Part 3 - Swindon to Winchester and beyond!

I drifted for a while after the split up (see part 2). In October 1999, Pinehurst Gospel Hall held a children's week of meetings during the half term holiday. I was heavily involved in this week and we had a great time. We made contact with a number of children from the local area. However, this proved to be nearly fatal for my spiritual life.

There were some girls who came along. I got rather friendly with them and would talk to them at all times. This was fine, to start with. I started to have some serious problems again. Depression took over and these girls attempted to help. All they did, however, was to hinder the recovery. November and December were very difficult for me. I started smoking and drinking heavily. Then, one day in January/February 2000 I went shopping. I bought a large bottle of Whiskey and a large quantity of Paracetamol. I did not want to live any more. I had forsaken my God once again. However, I am pleased to say that He did not forsake me.

I got home late that night and made sure that no one was up. My mind was made up, I would swallow all of the paracetamol and drink the Whiskey and end my life. I really was very depressed. I only got as far as consuming all the Whiskey. I woke up the next day to find that none of the paracetamol had been touched. The Lord had preserved me. For some reason I did not try again. During this time I spent a lot of time crying without really knowing why. As I look back, I can say that it was because I was very far from my Lord. Still, after this episode I began to make recovery. I got interested in the things of God once again.

What I have not mentioned before is that during all this I was still a Sunday School Teacher. When the Elders at Swindon finally took action to help me recover fully, it was too late. I was called into a meeting with them and told that they would like me to stand down from the Sunday School all together. I agreed but very reluctantly. I loved working with the Children and was sorry to leave it. The Lord had other plans for me, though. This took place in early March, 2000.

I took the meeting as a sign from the Lord for me to leave Swindon, permanently. After seeking His guidance in prayer, I telephoned a friend in Winchester and told her the situation. She started to look for accommodation for me. Within two days, she had telephoned back to say that she had found somewhere, would I like to come and stay for the weekend to look at it. I did, and agreed that it would be a nice place to live. She found me a room with a school caretaker. After meeting him, I agreed to move in. I went back to Swindon and dropped the biggest bombshell that Pinehurst Gospel Hall had known. I still remember certain of my friends crying because I was leaving them. I told them very simply that this was the Lord's will. Little did I know how right I would be.

On 1st April, 2000 I trundled down the M4 and A34 in a very battered old Sierra (friends will remember that this was the car that had bungee cords to hold the bonnet down) with most of the luggage that I had. The move to Winchester had been done but was not to last. After a dispute with my land lord over his youngest son using me as some sort of trampolene, I was evicted. This was the first time that the love of the Saints at Crawley was made known to me. I was offered alternative accommodation at 1 The Beeches, Crawley (Tim Beers old house), which I accepted.

I would like to say that all has run smoothly over the last two years but again, it has not. It took me 10 months to fully recover from the depression. When I did recover, I began to make Spiritual growth. This lasted until January 2001, when I began to get involved with a girl that was not right. She dragged me down, and the Saints at Crawley attempted to guide me but I would not listen initially. By the time I did listen, I had to apologise to certain of the assembly and to beg forgiveness from them. It was then that my spiritual eyes were fully opened, and I could see the love of the assembly for me. I entered into that love and have made significant growth since then.

The last two years have been plagued with problems, but they have been of the most Spiritual Blessing to me and to the assembly at Crawley.

So, what next?
The future is promising to be extremely interesting. In the next few weeks, I hope to be moving again. This time to Southampton (but I shall be staying in fellowship at Crawley). Just to complicate things, I am working in London for the Trinitarian Bible Society (who seek to distribute the Authorized Version in English, and reliable translations in other languages).

My spare time is taken up with writing my News Letters. I still have not got a name for them yet. In case you do not know, my News Letters are (typically) 9 (yes, NINE) pages of teaching that I am seeking to write and distribute once a month. If you do not receive these and you would like to, drop me a line at furry@news-letters.freeserve.co.uk and I will send them to you.

Also, I am also involved in updating the meetings pages on www.thatwastintagel.net. If you know of a meeting, let me know at meetings@thatwastintagel.net and I will place it onto the site.

In the future, I aim to serve God more fully in what He wants me to do.

Before I close, I do have one more thing to say. It concerns the ear ring that I had fitted (see part 2). I want to make known the reason why I no longer wear it. It represents the ways of the world, and as such I feel that I should not be partaking of the same thing that the world does. We who are His are called to be separate. I wanted to separate myself from the world so I took the ear ring out and took off my only ring and do not wear them. I have since lost both.

May God bless you all for taking an interest in the way that God has been my "very present help in trouble".

The end.