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My name is Nicky Trimble,
and this is my story...
I grew up in a small town just outside of Pittsburgh. My parents did 'the church thing' growing up and didn't feel the need to instruct their two daughters in any religious sort of way. The words "God" and "Jesus" were never spoken in my home. Friends would invite me to church, vacation Bible school and even a teen Bible study, but I lacked the courage and biblical knowledge to ask questions - so I stopped joining them.
I met my husband in college. He was handsome, came from a good family and loved me. All I really wanted was to be loved. Wanting to please his mother, we found a pretty little white church with stained glass for our wedding. Appearances were deceiving. Clearly, even after pre-marriage counseling, we did not have Christ in our hearts and He was definitely not in our marriage. We thought that love was enough.
Soon we had two beautiful, healthy boys within 18 months, started a business and ran it together. We lost my father after a long battle with cancer. We lost his mother after months of living with her, trying to convince her to live. We lost each other in all of the unresolved grief, anger and chaos of life. He turned to alcohol, I turned to food. With each passing week, we grew further apart. The love that we thought was enough, no longer existed.
I wanted more for my children than I had been taught spiritually, so I started taking them to church. Hand in hand we would go and learn about Jesus together. I accepted Christ in my head over the next few years, while I struggled to keep my marriage together and the business afloat. It wasn't until crying alone in my car after church one day that I embraced Christ with my heart. Then I knew, Christ loved me for me, accepted me right where I was and He would be there and never leave me.
As my faith grew stronger, my marriage grew weaker. Several attempts at counseling failed. Alcohol and anger made it impossible. The business was going bankrupt and the house into foreclosure. I was very afraid for myself and my boys who were 4 and 5 years old at the time. Moving out, I thought my husband would stop drinking, find a job and want us back. That was six years ago. It was not easy being a single mother. I was concerned about money. I was concerned about the boys' relationship with their dad. Instead of worrying, I would pray. Pray for strength, for guidance, for my husband and for my boys. I always thought we would get back together and I tried to make it work, but it didn't. This was not how my life was supposed to be. I felt guilty about losing my marriage – good reasons or not.
A good friend brought me to Orchard Hill Church. I was amazed by the energy of the music and a message easily understood by this new Christian. I saw information about DivorceCare and decided to go. There, I worked through my issues of guilt, anger, confusion and found myself in a healthy place. I met so many wonderful people and, not wanting it to end, I decided to serve. That was four years ago. Now I lead a fabulous group of facilitators on Tuesday nights giving hope and encouragement to those walking this difficult, painful path.
There is hope after a family breaks up. My former spouse and I are good friends. We love our kids and see each other at practices, games, school functions, and we even celebrate birthdays and Christmas together. He has become a great dad and the boys adore him. The life I had before I found Christ seems so foreign, filled with so much chaos. Now I have peace and the courage to ask questions I couldn't as a child. I now know that I too can be an example of Christ's love. No matter the difficulty, I can handle it with Christ by my side. I feel blessed to have new relationships in my life, two healthy boys, a great former spouse, but most of all am grateful for my relationship with Jesus that never waivers. My name is Nicky Trimble and this is my story.
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