Girls Can Do Anything Boys Can Do!

This week I had the privilege of speaking to a brand new telephone client.  She was a young lady of 20 years old.  As I do with new clients, I asked her if she had received any help previously for her sexual addiction.   She mentioned to me that she had received a few months’ worth of coaching assistance.  She proceeded to tell me the name of the organization and then added something like, “But it was really a guy’s organization.  But women struggle with this issue too!  Not just men.  Everything out there seems to be for men”.  Wow.  Sadly, she is more than correct.  However, thankfully that is changing and we have come a long way since I started my journey over 11 years ago.  As I was recovering the Lord spoke to me and made it very clear that once I recovered I would not have the luxury of being silent.  He wanted to use me as a voice to speak about these struggles, and that freedom is possible.  Thankfully, God is calling more and more women who have struggled to be open so that others can experience the freedom that He came to give.  I am so thankful for the women who are pioneers in this field, and who were a beacon of hope to me during my recovery. 

When I began my journey, I literally thought that I was the only woman that my sexual addiction specialist counselor had ever worked with.   I just “knew” that no other woman wrestled with this “guy issue” like me.  I was inherently flawed and a disgrace to myself and my gender.  After all “boys will be boys” but “good girls don’t”. 

In June of 2005 God led me to an amazing lady in my church and dealt with me to open up to her about my struggle.  I was terrified, but I had no choice.  I knew without a doubt the Spirit was leading me to do this.  Much to my surprise she didn’t scream, cover her ears, run out of the room, spit at me, or even hold up a crucifix in my direction.  She simply listened to me and showered me with the love of God.  She shared with me that although she didn’t wrestle like I did, she certainly could understand the lure and temptation.  She stated that when she was younger she worked in a video store (yes, I am dating myself here).  When everyone had left for the day, she would wander to the back of the store and look at the adult section.  She never watched the videos, but she found that just the pictures on the cover and titles drew her in and kept her wanting to come back for more .  Because of this, she said she could relate to some degree to my struggle.  Then, a couple months later came the “big deal”.  I shared with her that I had wrestled with masturbation.  It literally probably took me 90 minutes of stumbling to get it out.  Again, she shared with me that she hadn’t wrestled with that, but that she would be glad to help me in any way that she could.  I felt so blessed that I finally found someone I could open up to that was a female.  That season began an accountability relationship that still exists to this day.

As I continued to work with my counselor he too let me know that I definitely wasn’t alone in my struggle as a female.  He also recommended that I contact Marnie Ferree of Bethesda Workshops for women who struggle.  There I met several ladies who struggled just like I did.  I also met several ladies conducting the workshop who came out of the struggle.  The more I opened up and was accepted by other women (those who struggled, as well as those who did not) the more my shame diminished.  The more my shame diminished, the more I felt free to be relational.  The more I was relational the more the void was being filled that drew me to act out in the first place.
​
So, if boys can struggle with porn, masturbation and other sexual issues – so can girls!  But guess what else we can do that the guys are doing, ladies?  We can be brave like these men and face our addiction.  We can get the help we need.  We can ask our sisters to come along side of us and help us fight this battle.  We can speak up and be a voice of purity in the body of Christ.  Most importantly, we can fight with everything that is in us to live the abundant life that Jesus came to give.