October 22, 2025 • 25 mins
💬 “There’s nothing wrong with you. Healing and freedom in Jesus are possible.”
In this episode of the Covenant Eyes Podcast, hosts Rob Stoddard and Heidi Cooper sit down with Beth Davis — Director of Formation at Blessed Is She — to talk about breaking free from p*rn*graphy, shame, and isolation.
Beth shares her personal story of encountering God’s mercy and the power of community through the *Arise for Women* program — a 21-day journey toward healing and freedom from p*rn*graphy.
💡 Topics in this episode:
0:00 – Introduction with Rob and Heidi
1:14 – Beth’s story: healing and deliverance through Christ
3:07 – What makes Arise for Women unique
5:13 – Women, shame, and the hidden struggle
10:25 – How churches can help women heal
15:20 – Mary and Elizabeth: biblical friendship and support
18:41 – Hope stories from Arise participants
20:03 – Beth’s prayer for 100,000 women to find freedom
22:17 – How to get involved with Arise and Blessed Is She
📘 Learn more:
👉 Arise for Women: https://cvnteyes.co/3ZvW65U
👉 Blessed Is She: https://www.blessedisshe.net
👉 Covenant Eyes: https://cvnteyes.co/4gb6xme
🙌 If this conversation encouraged you, please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and SHARE it with someone who needs hope.
#CovenantEyes #AriseForWomen #BlessedIsShe #FreedomFromPornography #ChristianHealing #FaithAndFreedom #BethDavis #WomenOfFaith #BreakingShame #Testimony
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Well, hello again to theCovenant Eyes podcast.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Rob Stoddard.
I'm one of the co-hoststoday, and I have with me
Heidi Cooper, who is a recoveryspecialist here
at Covenant Eyes.
Just a wonderful ministryand piece of our ministry here.
So, Heidi,how are you doing today?
No, I'm good.
Thanks, Rob.
I am so excited to have Beth,back with us again.
(00:31):
So welcome to the Covenant Eyespodcast again.
And for those of youwho might not
who might not know you,can you share just a little bit
about yourself, your work with,Blessed Is She.
And what led you to partnerwith Covenant Eyes
on the rise program?
Yeah. Thanks. Heidi.
My name is Beth Davis.
I am the director of formationfor a Catholic women's
(00:53):
ministry called Blessed Is She.
And the Lord radically changedand saved my life.
Not just once, but again.
And again in the 20 plus yearsthat I've been following him.
And one of themajor victories for me,
was just the mercy of Goddelivering me from pornography
and masturbation.
(01:14):
And I was.
I am so grateful for thatmiraculous and ongoing
healing workthat God has done in my life
that, it's my joyto share about it.
So here at Blessed Is She,Jenna, who is the founder
of the Ministry,and my best friend,
she and I both havea testimony of what
(01:35):
God has done for us,leading us out of that,
that struggle, thatattachment, that sin.
And so we speakvery openly about it.
And, it'sbeen just a great blessing.
And I've been, just overwhelmedby how the Lord has multiplied
the the graceof that miracle in my life
(01:57):
and in Jenny's lifeand in our community.
And then I don't know,how about Karen?
Found it.
Must have heard about it.
And, I was really privilegedto be invited to partner
with you all,to offer this program
to women to be able to walk,more consistently over this
three week programwith women into their,
(02:19):
freedom and healing.
Well, that's great.
So, Beth, for those of,those that are listening
that may not knowmuch about Arise,
can you kind of walk throughwhat a participant and Arise,
what the experienceand the daily videos,
the reflection,the community? Really?
What's the heart ofthe of Arise for people?
(02:40):
Yeah.
Great question.
It's such a bigpart of my heart.
I'll have to kind of distillit down.
But, really, I think what'sso special about Arises
is just what I mentioned,that it's not a one off kind of.
Here's, a set of practical tips,and now it's up to you,
and you're on your way,to to deal
with this on your own,but that there's really,
(03:04):
there's an accompanimentthat happens.
So in these daily videos,they're, they're beautiful
scripts and, wide ranging topicsthat help us to not only,
quit pornography,but begin to understand
ourselves.
Our story, our attractions,really with a
(03:28):
compassionate heart,with the heart of Christ.
Really to look at, the fullnessof our experience,
with, love and tenderness,especially toward
our younger selves.
For many of us who were exposed,like me at an early age.
And so I think that's to me,what is the most special
(03:50):
is that I get to walkwith women.
And you have supportnot only through the videos
and by heart and prayers.
But the beautiful teambehind her eyes that
that put it togetherwith such a heart for women
who are suffering and strugglingand then covenant eyes.
(04:10):
It doesn't just stop therewith that
three weeks of support,that there is a
community aspect.
So you're able to connectwith other women
in different partsof their recovery journey.
