'My husband cheated on me – here's why it's the best thing to happen to our marriage'

Charity Craig, 45, and her husband, Matt, 40, split for eight months in July 2012 after she discovered text messages from another woman.

After a tense showdown, Matt left the family home to pursue a relationship with his mistress.

But after therapy, Charity and Matt decided to give their relationship another go and are now ”thriving”.

The couple first got together in their teens and married in their early twenties.

But by 2012, with four kids under the age of six, the pair were at rock bottom.

After discovering the affair, Charity went to a counsellor who helped her to see that their marital problems weren’t solely caused by Matt’s affair.

Charity now says that the affair was ”the best thing” for them and has strengthened their relationship.

Charity, founder of a jewellery company, from Orlando, Florida, US, said: “This affair turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to our marriage.

“It definitely didn’t feel like it at the time – I thought I knew my husband better than anyone else, but he’d been living a double life and I had no idea.

“My whole world was turned upside down and I didn’t know how I’d ever recover.

“I started therapy, and I realised that I was no longer the woman he’d married, and he wasn’t solely to blame for the breakdown of our relationship.

“I spent eight months working on myself – building up my self-confidence and learning how to deal with my problems in a healthy way.

“We stayed in contact for the sake of the kids, but the love we had for each other didn’t just disappear.

“So we decided to fight for our family and work through our issues, and I’m so glad we did because now things are better than ever.”

Charity grew suspicious of her husband’s behaviour in July 2012, when he said he was staying at his job as a music pastor late into the evening.

After checking his phone, her suspicions were confirmed after she discovered damning text messages from another woman.

Charity explained: “He was constantly working and barely ever had time to be at home with the family.

“We grew further and further apart and became completely disconnected.

“I had a gut feeling that something was wrong, and after checking his phone I found text messages that confirmed my fears.

“I confronted him, and he broke down and told me everything.”

Matt, a chief marketing officer, admitted to having a secret relationship for two months.

Matt said: “I was working over 60 hours a week in a high stress position. I spent more time at work than with my family.

“I was struggling between my family and my dreams of pursuing a musical career.

“I didn’t want to lose my family and I didn’t want to hurt the other woman.”

After the affair came to light, the pair began to plan their divorce.

Matt even moved on with his mistress but the pair slowly came back together after they both worked on themselves.

Charity said: “Matt was incredibly sorry for the affair, but I was also sorry for my part in the breakdown of our marriage.

“We had couples counselling, and Matt gave me all the passwords to his phone and social media.

“We had to completely start again, but it was worth it.”

Since rekindling their romance in February 2013, Charity has trained as a marriage coach, and hopes to help other couples struggling like she was.

The mum-of-four said: “After everything we’d been through, I couldn’t help but think about all the other women who were going through the same thing.

“My experience with my husband’s affair made me want to help other couples heal in the same way we did.

“I now work as a marriage coach to help other couples recover from an affair.

“It’s hard work, but so rewarding to help other couples move past betrayal and re-build their marriage.

“At the time my husband’s affair felt like the end of the world, but it turned out to be the best thing for us as we’ve come back so much stronger.”