the Otter's Pool - web home of Ady Gould -

I was to end up spending some months on the Island. It was great. There were the times of trouble, like any relationship.

Yet it was our love for each other, and God's love for us that drove us closer after any misunderstanding. I admit that I had the problem in almost all the cases, by just being that bit more highly strung.

As we reached the middle of February, and just after my birthday, I finally got cheesed off totally with doing nothing, and with some prompting looking for work.

Gareth had been working "part time" since before he came to Australia for the second time. It was not well paid, but it was an answer to prayer for the two of us. The company accepted him, and myself as just being "us".

As I started to look for work, I became more settled, but it was going to take a lot of work on God's part to get me to where I should be.

God had started that work, but I never knew it. He had me growing slowly, despite the fact I never felt happy in the fellowship that Gareth attended, a little too infrequently (probably because I was there). Before I started at BT, Gareth was interviewed for various jobs around the country. One being in Oxford. Each job was given to someone else, but we did not realise the reason why until later.

When he heard back from once company they explained the reasons for the failure to get the position. In many ways, this was to become a blessing in disguise, as he was to later be reinterviewed by one of the other companies.

In a series of events, that even now seem strange, Gareth was interviewed for the position in Oxford, as they had failed to fill the position. Had God kept it open for my partner? We were not to know until the next week.

Gareth had come home in the evening, when we were sat watching TV and eating dinner. The phone rang - it was about 9:30pm - and as it was unexpected, I let Gareth answer. Then the strange looks started.

I watched and listened, then it dawned on me that he was being questioned by the director of the company he was interviewed at. The conversation took a decided turn, when Gareth started to explain the reasons for his departure from his previous employer. This was to be the signal for me to start praying in earnest.

I had not prayed as fervently as at this time for many months. I was almost obsessive. I believe the Holy Spirit wanted me to cover the conversation in prayer. I was to be the soldier clearing the way for the listener to receive the truth.

When he got of the phone, I was in tears. It had been an arduous hour for Gareth, yet alone for me. We sat talked and prayed.

The next evening the events took on yet another strange turn as he received another phone call from the same person. This time to clarify some more points.

I again was urged by the Spirit to pray. As the prayer was being said, it became more and more evident that Gareth had got the job. I was crying with joy, and yet unable to stop praying. When he finally said "Thankyou, sir, for the faith and trust you have put in me, and I look forward to seeing you in the near future", I cracked totally, crying and praising God.

He got off the phone and yelled "YES!" at the top of his lungs. Gareth then held me. The two of us were by now crying, and thanking God for his love and faithfulness to us.

In the middle of March, prayer was answered with a telephone interview for British Telecom. (I have the luxury of still having a National Insurance number and also National Health Number, Dan thus the ability to work in the UK.) The interview went well, and I was offered the job on the spot. This I accepted, and was due to start on the following Monday, at the Croydon offices.

I was unable to do this as Gareth and I were to travel to Liverpool on the Friday for a long weekend. In place of this we agreed for me to start on Tuesday 1st April, 1997.

Then the chaos of finding somewhere to work, and it was God's plan for me to walk straight into another Internet friend, Tom. When I told Tom I was looking for somewhere to stay whilst I found a place to live, he offered a bedroom. I willingly accepted. I met his partner Fred, and so began my journey with these two men, that God had planned for me, and for them.

When I had accepted the BT job, I had made arrangements to move to London, but in the weeks that followed, I found it hard to find a suitably priced flat, or room to rent. It was becoming obvious that I was to stay put. In the end, I went to Tom and asked if I could stay there, and contributing to living by getting groceries and other odds and ends. I told him to ask Fred before saying yes.

When I was accepted as part of the house, I never knew that God was going to form a strong and special bond between Tom and Fred and myself. This happened, and it is a bond that will be remembered with good feelings for a long time to come.

In the time with the guys, I edged slowly forward with God, but there were things to come that would push me forward quickly at times. These times would be when there was tension in the air, and when there was laughter flowing.