December, Finish Lines, Rest, and Prayer for Family

Good Morning Friends, Family, and Internet Wanderers!

I am so glad that you took the time to read my little blog about how my ministry is going. This past month has seen a lot of different things finish up and as a result I had a very low key and much needed time of rest around the holidays. That being said I find myself feeling ready and excited to start this new year and see what the Lord has in store for both me and my ministry.

Thanksgiving

December was a month of many blessings and not all of them were as I might have expected them. December has been full of cards, notes, small gifts, and kind acts by the people in my community simply sharing the different little ways I have been an impact on them. Stopping by the church to get some mail I was 'forced' into having a light lunch with the quilting group. I received e-mails from people in the church I do not interact with significantly to hear how I have helped them. I have been invited to meals, and received cards with simple blessings and words of appreciation. So while the end of November had me very stressed, all throughout December I received little affirmations which blessed me greatly.

Another way I have been thankful this December is with being able to finish several projects well. I finished my final paper in one course, an exam in another, and as a result received my now customary A and B+ respectively. This year I was a small part of the Sunday School production and it went splendidly. Similarly with our growing youth group I decided to change what our end of the year event looked like and it seemed to go over well for all who attended. But the biggest blessing was that for about a week and a half I did not have anything due and was able to take a few afternoons off for some low stress Christmas shopping while many people were still at work. This time also allowed me to help support my mom in her ongoing heath struggles, without feeling like I was missing or falling behind at work. The added rest and low holiday stress was a real blessing this month.

Finally I am exceedingly and routinely thankful for the blessing of my faithful supporters. As it stands now I am still 6 months funded in advance and this has been a huge blessing to me. In fact this past month a monthly donor's giving expired and they told me about it before I even noticed to make sure I got them the right forms in time for them to continue giving. On that note the church has been having a bit of trouble with their own finances over the past few months which made me feel a bit guilty because I know that part of the reason for this is their desire to be generous with me. But much of that has been alleviated as another group I work with decided to support Crossroads because of me to the tune of $3000 which really helped the church budget. Overall December has been a month of many blessings and none of which could have been possible without each and every person who is reading this blog and praying for my success.


Prayer

This past month at a conference event for youth pastors and those who work with youth I had a chance to overhear a discussion on prayer. In discussion around this someone simply shared that they prayed as their form of evangelism. To which another responded that it is also important to go and 'do something'. Sitting and listening to this conversation I found myself really resonating with this second statement, until the first person responded. You see the first person responded very simply that prayer IS doing something. I don't know about you but often I forget that, and so I want to say an extra special thanks for those who keep doing what they have been to support me, my family, and my ministry.

As encouraging as December has been for me, it has been really tough on my mom whose health continues to be a source of stress and fear. As many of you would remember my mom is struggling with a late stage breast cancer which has decided it will no longer be contained. As a result mom has been trying a variety of different things to help fight the cancer, and though the combination of intense prayer, drugs, and procedures it appeared if she was approaching relief. Unfortunately while the cancer has seemed to shrink in some places it was also revealed that it may have moved to other places in her body, and she is awaiting more tests to see if the two potential areas it may have moved to are indeed cancerous as well. Please join with me in praying for her health and well being. I continue to help as best I can, but this is a difficult time for my family.

With January here and kids returning to school my schedule also returns to a degree of normalcy, which is good but also a little nerve wracking. Last semester was particularly difficult in a lot of different ways and my request is that you pray with me that this semester will not be as difficult, that I will manage my time and commitments well, and that the ministries in which I oversee would not remain static, but would grow. On that note I ask for specific prayers for our young adult ministry which due to scheduling and marriage is now dwindling. I have seen this area be a blessing in the lives of the young adults in our church but lately that has not been the case and I am not sure what I can do to revitalize it.

Thanks so much for your partnership in prayer
Happy New Year
-Stefan Klassen