Emotions Archives - Page 4 of 5

June 24, 2020February 1, 2024

In the Trenches with Your Child

My son struggled with pornography for nine years. His fascination began when he was nine or ten and turned into a full-blown addiction sometime before he was fourteen. His dad and I found out about it at that point and vowed to get in the trenches with him to help him . Unfortunately, he wasn’t completely honest with us, so he fell back into his ways fairly quickly—even though we talked with him, added filters to our devices, and updated our house rules.

March 30, 2020May 24, 2020

Hope During the Coronavirus Quarantine: You Can Do It!

I want to encourage you to stay strong.

Many of us are home with our kids because of the Coronavirus quarantine. Our routines have been turned upside down and our comfort zone has been pierced. One of the biggest questions on my mind (and possibly yours) is: Will this change cause my child to turn back to their addiction?

May 21, 2019September 7, 2024

Stages of Grief – Bargaining

In a previous post, I referred to these seven stages of grief: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing, and acceptance. Recently, I explored these stages more thoroughly and identified the process I walked through when I first heard of my son’s fascination with pornography.

March 28, 2019September 21, 2020

What Keeps You Up At Night?

One night I heard my husband slip out of bed and leave our bedroom at 4 a.m. A few minutes later I got up and opened the door to our room to see what he was doing. He was sitting on the couch with his computer in his lap. I glanced at the screen and saw he was reading email. I wondered why he was up at night.

February 16, 2019February 16, 2019

Porn Users Feel Shame

I’d like to share a link to an article I read, entitled True Story: My Struggle With Shame Fueled My Struggle With Porn. The organization that published the article, Fight the New Drug, is committed to informing the public about the effects of pornography. This article is written by an 18 year old who struggled with pornography for 6 years. I like the article because his story is relatable and real. As a parent, it is helpful to hear another teenager’s perspective–his struggles and feelings.

January 12, 2019August 11, 2020

What’s A Parent To Do?

I just spoke with the wife of a porn addict. The writing is on the wall. The last chance was the last of the last chances. She can’t take it anymore. The marriage is over. She is sick of the empty promises and lack of desire to choose her over his addiction. She’s exhausted, worn out, done. She’s told him he has a week to get out. Continue reading “What’s A Parent To Do?”

December 12, 2018July 16, 2020

Get Involved with the Fight Against Pornography?

Since discovering my son’s addiction I have wrestled with the question of whether to get involved with the fight against pornography. Or rather, what my response should be to this growing epidemic. There is an X-rated store (Is that what you call it?) three miles from our home. (How these places stay in business with all the online stuff is beyond me.) Every time I pass it, my blood pressure rises, and I pray it will go out of business. Well, on good days, I pray it will go out of business. On bad days, my prayer isn’t that pretty.

October 25, 2018December 29, 2023

Triggers

I felt my back pocket. It wasn’t there.

I looked in my purse. It wasn’t there.

I looked in the console of the van. It wasn’t there either.

I had left my phone at home. Ugh! My heart raced a little at the thought. Continue reading “Triggers”

September 19, 2018March 13, 2024

Live in the Light of Truth

Seventeen months after my son’s first confession, he approached us. “Mom, Dad, can I talk to you a minute privately?” Words no parent wants to hear. But they began our journey to live in the light.

He said, “Remember that thing we talked about before? Well, I never really stopped.” What!? Continue reading “Live in the Light of Truth”

August 27, 2018August 25, 2018

Parenting: Umbilical Cord to Invisible Rope to Freedom, It’s Hard Work

When a baby is born, the doctor cuts the umbilical cord. From that moment on the child is unattached to his parent. He/she is free, so to speak. Most parents immediately attach an imaginary rope from themselves to the child. Continue reading “Parenting: Umbilical Cord to Invisible Rope to Freedom, It’s Hard Work”