ROB: I never really truly felt love

or affection in my household.

There was just way too much anger, way too much

physical, emotional, mental conflict in the house.

NARRATOR: Growing up with abusive and sometimes absent

parents, Rob Decker tried to cope any way he could.

ROB: I started drinking at a pretty young age.

I think I was about 15 years old.

For me, it was just never a fun thing.

It was an absolute escape from absolutely everything.

NARRATOR: While alcohol and eventually drugs

helped him cover up his hurt and anger,

it was sports and fitness that gave him what he really needed.

ROB: The lack of affection, the lack

of love, the lack of someone paying attention to me

is probably why I really drifted toward fitness.

Because in that industry, it's all about the me.

You know, it's all about look at me.

NARRATOR: In the years following high school,

Rob went through life with no direction or purpose.

ROB: Life in my 20s was a huge blur.

I wasn't able to hold on to jobs too long.

I think my true motivation was drink as much

as I, can do as many drugs, have as much fun as I can.

I was on a destructive path.

It was basically like slow suicide.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, he continued working out.

That led to a number of relationships,

but they were superficial and short-lived.

ROB: I'd been in a couple relationships that

were really, really good, but they weren't destructive enough

for me.

And so I destroyed those relationships,

and I hurt some really good people in the process.

NARRATOR: When he was almost 30, Rob met a girl

and soon fell in love.

But like all the others, it turned bad quickly.

ROB: It was extremely destructive.

There was nothing positive about it whatsoever.

It was more of tearing each other down,

and there was nothing edifying about that relationship

whatsoever.

So her and I broke up due to all the negativity

in our relationship.

NARRATOR: Going through another breakup was devastating.

ROB: And that's when one of my old coworkers,

a friend of mine, had convinced me to go to a Bible study.

And at this point I'm like, why not?

I have nothing else going for me.

This God thing might work.

And this group of like 10 or 12 guys

asked me if I wanted salvation and if I

wanted to accept the Lord.

Absolutely.

I just knew.

Like, something in my heart, something in my spirit,

kept telling me this is the right decision.

You know, you get this little tugging at you,

like this is what you need to be doing.

NARRATOR: But weeks later, his ex-girlfriend came back.

ROB: She called me up and told me that she wanted to see me,

and that she was sorry for everything

that had ever happened between us,

and that she really wanted to work it out.

And I was just drawn to her for whatever reason.

You know, and it wasn't a healthy one.

I turned my back on the Lord, knowing

what was best for me, to go back to what I was familiar with.

NARRATOR: Their relationship was as destructive as ever.

Then, one night at her condo they had another argument.

This time, she went too far.

ROB: She had called the cops and told the cops

that I tried to, uh, I tried to rape her

and I tried to kill her.

And when those words came out of her mouth,

she completely betrayed me and turned her back on me.

You know?

And that was painful.

I felt extremely betrayed, and I felt extremely broken and hurt

and very confused.

Like, it just didn't make sense to me whatsoever.

Hopeless is probably the best word.

I felt very hopeless.

And in that moment, I was like, I just can't do this anymore.

That's not the life for me.

NARRATOR: Rob dove headfirst through a third story window.

ROB: My foot clipped an awning, and changed my fall,

and I ended up breaking my back and shattering my left arm,

breaking my wrist, and collapsing my left lung.

And I just woke up on the ground with shallow breath

and looking up at a broken window and asking God why.

Like, why would you even let me live?

I was in terrible, terrible, terrible pain.

NARRATOR: Recovering from seven surgeries on his back and arms,

Rob had plenty of time to think about his life.

ROB: You know, here I am, completely shattered man.

And I'm not going anywhere.

I can't move.

I can't even feed myself.

I believe that that was my one-on-one time with God.

And he reminded me how just a couple months prior to me

jumping out of the window, how I actually accepted Him

to be my Lord and Savior.

And so here we are.

Now we can have a relationship.

Everything is out of the way.

Like now, it's just me and you.

NARRATOR: The girl eventually withdrew her allegations

and disappeared from his life.

As Rob recovered, his priority was getting to know God.

ROB: My why questions to God were like, why would you live?

Why would you let me experience this?

I already had the troubled childhood.

I didn't have a good relationship

with my parents or my sister.

Why?

I was never really mad, because at the end

of the day, like I still know that those were my choices.

That I chose to drink, and I chose to do drugs.

I chose not to lean on Him.

I chose not to seek Him out.

Those were all my choices.

And you know?

He kept reassuring me like, how great my life was going to be.

NARRATOR: With God's help, Rob kicked his drug and alcohol

problems.

Today he shares the love he found through Jesus Christ

with his wife and son.

He's also a personal trainer, using lessons

from his past to encourage people who

feel their lives are hopeless.

ROB: I was using my talents and my gifts

and my charm for all the wrong things in this life.

And I knew that God loved me, and that He wanted me here,

and He wanted me for a greater purpose

than what I was putting out there.

If you earnestly seek Him, He will help you.

And I know that.

You knock on that door, and he's going to open it,

and he's going to bring you right in.