Friends in Faith
At our date night on Sunday we had a panel of couples married 30+ years. Our next date night is Sunday, November 13 at 5:30 at St. Pat's. All are welcome!!
Here is a summary of the panel’s list of small steps which has graced their marriages with BIG Rewards: from 155 years of combined experience and in no particular order.
The top four: Be committed, Forgive, Communicate and Pray (Put God at the center, He has a plan.)
Never let the “sun go down on your anger.”
Communicate. Speak what is in your heart. Your spouse can’t read your mind.
Forgive.
Realize that your spouse is different than you. (Male/female) Just because you feel one way doesn’t mean they do too.
Go to church together.
Tell your spouse what you need. Ask. Your spouse can’t read your mind.
HUMOR! Be ready to laugh at the situations you get into. And be ready to laugh at yourself first.
Give them little love notes.
Never think the D word. Be committed to making your marriage work.
Go to a Marriage Encounter or retreat. (This was mentioned by all 4 couples!!) Enrichment-Focus.
Write letters to each other. (Texting works for this too, but don’t it means more when you say it in person!!)
DATE your spouse. REGULARLY. Make the time!
Make them your priority. EVERYDAY!! At some point it will be just the two of you again.
Make a “cup of blessings” (put notes about memories/blessings of daily life into a box or container as they happen). Pull them out on the not-so-good days of life—helps to remind us of the joys in our lives.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. But tell it to your spouse, not your friends, your siblings, or the world. Keep it between you.
Seek enrichment. – Date Night, Marriage Encounters.
Like them. Know them.
We are each others best friends. Treat them even better than your other friends.
Don’t put other people in the middle. Talk to your spouse first.
Prayer is intimacy.
Give them a kiss before going to bed. EVERYDAY!! (Even when you might not want to—don’t let the sun go down on your anger). Forgive!
Choose your words with care. Communicate with Love. Be compassionate.
Come to date night :)!!!!!!
Be ready to change, every day is a new day. Struggles and conflicts are life.
Sign each other with the Sign of the Cross before you go to bed.
Have meals together. Sit down together as a family. Go to church together—kids too!!
Work side by side—be attached. (Did anyone notice that all 4 couples work together every day?)
COMMITMENT, Love no matter what!
Pray together, at meals and before bed.
Have a half full cup—on the top.
Be willing to share your cup with your spouse—fill each other up.
Be able to make your spouse laugh.
Communicate.
Pray to give God your worries, anxieties, and with praise and thanksgiving—in glory and honor
Rely on God.
There is always someone or something else that is worse than your “bad”.
Look for the gifts of each day.
LISTEN. Don’t answer a question before it is asked. Your spouse might be thinking something different.
Walk in the other persons shoes. Try to think as they are thinking.
FORGIVE. And forget. Have a Bad memory. Don’t keep bringing up the “same old, same old.”
Let it go. Let God have control.
PRAY TOGETHER.
Make your own dream/goal lists and share them with your spouse. Set goals together. Write it down!!
The top four: Be committed, Forgive, Communicate and Pray (God at the center, His plan.)
Thank you to Gary & Dorothy, Tom and Mary and Deacon Joe & Francie for sharing their insights.
Blessings on your marriages,
The DATE NIGHT TEAM—Stan & Charlotte, Jay & Vickie, Jim & Kris, Deacon Joe & Francie
Showing posts with label God's plan for marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's plan for marriage. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
To Be or not to BE?
Women of Faith:
I am a planner. Sometimes very organized, sometimes a little chaotic, but still I need to know where I am going and how I am going to get there. I want to know how a new recipe is going to taste, what roads we are going to take to get to someone’s house and what we are going to talk about at date night next Sunday.
I make lists. Last week’s list included cleaning out the overfull refrigerator, watering my plants and organizing the growing box of date night and marriage enrichment resources which was scattered in the office.
I felt great when I found a recipe which helped me clean out the refrigerator and saved a shopping trip.
