A mum left devastated after her husband had an affair has told how she forgave him - and now feels HAPPY he cheated.<br /><br />Charity Craig, 45, and her husband, Matt, 40, split for eight months in July 2012 after she discovered text messages from another woman.<br /><br />After a tense showdown, Matt left the family home to pursue a relationship with his mistress. <br /><br />But after therapy, Charity and Matt decided to give their relationship another go and are now ''thriving''.<br /><br />The couple first got together in their teens and married in their early twenties.<br /><br />But by 2012, with four kids under the age of six, the pair were at rock bottom.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />Charity now says that the affair was ''the best thing'' for them and has strengthened their relationship. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />"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. <br /><br />"My whole world was turned upside down and I didn't know how I'd ever recover. <br /><br />"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. <br /><br />"I spent eight months working on myself - building up my self-confidence and learning how to deal with my problems in a healthy way. <br /><br />"We stayed in contact for the sake of the kids, but the love we had for each other didn't just disappear. <br /><br />"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."<br /><br />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. <br /><br />After checking his phone, her suspicions were confirmed after she discovered damning text messages from another woman. <br />
