NEC Marriage Retreat 2009

February 6-7, 2009 Doubletree Hotel, Dallas Texas

It was finally here. The 2009 NEC Marriage Retreat. We had 51 couples attend. We were blessed with an overnight stay at a local hotel. After much prayer the Lord blessed us at every turn and took care of the little details to boot. Much praise can go to the Creator of the idea of marriage and the blessings he bestowed on us over this weekend.

Our Speaker was Al Pickering. I would list the amount of letters on the back of his name but there are so many I am sure I would miss a few. He is well educated and trained in marriage therapy and on marriage in general. He was fun and entertaining. His materials were very insightful and we only wish we could have had a week to listen to all he had to share with us. If you ever need a speaker for a marriage seminar we highly recommend him.

We wanted this to be a fun, informative, and relaxing weekend. We wanted it to be a time where couples could share time together as they were given tools to enhance their marriage. Friday night Al spoke and started off our weekend. After he spoke we had planned some fun and games. Here you can see our version of "The Newlywed Game". However, since we had couples who had been newlywed up to married for 30 years we created our own game called "The Really Wed Game".
We had predetermined our contestents based on the different stages of marriage. We had a Newlywed couple of 7 months, a couple with young children, a couple with a teenager who were soon to be empty nesters and empty nesters who had been married 30 years (needless to say, they won, but it was close!) We had a prize of an upgraded suite for the winner and they were able to move into an executive suite for the evening.

We even had an emcee and hostess dress up for the fun.

After the newlywed game we had some ballroom dancing for those who were interested.

Saturday began with a wonderful breakfast and then 4 different sessions with Al speaking. Between sessions we played some videos relating to marriage. Tim Hawkins provided some of the material : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZnIaPl8BsM We also used some materials from the special features on the "Fireproof" video. We were able to laugh at the differences between men and women and just laugh in general.

We also played some games in between sessions to keep eveyone's blood pumping. Here are some scenes from the games we played to demonstrate non-verbal communication. Since most communication is non-verbal it is important to be aware of it. However, since non-verbal communication is often misunderstood we thought we should demonstrate the pros and cons of nonverbal communication.

We gave our couples a sealed envelope with 3 other sealed envelopes inside. They were marked 1, 2 and 3 and were to be opened in that order. One envelope said "For Her Eyes Only", one "For His Eyes Only" and one "Both Must Read". The only instructions they were given were that they were to open the envelopes in order, do what they said but they were not allowed to speak a word. Here are some highlights of the games.

"Both Must Read"

Without saying a word and with your hands behind your back, you must work together to get a balloon from the starting point to the finish line before going to your next envelope.

Most of the couples finally figured out how to "communicate" and pick up the balloon. Some watched how others managed and "non-verbally" agreed to do the same. As you can see by the pictures and all the smiles the couples were able to enjoy each other and laugh together.

In the "For His Eyes Only" or the "For Her Eyes Only" envelopes they either had a charades word they had to get their partner to say or a task they were to get their partner to do by acting it out but with their hands behind their backs and without saying a word....

Charades

Getting your partner to complete a task.....

The confused looks on the faces were a common site. All of our couples were able to complete their tasks and all comments were very positive at how much they enjoyed these games.

All in all it was a great weekend. But aside from all the fun we had many comments on how much they enjoyed the retreat. Though that was one of our goals our main goal was also accomplished. We wanted to give marriages some tools they would need to enhance their marriages, to be able to work through the tough time and to be able to laugh together. With these tools their marriages could flourish, stay united but more than anything else, they would glorify God.

Our speaker said that in his counseling experience he realized that most marriages struggle simply because they do not have the tools necessary to understand each other and work through the hard times. He also mentioned that the main ingredient for the successful marriage was having our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with in the marriage. That as we build our vertical relationship with Christ we are able to enhance our horizontal relationship with our spouse. Without Christ in the mix we tend toward selfishness and self-centeredness.

We know that the Lord worked through this weekend through the many comments we received from the couples who attended. We are thankful the Lord blessed us with this opportunity to serve Him in this capacity and would love to help any who would like help in their marriages. Struggles happen but there is hope, not only for those marriages who are struggling but also for those that are coasting and for those that are doing well but want to draw even closer to each other. Please feel free to contact me if you would like help in any way.

Satan trys to destroy people and churches through destroying marriages. It is our desire to come along side couples and share the ways the Lord has taught us to work through the tough times and enjoy the good times to the fullest.

To God be the Glory!