For support, for understandingand for that,
kind of practical helpand accountability.
So I, I genuinely it's hardfor me to narrow it down, but
(04:34):
I think the ongoingnature of it, that three weeks,
is centralto what makes it so special.
And, and so differentfrom anything else
I had seen or has existed.
But also, I think thescripts are really,
the informationthat you'll learn, the insight
(04:56):
that with God's helpand with prayer
and with the support of someone,we hope walking with you
in your daily life as well,that there's a
deeper self-knowledgeand a deeper healing of the soul
that can happenthrough this resource.
Yeah.
Thank you forfor sharing all of that.
(05:17):
Can you sharealso a little bit of how
you know, your journeythrough struggling
with pornographyas being specifically a woman
and how that was harder?
You know, not harder than men,but in a sense,
there's such a stigmaaround women who struggle.
(05:37):
I've seen I've seen it and I,I moderate the Arise comments
and the threads and I seejust over and over and over
how women are ashamedthat they struggle
with this too.
Can you share a little bitabout your experience
and what your journey look like?
Is struggling as a womanand how what helped you?
(05:59):
Yeah, absolutely.
For so long, I thought myexperience was unique,
that I was exposedat a very young age,
struggled, in secret,really suffocated by shame.
And then when I encounteredJesus as a living person
(06:19):
and my heart was converted,I grew up in the church.
But I didn't understand,that Jesus wanted
a personal relationship with me,that I could hear him
and receive his love in personaland practical ways.
And when that happened,you know, my my struggle, my sin
didn't go away.
(06:40):
And so I sat in youth groupsand at conferences,
and I read booksabout growing in faith.
And, I, I don't rememberever hearing or seeing
a witness of a womanstruggling with pornography.
And so I it it it compoundsthe shame, doesn't it?
(07:03):
There's kind of an inherentshame in it.
I just even as a little child,that natural law
was written in me,and it went against
this inherent dignitythat I have.
And so I rememberbeing in high school
and kind of looking aroundand feeling like such,
like there was something wrongwith me, truthfully,
(07:25):
something wrongwith my sexuality.
Something twisted about me.
And I remember the first timeI took a risk, and I shared it
with a girlfriend and,in my youth group, and
and she just shook herhead and was like, yeah, me too.
I struggle with that too.
And that was a revelation to me.
And so the truth is overthe next, I don't know
(07:46):
how many years, 15 years,nearly every friend
that I confided inmet me with that same
response, had some experiencewith pornography
and masturbation,some, sexual sin
that made her feel deeplyashamed and,
twisted, like there wassomething wrong with her.
And just last month, I,I spoke at, a youth conference
(08:11):
and, a college summitkind of ran parallel
on that weekend.
So 1500 souls.
I was speaking to you,and I don't normally,
I've been working with womenin this ministry
for so many years now.
My youth ministrydays are far behind me.
I was really, really nervousto stand up and speak
to these young people,and I felt
(08:31):
the Lord really pressedupon my heart
to share my testimonyabout pornography.
And and I did, with both thosethousand high schoolers
and those 500 college students.
And after both ofthose sessions,
I had girls lining upjust weeping in my arms,
saying to me,I've never heard a woman
talk about this.
I didn't knowthis was the thing.
(08:51):
I didn't have any hope.
I didn't know howto get out of this.
And I was just.
So I share thatbecause I was so baffled that,
you know, I'm I just turned 42.
Like my experienceas a high school team
that was 20.
Is that right?
20 almost 25 years ago.
And I thought we must havewe must have caught up by now
(09:15):
as a, as a churchand really with, you know, the
not only the adventof like social media and,
how technology is liketaking over our lives
and pornographyis really in nearly
all forms of entertainment.
Like how how can theseyoung girls
have the same experiencethat I had despite,
(09:39):
yeah, despite 25years having passed?
So yeah, I, I just,I, I share that again, not,
to be discouraging,but to say like,
I want to continue toshout that from the rooftops.
And that's why I'm so gratefulthat something
like Arise exists,that they can see my face
and hear my voice and,not feel so alone
(10:03):
and not feel so I want to saythe word that comes to me
is like disgusting.
Like I felt likethere was something
perverted about me,something wrong with me,
because my sexuality had reallybeen formed by pornography.
So I don't know if that answersyour question.
(10:23):
I thinkit's kind of long winded.
No, no, no, that's that's great.
The more the moreI think our listeners
hear vulnerabilityand women just being open.
It was my experience too.
I, I'm 48 so a little bitolder than you.
And my experience toois no one ever talked about
women struggling.
(10:44):
So I'm so gladthat you shared all of that.
Can you can you just sharea little bit, maybe,
of how Arise itselfis helping women
out of the isolationof struggling with porn?
Yeah.
You know, this is going to sounddeceptively simple,
but what I've learned againand again
(11:05):
is that when we just saythe word out loud.