And while I was cleaning the office I found a bunch of marriage ministry articles I had saved earlier this summer which are just right for sharing.
And I look for the “tried and true:” what worked in the past and what’s likely to work this “new” time. A recipe that is a friends favorite and date night resources which “speak to me” with stories that mirror our own or other relationships which have struggled and succeeded with issues that are real.
But I can also be frustrated and thrown “off task” by recipes which require a shopping trip for odd ingredients and interruptions in my list like the flower bed full of weeds while I was watering the plants.
And I have a tendency to want to be in FULL control and much too independent, like forgetting to ask for the help of friends who may have the “perfect” dessert recipe, or by pulling the weeds instead of using the spray can of round up which might take care of the weeds permanently.
So what’s my “ultimate” goal? Heaven! And the “ultimate” plan? God’s list: written and unwritten; passed down in the bible (Sacred Scripture) and by His followers, His friends, the disciples of Christ(Sacred Tradition).
It reminds me of the recipes I use, some in books, some in the traditions of the cooks (like my mom’s kolache recipe which can’t quite be perfected on paper.)
As I look at the “ultimate list” I see the bible which gives me Ten Commandments, the wisdom of Proverbs, and the do’s and don’ts of families and marriage in Ephesians.
And the Church was gives me the ultimate in tried and true traditions. The Tradition which gives us the words handed from Peter to each of the succeeding Popes-those happenings which were just too numerous to all be written on paper.
But now for the “real” question.
To be, or not to be?
Yes, this is the “real” question. Am I using the “ultimate” list and the “ultimate” plan: God’s words and the “tried and true?” Am I truly following the wisdom and the traditions of these very wise and understanding teachers? Am I frustrated because I have gotten sidetracked by the world rather than giving up control and becoming more dependent on God? Do I ask for His help in prayer, to God, thru Mary, and by joining with our families in Church?
If not, why not? Do we really BELIEVE in our “ultimate goal?” What is stopping us from changing our ways? What obstacles and bad habits prevent us from using the right lists and following the right recipes?
Do we pray daily? “Pray without ceasing.” 1Thes 5:16-24“Be persistent in prayer.” Colossians 4: 2
Ask God to actively BE a part of your life, so that your plans are his plans and your actions reflect His love in every list we make and every recipe we follow. And also then in thanksgiving for everyone and everything he places in our lives.
“We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ… For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction ...And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers…” Paul’s words to the Thessalonians 1: 2-7
Heavenly Father: Praise to Your Being! Help me to want to Be, not just to believe. Help me to lead and not just to be a follower. Help me to move with courage on my beliefs. Guide me on Your path. May I BE In You, With You and For You, today and always. Help me to Be more like Your Son. In Your name I pray. Amen.
May your list this week be modeled after God’s list,
Blessings,
Charlotte
I am a planner. Sometimes very organized, sometimes a little chaotic, but still I need to know where I am going and how I am going to get there. I want to know how a new recipe is going to taste, what roads we are going to take to get to someone’s house and what we are going to talk about at date night next Sunday.
I make lists. Last week’s list included cleaning out the overfull refrigerator, watering my plants and organizing the growing box of date night and marriage enrichment resources which was scattered in the office.
I felt great when I found a recipe which helped me clean out the refrigerator and saved a shopping trip.
And while I was cleaning the office I found a bunch of marriage ministry articles I had saved earlier this summer which are just right for sharing.
And I look for the “tried and true:” what worked in the past and what’s likely to work this “new” time. A recipe that is a friends favorite and date night resources which “speak to me” with stories that mirror our own or other relationships which have struggled and succeeded with issues that are real.
But I can also be frustrated and thrown “off task” by recipes which require a shopping trip for odd ingredients and interruptions in my list like the flower bed full of weeds while I was watering the plants.
And I have a tendency to want to be in FULL control and much too independent, like forgetting to ask for the help of friends who may have the “perfect” dessert recipe, or by pulling the weeds instead of using the spray can of round up which might take care of the weeds permanently.
