July 2014

The Stepletons

Newsletter for July, 2014

Hello friends and family! I hope this letter finds you all well and filled with the Joy of Christ! I ask for your forgiveness for not writing a newsletter just yet. I may have reasons but not an excuse. It is my goal to keep you informed monthly and therefore, will attempt to keep you informed by the first of every month. Here are some of our highlights over the past few months.

Baby Silas

As many of you are aware, we welcomed Silas Benton Stepleton into the world on June 9th, 2014 @ 3:39 am. He weighed in at 8 lbs, 3 oz. He was born through emergency c-section and all seemed just fine. Around 10 am, Sarah began to bleed out severely and her body began to shut down. Our doctor was very quick to spring into action and got her down to the operating room. We were told there was a strong chance that she would lose her uterus if they couldn’t get the bleeding stopped. 

In that moment, I began to pray something our friend Debbie Thomas began to pray when her husband Steve had a severe heart attack, “No death, no death.” I of course felt concerned about not being able to have more children but I also feel totally undeserving of the ones I have already been blessed with and all I wanted was for Sarah to be all right. 

Again, as many of you know, all turned out well and Sarah was not only saved, but we should be able to have more children down the road if God allows. Doctor Harter (Sarah’s OB), said that it was nothing short of a miracle that her uterus was saved. There’s really no reason it should have been. God continues to prove His love to our family. Sarah is recovering well and Silas is a healthy beautiful boy that all three of us are so in love with… Especially his big brother Hudson. 

Insurance 

Many of us have struggled trying to navigate Nevada Health Link. We were no different and began to become more and more concerned with whether or not we would be insured for the arrival of Silas. Many of you had been praying faithfully for us and we wanted to say that we were processed on the 45th day after applying for Medicaid and our entire family was insured be the 29th of May! We even had a representative come to the hospital to take Silas’ info before Sarah was discharged! Our friend Wes even made the realization that God came through in the eleventh hour… literally. The insurance representative called me around 11:30 am on the 29th… God’s cool that way.

Here Comes the Bride…

It was an honor to be officially ordained by Canyon Ridge Christian Church on April 27th. It was also a great honor to do my first official wedding this past weekend (June 29th). I was approached months ago by Brian Spendlove and Ashley McCloud to work with them through premarital counseling and to officiate their wedding. It was an incredible joy to be a part of this step of their journey. Brian had joined the CRCC Worship Team a few years ago and I have always enjoyed not only his incredible talent as a drummer, but his heart in seeking Christ and serving those around him. I pray that Brian and Ashley will experience the greatest joy in Christ as they grow in their relationship and share their lives together!

Slow Getting to SLO…

Finally, we continue slowly but surely to San Luis Obispo. God continues to reveal His heart for the community of SLO to Kurt and I. Kurt has been on the ground now for a few months and he, Sheri and their daughters have been getting to know the area and acclimating well. Sarah and I have been in talks with the leadership of Canyon Ridge as well as many partners who continue to come out of the woodwork in the support raising realm. There have been a number of you who have displayed incredible acts of generosity and we are both grateful and humbled. 

This weekend (July 5th & 6th), Sarah, Hudson, Silas and I will be sharing at Canyon Ridge at the end of the services to bring closure to this chapter of our lives and with the hopes to win more partners in our next step in our journey. We had not expected fund raising to be as difficult as it has turned out to be this time around but God has proven His faithfulness to us over and over again. We are so excited to see what He is going to do. 

Prayer Requests

Our hope is to depart the end of July for SLO. Please pray for:

• We need to raise a total of $50k before we can receive our salary. We are close but have not reached that goal. Please pray that we will in the next 2 weeks

• We need to raise a total of $250k as we join the church plant. Please pray that God would reveal who He desires for us to partner with.

• Housing is very difficult to come by during the school year in SLO. Please pray that God would reveal to us where it is He has for us to be in the next few weeks.

• Transition can be immensely difficult for all of us, but specifically for Hudson. Please pray that with all the changes in his life, he will continue to acclimate with great joy and peace!

• Finally, pray for our team: Wes & Mariah Geer, Aubrey Bridges, Sarah, Hudson, Silas, myself, Kurt, Sheri, McKenzie & Sydney. Pray that God will continue to do the work of keeping us one in His Spirit and that we would be given power to love our new community well… all in the name of and for the glory of Christ!