So any time I sharemy testimony, I.
I saypornography and masturbation.
Like I don't want to leaveany little struggling,
sweet soul thinking, okay, well,I, I've struggled with this,
but not thator my story looks this
(11:25):
and I'm worse than she is.
I'm trying to likeput it all out there.
And so I think againjust not only hearing
at one time, but 21 dayshearing my story
and the encouragement,to reach out to someone in your,
your real lifewho can support you
and love you and championyou and check in with you.
(11:49):
Plus that added level of onlinesupport and community,
the resourcesthat are available there.
I think, again,we're kind of hitting it
from every direction, you know,even if it's just you and me
on a screen for 21 days.
If you're not readyto reach out, here's
at least one other personwho's saying it out loud.
(12:10):
It's not just you.
There's nothing wrong with you.
God has a good planfor your life,
and healing is possible.
There's hope for totalfreedom in Jesus Christ.
You know? Amen.
Anytime we bring somethingout of the darkness
into the light, it'sjust so powerful.
Beth, youyou talked a little bit
(12:30):
about maybehaven't seen much change
over the last20, 30 years sometimes.
And I wonder if some of that isjust historically,
the church has struggledwith addressing this,
especially acknowledging itfor women.
Could you speak to thata little bit? Just see.
Yeah, just tell us a little bitwhat you see in the church,
(12:50):
but also is Arisegoing to going to be able
to help that situation at all?
Absolutely.
In fact, I've been so impressedwith Coven and I's and,
just the planyou had to mobilize this program
to let churchleadership know about it.
I remember Karen at one pointsharing with me
that they were sending,little business cards
(13:13):
with the informationfor a rise to Catholic priest
to hand out in confession.
And I could weep thinking likeif a priest had handed me
that in confession,that there would have been
some supportoutside the sacrament.
So my context is growing upin the Catholic Church.
Of course I'm still Catholicand love my Catholic faith.
(13:34):
And, you know, I wonder if Imight be too hard on the church
or on youth groupsbecause, again, I'm
not in youth ministry.
I'm not in those, circles.
But again, when I hear these,this experience of women saying,
I've never heard anybody,say this for for me, coming
from a Catholic perspective,I know there's, a sensitivity
(13:57):
to speaking about itfrom the pulpit
in a homily at massbecause all families,
all ages are there.
But I've also seenpriests become, just so brave.
And,I don't want to say creative,
but to share in a,I want to say,
(14:18):
like, a chaste way.
A way that doesn'tsend people's imaginations
or especiallychildren's imaginations
kind of away with them.
So I have seenthat start to come in
more and more, but again,I think just the existence
of a program like A risefor women and strive 21 for men,
the more that churchleadership, youth
ministers, pastors,counselors on staff
(14:42):
know about this program.
It's so powerfulto meet with someone
one on one and necessary,I think, to be received in our
the particulars of our storyand our heartache with it,
but then to haveongoing support.
So I think you all have donean amazing job
just getting the word outthat this exists and and there
(15:04):
is a way forward.
So just what's what's one thingthat sticks out
to you biblically about a risethat you found
to be transformativefor these women,
rewriting their storyand their sexuality and shame?
Yeah, there's a dayvery early on and Arise,
which is one of my favorite,my favorite days,
(15:26):
where we introduced the idea of,of sharing your story
with just one personin your real life.
And, biblically,we turn to the example
of Mary and Elizabethat the visitation
and how Mary went with hasteto support Elizabeth
at the end of her pregnancyand kind of broke open, all that
(15:51):
that could have happenedin those three months, all that
we assume happened,the support, the celebration.
Right, Mary?
Coming and celebratingthat Elizabeth, who had been
barren, who had known this,cultural shame and and heartache
and disappointmentthat she came and celebrated
what God had doneand and even called it
(16:12):
forth, agreed with it.
And so for me,I thought that was
a beautiful, mirror,a beautiful picture
of what happens when we invitejust one other woman
into our story.
In our real life,someone who can support us.
I mean, I imagineMary's meal prepping, you know,
and telling Elizabethto sit down and put her feet up.
(16:34):
So there's thatpractical support.
But there's also thiscelebration, like
like I had one day.
I had one day of itin my language, my experience,
I would kind of speak to itas like sobriety,
like I had one day todayand somebody to celebrate that
instead of what I could do,which is like,
what does that matter?
(16:55):
It's just one day, like, I'mprobably going to fall again
tomorrow, but to share thatwith one person and have them,
really champion me and affirmme and be in it with me.
And now I've created that,I've created that,
almost like a reward systemwhere, like,
I want to tell this personthat I had another day.
(17:17):
And also if I'mif I'm on the edge,
if things are justtriggering me right and left,
I want to reachout to that person
so that I can keep going.
