In addition to the medical, psychiatric and psychosocial causes of eating disorders, some of the most insidious triggers, especially with regard to the problem of body image dissatisfaction, come from the idealized images of beauty we're all subjected to by the media. These images of hyper thin, hyper-toned bodies are not only impossible for most people to achieve and maintain, some of the images aren't even real -- they're airbrushed, Photoshopped and otherwise manipulated.

Driven by the multi-billion dollar cosmetic/exercise/fashion/beauty industries, the body images that are being sold appear to be designed to entice consumers to continue buying their products. But try explaining this to a college age woman, of whom one out of four is using an unhealthy weight loss method, or a 90-pound teenager who thinks she's fat. Or, as more and more research is telling us, to preteenage girls and even children, because the demographics for eating disorders are dropping to those age groups. Physicians are reporting children as young as 6, 7 and 8 years old who exhibit symptoms or full-blown cases of eating disorders.

Of the many tragic sufferers of anorexia was a 15-year-old Olympic hopeful who, at 4 feet 10 inches tall and 97 pounds, was told she was too heavy for the sport. She developed a severe eating disorder, struggled with anorexia and bulimia for six years, and died at 22, weighing 47 pounds.

Perhaps even more tragic is that, unlike other diseases which have support groups to help patients deal constructively with their condition, eating disorders have spawned online communities, what they call Pro-Ana websites, that offer young girls tips on how to diet even more stringently and how to keep their anorexia from their parents and doctors.

Treating eating disorders successfully is a multi-layered process. It requires returning the patient to a healthy weight, addressing the psychological issues and changing the behaviors that lead to disordered eating. Antidepressants, such as fluoxetine (Prozac), are more useful for patients with bulimia than those with anorexia. Unfortunately there may be a slightly increased risk of thought of or attempted suicide in children and adolescents taking antidepressants--the age groups that often are afflicted with these eating disorders. In addition to clinical solutions, it requires patience, insight and commitment, and can often involve the entire family, not only as a support system, but also in identifying the issues that may have caused the disorder. There are several useful support group sites that patients and families may go to:National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders or the National Eating Disorders Association.

On a more subtle note, it also takes vigilance and insight not to believe that what we're seeing on TV, in magazines and on billboards is a picture of true beauty worth sacrificing health, or life, trying to attain.

It has been a CRAZY past couple of months – I got married, have been to a few conferences, done some outreach to our local Adult Entertainment businesses, and been thinking a lot about addiction. 

One of the conferences I attended was the L.I.F.E. conference held in Orlando FL. I got to take 5 of my facilitators that lead groups for women who struggle with porn and groups that are for women whose husbands struggle with porn. One of the major things I saw was how recovery needs to be done in community. Whether it is someone that is keeping you accountable, or a group you go to, you really don’t have to go at it on your own. I tried to “handle” my addiction for years, I told myself I could stop whenever I wanted, that I wasn’t hurting anyone – but in actuality – it hurt everyone around me, including myself. 

If you need help – seek it out! Check out the great tools here online and talk to someone! No matter how far you have gone, no matter how beyond forgiveness you think you have fallen – there is hope, redemption, and forgiveness. 

Who are you going to talk to today?

Our awesome blogger Kevin Miller recently blogged this on his personal blog, definitely take a chance to check it out!!! 

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I know I’ve blogged a lot recently about porn and its far-reaching grip. It’s not that I enjoy talking about it, but that it’s a real issue that millions (possibly billions) of people are facing, but that most people are scared to talk about.

If you know me, you know that I love using technology to share the Gospel. I believe that’s the main reason we have technology – to make Jesus famous. However, although the church may use technology, Satan likes to use it too…

I just read an article about a quickly-developing branch of the porn industry that is utilizing the iPhone 4′s FaceTime video chat capabilities. It will bring pornography and one-on-one sex chats right to someone’s phone screen.

Read the (PG-13 rated) article from Wired News, Porn Industry Aroused by iPhone FaceTime, below and please pray for those who are looking to porn and lust to fill the void that only Jesus can fill.

———————————

Porn Industry Aroused by iPhone FaceTime

• By Charlie Sorrel 
• July 30, 2010  |
• 9:19 am  |
• Categories: Phones

You will not be surprised that the porn industry is all over the iPhone 4 like a bad case of the clap. The latest business opportunity is, almost inevitably, FaceTime, although it probably won’t actually be called FaceTime.

In the U.K., the ever-accurate Daily Mail reports that “video-sex chat services [...] are hiring workers through internet adverts.” These services would connect you one-on-one with the sex worker of your choice.

It’s a great idea. Because FaceTime is Wi-Fi only, you won’t be surprised at the end of the month by huge and scary charges on your phone-bill. Another advantage is that, because it won’t work over 3G, it’s unlikely that the person on the plane next to you will be indulging. A phone would also seem to be the perfect place for this most personal kind of entertainment. As Quentin Boyer of adult production company Pink Visual told the Mail: “A phone is such an intimate thing, you usually don’t lend it out or have someone else use it.” At least not without cleaning it first, we hope.