So what’s my “ultimate” goal? Heaven! And the “ultimate” plan? God’s list: written and unwritten; passed down in the bible (Sacred Scripture) and by His followers, His friends, the disciples of Christ(Sacred Tradition).
It reminds me of the recipes I use, some in books, some in the traditions of the cooks (like my mom’s kolache recipe which can’t quite be perfected on paper.)
As I look at the “ultimate list” I see the bible which gives me Ten Commandments, the wisdom of Proverbs, and the do’s and don’ts of families and marriage in Ephesians.
And the Church was gives me the ultimate in tried and true traditions. The Tradition which gives us the words handed from Peter to each of the succeeding Popes-those happenings which were just too numerous to all be written on paper.
But now for the “real” question.
To be, or not to be?
Yes, this is the “real” question. Am I using the “ultimate” list and the “ultimate” plan: God’s words and the “tried and true?” Am I truly following the wisdom and the traditions of these very wise and understanding teachers? Am I frustrated because I have gotten sidetracked by the world rather than giving up control and becoming more dependent on God? Do I ask for His help in prayer, to God, thru Mary, and by joining with our families in Church?
If not, why not? Do we really BELIEVE in our “ultimate goal?” What is stopping us from changing our ways? What obstacles and bad habits prevent us from using the right lists and following the right recipes?
Do we pray daily? “Pray without ceasing.” 1Thes 5:16-24“Be persistent in prayer.” Colossians 4: 2
Ask God to actively BE a part of your life, so that your plans are his plans and your actions reflect His love in every list we make and every recipe we follow. And also then in thanksgiving for everyone and everything he places in our lives.
“We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ… For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction ...And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers…” Paul’s words to the Thessalonians 1: 2-7
Heavenly Father: Praise to Your Being! Help me to want to Be, not just to believe. Help me to lead and not just to be a follower. Help me to move with courage on my beliefs. Guide me on Your path. May I BE In You, With You and For You, today and always. Help me to Be more like Your Son. In Your name I pray. Amen.
May your list this week be modeled after God’s list,
Blessings,
Charlotte
Monday, August 8, 2011
What is God's Plan for Marriage?
What is the most important job most people will ever have?
We attend school for 12, 16, maybe even 20 years so that we can learn our career, our profession.
However, there is a vocation much more important than our job – it is being a spouse every day, 24-7, for the rest of our lives.
How many of us have gone to school to become that spouse, to learn our roles as husbands and wives?
Did you know that God not only invented marriage but also has a plan for marriage? (Genesis 2:24)
Do you know what the bible says about marriage and that plan? Have you ever wished there was a job description for your marriage? (Eph 4, Eph 5 21-33, Eph 6; 1 Cor 13)
We all know that men and women communicate differently. Do you know how to understand and communicate with your spouse? Why do finances create problems in marriage? How do we become role models for our children? Are our priorities right in God’s eyes?
Marriage is the most important job we will ever have. Our spouse is the most important relationship we will ever have. But do we really understand our “spousal” job as God intended?
Pope John Paul II said, ”As goes the marriage, so goes the family; as goes the family, so goes the community; as goes the community, so goes the nation; and as goes the nation, so goes the world.”
60% of all marriages end in divorce (that is SIX out of every TEN!!) We are being divided, split apart by society. Marriage is intended to join us in our homes, in our communities, in our nation and in our world!
When couples attend weekly church together only 1 out of 250 (.4%) of those marriages end in divorce. And of couples who pray together daily only 1 out of 1110 (.008%) marriages end in divorce.
How did we learn who our spouse was? We dated them. How do we continue to “connect” and grow together? We date them, we spend “intimate” time with them—that is why the nakedness of prayer is so important and so unifying, it is the most intimate conversation we will ever have with each other.
