A lifelong Christian, I have lived for two years in the South Pacific, owned a 1300 acre property on which I ran cattle, goats and pigs (or did they run me), owned an Indian restaurant (before Indian restaurants were popular), and have done a Ph.D. in Mathematics (Theoretical Astrophysics). I am a convicted, albeit unconventional Christian.
Therefore I do not lose heart. Though outwardly I am falling to pieces, yet inwardly I am being renewed day by day [2 Cor 4:16].