Hi, my name is Steele Sessions and my wife, Natalie, and I, are the new Youth Programs Managers here at White Sulphur Springs. We also have a passion and feel a long-term calling to help others come back to the beauty of God’s design for our bodies in the ways we move, eat, and interact with each other. Our driving aim is to expose where we let culture quietly dictate our choices in movement and nutrition and instead bring every action through the filter of a vibrant and wholesome relationship with Jesus.

We have a heart to help the Church out of the chronic pain and illness that so many of us are stuck in. We believe God designed our bodies well and that culture, like it has in other aspects of life, has distorted our food and healthcare system, robbing us of many of the simple joys of God’s gifts to the body. This retreat is not primarily about discipline, but about how we can approach our daily life and choices as an act of thankful and Spirit-filled worship to glorify God through the stewardship of our bodies.

We are not focused on strict diets, counting calories, or hitting the gym every day. Instead, we will explore topics such as how to incorporate gentle, natural movement into your day, moving efficiently to prevent injury, and avoiding the pitfalls of modern footwear and a sedentary lifestyle. We will discuss how to enjoy nutrient rich, anti-inflammatory foods that are in themselves an investment in your health and longevity while simultaneously exploring the regenerative farming practices that benefit us as consumers, but also the animal, and the earth. We will parse through the failings of the current healthcare system and how we can take steps to find the root causes of our illnesses, invest in our bodies and avoid, or even get off, medication, when possible, through lifestyle choices.

We will learn together, not by simply sitting in a room and flipping through a PowerPoint, but through interactive movement workshops, through actually eating wholesome, nutritious locally sourced meals, and through small group discussions with experienced and faithful clinicians, farmers, and experts who take a holistic approach to medicine. We will do all of this in a way that honors God and His word.

This retreat is applicable and relevant for all ages and walks of life, from those who are injured or sick, in the prime of life seeking to optimize their health, and to those who may be in chronic pain and suffering from limited range of motion. We only ask that you come with an open mind, a reverence for God’s word, a curiosity about where culture might be leading us astray, and a fascination with God’s good design.

Valentine’s Getaway: February 9-11, 2024

Valentine’s Getaway 2024 Theme: “Marriage: Creation through Consummation”

New to marriage, been married for 50+ years, or anywhere in-between, and don’t feel like you know what the Bible has to say about marriage? Or perhaps you have a good idea, but need some encouragement in your marriage to help you live out this high calling from God?

Let’s take a dive together into what God’s Word has to say about the covenant commitment of marriage that He’s ordained for our good and for His glory. We’ll look at marriage from the age-old paradigm of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation.

Session #1 (Friday night): Creation. For what purposes did God create the ordinance of marriage? Knowing God’s good design for our marriages can better equip us to live out His calling for us as husbands & wives.

Session #2 (Saturday Morning): Fall. How did the entry of sin into the world affect the marriage of our first parents (Adam and Eve), and how does it affect our marriages today? Being aware of how sin affects our marriages can help us be better prepared for the inevitable conflict we experience in marriage.

Session #3 (Saturday Evening): Redemption. How is God at work in our marriages, to bring about the redemption that Christ offers us in the Gospel? Seeing how Christ redeems sinners, and sinners covenanted together in marriage, gives us Gospel hope to continue to work at our marriages when the going gets tough.

Session #4 (Sunday Morning): Consummation. What are our marriages ultimately meant to point to, and when will we experience this reality? Seeing where Christ is leading His people gives us ultimate hope to persevere, knowing all the while He’s preserving us for none other than…Himself!

Speaker: John McCombs

John currently serves as the director of Earthen Vessels Outreach (EVO), a faith-based non-profit, in Pittsburgh, PA. He also serves as an assistant pastor at City Reformed Presbyterian Church. Prior to taking on non-profit work, John was a Bible teacher at Trinity Christian School in Forest, Hills, PA. John received his Master of Divinity degree in 2013 from the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, also in Pittsburgh.

John served on active duty as an aviation officer in the US Army from 2000-2009, and his wife, Alisha, served as an active duty transportation officer from 2004-2009. They met while deployed in Iraq in 2007, and were married in the spring of 2009. John & Alisha have four children (Charis, John, Bethany, and Lauren), and reside in Pittsburgh, PA. Alisha currently teaches music at Trinity Christian School (where John used to teach) and helps lead worship at church. Alisha also holds a degree from the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, hers being a Master of Theological Studies with a concentration in Biblical Counseling.

John and Alisha McCombs