Apprenticeship

Jesus is a model for all of us to copy, not just those in obvious ministry roles. Learning to follow him is a lifetime’s apprenticeship.

Jane Cornish (adapted from Daily Bread JM09)

I just read this quote in Wordlive. It reminded me to tell you that yesterday my youngest son, Nathan aged 20, started an Apprenticeship. He is working for a care company in Kendal. He will be working at a care home there for four days a week and going to Kendal College on the other day. What a day it was for him. And for us. He will learn to be a carer. We will have two sons working. Wonderful.

The trouble is that the word Apprentice conjures up the image of some big shot pointing at some little person and saying "Your fired!" and only once shouting "You're hired!".
So the media has given apprenticeship a negative connotation. I see they've got the big shot, Alan Sugar, advertising the government's Apprenticeship Scheme on the other channels which don't show him pointing the finger. Which are the viewers going to remember - the finger of rejection or the hand of help?

O, and yesterday I got the magazine A Single Step which includes my review of the book "Coming Back to Me" by Marcus Trescothick. So it was a great day for me too!

Another week is gone

I can't believe that I've let another week slip by without blogging.

I put a space on my calendar to write between 8 and 9 in the morning but I haven't managed to do it once. Why not?

Well, a couple of times I slept in, in spite of what I put in my last post. At other times I got so engrossed in reading, replying and writing emails that the time was gone. Also, I tend to do a lot of surveys online and they take up time.

But all these are excuses really. If I am going to write I am going to have to make time for it. Other things are going have to be pushed out of the way.

Write I must and write I will.

Writing, writing, writing

Since a week ago today, when I was deemed unfit for work, it has come to me that the only thing I can do is write. So I keyed into my PC diary as from this morning WRITING - At the PC, on the laptop, at the seaside ANYWHERE! Blog Write anything, anything at all JUST WRITE!

So here I go.
It snowed here during the night and we have a white wonderland again. No sooner has a flake of the white stuff fallen, as it does as I write, than the media starts shouting "Chaos!" What an overused word that is.
On Friday I was chatting on Facebook with a woman who runs a cafe in Montana and she said they get 400 inches of snow a year. What have we got to worry about?!
But what amazed me and made me write it on my Facebook profile status was that she had a webcam set up and I could see her at work and even see the PC she was chatting to me on, between customers. It was weird but wonderful. Whatever next?!

Writing more

I was encouraged by the response to my what I wrote last time. Your interest and encouragement has made me want to write more.

There is an idea for another article at the back of my mind, but what really makes me fizz is the lives of those who inhabited Ingleton in olden times. I just can't get enough of them.

If I could write about them in a way that would capture the interest and imagination of The Girl on the Train, I would have it made.

The Girl on the Train? She's the one I have to sell to if I'm going to make anything from this. She rides the train into the city everyday to a boring and insecure job and to while away the time she reads a novel. If I could get her to shift from romance or chick-lit to The Ingleton Chronicles I would have it made.

God show me how to do it!

Writing a bit

I have at last started to write more than just this blog. It all began when I started attending a writers group at the Looking Well in Bentham.

Since then I have written two book reviews for a magazine published by the Depression Alliance and have just sent one off to another published by a mental health group in Lancaster. It's great to start again.

Once I get going I really enjoy it.

Looking up

I suppose if you are on Cloud Nine you are looking down but I am looking up.

Things are improving in my life. I feel better physically and mentally, I have much more energy (yesterday I did lots of practical things) and although I am far from being positive I am not quite so negative in my thinking. These can only be good signs.

It may be a signpost towards the future. This way back to writing, perhaps. This way towards taking responsibility, perhaps. This way towards being confident, perhaps. Maybe this way towards writing that book for men who are depressed.

Setting up a routine

Whenever I go for counselling or advice about my mental problems the person advises me to set up a daily routine. I have been doing this over the last several months and in general terms it is like this:

AM Writing

PM Research

I tried this yesterday but the research tended to get in the way of the writing because I enjoy it so much more. The writing should take priority because that's the way I will make money.

On the subject of writing for money:

Dr Johnson said: No fool ever wrote except for money.

Everyone to whom I tell my ideas about writing looks at me with a quizzical expression that suggests I need to see the psychiatrist again. And they tell me I won't make enough money to live on, or before I set out on this dangerous course I should seek professional advice.

Well, Audrey and I are going to see our accountant today.

King Solomon wrote this in the book of Proverbs Chapter 3 verses 5&6:-

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
And he will direct your paths.

This has been my way of life since November 1974 and still is. It works.

Writing in style

Hey, guess what? I've entered this blog in a competition for Christian blogs. It's in the Christian Newcomer category. I'm not a new Christian but I'm a fairly new blogger. And I love it.

Yesterday's highlight was getting some real help on my MA writing from Joanne at SLDC (Student Learning Development Centre) at the University. I had been writing in a Daily Mail style where I should have been aiming for the intellectual market. Silly me.

Basically: "The thinking's good but the style needs improvement." May God help me to write as well as I can in all genres and on all occasions - especially on this blog.

Guess who came to dinner? And what we talked about at Breakfast

If you've been reading my blogs over the last year you will know that this guy gets quite a few mentions because I think God is really using him in the Methodist Church today.

Here's his publicity photograph:
And here's one taken just yesterday with the camera set (accidentally) on black and white. I am learning through my photographic mistakes. It is the best way to learn.

Mike Bossingham of the Family Friendly Churches Trust was spending a few days holiday in Ingleton with his wife Ann, and they kindly took us out for a meal at the Wheatsheaf.

It turns out that his wife has another identity. She is also called Ann Barker and writes historical novels.

This fitted in very well with my breakfast table conversation with Audrey:

Audrey: Have you found out who you are yet?

Me: I am a writer. I wrote it in block capitals and put a circle round.

Audrey: To keep your feet on the ground, I think you need to get some advice before you go ahead with this.

So I sent off a message to the Association of Christian Writers. I also quizzed Ann at the Dinner Table, as you can imagine.

Watch this space.