I can keep, yeah.
Experiencing the beauty of lifeand pure love without,
without the pain of pornography,without that lens of pornography
(17:39):
kind of muddying everything up.
So I think biblically,that witness of Mary
and Elizabethand I imagine Elizabeth,
to Mary,I think can really transform
women's lives.
And it did for me.
I've seen that in my own lifeand my friendship with the
girl in my youth groupand then with my
(18:00):
my best friend Jenna.
It was a tremendous source ofbonding and love.
And, yeah, a great,a great help to me in moments
where things have felt trickyor a shame kind of comes back
rearing its ugly head.
Yeah, absolutely.
(18:21):
Well, that's encouraging in.
And that's onething about a rise that,
that we're seeing isthat we're hearing
a lot of encouraging story.
Heidi.
Here's a lot of those.
But Beth, in your opinion, therein in your work with Arise,
what kinds of encouraging newsare you getting feedback
from womenwho have gone through a rise?
Can you share some of that?
(18:42):
Yeah, it's been so fun.
To just connect with women,like in my DMs or,
you all will kind of sharewith me different testimonies.
And again, I just,I, I thank God really
for the relief that I heareven in just these
the written communicationthat I have of women
(19:04):
who have maybebeen struggling like I did,
for decades.
Or since young childhood and,and just it's always
felt like this is the wayit's going to be.
And suddenly it's like,like the dawn is breaking,
like it's possible.
There could be another wayI could live another life.
So the relief to me is like,it's something
(19:28):
I really celebrateand thank God for.
That's beenone of my favorite things.
You know.
Well, I can say from havingwatched all the videos and,
I participated in writingsome of the content for A rise.
So I wanted to justhear from you of looking ahead.
(19:49):
What's your prayer or visionfor how a rise could impact
women, families, churcheslike in the coming years?
What do you see is knowon your heart for the impact
of that? Yeah,I love that question
because I, I get to sharethis God given dream
(20:09):
that I have for a risefrom the very beginning
when I said yes to this program,I asked the Lord for 100,000
souls to be set freefrom pornography through Arise.
And, I sometimes will ask,like how many women
have gone through it?
And I'm just watchingthat number rise because I know
God is good for it.
(20:30):
And, I know that'sthat's not too much to ask
because even at timesI think it might be too little
to ask of the Lordbecause I know how far reaching,
this problem is.
In the hearts of womenand in the church
and just in our culture.
And so, yeah, my hope,my prayer, really,
(20:52):
my expectationis that 100,000 women,
will walk through, Ariseand will be set free
from pornography.
Wow.
That's that's a beautifulBeth, as we kind of
get toward the end here,can you share with our listeners
just how theycan get involved with a rise,
but also with youin your ministry?
(21:12):
How do they connect? Yeah.
Yeah,I well, I just want to say,
maybe finally,on that 100,000 souls.
I felt very much likeGod, the anointing.
His hand was on this programand on on your work
there at coven and I.
And so I reached outto pretty much everybody
(21:34):
that I knowand asked them all to partner
with me in praying for that.
And, just last week,I had a priest friend
reach out and ask me,how's it going with the rise?
I'm still praying for the women.
I'm still prayingfor the program.
And so I just want to say,you're very much in my heart
and in my prayersand in the prayers of the many,
(21:55):
many people that I begto intercede for you.
So in that isolationthat you may be feeling,
I just want you to knowyou're truly not alone.
The supernatural reality,the Kingdom of God
coming to earth is more realthan the natural world
that we see them.
The isolation that you feel,which is a lie from the enemy
because you're not alone.
And so my prayers are with you.
(22:17):
Our support is with you.
Please, get involved.
Even if you've started a riseand you fell off
and there was too much shame.
Start again.
Just just begin again.
So you can find a rise.
A rise for women.com.
I'd love to walk with youfor those three weeks.
And, we'd love to support youas you grow in your faith
(22:39):
at blessed.
If she were a Catholicwomen's community
all about prayer and community,so growing in a relationship
with Jesus Christ together.
So we provide, not only waysto connect in community,
both locally,helping people connect right
where they are,giving resources, helping
you understand how to startand maintain a small group,
(23:02):
but also a community online.
You can find out everythingabout us at blessed
if she got net and then I'mpretty boring,
but I'm on Instagramthe back Davis.
It's an old inside joke.
I don't really thinkI'm the only back Davis.
We we're so grateful for you andso thankful
(23:24):
that we were able to partnerwith you
and making this availablefor women.
As I've been readingand moderating
the comments for rise,I've just been blown away at how
women are being ministered to.
I've heard many women say Ithis is the first time
I've ever felt seen.
(23:47):
Even if they haven't interactedwith people yet,
they're actually receiving care.
They're receiving healingjust by watching and and reading
and feeling so connected.
