Ignite

I have been thinking about what to write for the last week. There is so much to share, but not enough time for you to read... so I will try and condense our weekend into only a couple paragraphs.

Scott and I were blessed by someone who made it possible for us to go on our first ever marriage retreat. This will not be our last... it is our first of many to come. Time away without the kids is almost something we never to. Yeah we have a date night here and there... but a whole weekend without the kids has only happened one other time last summer for a wedding we went to (but that was even crazy busy because we were doing wedding stuff the whole time we were there... it wasn't about us). The weekend of Feb. 26th was all about Scott and myself. We were able to really focus on the Lord each and every day for loads of time, and focus on just spending time with each other uninterrupted. It truly has made us realize just how much we put the kids before each other.... and that is not a good thing. Priorities NEED to change, and it's really hard to do that when you get back to life and reality... but it is still NEEDED.

First... we need to put the Lord in HIS rightful place... and that is center stage. IN our lives as individuals, and in our life as a married couple. Nowhere does it say that once married it's all about being one... we are to continue our relationships with the Lord singly... and then let that pour out into each others lives as "ONE"...

Second... we need to put our spouse above ourselves and above our children... even if we have little ones that "need" us. Something that was said just rung true and struck a chord with me... when we aren't putting each other before the kids and loving each other the way God calls us to, the children may look fine on the outside... but inside they are in turmoil.

Third... we need to take time for us. We need to do a regular date night... an regular time away from the kids to just be a couple without children...

I have been so inspired from being at the retreat... we are doing so much more together now than we had been before. I am so very thankful for that, NO things still aren't perfect, will they ever be? Not on this side of heaven!

One thing that we are working on for the next 5 weeks is something called the love jar. While at the retreat the women wrote down 5 things that our husbands could do for us that would express to us "love" (this on 5 pink pieces of paper). Then the husbands wrote down 5 things we could do for them that would express our love for them (on 5 blue pieces of paper). Each week we pull out of the jar a pink and blue piece of paper and for that week we focus on what was written down by the other spouse. It's been really great! Last week I was challenged to not interrupt Scott while he was talking ( I said sorry quit a bit )! Next week I will let you know what I had to focus on... this way I don't allow Scott to know what I have this week... we are keeping it secret from the other to see if the other spouse can tell.

The Marriage retreat was called IGNITE... and that is just what it did.

1.It has ignited a new passion in my heart for the Lord, His Word, and Prayer.

2.It has also ignited a new passion in my heart for our marriage and keeping it in front of my duty to being a mother... Every person that reads let me just say.... take time to go on a marriage retreat together... it will change your life.

This is the group of people that we spent our weekend with. The way the retreat worked was we spent the whole time as a small group, really getting to know each other instead of gathering with tons of different people all the time. It made the trip wonderful because we built new friendships, and were able to be more real because of the comfort level of spending so much time together.

From left to right....
Lance and Linda, Charlie and Cherrie, Scott and Meg (our awesome condo parents!), Scott and I, Brian and Karen.


Again, a huge thanks to the crew that pulled this weekend off. We are grateful for all you have done in helping us further our marriage in Christ. Thank you for all the hard work, endless hours preparing, and the countless hours praying for each and every one of us that came to the retreat. You guys ROCKED!

This is the Isle of Palms... Charleston,SC.
Wild Dunes resort.
(as you can see... it was windy and COLD out while we were there... look at those palm trees)

more to come on what we learned... but in a later post.
Thanks be to our Lord and Savior for reigniting that flame that burns within us to serve HIM.
Lord you receive all Honor and Glory from our lives, as we try to live it always for YOU.