by Lynne Stringer

I was born Lynne Bennett, in London, England, on the 7th of February, 1971. My parents had met in England when my mother (who is the only Australian in our family) met my father while on a working holiday. They later married, and had two children, my older brother, Keith, (b 27th January, 1969) and myself.

My parents moved to Australia in 1973 when I was two years old, and lived in Brisbane, where my mother had originally come from. This is where we have lived for the past 28 years.

After a frustrating school life, I left at the end of grade ten, (which is permissable in Australia) and started out in the world. My first paid job was two days a week at Woolworths supermarket, a job which I DESPISED. However, it did give me some much needed confidence, especially since some of the other staff were very friendly.

Then I went to work in BCF (Barker Conlan & Ferrett) Bookshops. I stayed there in a full time position for nearly three years, before I was retrenched. A few months later, I got a job a Your Christian Bookstore, where I stayed until the Baptist Union of Queensland, which owned the bookstore at the time, sold it, and the new owners did not want to take me on.

Feeling guilty for losing me my job, the Baptist Union took me on to see if I could help them out. It appears I could, because I am still there, after eleven years. I enjoy working there, (although some days it can be a drag) and I'm happy to say God has guided me pretty well all these years.

The most recent change in my life was the arrival of Darryl, who I met on the Internet in The Christian Coffeehouse Chat. We only met there once, but decided to e-mail each other. I was only one of many of the friends he had on the 'net, but I wasn't as far away from him as some of them were. I was in Brisbane, and he was in Melbourne, in the state of Victoria, south of Queensland.

I was never even sure if I'd get to meet him, let alone anything more than that, but he called me one day to say that he and his family were moving up to Queensland! They were going to live on the Gold Coast (a couple of hours from where I am), but when Darryl and his sister, Kylie, decided to come up ahead of their parents, they moved to Brisbane, because they had a contact here - me. They weren't necessarily intending to stay in Brisbane, but when Darryl moved into a flat a couple of miles from me and started attending my church, things happened. We started going out, and when his parents moved up, he was determined they would remain in Brisbane. Fortunately, his parents liked it here, and bought a business in Brisbane, and have settled here permanently.

On 1st May, 1999, Darryl and I announced our engagement, much to the delight of family and friends, and we were married on the 13th May, 2000, and settled in Brisbane, in a unit we have bought. We ask you to pray for our life together.