Maureen and Baymen Greenfield with son Zavia

Maureen thought her job and possessions were what made her

With so much to be thankful for it was strange that Maureen Greenfield felt so depressed and hopeless. Materially she had all she wanted and there were no problems in her family, except that she had trouble with men.

“There was no reason for me to be so depressed,” Maureen says. “Yet I felt suicidal and so empty.”

Then, one day, Maureen met a friend of her brothers and suddenly life didn’t seem to be so bad.

“She was going through the same problems with men that I was,” Maureen recalls. “Yet she didn’t seem to be in despair about it. We all knew that she was a Christian even though she never mentioned her beliefs. I wondered what was so different about us.

“I asked her one day when I was at one of my lowest points,” Maureen continues, “and she told me it was God. Then she invited me to church with her next Sunday. She said if I did not like it I could choose not to return, but to just give God a chance.”

The only time Maureen had heard about Jesus Christ was from a primary school friend.

The church service brought back Maureen’s childhood memories as she listened to the Good News of how much God loves the world. John chapter 3 verses 16-17 in particular brought this into clear focus as it says:

‘For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.’

“I could not believe that there was a Saviour who loved me so much that He died for me,” Maureen remembers. “I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour in that very service.”

Maureen still had problems to face. Five months after she became a Christian her seven year old son was killed in a car accident.

“When I got the news I went into a state of shock and my body turned ice cold,” she remembers. “I immediately prayed and told God I could not cope, as my son was my life.

“God showed me a vision of my son’s face. He was smiling and shining like I had never seen before. God told me that my son was in a glorious eternity free from pain and that I should put my pain aside and believe this,” she says.

In the years following, God revealed to Maureen that she was depressed because she was allowing insecurity and jealousy to rule her life.

“I cried out to God many times to heal me,” Maureen says, “and He told me that I did not really want to be healed. This was very true and from that moment I became serious about trusting Him and allowing Him to become my true Lord and Saviour.

“He taught me that humans will always disappoint me and that while I was getting my satisfaction from them I would be left wanting. I realised that I was not just addicted to alcohol but also to my negative emotions and self-pity.”

As Maureen learned more about herself and how God saw her, she drank less and less alcohol until she stopped drinking it altogether.

“I still get sad and depressed sometimes,” she admits, “but since becoming a Christian I have had no more suicidal thoughts and I live to please God, not people. God extends His grace to me and I am confident about who I am in Him.

“I no longer find my identity in materialism and I have quit my executive corporate work position to work from home.

“This has allowed me to get married and spend more time with my second son. Sometimes the marriage goes through rough patches but God’s grace helps us face problems instead of running from them.”

Maureen knows that her life might not be perfect but it would be a nightmare without Christ.

“When I look at how happy my son is to have his Mum and Dad with him, I am so glad I listened to Jesus and did the right thing. I am so grateful that whenever I feel life is difficult and I am weak, I can turn to God and He is strong.

“I am so grateful for the peace and joy in my heart, I feel that the world could fall apart around me and all would still be OK,” she concludes.