On the morning of August 2, 2022, as I was driving into work, it struck me, I had never written down my testimony. If I owe anything to anyone, I owe this to Jesus Christ and the boundless grace of God.

I was born on April 15, 1945. My birth mother was a young woman of Ukrainian descent living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. My birth father, an American of Polish heritage, was stationed in Winnipeg during World War II as part of his pilot training with the United States Air Force.

I refer to them as my birth parents because, three months after I was born, I was adopted by Florence and Thomas Cooper, who became, and will always be, my Mom and Dad. My birth mother was unmarried, and after completing his training, my birth father returned to the United States. Being a single mother during that era was incredibly difficult.

As a child, I grew up in modest conditions, but I never felt deprived. My Dad, who was 20 years older than my Mom, was originally from England and immigrated to Canada in his early twenties. My Mom was born in Winnipeg and came from the Campbell family. This was my Dad’s second marriage, but my Mom’s only one. After adopting me, they had a daughter, three years younger than I was, and we were quite close during our early years.

Though church attendance was rare, usually just on Easter, and God was seldom mentioned at home, I don’t remember anything negative ever being said about Him either. In my early teens, I occasionally went to Sunday School with friends and even attended “big people’s church” on my own. I remember one vivid moment when a sunbeam shone through a church window and lit up the podium where the minister stood. I was filled with awe. The thought that God might not exist never crossed my mind.

But my home life was not without pain. My mother could be physically and verbally abusive. Around the age of twelve, she showed me my adoption papers and told me I was a “bastard” whom no one wanted. Though it hurt deeply, I kept that pain buried inside. At that time, I knew nothing of my birth parents.

At seventeen, shortly before my parents separated, I joined the Royal Canadian Navy. Back then, with parental consent, you could enlist at that age. My time in the Navy was marked by a lifestyle focused on women and drinking, something that followed me through my three-year contract.

After my Navy service, I joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. Being posted in Halifax while in the Navy had made it hard to maintain any meaningful relationships, as we were often away at sea. But in the Air Force, my lifestyle continued much the same. Eventually, this path caught up with me when I was stationed at CFB Rockcliffe in Ottawa. Despite all my pursuits, I felt a growing emptiness. My dependence on alcohol worsened, I couldn’t fall asleep without consuming ten or twelve shots of hard liquor.

One evening, I sat on the steps of my barracks and said a prayer to God. I wasn’t even sure He existed, but I asked Him to show Himself to me if He was real. As I’ve since learned, many others have prayed something similar.

The very next day, on those same steps, a young man named John Stennett sat beside me, and we started talking about God. As it turned out, John, a Corporal, and a Master Warrant Officer named Bruce Pringle ran a Young People’s Christian group through the local Protestant chapel on base.

Over the next year, I was introduced to genuine Christian fellowship for the first time. I witnessed firsthand what it looked like to walk with Jesus, and through their example, I was delivered from my need for alcohol. I considered myself a Christian, but I hadn’t yet surrendered control to God. I didn’t realize how blessed I truly was.

Later, I was posted to CFS Shelburne in Nova Scotia, a base at that time known for its large population of young female personnel. I arrived with good intentions, but slowly drifted back into old habits. Though I never completely turned my back on God, I ignored Him, testing His patience again and again. In retrospect, I marvel at how we can deceive ourselves, and at how gracious God truly is.

Before I left Shelburne, I married Peggy, my beloved wife of now over 53 years. We had met while I was in the Navy and dated on and off for almost eight years. She was unlike anyone else I had ever known: strong, challenging, and deeply genuine. Looking back, I had little understanding of what marriage truly entailed, but I loved her deeply.

After Shelburne came two more postings, first to St. John’s, Newfoundland, and then to Debert, Nova Scotia. By the time we left Debert, we had three children, and Peggy was pregnant with twins, Nicholas and Rebecca. My military trade required me to transfer from the Air Force to the Army, and I did so.

Marriage had drawn me back to the Lord, and I became active in Bible studies and church life. But I ran into an obstacle, and that obstacle was me.

I came to realize that I could love my wife and children deeply, yet still damage them through self-centeredness. That awakening stopped me in my tracks. I began to understand that Jesus must not only be my Savior but also the Lord of my life. This was the hardest lesson I’ve ever had to learn. It did not happen overnight, but by God’s grace, I slowly came to grasp it.

We never fully escape the pull of self, but when we earnestly shift our focus to God’s will, something remarkable happens: the longings that once drove us are met, not through our efforts, but by the grace and provision of God. Trust in Him leads to a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Jesus, a relationship that transforms the heart.

Over the years, I have seen God’s forgiveness, patience, wisdom, and goodness shape my life. It is difficult to express in words, but I know it in the depths of my being. I love my wife with all my heart, and I have come to love Jesus with all my heart as well. Somewhere along the way, the two of us, my wife and I, became one. Just as Jesus and I have become one. That is a sacred and precious gift.

My testimony is this: God’s grace far exceeds our expectations, but it requires trust, real trust. Trust in God. Trust in the accomplished work of His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the very image of the Father. All of God’s thoughts and ways are revealed in Him.

That old hymn says it best:
“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
I’ve lived that truth.

God’s grace, patience, wisdom, mercy, forgiveness, and love are available to all who will receive Him. Such is the nature of our God. And all of God is revealed in His Son. Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9 NASB). That’s a profound truth, and it’s real.

This life is not about us, even though we are the recipients of God’s love. It is ultimately about Jesus. And when we begin to truly see this, it changes everything.

Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29–30 NASB).

Learning from Jesus, that’s what it’s all about. Jesus is the expressed image of God, literally God in the flesh. And through Him, we meet the Father.

John 3:16–21 NASB:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil.
For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.”

Worthy is the Lamb. Blessings!

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