January, The New Year, Grief, and New Beginnings

Good Morning Friends, Family, and Internet Wanderers

January has been an exciting and intense way to begin this year. On paper this month has had less in it than past months, yet somehow it has felt very full.

Thankfulness

In December I was not feeling very well, and it was not my usual kind of sickness. Normally and pretty naively I would just ignore it until I got better. Yet I shared my concern with my pastor who advised me go to the doctor. One visit turned into three, as well as an appointment at a lab where I had to give several vials of blood. All of this was a new experience for me and I found myself more than a little nervous because there was potential for my illness to be something very serious. Yet after all was said and done, in January I got my test results and it ended up being something very minor and the doctor gave me a clean bill of health. I did not share this widely at the time, but I am so very thankful for those who prayed and for God's provision in my life.

Another point of thankfulness this month is that I was able to take four Jr. High students to a large youth event outside of the city. One of my struggles with a smaller group of students and being divided with several different roles at the church is that I do not often get to attend a youth conference or event like this. It was an amazing time of investing in students and sharing the love of Jesus with them in a fun and unique setting. I am so blessed that as our group continues to grow I will be able to do more things like this in the future.

I have also been blessed this month to continue to see the young adults group continue to grow. The numbers at our bi-weekly bible study are still pretty stable, but the additional events that we do have seen an increased attendance. I have also been able to meet with several of the other young adults in our church in January. It is one of my favourite things to do, to meet people for coffee and hear some of their story. This month I have had the privileged to have many more of these conversations than previously. I truly feel blessed and that I am making a difference when someone is comfortable enough to share with me their struggles and I am able to encourage them in their faith.


Prayer Requests


Last month I mentioned that there was someone in my community who had cancer and was suffering. This month the Lord saw fit to bring him home. The man who passed leaves behind a wife and several younger children. Please join with me in praying for the family of the deceased, that they would know and experience the love of God and their church despite this difficult situation.

Looking to February, I am scheduled to preach twice, both times on various elements of mental health. This is an area that I know is very personal to a lot of people and I have been experiencing a decent amount of my own anxiety as I prepare for it. In addition as I have been preparing for these sermons I have found myself struggling with clarifying what I want to say. Please pray that I would listen well to the moving of the Holy Spirit and speak only what he would have me say.

Finally please continue to pray with me that I would find a good balance between work and school for the next few months. As I wrote last month, my class schedule is lighter this semester due to lack of options. My plan is to take an additional class over summer. Yet as I alluded to above, right now my schedule still feels very full. Please pray that I will make sure to not overload myself this semester and that I can work on the other projects that I had set aside for this time.

God Bless
- Stefan Klassen