I just think that that isan amazing gift.
And so just thank you so muchfor all of your gifting,
(24:08):
all of your heart,all of your passion
for Jesus into this.
We are so gratefuland appreciate.
Thanks, Heidi,and thanks for your hard work
on those beautiful scriptsto help me communicate
all those in my heartand all the truth
that's in Scriptureand really God's
heart for these women.
And thanks for keeping upand supporting the women
(24:30):
there in the in the community.
Yeah. Excellent.
Yes, Beth, thank you.
Thank you for joining us today.
It was wonderful.
And to our listeners,thank you for joining us
and listening today.
Please do share a like this,pass on the word about
Arise and, Beth's ministry and,get a look for our next episode.
(24:51):
But again,thanks for joining us.
Take care. Bye bye.
Well, hello again to theCovenant Eyes podcast.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Rob Stoddard.
I'm one of the co-hoststoday, and I have with me
Heidi Cooper, who is a recoveryspecialist here
at Covenant Eyes.
Just a wonderful ministryand piece of our ministry here.
So, Heidi,how are you doing today?
No, I'm good.
Thanks, Rob.
I am so excited to have Beth,back with us again.
(00:31):
So welcome to the Covenant Eyespodcast again.
And for those of youwho might not
who might not know you,can you share just a little bit
about yourself, your work with,Blessed Is She.
And what led you to partnerwith Covenant Eyes
on the rise program?
Yeah. Thanks. Heidi.
My name is Beth Davis.
I am the director of formationfor a Catholic women's
(00:53):
ministry called Blessed Is She.
And the Lord radically changedand saved my life.
Not just once, but again.
And again in the 20 plus yearsthat I've been following him.
And one of themajor victories for me,
was just the mercy of Goddelivering me from pornography
and masturbation.
(01:14):
And I was.
I am so grateful for thatmiraculous and ongoing
healing workthat God has done in my life
that, it's my joyto share about it.
So here at Blessed Is She,Jenna, who is the founder
of the Ministry,and my best friend,
she and I both havea testimony of what
(01:35):
God has done for us,leading us out of that,
that struggle, thatattachment, that sin.
And so we speakvery openly about it.
And, it'sbeen just a great blessing.
And I've been, just overwhelmedby how the Lord has multiplied
the the graceof that miracle in my life
(01:57):
and in Jenny's lifeand in our community.
And then I don't know,how about Karen?
Found it.
Must have heard about it.
And, I was really privilegedto be invited to partner
with you all,to offer this program
to women to be able to walk,more consistently over this
three week programwith women into their,
(02:19):
freedom and healing.
Well, that's great.
So, Beth, for those of,those that are listening
that may not knowmuch about Arise,
can you kind of walk throughwhat a participant and Arise,
what the experienceand the daily videos,
the reflection,the community? Really?
What's the heart ofthe of Arise for people?
(02:40):
Yeah.
Great question.
It's such a bigpart of my heart.
I'll have to kind of distillit down.
But, really, I think what'sso special about Arises
is just what I mentioned,that it's not a one off kind of.
Here's, a set of practical tips,and now it's up to you,
and you're on your way,to to deal
with this on your own,but that there's really,
(03:04):
there's an accompanimentthat happens.
So in these daily videos,they're, they're beautiful
scripts and, wide ranging topicsthat help us to not only,
quit pornography,but begin to understand
ourselves.
Our story, our attractions,really with a
(03:28):
compassionate heart,with the heart of Christ.
Really to look at, the fullnessof our experience,
with, love and tenderness,especially toward
our younger selves.
For many of us who were exposed,like me at an early age.
And so I think that's to me,what is the most special
(03:50):
is that I get to walkwith women.
And you have supportnot only through the videos
and by heart and prayers.
But the beautiful teambehind her eyes that
that put it togetherwith such a heart for women
who are suffering and strugglingand then covenant eyes.
(04:10):
It doesn't just stop therewith that
three weeks of support,that there is a
community aspect.
So you're able to connectwith other women
in different partsof their recovery journey.
For support, for understandingand for that,
kind of practical helpand accountability.
So I, I genuinely it's hardfor me to narrow it down, but
(04:34):
I think the ongoingnature of it, that three weeks,
is centralto what makes it so special.
And, and so differentfrom anything else
I had seen or has existed.
But also, I think thescripts are really,
the informationthat you'll learn, the insight
(04:56):
that with God's helpand with prayer
and with the support of someone,we hope walking with you
in your daily life as well,that there's a
deeper self-knowledgeand a deeper healing of the soul
that can happenthrough this resource.
Yeah.
Thank you forfor sharing all of that.
(05:17):
Can you sharealso a little bit of how
you know, your journeythrough struggling
with pornographyas being specifically a woman
and how that was harder?
You know, not harder than men,but in a sense,
there's such a stigmaaround women who struggle.
