Prayer Items for February

As always, February sneaks up and jumps on me. I think it partly has to do with the fact that my mum's and brother's birthdays are the fifth and sixth and so I mentally file them as being "in February", and then forget until the beginning of Feb. when I turn the calendar. I was more prepared this year, but somehow February has still snuck up on me.
That said, there is lots to pray about this month.
First, my friend, Brenda, is having spinal fusion surgery this morning. She fell and broke her back several years ago. Please pray that God would bring great healing and encouragement to her. Back pain can really suck the life out of you. She and her husband, Greg, are missionaries here in Rivne. They have returned to the States for this surgery, but Greg will have to come back here in about a month leaving Brenda behind. Please keep them in your prayers, not just this month as she recuperates from the surgery, but also in the following months as they deal with this longer separation and trying to be focused on ministry here and all the other things wrapped up in that.
Next, on February 7 are the Ukrainian presidential elections. As the pastor said in church yesterday, pray for God's will to be done! And also pray that Christians will go out and vote. It is not a clear choice, but there does seem to be a better and a worse. Pray for God's protection over this country.
And last, I desperately need to finish this doctrine course. PTL mum has done really well on her Christian Marriage course and is finishing that up, so they can start work on it here in the office this week already. That takes some of the pressure off of me because it means people aren't waiting on me for work, however, I still need to finish this course. It is just incredibly slow and stressful. In addition to the rewriting I had to do, I am having to reorganize lessons and deeply edit the rest of the course. But it is so taxing that I wear out often after only an hour of work, which makes me feel like I could be working on this till kingdom come. Please pray for inspiration and courage, discipline and dedication. I also have other work to keep up on, like getting out a newsletter, accounting, and other paperwork. Please pray for God's blessing on it all.

On the praise side, while I am still struggling with fatigue, this has been the best January in several years. Many years. I have virtually no back pain, I've had only a couple of migraines. I am active, able to walk to and from work (about 25 minutes each way) and often doing other exercises or just going for a walk on days when I don't go into the office. There is just a very marked improvment in my health and I am thankful to God for that. And to all of you who have prayed for me.