The Covenant of Love marriage enrichment program was created by Greg and Julie Alexander. Their marriage was headed for divorce when a priest asked them some of these questions. When they found the answers they realized that God’s plan for their marriage and their roles in that marriage was much different than the lives they were leading. They had never “learned” God’s plan.
The Alexander House Date Night Program was created for all couples, whether happily married or needing revived, to enrich and renew Christian marriage. The program explores what God says our roles as spouses should be, what His plan is for our marriage and how God’s role differs from the influences of society. The program provides tips and tools to facilitate better communication with our spouses, to practically live our marriage as God intended, and to help couples to get comfortable praying together.
Please join us as we explore God’s plan for marriage; the sacramentality and permanence of marriage; communication and fidelity in marriage; and give practical tips and tools so that Your Marriage Works in Christ and follows God’s plan to get us to heaven.
Comments from previous date nights: “We haven’t had a serious disagreement since we started coming six months ago;” “Well worth coming to, very comfortable and interesting;” “We wish we would have had this information when we were first married;” and the makings of a true date: “The food is awesome!”
Upcoming dates August 21, September 18, October 16, November 13 and December 11, 2011 5:30-8:00 St. Pat's Catholic Church, Tama, Iowa 900 Park St. Call 641-484-3646 to request free daycare for the event.
The team will provide all of the necessities of a fun and entertaining date: food and beverage, childcare, fellowship and faith sharing with other like minded Christian couples who know the importance of marriage. We also have marriage building tools such as books, CD’s and other materials to share with your friends and family. There is no charge for the evening! Freewill donation available.
Engaged or married 60+ years, your spouse is waiting to be taken on a date!
We attend school for 12, 16, maybe even 20 years so that we can learn our career, our profession.
However, there is a vocation much more important than our job – it is being a spouse every day, 24-7, for the rest of our lives.
How many of us have gone to school to become that spouse, to learn our roles as husbands and wives?
Did you know that God not only invented marriage but also has a plan for marriage? (Genesis 2:24)
Do you know what the bible says about marriage and that plan? Have you ever wished there was a job description for your marriage? (Eph 4, Eph 5 21-33, Eph 6; 1 Cor 13)
We all know that men and women communicate differently. Do you know how to understand and communicate with your spouse? Why do finances create problems in marriage? How do we become role models for our children? Are our priorities right in God’s eyes?
Marriage is the most important job we will ever have. Our spouse is the most important relationship we will ever have. But do we really understand our “spousal” job as God intended?
Pope John Paul II said, ”As goes the marriage, so goes the family; as goes the family, so goes the community; as goes the community, so goes the nation; and as goes the nation, so goes the world.”
60% of all marriages end in divorce (that is SIX out of every TEN!!) We are being divided, split apart by society. Marriage is intended to join us in our homes, in our communities, in our nation and in our world!
When couples attend weekly church together only 1 out of 250 (.4%) of those marriages end in divorce. And of couples who pray together daily only 1 out of 1110 (.008%) marriages end in divorce.
How did we learn who our spouse was? We dated them. How do we continue to “connect” and grow together? We date them, we spend “intimate” time with them—that is why the nakedness of prayer is so important and so unifying, it is the most intimate conversation we will ever have with each other.
The Covenant of Love marriage enrichment program was created by Greg and Julie Alexander. Their marriage was headed for divorce when a priest asked them some of these questions. When they found the answers they realized that God’s plan for their marriage and their roles in that marriage was much different than the lives they were leading. They had never “learned” God’s plan.
The Alexander House Date Night Program was created for all couples, whether happily married or needing revived, to enrich and renew Christian marriage. The program explores what God says our roles as spouses should be, what His plan is for our marriage and how God’s role differs from the influences of society. The program provides tips and tools to facilitate better communication with our spouses, to practically live our marriage as God intended, and to help couples to get comfortable praying together.
Please join us as we explore God’s plan for marriage; the sacramentality and permanence of marriage; communication and fidelity in marriage; and give practical tips and tools so that Your Marriage Works in Christ and follows God’s plan to get us to heaven.
