My Story

I was born in Sydney, Australia. The 1st son of 3 for my parents. When I was 7 we moved further up the East coast and settled in a town around 4 hours drive North of Sydney.

While living there, my parents became friends with a couple with a large family who were very peaceful natured and called themselves "Christians". I had never even heard of the term before.

Not long after that my parents became Christians too and so began my childhood growing up in a Christian family.

(I found out years later that my parents were on the verge of divorce during that time and that couple who introduced them to a relationship with Jesus, Was EXACTLY what my parents needed at that time to stay together.)

I followed along with this lifestyle and really enjoyed growing up with a much more peaceful household and getting to meet new people while attending church, but ultimately I never really pursued a personal relationship with Jesus.

We ended up moving further up the East coast again when I was about 11, I started attending a Christian school there. Being around teachers and children that all have a similar view on life and faith really strengthened my faith also and so I started to take this Jesus guy more seriously.

About 3 years later I was in an accident at the school, involving another student and received a potentially serious life threatening spinal injury. I had A LOT of people praying for me during that time and when I went to the specialist, he checked me out and told us that he was absolutely surprised that based on the nature of the incident that I only had a couple of compressed vertebrae and only needed a bit of physiotherapy and bed rest. God was definitely looking after me in that ordeal.

Not long after, I became born again and things were pretty good for the next 6 years or so but looking back, being how impressionable I was...I became easily swayed into situations and places that I shouldn't have been in. I had really let myself fall away from a relationship with Jesus but deep down I knew he was still there, just watching...and still loving me.

Sometime around mid 2000, I met a fantastic girl. We became friends and over time...more.

She lived interstate, (That is about a 20 hour drive inland away from where I lived.) We started a long distance relationship taking turns travelling back and forth until I finished my studies at the end of 2001 and then I left family and everything behind so we could be together.

(I was 21 at the time and she was 18.)

For the next 7 years things seemed good.

We rented for a few years while she finished up her degree and I worked a job for the local mining industry. I was doing 24 hour shift work for that time so basically attending church went out the window.

Then we decided to get married, so I proposed to her and she said YES! That was such a happy day for me. We set the date for early 2009.

We wanted to build a house so we began looking and found a block in a new estate in an area right near the ocean! We took the plunge and bought it.

Around this time we also got a Labradoodle because she had never been allowed to have a pet dog before, we named him Reeku. I love him like he is my own little boy!

Once we started building, we quickly noticed that both our combined income was only just enough to live fortnight to fortnight. I quickly got a new job with a MUCH higher income, but that was 24 hour shift work also. After so many years of shift work already, I was really over doing shift hours and I hated it.

We finished building our little dream house and then settled into normal routine. We had accomplished A LOT in that time and all seemingly without God. Life was ...OK.

Over time, things slowly but surely got steadily worse and I don't know what happened...I guess I just went with the flow because it was easy.

We got married in 2009 and for a time, when things were good they were really good. We even spoke about starting a family in January 2011.

Everything was routine though, I was work, work, work and she would have each weekend off. So she spent time with her friends while I was working and my 'weekends' were usually mid week while she was at work.

About early to mid 2010 she changed from working at the local catholic schools to working in the offices of her employer.

That was when she met a new girl friend, Apparently they hit it off straight away and within a couple of months they were both each others "best-of bestest-friends" as they both put it. I felt it was a bit odd.

(She originally had 2 best friends that were her best friends from school, even before we met.)

Around early December 2010 she started acting really 'weird', she didn't want hugs, was stressed a lot (When I asked what was wrong she would say "nothing" or "Its work stress") and spent most of her time with this new best friend and going out.

Mid December she sat me down that night and said (completely blind-siding me) that she thought we should separate for a time (to work things out) so I told her to stay at her parents for a week to think.

I tried like crazy the next 6 weeks to win her back, Then she told me that all along she had no intention of reconciling. (I was 30 and she was 27 at this time.)

My world had fallen apart, "What the hell happened?" I was constantly asking myself. It really hit me HARD.

After 10 years together and almost 2 years of marriage...It was over.

In February I packed up all my stuff, quit my job and moved back to where my family is, trying to make sense of the whole mess.

But the hardest thing I have EVER had to go through was the day I left and had to look into Reeku's eyes and tell him goodbye...he knew, I know it.
He was anxious and watched me out the window like he didn't want me to go. I felt bad for my dad (who was with me for the long drive back) because he had to comfort me and drive away at the same time.

I wonder what he is up to all the time and hope he is happy without me. I never get any pictures or news about him, that really stings the most.

In March this year, I found out that she had an 18 year old boy lined up to be with. Only 44 days after she left me they were together.

It also happens to be, that her new guy is best friends with her "best-of bestest-friend's" boyfriend... It all seems really coincidental.

Thank God I come from a Christian family! I reluctantly went along to church with my mother around March (first real time in about 8 years) and it was really good but I felt that particular church was not for me, that week though I got hungry again (for God's word).

Around the same time I was trying all different things I could to try and get my life back on track but it seemed like everything I tried would hit an invisible brick wall.


I really got to the end of myself. I had exhausted all my options.
I remember crying out to God one night "I cannot do this by myself any more! God, please save me I have no where else to turn!".
(I didn't realise it at the time, but looking back a few weeks later I noticed that all the things that had a hold on me had been broken!)

Not long after, I found a church that has more people around my age and I tell you now everything has jumped leaps and bounds for me. So much peace and comfort, it is amazing!

Rededicated myself back to the Lord and now I am so full of zeal for all things Him.

Looking back through that whole time I can pin point times where He was with me (even when I didn't seem to care) and was looking out for me, allowing things to happen with me, all to make me grow as a person and draw closer to him.

I know this all happened for a reason, I pray that by reading my story you may see similarities in your own life or someone you know.

I just know, that through all the up's and down's I have had so far in life (and many more to come no doubt...otherwise I would never grow!) that he is ALWAYS with me and wants only the very best for my life!

Such peace, love and comfort like that can ONLY come from knowing Jesus.