It’s often said that the porn industry drives technical innovation, but it might be more accurate to say that it is the ultimate early adopter. People scoffed at the idea of smut on cellphones until the iPhone made it easy to browse the web and the number of mobile porn sites took off. And the iPad, a device ridiculed for its lack of Adobe’s Flash plug-in, has seen adult video sites rushing to re-encode their catalogs in the iPad-friendly Quicktime format. Pushing sex over video chat has been pointless until now but, as the number of customers with easy video-calling explodes, so will the business opportunities.

Being the sensationalist rag that it is, the Mail veers off into talk of the dangers to kids (“children and sexual predators are often ahead of parents when comes to technology”) and tries to make a case that Apple somehow doesn’t like adult material on its devices (ridiculous, as Safari on the iPad is probably the best porn browser on the planet). But the best point in the article is made by adult actress Teagan Presley, who highlights a technical shortcoming of the face-to-face nature of video calls.

“You can have the phone on your face, or other body parts,” says Presley, “but not both at the same time.”

Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/07/porn-industry-aroused-by-iphone-facetime/#ixzz0vH4q6K2z

WTF: It’s not WHAT; it’s WHY

We deal with all sorts of addictions. There are many things we can tell people about sex. At some point we will address aspects of sex and sexual addiction. To start, we decided to encourage people who are not married to wait to have sex.

We’re sick of seeing campaign after campaign saying; “Sex is bad! Don’t do it!” without giving any real reasoning as to why.

In the culture we live in today, people say that sex is a lot of things:
 
Sex is bad.
 
Sex is cheap.
 
Sex isn’t a big deal.

Sex is how you get what you want.

We want to be a voice that says something different:
 
Sex is awesome.
 
Sex was made for marriage.
 
So please, take a moment to head over to the site and take a second to ask yourself… WTF?

WTF is progressive abstinence education and a program of heartsupport.com.

When you get to the site you will see two options WHAT/WHY.

Just so we're clear on this... most of the WHAT section is a joke.

No, really.

In the WHAT section we want to take a second to go through every that has been and is being done in the world of abstinence education... from celeb sex scandal videos to STD scare tactics, we wanted to get it all in to one place so that we could take you on a journey through what ISN'T working. 

And, I mean, hey, with t-shirts that say things like "Virginity Rocks!" it's no wonder abstinence is a joke.

But after you take some time to go over what's wrong, head over the WHY section and spend some time considering what we can start doing right.

Explore the site. Get educated. Join the movement.

WTF?

Oh...my favorite part the music player at the top.

Today, August 4th, 2010 marks my FOUR YEAR anniversary of having won my battle against Trichotillomania. 

I developed TTM when I was 12 years old and obsessively pulled out my hair [ALL OF MY HAIR] for the next 7 years. I don’t know what your thoughts are, but I think that junior high and high school are hard enough years, without adding “being bald” to the list.

On August 4th 2006, my dear friend Sarah and I prayed and laid our hands on my head, begging God to heal me, and He did. I stopped that very day. If I ever needed any proof that we serve and active and compassionate God, that was it. I was at the point where I thought “I’m not going to have hair on my wedding day.”

So now, 4 years later, my hair is down far past my shoulders and I am so, so thankful for every strand of it. Sometimes, when I dream, I still dream that I don’t have hair, and when I wake up, I am so, so thankful that it’s there. I rarely get hair cuts, despite being a cosmetologist, because I don’t want to part with any of it.

So today, I just want to say... there is HOPE. There is real, living HOPE for you to overcome your battles with addiction, depression, anxiety, and whatever else it might be. I promise you there is. I've seen it in my own life. 

Let's make today your anniversary too.

1. Invisible Children tweeted a quote by Mother Teresa that said "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other."

and

2. I was reading through all of the beautiful, heartfelt, encouraging, loving comments that you guys have left on the stories and blogs of others.

heartsupport is a beautiful thing because it's not just a faceless organization. heartsupport is all of us. It's everyone reading this blog, it's everyone who has ever submitted a story or left a comment... heartsupport is a community of people journeying toward wholeness together.

One thing that I have learned over the years is that the two most deeply relieving words in the English language are "me too."

When you gathered up the incredible courage [because believe me, I know it isn't easy] to share your story on the site... you were giving others an opportunity to hear "me too." 

When you took the time to leave a comment on someone's post letting them know that they aren't alone, that you love them and that you are praying for them, you were saying "me too."

And most importantly, we live in the reality of a Savior who came and died on the cross for us, so that He could say "Me too."

I just want to thank all of you, from the bottom of my heart, for creating this community of healing here on heartsupport. Thank you so much for being brave and sharing your stories and here, in our little corner of the internet, remembering that we belong to each other.

[P.S. Sorry for getting so sappy on you so early in the morning. ; )]

We'd love to hear your thoughts on it!