(05:37):
I've seen I've seen it and I,I moderate the Arise comments
and the threads and I seejust over and over and over
how women are ashamedthat they struggle
with this too.
Can you share a little bitabout your experience
and what your journey look like?
Is struggling as a womanand how what helped you?
(05:59):
Yeah, absolutely.
For so long, I thought myexperience was unique,
that I was exposedat a very young age,
struggled, in secret,really suffocated by shame.
And then when I encounteredJesus as a living person
(06:19):
and my heart was converted,I grew up in the church.
But I didn't understand,that Jesus wanted
a personal relationship with me,that I could hear him
and receive his love in personaland practical ways.
And when that happened,you know, my my struggle, my sin
didn't go away.
(06:40):
And so I sat in youth groupsand at conferences,
and I read booksabout growing in faith.
And, I, I don't rememberever hearing or seeing
a witness of a womanstruggling with pornography.
And so I it it it compoundsthe shame, doesn't it?
(07:03):
There's kind of an inherentshame in it.
I just even as a little child,that natural law
was written in me,and it went against
this inherent dignitythat I have.
And so I rememberbeing in high school
and kind of looking aroundand feeling like such,
like there was something wrongwith me, truthfully,
(07:25):
something wrongwith my sexuality.
Something twisted about me.
And I remember the first timeI took a risk, and I shared it
with a girlfriend and,in my youth group, and
and she just shook herhead and was like, yeah, me too.
I struggle with that too.
And that was a revelation to me.
And so the truth is overthe next, I don't know
(07:46):
how many years, 15 years,nearly every friend
that I confided inmet me with that same
response, had some experiencewith pornography
and masturbation,some, sexual sin
that made her feel deeplyashamed and,
twisted, like there wassomething wrong with her.
And just last month, I,I spoke at, a youth conference
(08:11):
and, a college summitkind of ran parallel
on that weekend.
So 1500 souls.
I was speaking to you,and I don't normally,
I've been working with womenin this ministry
for so many years now.
My youth ministrydays are far behind me.
I was really, really nervousto stand up and speak
to these young people,and I felt
(08:31):
the Lord really pressedupon my heart
to share my testimonyabout pornography.
And and I did, with both thosethousand high schoolers
and those 500 college students.
And after both ofthose sessions,
I had girls lining upjust weeping in my arms,
saying to me,I've never heard a woman
talk about this.
I didn't knowthis was the thing.
(08:51):
I didn't have any hope.
I didn't know howto get out of this.
And I was just.
So I share thatbecause I was so baffled that,
you know, I'm I just turned 42.
Like my experienceas a high school team
that was 20.
Is that right?
20 almost 25 years ago.
And I thought we must havewe must have caught up by now
(09:15):
as a, as a churchand really with, you know, the
not only the adventof like social media and,
how technology is liketaking over our lives
and pornographyis really in nearly
all forms of entertainment.
Like how how can theseyoung girls
have the same experiencethat I had despite,
(09:39):
yeah, despite 25years having passed?
So yeah, I, I just,I, I share that again, not,
to be discouraging,but to say like,
I want to continue toshout that from the rooftops.
And that's why I'm so gratefulthat something
like Arise exists,that they can see my face
and hear my voice and,not feel so alone
(10:03):
and not feel so I want to saythe word that comes to me
is like disgusting.
Like I felt likethere was something
perverted about me,something wrong with me,
because my sexuality had reallybeen formed by pornography.
So I don't know if that answersyour question.
(10:23):
I thinkit's kind of long winded.
No, no, no, that's that's great.
The more the moreI think our listeners
hear vulnerabilityand women just being open.
It was my experience too.
I, I'm 48 so a little bitolder than you.
And my experience toois no one ever talked about
women struggling.
(10:44):
So I'm so gladthat you shared all of that.
Can you can you just sharea little bit, maybe,
of how Arise itselfis helping women
out of the isolationof struggling with porn?
Yeah.
You know, this is going to sounddeceptively simple,
but what I've learned againand again
(11:05):
is that when we just saythe word out loud.
So any time I sharemy testimony, I.
I saypornography and masturbation.
Like I don't want to leaveany little struggling,
sweet soul thinking, okay, well,I, I've struggled with this,
but not thator my story looks this
(11:25):
and I'm worse than she is.
I'm trying to likeput it all out there.
And so I think againjust not only hearing
at one time, but 21 dayshearing my story
and the encouragement,to reach out to someone in your,
your real lifewho can support you
and love you and championyou and check in with you.
(11:49):
Plus that added level of onlinesupport and community,
the resourcesthat are available there.
I think, again,we're kind of hitting it
from every direction, you know,even if it's just you and me
on a screen for 21 days.
If you're not readyto reach out, here's
at least one other personwho's saying it out loud.