Comments from previous date nights: “We haven’t had a serious disagreement since we started coming six months ago;” “Well worth coming to, very comfortable and interesting;” “We wish we would have had this information when we were first married;” and the makings of a true date: “The food is awesome!”
Upcoming dates August 21, September 18, October 16, November 13 and December 11, 2011 5:30-8:00 St. Pat's Catholic Church, Tama, Iowa 900 Park St. Call 641-484-3646 to request free daycare for the event.
The team will provide all of the necessities of a fun and entertaining date: food and beverage, childcare, fellowship and faith sharing with other like minded Christian couples who know the importance of marriage. We also have marriage building tools such as books, CD’s and other materials to share with your friends and family. There is no charge for the evening! Freewill donation available.
Engaged or married 60+ years, your spouse is waiting to be taken on a date!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Family Blueprint
Women of Faith:
The celebration of Christmas was followed yesterday by The Feast of the Holy Family. What an appropriate beginning to a New Year for our readings to give us instructions as to who, what, and how to treat and live with those we love and cherish the most, our family; and at a time when our activities are revolving around exactly that, spending time with family.
Our families may be big or small. We have our immediate family: our spouse, joined with children, siblings or parents (for those who are married) or for those who are not married, religious and single life, the church. We have our extended families, our aunts, uncles, and grandparents. And then we have our families at work and the family we sit beside each week at church. They in turn extend out to the family that we role model to when we leave the doors of the church each week.
It brought to mind the basic character instructions we were taught and that we try to teach our children from the earliest stages of our life: “Say Thank You,” “Listen to your Dad,” “Do what Your Mom said,” and “Tell your sister/brother you’re sorry.”
I don’t think we realized it then, and we might not even have realized it when we were teaching it, but we were actually teaching God’s blueprint for living a family life: Thanksgiving, Forgiveness and Honor of God’s family hierarchy.
“God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard.
‘Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother. My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins —a house raised in justice to you.” Sir 3:2-6,
12-14
“Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.
“And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
“Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.” Col 3:12-21
God says it all: Husbands, Wives; Fathers, Mothers; Parents, Children; Sisters and Brothers—Respect, Love, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness and Patience, Forgiveness and Thankfulness; listen to each other and obey in God’s order—spouses to each other, children to their parents-- each of us taking care of the others with love. The same “order” of character skills we were taught at the very beginnings of our lives. The same “order” that God designed for our entire world to achieve peace, love and harmony for all.
It is so easy to read these readings and see where we need to improve; to see our sins and our failures, but more importantly also to know that God’s design is perfect and that if we strive to do it in His order we will achieve that peace and harmony in love which He has given us and that we all seek in our hearts, to find what many just call happiness.
Dear God, I sing your praise. Let Your word live richly in me and may Your wisdom guide me as we continue to celebrate Your birth in our families and throughout the New Year. Help me and all wives to listen to our husbands (and our children their fathers) to whom you have given authority in our houses. Bless them with your graces so that all fathers may love their families unselfishly as You have instructed. Give us as women, wives and daughters, the graces to live with gratitude, kindness, and compassion and always be ready to forgive those who have hurt our tender hearts. Help us each to forgive the other, AS we forgive them. Thank you for all of the blessings you have given us as families, and for the time this Christmas season to spend enjoying their presence in our lives. Amen.
Continue to enjoy your family this Christmas season and throughout the New Year.
Wishing you Peace and Love, given in gratitude and forgiveness,
Blessings,
Charlotte
The celebration of Christmas was followed yesterday by The Feast of the Holy Family. What an appropriate beginning to a New Year for our readings to give us instructions as to who, what, and how to treat and live with those we love and cherish the most, our family; and at a time when our activities are revolving around exactly that, spending time with family.
