Marriage Retreat

Phew!  I'm breathing a sigh of relief because Tim and I have finally finished our materials for the Marriage Retreat in two more weeks - at which we'll be the keynote speakers!  We were a little surprised when the head of our church's Marriage Ministry asked us to consider speaking this year (okay...a lot surprised...); last year, we attended the conference as small group leaders and we had a fantastic time, but our marriage resume, if you will, didn't seem long enough to be the main speakers; we just celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary on July 2nd of this year.  However, the more we thought and prayed about this opportunity, the more we realized that God has given us something to say about marriage.

I remember last year when I told co-workers at Phillips Exeter Academy that we were attending the marriage retreat.  More than a few people looked concerned, and even some asked, "Is everything okay?"  Obviously, it helped when I explained that the retreat was basically a conference, one that offers a Christian perspective on building and maintaining a healthy marriage.  Even after a little explanation, I was struck by how uncommon it is for people to take an entire weekend, with other couples nonetheless, to think about, talk about, pray about, and hear about what it takes to make marriage work in this day and age.  Typically, people don't do a lot of work on their marriages until something is broken - following the age-old advice, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  What's interesting, though, is that we spend a lot of time in life working on things before they "break"...things that often matter a lot less than our marriage (our house, our car, our hobbies, our body, etc.).  Perhaps this lack of attention to our relationship with our spouse is one reason why more than half of all marriages today end in divorce?!  I personally believe my marriage is worth fighting for BEFORE it gets to the breaking point - and I'm grateful to have a husband who not only shares the same feeling but he happens to be an excellent public speaker, as well - Thank GOD!

I'm grateful to my mom who will be watching Stella so that Tim/I can have our first weekend away since our baby was born...and I'm also thankful for my dear friend, Heather (she just happens to be a RN/Lactation Consultant), who gave me my Medela Pump-in-Style-Advanced as the most generous gift for my baby shower - without this gift we absolutely wouldn't be able to get away for a weekend without our daughter!