A Step Outside

Last summer, I found myself thinking about all the things I had been involved in: bible studies, church services, ministries during the week, etc. I was doing a lot “inside” the church, but that was it, so I talked to God about it, and wouldn’t you know it…He caused me to step outside the church, and the journey has been amazing.

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God’s Motivated Heart

In the past year, I’ve found that in leading a ministry, people want to hear my testimony and write about it, but what I’ve noticed is that they always want to write about what motivated me to stop dancing, and they usually want my answer to be that is was FOR God, but that wasn’t the case at all. Continue reading

A Battle for Purity…Being Won

Last night at bible study, we almost thought that no one would show. Janel co-leads the ministry with me, and we had been there for almost an hour, recapping things that happened at the convention, discussing strategies for next time, when, all of a sudden, a beauty walked in, and she was so excited about life!

She’s been coming to our study for awhile. We’ve walked beside her through the ups and downs of life. We’re friends, and that’s what happens in our study: we become friends with you and experience life with you, and she was ready to share her experiences lately about her battle for purity. Continue reading

The Age of Beauty

A couple weeks ago, someone contacted JC’s Girls because they wanted to do a photo shoot of a beauty-from-ashes story. Sounds like I might’ve qualified, right? Wrong. They wanted someone under the age of thirty. So why does beauty have an age?

To me, beauty is timeless…ageless. It’s not something one “puts on.” It’s something that “comes out”…that shines from the inside. One of my biggest struggles inside my heart at the porn convention was experiencing my beauty in the midst of an environment where everyone was all dolled up, but it was super important for me to experience this for “me.” It was part of my journey, part of my walk, and so much came out of it. Continue reading

Unpacking a Bond

On Sunday, after driving everyone home from the porn convention, I climbed into bed around midnight. There was no way I would’ve been able to unpack the van that evening and knew it would be waiting for me in the morning. I was going to call a friend to come help but, but Katie woke up, so I asked her, “Would you like to help me unload the van?” She said, “Sure.” I had no idea where that would lead. Continue reading

Tears of Intensity

This time, for the porn convention, I was determined to go as “me,” but I wasn’t prepared for how “less than” I would feel and spent the first night crying on my bed in the hotel room.

Being reminded of who I was in the environment I used to live in was a pretty intense battle. In ministry, I find that I learn as I go. There were times when I would share my testimony with men, and in an instant, they would repent of the thoughts they had toward me and a deep respect would come over them, but that wasn’t how it happened every time. Continue reading

A Picture of Love

The two thousand and fifteen porn convention has passed, but there’s something that still lingers in the air: Love. Those who were driven there by their flesh were satisfied yet empty. For those of us who were led by our spirits, our hearts were heavy and felt broken by what we saw, but God’s Love filled the atmosphere and invaded lust. By the end of the weekend, girls were showing less, the music was less vulgar, and walls were coming down. Continue reading