I was born to a schoolteacher father and nursing sister mother, in Bendigo in the 1950's (that seems such a long time ago now!). My Dad had been a Baptist minister, however he experienced some significant disappointments in his ministry and left before I was born.
His father had been a Presbyterian minister for many years in country Victoria and New South Wales. As a result, I was raised in a Christian home, and I thank God for the seeds of faith I received from my family early in life. While I was raised in church traditions, I did not, however, understand the notion of a relational God until I was in my late 30's.
My school years were spent in country Victoria, at Numurkah and Mirboo North. After completing year 12, I moved to Melbourne for university. I did an arts degree (history and Indonesian) at Melbourne Uni, and then a law degree at Monash, where I met my wonderful wife, May Wan.
She is a truly unique individual, and it was her quest for 'truth' which set me on my faith journey in the 1990's. May Wan was born in Malaysia, and came to Melbourne to study – firstly science (honours in immunology) and then law.
My life has been blessed in many ways. May Wan and I have four adult children - two girls followed by two boys. They are such a joy to us, and I think having children gives us useful insights into how our Father in heaven thinks about us. The girls have finished studies and we have one lawyer and one doctor. The boys are both still at university, and we will end up with an engineer and possibly a journalist.
Working life
My own working life has been quite varied and I have worked as a solicitor, a farmer, a manufacturer and as a property developer – the term 'jack-of-all-trades but master of none really does apply to me'.
Since 1984, May Wan and I have run a legal practice, however I have been able to 'escape' regularly into other activities, and May Wan has for much of her working life been a property investor and developer. Farming has been a great passion of mine, and in particular producing fine wool. There is something very special about the Australian woolshed, much of which hasn't changed all that much despite the great technological advances in other fields.
My time has become more and more limited as the years roll by, and farming has had to give way to other (city) activities, but as they say 'you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy'.
In recent years I have begun to consider how I might bear 'fruit and fruit that will last', and to seek out opportunities to participate in various Christian endeavours. I am currently fully occupied in our legal practice, and serving on a couple of boards, as well as juggling the work on our family farm.
I don't read anything in the scriptures about retirement, so I plan to keep working as long as I am able. Despite having enjoyed a relatively full life so far, I reckon there is so much more that the Lord has prepared beforehand for me to walk in, and I don't want to miss any of it.
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He mentors young writers and has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html