Our families may be big or small. We have our immediate family: our spouse, joined with children, siblings or parents (for those who are married) or for those who are not married, religious and single life, the church. We have our extended families, our aunts, uncles, and grandparents. And then we have our families at work and the family we sit beside each week at church. They in turn extend out to the family that we role model to when we leave the doors of the church each week.
It brought to mind the basic character instructions we were taught and that we try to teach our children from the earliest stages of our life: “Say Thank You,” “Listen to your Dad,” “Do what Your Mom said,” and “Tell your sister/brother you’re sorry.”
I don’t think we realized it then, and we might not even have realized it when we were teaching it, but we were actually teaching God’s blueprint for living a family life: Thanksgiving, Forgiveness and Honor of God’s family hierarchy.
“God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard.
‘Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother. My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins —a house raised in justice to you.” Sir 3:2-6,
12-14
“Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.
“And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
“Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.” Col 3:12-21
God says it all: Husbands, Wives; Fathers, Mothers; Parents, Children; Sisters and Brothers—Respect, Love, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness and Patience, Forgiveness and Thankfulness; listen to each other and obey in God’s order—spouses to each other, children to their parents-- each of us taking care of the others with love. The same “order” of character skills we were taught at the very beginnings of our lives. The same “order” that God designed for our entire world to achieve peace, love and harmony for all.
It is so easy to read these readings and see where we need to improve; to see our sins and our failures, but more importantly also to know that God’s design is perfect and that if we strive to do it in His order we will achieve that peace and harmony in love which He has given us and that we all seek in our hearts, to find what many just call happiness.
Dear God, I sing your praise. Let Your word live richly in me and may Your wisdom guide me as we continue to celebrate Your birth in our families and throughout the New Year. Help me and all wives to listen to our husbands (and our children their fathers) to whom you have given authority in our houses. Bless them with your graces so that all fathers may love their families unselfishly as You have instructed. Give us as women, wives and daughters, the graces to live with gratitude, kindness, and compassion and always be ready to forgive those who have hurt our tender hearts. Help us each to forgive the other, AS we forgive them. Thank you for all of the blessings you have given us as families, and for the time this Christmas season to spend enjoying their presence in our lives. Amen.
Continue to enjoy your family this Christmas season and throughout the New Year.
Wishing you Peace and Love, given in gratitude and forgiveness,
Blessings,
Charlotte
Monday, September 13, 2010
Special Date Night Invite
Women of Faith:
Specifically this week to those of you that are married or who have friends that are married—
Dear God: We praise your inspiration in our marriages. Please bless all couples and show us your way to holiness. Amen.
Stan & I would like to invite all of you to bring your spouse to Date Night, a “Couples of Faith” marriage enrichment program on September 26 at St. Pat’s in Tama at 5:30 P.M. We will have food, fellowship and share in faith some “not so new” tools for marriage—the tools given to us in the Bible.
Whether you have been married 1 day or 50+ years, no matter what Christian church you attend, regularly or irregularly, and whether your marriage is full of joy or needs recharged the evening will be worth your time.
Please share this message with your married adult children and your friends who I may not know, or with those you know who were unable to attend a Cluster of the Saints Mass this weekend.
For those of you who attend other churches or who were out of town we introduced the program Sunday morning by showing the promotional video at this website: http://www.thealexanderhouse.org/about-alexander-house/promotional-video
Stan’s and my message of invitation, tie in to the Sunday reading and statistics follow:
If we told you that 6 out of 10 of you would get cancer in the next 5 years, to what lengths would you go to prevent that cancer. If we than told you that if you attended church, your chances of getting cancer would lessen to 1 out of 250, or that if you prayed daily with your spouse your chances of avoiding cancer would be cut to 1 in 1110 (One thousand, one hundred, ten)!! Would you begin coming to church? Would you begin praying daily?
These are the statistics for divorce in couples who attend church together and who pray together. In contrast to the 6 out of 10 marriages that will end in divorce—a devastating 3600 couples DAILY; only 1 couple in 250 who attend church together have their marriages end in divorce; and more importantly only 1 couple in 1110 who pray together daily will have their marriage end in divorce.