(12:10):
It's not just you.
There's nothing wrong with you.
God has a good planfor your life,
and healing is possible.
There's hope for totalfreedom in Jesus Christ.
You know? Amen.
Anytime we bring somethingout of the darkness
into the light, it'sjust so powerful.
Beth, youyou talked a little bit
(12:30):
about maybehaven't seen much change
over the last20, 30 years sometimes.
And I wonder if some of that isjust historically,
the church has struggledwith addressing this,
especially acknowledging itfor women.
Could you speak to thata little bit? Just see.
Yeah, just tell us a little bitwhat you see in the church,
(12:50):
but also is Arisegoing to going to be able
to help that situation at all?
Absolutely.
In fact, I've been so impressedwith Coven and I's and,
just the planyou had to mobilize this program
to let churchleadership know about it.
I remember Karen at one pointsharing with me
that they were sending,little business cards
(13:13):
with the informationfor a rise to Catholic priest
to hand out in confession.
And I could weep thinking likeif a priest had handed me
that in confession,that there would have been
some supportoutside the sacrament.
So my context is growing upin the Catholic Church.
Of course I'm still Catholicand love my Catholic faith.
(13:34):
And, you know, I wonder if Imight be too hard on the church
or on youth groupsbecause, again, I'm
not in youth ministry.
I'm not in those, circles.
But again, when I hear these,this experience of women saying,
I've never heard anybody,say this for for me, coming
from a Catholic perspective,I know there's, a sensitivity
(13:57):
to speaking about itfrom the pulpit
in a homily at massbecause all families,
all ages are there.
But I've also seenpriests become, just so brave.
And,I don't want to say creative,
but to share in a,I want to say,
(14:18):
like, a chaste way.
A way that doesn'tsend people's imaginations
or especiallychildren's imaginations
kind of away with them.
So I have seenthat start to come in
more and more, but again,I think just the existence
of a program like A risefor women and strive 21 for men,
the more that churchleadership, youth
ministers, pastors,counselors on staff
(14:42):
know about this program.
It's so powerfulto meet with someone
one on one and necessary,I think, to be received in our
the particulars of our storyand our heartache with it,
but then to haveongoing support.
So I think you all have donean amazing job
just getting the word outthat this exists and and there
(15:04):
is a way forward.
So just what's what's one thingthat sticks out
to you biblically about a risethat you found
to be transformativefor these women,
rewriting their storyand their sexuality and shame?
Yeah, there's a dayvery early on and Arise,
which is one of my favorite,my favorite days,
(15:26):
where we introduced the idea of,of sharing your story
with just one personin your real life.
And, biblically,we turn to the example
of Mary and Elizabethat the visitation
and how Mary went with hasteto support Elizabeth
at the end of her pregnancyand kind of broke open, all that
(15:51):
that could have happenedin those three months, all that
we assume happened,the support, the celebration.
Right, Mary?
Coming and celebratingthat Elizabeth, who had been
barren, who had known this,cultural shame and and heartache
and disappointmentthat she came and celebrated
what God had doneand and even called it
(16:12):
forth, agreed with it.
And so for me,I thought that was
a beautiful, mirror,a beautiful picture
of what happens when we invitejust one other woman
into our story.
In our real life,someone who can support us.
I mean, I imagineMary's meal prepping, you know,
and telling Elizabethto sit down and put her feet up.
(16:34):
So there's thatpractical support.
But there's also thiscelebration, like
like I had one day.
I had one day of itin my language, my experience,
I would kind of speak to itas like sobriety,
like I had one day todayand somebody to celebrate that
instead of what I could do,which is like,
what does that matter?
(16:55):
It's just one day, like, I'mprobably going to fall again
tomorrow, but to share thatwith one person and have them,
really champion me and affirmme and be in it with me.
And now I've created that,I've created that,
almost like a reward systemwhere, like,
I want to tell this personthat I had another day.
(17:17):
And also if I'mif I'm on the edge,
if things are justtriggering me right and left,
I want to reachout to that person
so that I can keep going.
I can keep, yeah.
Experiencing the beauty of lifeand pure love without,
without the pain of pornography,without that lens of pornography
(17:39):
kind of muddying everything up.
So I think biblically,that witness of Mary
and Elizabethand I imagine Elizabeth,
to Mary,I think can really transform
women's lives.
And it did for me.
I've seen that in my own lifeand my friendship with the
girl in my youth groupand then with my
(18:00):
my best friend Jenna.
It was a tremendous source ofbonding and love.
And, yeah, a great,a great help to me in moments
where things have felt trickyor a shame kind of comes back
rearing its ugly head.
Yeah, absolutely.
(18:21):
Well, that's encouraging in.
And that's onething about a rise that,
that we're seeing isthat we're hearing
a lot of encouraging story.
