Nestled in the Smokies with 70 other couples, Woody and I took part in a Marriage Retreat with our fabulous church at the end of January. Now when I say "marriage retreat" people look at me like there is something we are not telling them and that Woody and I are going to work on things. That's not it at all! In fact, three wonderful days were filled with sessions on deepening our marriage relationship with one other and strengthening our spiritual life together. The speaker was very dynamic and focused the sessions around different "vantage points" of marriage. What if the ultimate purpose of marriage is not to make you love your spouse more, but what if it is to give you an environment to learn to love God more? What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy as we compliment one another in unity?
We also uncovered some of "His" needs versus "Her" needs and touched on the 5 Love Languages, an excellent book to learn more about how your partner likes to give and receive love. The 5 languages come in the form of: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch.
Her Needs: Affection, Conversation, Honesty & Openness, Financial Security, and Family Support.
His Needs: Sexual Fulfillment, Recreational Companionship, Attractive Spouse, A Peaceful Home, and Admiration.
Interesting huh?
In addition to devoting time to the "us" factor, we also met many wonderful people that also go to our church and bonded even more with folks from our Sunday School class.