These statistics are not “Catholic” statistics—they are for ALL Christians who attend church together as couples, and who pray daily together as couples. Catholics do not have a “better chance” at marriage than any other couple, likewise this program is not just for Catholics—we are inviting couples of ALL faiths to join us.
One other statistic we should share is that 80%, 8 out of 10 of all couples who “cohabitate” (live together before marriage) will have their marriages end in divorce. This is a statistic to share with those who are already in this situation or who are thinking about it. As the video said—as married couples we owe an apology to our friends who have chosen this route for implying that marriage is something to be avoided or that is not a fulfilling sacramental unity.
In the first reading, Ex 32:7-11, 13-14 Moses asks God "Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people. Our culture is a culture of death; abortions and divorce rates higher than ever, and are ever increasingly considered acceptable by our society.
The question should probably now be, “ Why, O lord, “shouldn't” your wrath blaze up against your people?!”
Pope John Paul 2 said "as goes the marriage, so goes the family, as goes the family so goes the community, so goes the state, the country and the world. And that is exactly what the devil wants - to break up our marriages, our families, our communities, our country. Sound familiar?
The devil wants to get his foot in our door and take over your family and ours.
How do we fight the devil, the evil of our society?
We go to school for 12 years and some go to 4 years of college, so that we can get great jobs and make a lot of money, but who prepared us for the most important jobs we'll ever have?
Marriage, raising children and spiritual warfare in our homes are our most important jobs!
Who gave us the educational tools for these jobs and showed us how to live out the covenant we made with our spouse and with God?
Whether your marriage is good, great, or terrible, we will all benefit from the "couples of faith" marriage enrichment program!
Why? Because we are all teachers of the faith and role models for each other and if we can share and learn new tools to live out our own marriage commitment, and reach out and teach others who may be struggling in their marriages, then it will be worth your time and ours.
Mathew Kelly said "A tree with strong roots can withstand any storm.” The question is not "will there be a storm in your life, the questions are "when will the storm come?” and “does my marriage have strong enough roots to withstand the storm?” And do I have the necessary tools to withstand the storm and to rebuild the damage that the storm creates?
Today’s Gospel talks about the joy of finding one lost sheep Lk 15:1-32 or 15:1-10. Imagine how the Lord will rejoice in the one marriage that is saved and the marriages that are strengthened from "couples of faith" program. And imagine our own rejoicing when we are able to live our marriages for what they are intended to be, not what the culture says is acceptable.
God is the author of marriage, He is the key to a faithful, fruitful and fulfilled marriage and marriage is our path to holiness. Do you know what God has to say about the purpose of marriage? Did you know that God has a plan for marriage?
God has given us the tools to help us in our marriages… but without knowing what those tools are, we can’t know what we don’t know.
We are here today to ask you to join us in helping to prevent divorce; to join us in making our marriages stronger and in turn to rejoice in the building of our parishes, families, and our community.
Please give Stan or I a call for details. (Daycare will be provided. Please RSVP for this service).
Blessings on your marriage and families,
Stan and Charlotte
Specifically this week to those of you that are married or who have friends that are married—
Dear God: We praise your inspiration in our marriages. Please bless all couples and show us your way to holiness. Amen.
Stan & I would like to invite all of you to bring your spouse to Date Night, a “Couples of Faith” marriage enrichment program on September 26 at St. Pat’s in Tama at 5:30 P.M. We will have food, fellowship and share in faith some “not so new” tools for marriage—the tools given to us in the Bible.
Whether you have been married 1 day or 50+ years, no matter what Christian church you attend, regularly or irregularly, and whether your marriage is full of joy or needs recharged the evening will be worth your time.
Please share this message with your married adult children and your friends who I may not know, or with those you know who were unable to attend a Cluster of the Saints Mass this weekend.