Heidi.
Here's a lot of those.
But Beth, in your opinion, therein in your work with Arise,
what kinds of encouraging newsare you getting feedback
from womenwho have gone through a rise?
Can you share some of that?
(18:42):
Yeah, it's been so fun.
To just connect with women,like in my DMs or,
you all will kind of sharewith me different testimonies.
And again, I just,I, I thank God really
for the relief that I heareven in just these
the written communicationthat I have of women
(19:04):
who have maybebeen struggling like I did,
for decades.
Or since young childhood and,and just it's always
felt like this is the wayit's going to be.
And suddenly it's like,like the dawn is breaking,
like it's possible.
There could be another wayI could live another life.
So the relief to me is like,it's something
(19:28):
I really celebrateand thank God for.
That's beenone of my favorite things.
You know.
Well, I can say from havingwatched all the videos and,
I participated in writingsome of the content for A rise.
So I wanted to justhear from you of looking ahead.
(19:49):
What's your prayer or visionfor how a rise could impact
women, families, churcheslike in the coming years?
What do you see is knowon your heart for the impact
of that? Yeah,I love that question
because I, I get to sharethis God given dream
(20:09):
that I have for a risefrom the very beginning
when I said yes to this program,I asked the Lord for 100,000
souls to be set freefrom pornography through Arise.
And, I sometimes will ask,like how many women
have gone through it?
And I'm just watchingthat number rise because I know
God is good for it.
(20:30):
And, I know that'sthat's not too much to ask
because even at timesI think it might be too little
to ask of the Lordbecause I know how far reaching,
this problem is.
In the hearts of womenand in the church
and just in our culture.
And so, yeah, my hope,my prayer, really,
(20:52):
my expectationis that 100,000 women,
will walk through, Ariseand will be set free
from pornography.
Wow.
That's that's a beautifulBeth, as we kind of
get toward the end here,can you share with our listeners
just how theycan get involved with a rise,
but also with youin your ministry?
(21:12):
How do they connect? Yeah.
Yeah,I well, I just want to say,
maybe finally,on that 100,000 souls.
I felt very much likeGod, the anointing.
His hand was on this programand on on your work
there at coven and I.
And so I reached outto pretty much everybody
(21:34):
that I knowand asked them all to partner
with me in praying for that.
And, just last week,I had a priest friend
reach out and ask me,how's it going with the rise?
I'm still praying for the women.
I'm still prayingfor the program.
And so I just want to say,you're very much in my heart
and in my prayersand in the prayers of the many,
(21:55):
many people that I begto intercede for you.
So in that isolationthat you may be feeling,
I just want you to knowyou're truly not alone.
The supernatural reality,the Kingdom of God
coming to earth is more realthan the natural world
that we see them.
The isolation that you feel,which is a lie from the enemy
because you're not alone.
And so my prayers are with you.
(22:17):
Our support is with you.
Please, get involved.
Even if you've started a riseand you fell off
and there was too much shame.
Start again.
Just just begin again.
So you can find a rise.
A rise for women.com.
I'd love to walk with youfor those three weeks.
And, we'd love to support youas you grow in your faith
(22:39):
at blessed.
If she were a Catholicwomen's community
all about prayer and community,so growing in a relationship
with Jesus Christ together.
So we provide, not only waysto connect in community,
both locally,helping people connect right
where they are,giving resources, helping
you understand how to startand maintain a small group,
(23:02):
but also a community online.
You can find out everythingabout us at blessed
if she got net and then I'mpretty boring,
but I'm on Instagramthe back Davis.
It's an old inside joke.
I don't really thinkI'm the only back Davis.
We we're so grateful for you andso thankful
(23:24):
that we were able to partnerwith you
and making this availablefor women.
As I've been readingand moderating
the comments for rise,I've just been blown away at how
women are being ministered to.
I've heard many women say Ithis is the first time
I've ever felt seen.
(23:47):
Even if they haven't interactedwith people yet,
they're actually receiving care.
They're receiving healingjust by watching and and reading
and feeling so connected.
I just think that that isan amazing gift.
And so just thank you so muchfor all of your gifting,
(24:08):
all of your heart,all of your passion
for Jesus into this.
We are so gratefuland appreciate.
Thanks, Heidi,and thanks for your hard work
on those beautiful scriptsto help me communicate
all those in my heartand all the truth
that's in Scriptureand really God's
heart for these women.
And thanks for keeping upand supporting the women
(24:30):
there in the in the community.
Yeah. Excellent.
Yes, Beth, thank you.
Thank you for joining us today.
It was wonderful.
And to our listeners,thank you for joining us
and listening today.
Please do share a like this,pass on the word about
Arise and, Beth's ministry and,get a look for our next episode.
(24:51):
But again,thanks for joining us.
Take care. Bye bye.
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