This weekend was our Couples In Christ retreat. It was the end of our second year together and our second retreat. We rented a house about an hour and a half away that was very cool. An old style home filled with antiques and creaky floors. It was a little creepy to some....especially some of the weird portraits hanging on the walls of the bedrooms.....we kept waiting for the eyes to start moving back and forth like something out of a Scooby Doo episode.
There was a "therapy couch" that we thought we could use for actual therapy.....or it made a perfect reenactment of the scene from the Titanic movie....except Sherri remained fully clothed. :)
The foyer had some old style hats and canes......it was too tempting to just leave them hanging all weekend.
We got there Friday evening and stayed until Sunday. It was a really good blend of fun and partying....with prayer and marriage strengthening lessons.
Friday night was all party and fun.
We got unpacked, made some pizzas, had some drinks, and then did something that was really fun. We had come up with the idea that all of us bring our wedding albums. Then one by one that night, we shared our meeting....dating....proposing....and wedding stories. It was great because we really hadn't ever heard the details of it before that. We all found out a lot about each other and how our relationships all began. I think we laughed more than anything at all the details of awkward first kisses and creative proposals.
Saturday we did our retreat material from about 10am to 3:30pm with just a lunch break. It was all very good.
For about half that time, we broke into groups of guys and girls, which has become something we really like doing on retreat since we don't do that during the year at our monthly meetings.
After completing all our lesson stuff, we just hung out.
We had a great dinner....
Played a ton of games.....
ate way too many snacks.....
and finished the night by watching a movie.
We headed to bed about 1am with a wake up time on Sunday of about 7:30am to get ready for 8:45 mass.
This year we added something new to our weekend.
Each of the 4 couples took a certain time to lead the group in some sort of prayer or reflection. One couple had Friday evening, one had Saturday morning and one the evening, then the last one had Sunday morning.
Our Friday couple led us all in the rosary.....
Sat. morning we did a Lexio Divina (this is where you read the upcoming Gospel reading for that week 3 times and then talk about what parts spoke to you)
Jay and I did Saturday evening and read an article we had found called "Finding Time for Prayer In Your Marriage".
On Sunday, after mass and breakfast, we sat one last time together while our 4th couple played 2 Christian songs that they felt were like prayers to them and talked about how, even when we're busy and driving in the car, a simple song on the radio can become our prayer.
It was such a great variety of ideas that we may just stick with doing the same things and make it a part of our retreat tradition.
Needless to say, we had a great time! This has become such an important group of friends to us and we are so grateful for all of them.
We can laugh together, cry together, pray together, and be ourselves together.
I'd say that's the definition of good friends.
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