Weekend to Remember--Take II

I'd heard such good things about Weekend to Remember from testimonials of people who had attended and had been looking forward to going for months now.

One of my favorite sayings is "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I'd mentioned to someone that the conference was supposed to be life changing and she commented that she wasn't sure how life-changing it could be, given that we'd only been married a little over a year. But that got me thinking...why does it have to be any less life changing just because we're "newlyweds?" I don't want to let our relationship ever get to the point to where we need a miraculous, life changing event to turn things around. Even though we aren't in a season of despair in our marriage, we can still make positive changes in our lives. Who's to say that the things we learned this weekend can't change our life in the future...maybe even unbeknownst to us? If we apply the things we learned, we could save ourselves from future problems. A weekend of preventative care now can potentially save us from years of hurt and counseling later on.

It's hard to summarize a weekend's worth of information in a few paragraphs. Some of the topics were simple and seemingly obvious, but things we've never discussed or realized were the source of some of our frustrations. It was nice to have a jumping off point for discussions and we learned quite a bit about ourselves and each other.

Compared to a lot of couples we've talked to, we had a very peaceful, wonderful first year, which I'm grateful for. But I don't want to get complacent in our relationship or be naive to the fact that we will encounter problems in our marriage. The problems will come. Our response is what will make or break us.

One of my least favorite things of all time is when Justin and I are kind to each other or show affection for one another and people will say things like, "Oh, y'all are newlyweds. Just wait 5 years and then you won't be so nice." I hate that! And coming from Christian couples. Why would you practically wish that on a couple? Why not offer hope and support and encouragement and a model of what it could look like to overcome the problems and still be happy down the road?

One of the couples attending had been married 49 years and 8 months. That tells me that it's never over. And that isn't to mean that we should be discouraged or hopeless that we can never attain perfection. As good as things may be, there is constantly something that can be changed for the better.

I have the advantage of having a husband that is amazing. AMAZING. When I hear other women complain about their husbands (which saddens me to start with) I having nothing to contribute. Mostly because I wouldn't want to berate my husband in such a way. But also because I have nothing to offer. I'm whole-heartedly convinced that Justin is the best husband in the world. He loves me unconditionally, he's quick to forgive, a great listener, shares the household chores, encourages me, and is constantly looking for ways to serve me. He loves me well.

I, however, have some things I need to work on. And this weekend brought some of those things to light. Not in an overwhelming way, but in a way that encouraged me to sift through all of the information presented and choose one or two things that I would like to put into practice.

I loved at the end of the conference how one of the speakers was talking about going back to regular life (which I wasn't looking forward to doing). He said we had the lectures, but now it was time to go back to real life, or the "laboratory." The place where we put things into practice. And sometimes we might have an explosion in the lab, but you clean up, tweak some things, and try again.

We listen to Dave Ramsey (the money guru) a lot. On his radio show, people can call in on Fridays and scream "I'm debt free!" and it's the most amazing thing ever. After they scream, there's cheering and he often says, "Did you hear that? That was the sound of their family tree changing." I love that.

This weekend I think Justin and I were rejuvenated and renewed. It may be undetectable right now in a season of happiness and well-being. But we may have changed our family tree this weekend for the better. We strengthened it. Nourished it.

I highly, highly encourage everyone to go to a Weekend to Remember. They're all around the country, all throughout the year. They're for engaged couples, newly married, and those going on 50 years.

It's never too early to prepare and it's never too late to start making a change for the better.