Diary Of An Apprentice - Week 6 

 

Hannah O'Donnell, 19^th November 2021

An interesting blog post is in store for you readers this week, I’ve had a very eventful week!

So it started off relaxed and enjoyable. I had much less to do than usual which was a nice change to bring me some much-needed rest. However, the Lord had other plans.

In fact, the Lord had very, very different plans… I actually lost control of my beloved car, Burtie, and crashed into a stone wall :( many sad faces. I completely wrote off the car, losing the entire front end. BUT, where there is trial, there is blessing! Neither I nor my passenger were hurt at all; we remained entirely unscratched despite the state of the car. We were protected by the loving, sovereignty of the Lord. Yes, I was massively shaken after the event and I found it hard to focus on anything other than the idea that we - and many others - could’ve been seriously hurt, but it forced me to remember that the Father is always in control. Everything is part of His divine and perfect plan. He was also reminding me that He is with me in EVERYTHING. Never will He leave me and never will He forsake me (Deuteronomy 31v6). He was with me when I lost control of the wheel. He was with me when I drove into the wall and spun. He was with me when I got out of the car, shaking. He was with me through the generosity of passersby stopping to look after us. He was with me through the gentleness of the policeman. He was with me in the days after, sorting insurance, transport and a new car. Thank you Jesus, you never leave me to fend alone.

I realise that this seems irrelevant to the 'Diary of an Apprentice' but it's actually had a huge impact on my working week. I've had to be much more organised with transport to and from all the various activities I'm involved in throughout the week. Therefore, it has been an extremely humbling experience. I've been forced to rely on the compassion of others and the provision of the Lord rather than on my own abilities.

Another plot twist to the story of my week involved the one and only, Coronavirus. Thankfully, it was not myself that COVID managed to infect, but unfortunately it was one of my brothers in Christ - David. It turned out to have a much greater affect on my week that I had expected:

• I had to step in during our 11am church service on Sunday to present the visuals. I have done this on many an occasion for the 9am service, however that service has much less to present. For the 11am, I had to learn the new skill of presenting videos rather than just powerpoints and learn how to link what I was doing to the 'Audio' team.
• I had to do last-minute preparations for the mid-week youth group, Pathfinders. That involved finding an appropriate leader to come alongside me and JB (the other Pathfinders leader) and coming up with a game that would be enjoyed on short notice. I wouldn't say the game went spectacularly, or as planned, but the kids seemed to enjoy it with the new variations that they invented themselves!
• In this coming week, I now need to prepare a talk to present to the 'Pathfinders' next Tuesday as David will still be in isolation then. During the teachings at minute, we are going through the 'I am's of Jesus'. So far we have looked at 'The Good Shepherd', 'The Bread of Life' and 'The Way, The Truth and The Life'. I intend to bring some teachings on the statement from Jesus: 'I am the Light of the World'. I'm actually looking forward to learning more about this statement myself, it's really encouraging knowing that Jesus brought light to a dark, sinful world.

Prayer points for me this week would be that the house move goes smoothly and that I would be able to use my time wisely and effectively to finish all the jobs I have this week without lazy procrastiation. Have a lovely week :)

Hannah's Fact of the Week:
I am missing a knuckle in my right hand! It seems non-existant in my little finger but I figure, surely, it must be there somewhere... Right? And seemingly not having this right hand knuckle makes my pinky-finger much much smaller than my pinky-finger on my left hand. A very weird quirk, but I love it. If you see me at church, youth groups or around Whitehaven and you want to see this peculiar sight, feel free to ask!