Jan-March 2020: Finishing up, Covid-19, and Wedding planning

Good Morning Friends, Family, and Internet Wanderer's!

For those few of you who regularly check this I must apologize for not updating this very frequently. In part my lack of updates has been due to my schedule which is often changing and very full. However the other part is that I find myself lacking enthusiasm for writing my experiences out as I have in the past. As such I think once my time in my current role comes to an end, so to will this blog. Practically this means that I will likely only have one more entry after this one.

Thanksgiving

As always it is important to begin with some of the things that I am thankful for. The biggest thing that I am thankful for, without question is that all of my fundraising and finances have come in. In fact I think we went a little over before I was able to get the stop order out there to the regular donors. Thank you so much to all of the people who have supported me and my ministry over these past years. 5 Years ago when I begun this path the idea of fundraising, and petitioning my family and friends for money to work with youth was a HUGE barrier to me. Yet God (and a few of you) kept pushing me to take the risk and I cannot believe how amazing it was to see the resources come in and never once have to start feeling anxious about if my resources would come in or not! There is another blessing layered in this one too. With many people being laid off right now, that is not something I need to worry about because the money I am being paid with was donated months ago, and that funding has nowhere else to go!

Another thing I am thankful for in this time are all the connections I have to people. I have received many calls from family checking up on me, and I have called people too. Because of technology I can still routinely connect with people for work and for my own social life and that has been a huge blessing, one that I have not always acknowledged. More specifically as I am coming to the end of term at the church I have been blessed to receive many encouraging words from people near and far about the impact I have had on them, their kids, and our church community.

Finally I am so profoundly thankful for Kara Lee and the joy she has brought to my life. It is hard to beleive that I only met her in January 2019 when we are already so close. As we plan our wedding there have been predictable stresses about money, about conflicting ideas of where and how our ceremony and receptions should go, but through it all we have focused on serving each other and while we have had stress our concerns have been worked through easily. As we continue to grow together it is amazing to see how when she is particularly concerned about something I am strong for her, and the inverse is also true. I am truly blessed to have her in my life, and I cannot wait to make her my wife in June.

Prayer requests

By far the biggest concern that I have right now has to do with Covid-19 and how long it will impact life in Canada, and around the world. While there are many reasons to pray for a cure, a vaccine, or some other end to this disease, Kara Lee and I are particularly concerned as it has a strong chance of affecting our wedding. While there is so much still unknown right now, we are still hoping that the wedding we have planned will happen as planned. Please join us in praying for an end to the Covid-19 pandemic that is plaguing our world. Please pray for Kara Lee and I that we would have God's peace around this, and if we do need to re-imagine what our wedding will look like, or even when it will happen He will guide our decisions and we would have peace in that as well.

In addition to wedding planning, I am finishing up my masters degree and my job at my current church. As such I am trying to do my best to finish well, to put the same effort into my final papers as I did my first, and to set the church up to continue to succeed after I am gone. Again Covid-19 throws a lot of this into question as I have had to take our youth and young adult meetings completely online and figure out how to change things with only 2 months left. Please continue to pray against this disease and pray also that I might finish well. Pray that the church would be successful in finding someone to fill my shoes, and that I would equip everyone to carry on and continue to grow after I leave.

Then finally I would ask that you pray for the new things that will be starting soon. Pray for me as I begin and continue to think and dream about what my new role will look like. Pray that the new church would be as amazing as my previous church. Pray that the Lord would continue to use me to impact the lives of young people and that transformations would happen. Pray also for my marriage to Kara Lee, we have already spent some time thinking on how not just to plan our wedding, but our marriage. Pray that we would continue the process of talking and listening to each others hopes and desires. Pray that we would have understanding for each other in the places we differ. And pray that we would be able to find a work/life balance that works for both of us.

Thank you so much for your partnership in prayer. It means the world to me.

PS. In my own quiet times I have been reflecting on fasting and prayer and so have begun fasting every Wednesday and plan to continue to do so until past this Covid-19 crisis. I would encourage you to join me if you can, if not I would simply invite you to join me to be more intentional about praying against this disease on Wednesdays.