Pete and I spent the weekend at a marriage conference.
Looks like we needed it:
Before
We had never gone to one before and weren't sure what to expect, so we went with a little apprehension that we would just be wasting our time.... but it ended up being really, really great.
The main themes for the weekend were that we all have longings we want our spouse to fill (beyond what they do), but the fact is, they will never fully meet our needs and/or expectations, so what are we going to do with our disappointment when it comes? It was actually quite interesting and the format was perfect -- we listened to a couple of very wise speakers for about a half an hour at a time, and then we would go off as couples and do "assignments" that we then talked about with each other. Then we'd come back and repeat the process.
My favorite part was hearing over and over that conflict is supposed to be part of marriage. "Smooth sailing" and happiness are really not the goals! One of the quotes in our notebook (taken from "Sacred Marriage") is "What if God didn't design marriage to be easier? What if God had an end in mind that went beyond our happiness, our comfort, and our desire to be... happy as if the world were a perfect place? What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?" And that was the main thrust of the whole weekend.
So, I went into it knowing that I am not very good at loving Pete, and I was discouraged by that. I came out of the weekend knowing even more that I am not good at loving Pete.... but I am hopeful and encouraged by that.
Here's the picture Strider took of us this morning:
After
Looks like the conference worked!
Meanwhile, our kids had the weekend of their lives! Aunt Katie and Uncle Graham came over to play with them Friday evening and stayed overnight until lunch the next day. And Poppa came over to watch them all day on Saturday. These kids got plenty of good attention.... lots of games played, time outside, etc. And, as a special bonus to Pete and me, Kate and Graham cleaned our kitchen, and Dad even made us a full dinner when we got home!! We felt very, very blessed.
Looks like we needed it:
Before
We had never gone to one before and weren't sure what to expect, so we went with a little apprehension that we would just be wasting our time.... but it ended up being really, really great.The main themes for the weekend were that we all have longings we want our spouse to fill (beyond what they do), but the fact is, they will never fully meet our needs and/or expectations, so what are we going to do with our disappointment when it comes? It was actually quite interesting and the format was perfect -- we listened to a couple of very wise speakers for about a half an hour at a time, and then we would go off as couples and do "assignments" that we then talked about with each other. Then we'd come back and repeat the process.
My favorite part was hearing over and over that conflict is supposed to be part of marriage. "Smooth sailing" and happiness are really not the goals! One of the quotes in our notebook (taken from "Sacred Marriage") is "What if God didn't design marriage to be easier? What if God had an end in mind that went beyond our happiness, our comfort, and our desire to be... happy as if the world were a perfect place? What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?" And that was the main thrust of the whole weekend.
So, I went into it knowing that I am not very good at loving Pete, and I was discouraged by that. I came out of the weekend knowing even more that I am not good at loving Pete.... but I am hopeful and encouraged by that.
Here's the picture Strider took of us this morning:
After
Looks like the conference worked!
Meanwhile, our kids had the weekend of their lives! Aunt Katie and Uncle Graham came over to play with them Friday evening and stayed overnight until lunch the next day. And Poppa came over to watch them all day on Saturday. These kids got plenty of good attention.... lots of games played, time outside, etc. And, as a special bonus to Pete and me, Kate and Graham cleaned our kitchen, and Dad even made us a full dinner when we got home!! We felt very, very blessed.
No comments:
Post a Comment