Today I need to talk about something very REAL.
Obviously everything I discuss or plan to write about on this blog is important and true to me. But this is something I need to address IMMEDIATELY.
My heart aches just thinking about the reasoning for needing to write this….
This morning when I woke up, I didn’t give myself a pep talk and prepare my day to be bombarded with pornography. Did you?? I wish I had!
I went to work early this morning to get my hours in. It was a solid morning, and I felt refreshed from sleep. My soul felt happy and calm. Then I logged into Facebook and checked our company page to make sure no comments had been posted during the night hours. Nothing had been posted last night. But there was ONE new post to our company timeline that had been left there about ten minutes prior.
Due to the nature of my job and the duty to monitor information that is being passed on to members, I had to check it and respond in a timely manner if necessary. Unknowing of what would accost me the second I clicked that notification…
I checked it.
What I was exposed to in those following moments was the most awful image. Someone had posted a pornographic image link to our timeline…
Instantly, I covered my eyes and turned my head away, but it was not soon enough. The image burned into my memory. My stomach was filled with the worst feeling imaginable, and I felt as if I was going to be sick right there on my office floor. Even now writing this, my spirit feels so heavy knowing that I not only saw such a disgusting thing, but that the individuals involved in the image were either choosing or being forced into participating in such a terrible thing.
Deleting it as quickly as possible so that nobody else would be exposed to it on our public page, I just sat there in shock for a moment. I’ve never supported or condoned pornography at any time in my life. But I also never expected that I would have to see it.
I turned on some christian hymns on Pandora, and took some deep breaths to try to calm my spirit. That terrible picture just kept flashing in my mind. Then I decided to do something very important.
I PRAYED.
I want to testify to you that the moment I said that prayer, begging my Eternal Heavenly Father to please remove that image from my mind and help me to feel peace, I received exactly that.
Although I remember exactly what was being displayed in that image, the actual photo was wiped away from my mind. It was completely gone as soon as I asked for help. I cannot see it burned there anymore.
Those burn marks went away….
Despite the remaining scars, it no longer weighs down on me in that same way. The Savior of the World has already experienced those heartbreaking feelings, and he knew exactly what to do to relieve my burden and help me escape from the prison that quickly encompassed my thoughts. Satan was trying to grab at the hems of my clothing, or my ankles, or any little frayed string he could to pull me down and drag me to the darkness that consumes him. The second I saw those images, I not only felt physically and spiritually ill. I also had this immediate shadow come over me. Satan got into my thoughts and made me feel guilty. I felt like I needed to keep it inside, and not tell anyone. He wanted me to stew on it and maybe drag me away from my Savior.
I am begging, pleading with you, to recognize the awful deceit that pornography really is. If you are currently looking at materials that are harmful to your spirit, PLEASE STOP. As a parent, take the time to educate your children. Start today and make sure they know how precious their bodies truly are. My body is a temple of the most high God, and I will take care of it in every way that I can. Make sure your kids and families all know their worth so that they can also learn to respect the bodies and spirits of others around them, as well as their own.
PORN KILLS LOVE.
I knew before that I supported that statement, but now I need to take a stand and make sure everyone knows how I feel about it. I’m ordering my shirt to make sure the world all knows what I think of pornography. I am taking a stand and fighting the new drug. That feeling I endured today was something that nobody should ever have to experience.
Keep praying, and avoid pornography like the plague. Trust me, the plague would probably be a better way to suffer than anything that Satan can offer you.
Please use the following sites for information to get help, teach your kids, and to take a stand and fight the new drug with me:
Fight the New Drug Tons of awesome info and a chance to fight back.
Overcoming Pornography This is a website through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and has an awesome resource section for both overcoming addiction to pornography, as well as teaching your family about it in appropriate ways (including stuff for children to adults).
An awesome LDS video to help prevent and overcome pornography
Help me fight.
XOXO – Heath