Have You Tried a Marriage Retreat?

Have You Tried a Marriage Retreat?

By Dustin | Communication

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My wife and I experienced our first marriage retreat over the weekend, and  I must say I am pumped!  The particular retreat that we attended was called “Living in Love” and it was presented from a Catholic perspective.  This is appropriate for us because we are practicing Catholics and our faith is very important to us.

That said, I came away from the retreat with the strong feeling that any couple, regardless of their religion or lack thereof, could benefit from participation in one of these weekends away.  I am sure that quality marriage retreats are available in a wide variety of spiritual and even secular settings.

When is the last time that you and your spouse blocked out an entire weekend just for yourselves without the distractions of kids, family, work or social activities?  And beyond that, have you ever taken two solid days to focus exclusively on your marriage and the unique relationship that you share?

This was the first time for us, and I can tell you that it was a very powerful and moving experience!  We shared our deepest desires for our lives, we unearthed deep-seated goals and passions that we hadn’t considered for years, and we shared some moments together that brought us both to tears.

From the perspective of someone who rarely cries for any reason, it was the tears that surprised me the most.  There were healing tears from old wounds, regrets and reconciliation.  But there were many more tears of joy and honest thankfulness for the life that we have shared.  I have truly never appreciated my wife and our marriage more in all of our years together.

So, I am asking you, imploring you really, to consider experiencing a retreat with your spouse.  I am confident that you will come back to your daily lives with a new perspective and a better appreciation of your marriage and your life.

Photo by Nelson D.

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About the Author

Dustin Riechmann created Engaged Marriage to help other married couples live a life they love (especially) when they feel too busy to make it happen. He has many passions, including sharing ways to enjoy an awesome marriage in 15 minutes a day, but his heart belongs with his wife Bethany and their three young kids.

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(13) comments

Money and Marriage

Relationships are quite complicated one has to face when in trouble, but it’s also not as bad as one would be led to believe in it.Just try to brush away all those misunderstandings and believe in the fact of making-up that relationship all you have to do is to start knowing what really went wrong and what made two
humans who loved each other in depth to part their ways, is it because of money mis-management or something else . You can always find the answer here.

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Dustin

I think that first comment may be spam, but I’ll let it slide just this once. 🙂

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Chuck Parish

Hi Dustin, Visiting your site for the first time today. I like what you have to say about NFP. Even more importantly, I wanted to support this post. Marriage Enrichment Retreats are an absolute ‘must’ for couples who have been married for ANY length of time. Renee and I have attended three during our 30 years of marriage and now we are giving back by conducting them ourselves.

Our first was before our first anniversary and the things we learned (communication, finance, honesty, sex, etc.) have helped us continually through the years. Couples should go to make a good marriage better! Don’t wait until you think you need it 🙂

A great ministry for older couples is to provide funds and/or babysitting that allow young couples to go to a marriage enrichment weekend, who might not be able to afford it.

Blessings to you and your lovely bride.

For better marriages, Chuck

Reply
Dustin

Chuck,

Thank you so much for visiting and leaving such a thoughtful comment! I totally agree with you that marriage retreats are important for couples of all ages. Our retreat included a newlywed couple (married only two months) and couples married more than 40 years. And ALL stressed how much they got out of the weekend as we were wrapping up.

I also agree with the idea of giving this gift to others. We actually traveled over 4 hours to our retreat at the request of our Diocese Director of Marriage & Family Life. He wanted us to experience it firsthand. And now we will be part of the team that hosts these retreats in our own area!

And I concur that waiting until you have problems in your marriage is a huge mistake. The whole mission here at Engaged Marriage is to help couples take their normal/average (not bad) marriage and make it awesome…let’s be proactive!

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What is Your Dream Marriage? | Engaged Marriage

[…] my wife and I recently attended a marriage retreat, which was fantastic by the way, one of the first things we were asked to do was separate from each […]

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[…] I love this.  This out-of-the-box idea came to me through Twitter, and it was my favorite.  In the hustle and bustle of the season, it’s easy to get wrapped up in consumerism and focusing on gifts.  While great gifts can be an asset to marriage (as I hope I’ve demonstrated above), why not surprise your spouse with plans to get away from the responsibilities of home for an evening away?  For a deeper experience, I’d highly recommend you try a marriage retreat. […]

Reply
Judith

Hey

Love your article, thanks for this

p.s. I just wrote one as well here http://buckhicker.savemarria.hop.clickbank.net/?type=nohop ,Marriage Retreat

Reply
Natalia T

Hi there! Just found your blog via The Top Marriage Blog Finalists for 2010 list. I am wondering if you can suggest marriage retreat sites or locations in North America? I am interested, but not really sure where to start. Thanks!

Reply
    Dustin

    Thanks Natalia, and welcome! The retreat we’ve been involved with is called “Living in Love” but it’s focused on Catholics and is mostly offered in the midwest and the east coast.

    Are you involved in a church? If so, that may be a great starting point for finding a retreat. If not, I would actually suggest doing a Google search for “Marriage retreat + Your City, Your State” and see what comes up. You’ll likely see several national organizations that host retreats along with some local offerings. Then you just need to read up on each and pick one that you think you and your husband would enjoy.

    Then go give it a try! I hope that is helpful to you.

    Reply
Dr. Dar

Marriage Get-A-Ways are a must, especially for parents. Giving to your marriage is equally important as giving to your family, yourself, and to your faith. Make time to go away for a weekend to focus on your spouse, each other, and what you want in your marriage. Marriage Renewal Retreats are a treat!

Reply
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[…] wife and I wrote several letters to one another as part of a recent marriage retreat, and that was cool.  However, the real magic came in the delivery when we read our thoughts to […]

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[…] “required” event a great date.  For example, we were gone last weekend presenting at a marriage retreat.  And we used this time away from home to enjoy each other and found alone time amidst our other […]

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[…] If you truly want to surprise your spouse and bring back the spark in your relationship, plan a relaxing weekend together away from the stresses of everyday […]

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