Dave grew up around faith, but he didn’t feel welcome in church. Living with ADHD he found the culture rigid and unforgiving. He’s grateful he wasn’t pressured to go to church – it made the way back easier when the timing was right.
Life didn’t go as Dave had planned and it certainly wasn't simple. Grief, the collapse of a business, a forced relocation, a young family, and a debilitating depression were all part of his story when things got heated with a neighbour over a damaged car.
What happened next was unexpected. The neighbour’s wife turned up with money for the damage and, uncharacteristically for her, a note. Inside was a verse from Psalm 78 – words about passing on truth, about listening, about hidden things revealed. It wasn’t dramatic, but something shifted for Dave.
In the quiet that followed he began to read the Bible. Alone. No fanfare. No one told him to. No one knew. And somewhere in the stillness of his house, he broke. Quietly, in tears, he gave his life to Jesus. Not in church, not in a crowd, but in his own home.
For weeks he kept it private. A quiet experiment in belief. But grace has a way of drawing things into the light. At a church service, a leader he’d never met turned and asked, “Are you a Christian?” Dave said yes. Just like that. It was the first time he’d said it out loud, the first time he’d told anyone. He told his wife what had just happened, she’d noticed a change but now she knew why.
The depression didn’t disappear. But it stopped being the whole story. Dave found purpose. Living for Jesus, not himself, brought freedom, and a passion for youth work emerged.
Dave’s journey to faith grew through small, seemingly insignificant steps. It wasn’t clean or quick, but it was real. Unpressured parenting. A gentle verse. A timely question. An audible yes. A community of welcome. And through them, the threads of grace that God used to change everything.