We spent 9 years of our life in a small country town in North Queensland called Charters Towers. These are my memories of the people and events that were a part of our life during that time.
Chris was one of our students from Cornerstone in Emerald. When he finished his first year he was offered a job as a radio announcer at the Emerald radio station. He started as the night shift announcer and turned what was normally the dullest part of the radio program into a huge success. Chris was offered a promotion in Gladstone and moved there.
Career wise and socially things were booming for Chris. He is a considerate, courteous and fun loving young man and was very popular. Radio announcing is a very public role that has a strong focus on the image. Being young and still unsure of his own image he gradually began to adopt the façade that popularity required. It was all too much and Chris was sucked into a lifestyle that went against all he had grown up with and learnt in his year as a student in Cornerstone.
Chris rang one night and said he was offered a job in the radio station at Charters Towers. More importantly he recognised that he needed to get out of the lifestyle in Gladstone, He asked if he could move in to try and sort things out. Of course we said yes.
Our home was beginning to fill up. Chris was great with Natasha and gave us some relief from her intensity. He also gave her a positive role model.
Charters Towers was a small radio station. Chris was the breakfast announcer and there was only a manager, secretary, and two part time announcers.
Work for Chris was quite intense. His hours were extremely long and the expectations were high. Although his spiritual life was coming together work was becoming more and more a slog.
Within a few months he was offered a job in Mackay. I thought it was too soon and was concerned that he would be sucked into the same lifestyle he had left a short time ago in Gladstone. I said to Chris that at this point I felt it was more important to focus on his spiritual life than on his career. But, I would support him in whatever decision he made.
I was wrong. Moving to Mackay was the best decision he had ever made. He was involved in a small Baptist Church and contributed to. More importantly it was there he met his future wife. Chris by nature is a drifter but Katrina is far more decisive. She is exactly the right person to keep him on track.