For those of you who attend other churches or who were out of town we introduced the program Sunday morning by showing the promotional video at this website: http://www.thealexanderhouse.org/about-alexander-house/promotional-video
Stan’s and my message of invitation, tie in to the Sunday reading and statistics follow:
If we told you that 6 out of 10 of you would get cancer in the next 5 years, to what lengths would you go to prevent that cancer. If we than told you that if you attended church, your chances of getting cancer would lessen to 1 out of 250, or that if you prayed daily with your spouse your chances of avoiding cancer would be cut to 1 in 1110 (One thousand, one hundred, ten)!! Would you begin coming to church? Would you begin praying daily?
These are the statistics for divorce in couples who attend church together and who pray together. In contrast to the 6 out of 10 marriages that will end in divorce—a devastating 3600 couples DAILY; only 1 couple in 250 who attend church together have their marriages end in divorce; and more importantly only 1 couple in 1110 who pray together daily will have their marriage end in divorce.
These statistics are not “Catholic” statistics—they are for ALL Christians who attend church together as couples, and who pray daily together as couples. Catholics do not have a “better chance” at marriage than any other couple, likewise this program is not just for Catholics—we are inviting couples of ALL faiths to join us.
One other statistic we should share is that 80%, 8 out of 10 of all couples who “cohabitate” (live together before marriage) will have their marriages end in divorce. This is a statistic to share with those who are already in this situation or who are thinking about it. As the video said—as married couples we owe an apology to our friends who have chosen this route for implying that marriage is something to be avoided or that is not a fulfilling sacramental unity.
In the first reading, Ex 32:7-11, 13-14 Moses asks God "Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people. Our culture is a culture of death; abortions and divorce rates higher than ever, and are ever increasingly considered acceptable by our society.
The question should probably now be, “ Why, O lord, “shouldn't” your wrath blaze up against your people?!”
Pope John Paul 2 said "as goes the marriage, so goes the family, as goes the family so goes the community, so goes the state, the country and the world. And that is exactly what the devil wants - to break up our marriages, our families, our communities, our country. Sound familiar?
The devil wants to get his foot in our door and take over your family and ours.
How do we fight the devil, the evil of our society?
We go to school for 12 years and some go to 4 years of college, so that we can get great jobs and make a lot of money, but who prepared us for the most important jobs we'll ever have?
Marriage, raising children and spiritual warfare in our homes are our most important jobs!
Who gave us the educational tools for these jobs and showed us how to live out the covenant we made with our spouse and with God?
Whether your marriage is good, great, or terrible, we will all benefit from the "couples of faith" marriage enrichment program!
Why? Because we are all teachers of the faith and role models for each other and if we can share and learn new tools to live out our own marriage commitment, and reach out and teach others who may be struggling in their marriages, then it will be worth your time and ours.
Mathew Kelly said "A tree with strong roots can withstand any storm.” The question is not "will there be a storm in your life, the questions are "when will the storm come?” and “does my marriage have strong enough roots to withstand the storm?” And do I have the necessary tools to withstand the storm and to rebuild the damage that the storm creates?
Today’s Gospel talks about the joy of finding one lost sheep Lk 15:1-32 or 15:1-10. Imagine how the Lord will rejoice in the one marriage that is saved and the marriages that are strengthened from "couples of faith" program. And imagine our own rejoicing when we are able to live our marriages for what they are intended to be, not what the culture says is acceptable.
God is the author of marriage, He is the key to a faithful, fruitful and fulfilled marriage and marriage is our path to holiness. Do you know what God has to say about the purpose of marriage? Did you know that God has a plan for marriage?
God has given us the tools to help us in our marriages… but without knowing what those tools are, we can’t know what we don’t know.
We are here today to ask you to join us in helping to prevent divorce; to join us in making our marriages stronger and in turn to rejoice in the building of our parishes, families, and our community.
Please give Stan or I a call for details. (Daycare will be provided. Please RSVP for this service).
Blessings on your marriage and families,
Stan and Charlotte
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