october 7 is national porn sunday. many churches (but not nearly enough!) are celebrating this weekend a little differently - by addressing the topic of pornography. i am preparing to speak at crosspoint community church in decatur, alabama on porn sunday. i was working on part of the message this morning…i have a great story about boobs i get to share. oh yes, indeedy.

anyway, i receive emails from time to time with people who are going through struggles with porn or sex. if you have a question about pornography addiction, questions about my own struggle [read it here] or anything along those lines, please email them to me by using the contact anne link under my goofy mugshot.

Q: Did you ever “relapse?”

A: Honestly, no - not in any consistent sense. There were durations where I was incredibly tempted for long periods of time but because of safe-holds we had in place (like no internet access at home, etc.) it was harder for me to fall. My journey hasn’t been perfect. I’ve goofed up a couple times in the last six or seven years. But just a couple. And with each “oops” came a very fast confession to my husband. It may seem impossible but I promise - you can be porn free for YEARS at a time. You just have to take it one day at a time.

Q: I am really struggling…even little parts in movies or TV will get my mind going….is that normal?

A: Absolutely. I have to really watch what I view. We have a no-nudity in movies rule that is VERY RARELY broken. That may not be the right answer for everyone but it is for us right now. There is so much crap on TV. You know what gets your mind going…We all do.

Q: Do i just need to fall off of the face of the earth? And the cell phones now a days does not help any either….you would be amazed at what you can find on YouTube….There is no way for me to take that off.

A: You’re right about finding stuff on YouTube…but you don’t have to visit YouTube now, do you? Especially when you’re really trying to cut it all out - sometimes you have to be drastic. I threw away my computer. THREW IT AWAY! When I felt I could have a computer again, we didn’t have internet. Not for the first couple years of our marriage.

I know many people need cell phones. Call your provider and turn off your internet plan! And heck, it will save you money. The $40 you are spending on internet at home or for your data plans can sponsor you a child through Compassion and give them the extra $8 for AIDS work. Trading porn for needy kids might be some good motivation…

you have to love michael w. smith songs. oh, the fond memories of childhood camps. funny thing is, i dont even remember 99% of the people i met at camps…those people i was soooo heartbroken over on the last day as we held hands and sang that song.

i digress.

things are a little busy for me right now, so my blogging might be sporadic in the upcoming weeks. i apologize. speaking at community of hope sunday went great! i love love love speaking. hopefully they did too. and appreciate the prayers you sent my way. once i get my hands on an mp3 and decide it doesn’t suck too badly, i’ll try and post it! if you want to see me in action, complete with britney spears headset (i had to resist singing “hit me baby one more time”) you can see a snapshot here. it was the first time i had ever used a headset and i thank the sound guy for helping me get it on without messing up my hair.

since i am obviously not blogging interesting things right now, you should go check out this post on the lifechurch.tv swerve blog…

bobby asks, “is community broken?”

i wrote about some of my thoughts on this churchy buzz word here and here (for those of you who are new)…but i would love to hear your thoughts on his question…i’m keeping up with the comments, so please dive into the discussion over there!

is community broken? what do you think?

i have been having some weird dreams lately, including one friday night where everyone was wearing white sheets. hrrrmmm….

so, today is sunday. today is the first day in six months that i’ve spoken in front of an audience (not on the radio). i slept GREAT last night which is a miracle; and i’m not TOO nervous (a little!) - so for those of you who have been praying, thank you!

my clothes are already ironed and laid out and i’m about to get ready, go get a big thermos of african autumn rooibos at texas roast and hopefully not run into any traffic problems on the way across the metroplex.

thank you all again for your prayers! i’ll write about how it went sometime tomorrow or tuesday.

have a happy labor day!

sunday, sunday, sunday (sorry, i’ve always wanted to do that…)

i’ll be teaching along side pastor joe carmichael at community of hope church in mansfield, tx.

community of hope is in a “…like dummies” series and this weekend will be “working like dummies.”

we’ll be talking about the effects of stress and burnout, what happened to some people who got burned out in the bible, and steps you can take to prevent it and heal from it!

very mad church disease types of stuff!

so, if you’re in the area (or want to take a drive!) here’s the info. i’d love to meet you!

community of hope
1800 e debbie lane
mansfield, tx
(directions here)
9:30 am & 11 am services

not in texas (or not willing to drive here? i don’t know why you wouldn’t!) check out my speaking schedule here…maybe i’ll be somewhere around where you live in the next couple of months!

(prayers also greatly appreciated…please leave them in this container as you exit the blog…)

tomorrow at 4:35 pm CDT i’ll be on the air with john & stephanie at 101.5 WORD fm in pittsburgh. we’ll be talking about forgiveness, based on my article “forgiving the unforgivable” (read it here at relevantmagazine.com).

so, all you pittsburghians (is that a word?) tune in!

I’ll be on Power Talk Live tonight discussing burnout at 9:00 pm CDT on 89.7 PowerFm here in Dallas.

Power Talk Live is a weekly show which addresses tough issues. You can listen live from anywhere by going to 897powerfm.com or if you live in the DFW area or South Oklahoma, you can pick it up on 89.7 FM.

Usually they do a call in segment so if you want to call in, you can call 214 (or 817) 787-1897 or if you are out of the DFW area, 1-866-787-1897.

I’ll also post the mp3 as soon as I get it back from them. Hope you can tune in! If not, I’d love your prayers!