A Weekend to Remember

A few weekends ago Danny and I spent our sixth quarterly review at Family Life's "A Weekend to Remember" marriage conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was a great weekend to strengthen, grow, and refine our marriage.

Unfortunately, I did not take too many pictures, as our time was spent listening to speakers or working on projects. I have included the few that I did take.

Sunset our 1st night in Charlotte

We arrived in Charlotte on Friday afternoon and checked into our Hilton Hotel room. Our speakers were Doug Martin, community pastor at Fellowship Bible Church, and Dick & Nancy Hastings, a certified Christian counselor. They were very gifted speakers, making the hours fly by with anecdotes, humor, and personal testimonies.

We stayed in this Hilton in Charlotte, NC

Friday night's session started with the "Five Threats to Oneness." They are outlined below:

1. Difficult adjustments threaten oneness. They include:
   - Contrasting backgrounds.
   - Differing expectations about marriage.
   - Superficial motives for marriage.
   
2. Following the world's pattern will threaten oneness in marriage. This includes:
   - Only give 50%, instead of 100%, in your marriage.
   
3. Selfishnes, and the failure to anticipate it, will threaten oneness in marriage.
   
4. A failure to work through inevitable difficulties and trials in marriage will threaten oneness.
   
5. Extramarital "affairs" will threaten oneness. An extramarital "affair" may include:
   - Involvement in too many activities.
   - Finding fulfillment in material things.
   - Workaholism, never going home.
   - Pouring energy into kids instead of spouse.
   - Adultery

All of these threats to marriage will result in isolation.

Danny in our hotel room at sunset.

Saturday was filled with topics, including "God's Plan for Oneness," "God's Power for Oneness," and "Understanding Communication." We had several good projects, which we are still referencing and working on.

Saturday night was designated "date night." We were released from the conference early to shower and prepare. Danny and I enjoyed dinner at Sushi 101, pictured here. Followed by ice cream at a cute little sandwich and ice cream shop.

On Sunday we participated in separate husband/wife seminars, followed by a session on "Resolving Conflict." The two hours on conflict resolution would have been worth the price of the entire conference by themselves. We learned practical steps to listening, confronting, forgiving, and reconciling.

Two principles that we learned at "A Weekend to Remember" that we repeat daily:
* My spouse is not my enemy.
* My spouse is a gift from God, so am I treating them as a gift?

We were so encouraged by the truth spoken throughout the weekend, as well as the biblical perspective on the roles of husband and wife. We gathered some new resources that we will be reading shortly, so check out our reading blogs for updates.

Quarterly Review History
*1st - 12/16/05 - Raleigh, NC
*2nd - 03/25/06 - Charleston, SC
*3rd - 06/24/06 - Columbia, SC
*4th - 8/27/06 - Boston, MA
*5th - 12/1/06 - Gatlinburg, TN
*6th - 2/09/07 - Charlotte, NC