A Day in the New Life of the Stepletons

Hi family and friends. We would like to apologize on the delay of this update. Our internet has been down for a few weeks and when it is working, it is extremely slow. Through some feedback, we have also come to the conclusion that an update once a month is too long of a wait. We will try to update our blog weekly with a mass e-mail update going out monthly. This allows those with a bit more curiosity to stay updated with details and others the chance to get the highlights each month. With that said, here is what we’ve been up to!

WORSHIP :: WASH-UP :: LECTURES :: LEISURE
We run on pretty tight schedules. A typical day can run from 7:15am – 8:00pm. And although there is a lot to do, Sean and I have both agreed that we still feel like this has been a season of rest where we get to soak in God’s goodness.

Every Monday morning, we start the week with an hour of worship. Sean has had the privilege several times now to do what he loves…lead with his musical gifting! And I have enjoyed partnering with some back-up percussion. It’s always great to start the week praising God.

We also have weekly speakers that come in and share on specific topics. Our topics have been Grace, Relationships, The Father Heart of God, Discipleship, and Evangelism. It’s amazing how much you think you know something and then God comes along and smacks you with a spiritual 2x4! We both were overwhelmed during Grace Week at how deep God’s love for us really is. A simple epiphany we had was that there is NOTHING we can do to make God love us any more or any less. He loves us…period. There is nothing we can do that will change us positionally with God. However, our relationship with Him can experience tension when there is sin in our life. The more that we are coming to understand God’s love, the less fear we have of losing it because the reality is that we CAN’T lose it! And as we begin to understand His love for us, it is our love in return that drives us to live righteous lives…not because we have to earn anything. And I think for the first time, we were able to see how beautifully God’s grace and discipleship go hand in hand. This past week on Evangelism, we stayed at a YWAM base in Brighton, which is a coastal city. It was nice being near the ocean but it can be very cold! It was an extremely challenging week on many different levels. Because of limited space, Sean and I were placed in a local pastor’s home. They were wonderful accommodations, but it was also a 20 minute walk uphill everyday…even in rainy conditions! Sean had a hard time connecting with our speaker but he did his best to engage. I appreciated what our speaker had to share and I thought he brought a lot of enthusiasm, but I thought that he came across a bit abrasive at times. When Sean and I have opposite experiences with a speaker or topic, it sometimes makes it difficult to process together. But that is a part of our growth together…learning to communicate better! And this week also forced us to try to learn during a time of tragedy. One of our leaders fell ill to a virus that would normally just cause a cold, but ended up attacking her body in such a way that she has literally been fighting for her life. We have been in constant prayer for her and we have done some wrestling with God on why this has all happened. Our leader’s name is Kateen. Please keep her in your prayers. She is not out of the woods yet. The doctor’s have given her a 50/50 chance of survival.

Included in our weekly routine is work duties and shopping trips. Monday – Friday, from 2p-4p, we have work duties around the house. Sean is a part of the kitchen clean-up crew and I help clean a bathroom/kitchenette/meeting room. A part of my work duty also includes helping one of the staff members who leads a Design School. I’ve had a chance to work on the base’s newsletter. Yeah! On the weekends is our chance to go shopping. The town we are in is small (I think our class helped double its size) so we get dropped off in surrounding towns that have grocery stores, malls, restaurants, etc. We also have the opportunity to sign up to go to church. So far we’ve visited a semi-charismatic and an Anglican church. Very opposite! One was similar to our home church but on a much smaller scale and the other was VERY traditional. We’ll let you figure which was which.

PUBS AND POLAND
Another part of our weekly routine is to do weekly outreach. There are some groups that feed the homeless, some work at a detention center, others work with youth groups, and Sean and I get to visit the Black Horse…a pub! Our outreach is Open Mic Night. We get to choose two songs to perform and then we hang with the locals. So far, Sean has been able to play about 6 or 7 of his originals and I jam with him. We’ve also started befriending some of the regulars. It is a very unique opportunity and we have a blast doing it…minus the smoky environment.

In April, we’ll be doing our “big” outreach which will take us to Poland for 8 weeks. We are hoping to pioneer a YWAM base. Right now we are doing research on the country so that we can better understand the culture and hopefully identify some areas of need. We’ll keep you posted as we learn specifics on this trip.

BOWLS AND BIRTHDAYS
Something that was such a treat was the fact that we were able to celebrate the Superbowl! To kick off Superbowl Sunday, we played a game of American Football (we have to distinguish because the locals call soccer football) and my team kicked some tail! Don’t get your hopes up…only one Stepleton played! It was great…I made a few catches, took a few hits, made some blocks, and got muddy! We then watched the game at like 10pm…we only saw a bit of it but some people stayed for the whole game and didn’t go to bed until 3am. Those are some hardcore fans! And on February 24, we celebrated Sean’s 32nd birthday. A group of about 20 of us went to an Indian food buffet. It was yummy and I think Sean felt the love. We’ll post pictures from the night.

Well, that is probably all you can stand to read right now and that is about all I can write! I hope this update catches you up to speed on what we’ve been up to. We are so grateful for your interest in our lives and for your support. If you get a chance, let us know how you are doing too. We like knowing what’s going on in your neck of the woods too! We love you all so very much and feel so privileged to have this time to nurture our relationship with each other and with God.

Cheers!
Sarah and Sean