Lately, I’ve been contacted by several couples asking me if I offer marriage seminars or in-person marriage improvement sessions. While the short answer is that I don’t, I’d like to give you my recommendations as to where you could go for an informative, yet entertaining weekend marriage seminar.
Not all weekend marriage seminars are fit for all types of couples. Most are designed to appeal to women, not to men, even though the majority are put on by men. Husbands just come along and endure the seminar and make their wife happy. I highly encourage couples to go to a weekend marriage event if they have another couple they know where both the wife AND husband have highly endorsed it. Marriage Encounter, for example, is a serious weekend event that causes couples to really think, analyze their relationship history and communicate. It’s been around for many years and you have to find one scheduled near you in order to attend.
Typically, men have no intention of getting “stuck” in some marriage seminar for two days. That’s the reason I highly endorse Mark Gungor’s Laugh Your Way To A Better Marriage weekend event. I’ve personally been to several of these events and I’ve watched men react. Most men laugh non-stop and make this comment, “If I’d of known it was this good, I’d have done this a lot sooner.” Mark Gungor presents his hysterically funny way to teach couples how to be happily married, all around the country. You can find his appearance schedule at www.laughyourway.com
Mark Gungor is a good friend of mine and one of the most sought after speakers on marriage and family in the country. He teaches thousands of couples each year. Mark’s down to earth, practical approach teaches biblical principles for marriage, but adds humor by the truck load. Couples who leave the two day event are amazed at how laughing drives home the learning and takes the threat out of what had become a hostile relationship.
Another alternative marriage weekend seminar called Retrouvaille (pronounced ret-tro-vi with a long i) has been responsible for turning around hundreds of marriages in trouble over many years. If you want to know what to expect from Retrouvaille, here is some feedback that was posted by someone who attended a Retrouvaille event in response to the question,”What can I expect from a Retrouvaille marriage weekend?
“It’s been several years for me since Retrouvaille weekend. Basically there is about 3 or 4 couples and a priest leading the weekend. The couples are past Retrouvaille attendees who went through a weekend just like you will be. A couple will give a talk referring to their own struggles in marriage (or the priest at times), discuss “dialogging” a written way of communication they will teach you, and give you a question to dialogue on.
Each partner goes to a separate area to respond to the question in a provided notebook, the note books are exchanged privately and you have a short discussion about each other’s response (also in private -I believe it’s about 10-20 minutes if I remember correctly.) Then you return to the main area for another talk and it continues in the same pattern. The hosting couples and the priest are also available for private discussion with you and your husband, or either one of you alone if you are having struggles you need assistance with. Retrouvaille saved my marriage. May God Bless you and your husband with healing, I will pray for you both.”
No matter what you do, it’s a good practice to get away from your normal life and have a place to go where someone else will get the two of you thinking, talking and feeling warmer towards each other. Sometimes you need a public event to see other actual couples who are struggling with marriage just like you are.
By the way, here’s a short 1 minute video I’ve been meaning to share with you for some time now. There’s a message, but it’s almost sure to put a smile on your face.
The message is about having a good relationship…sometimes relationships don’t go well, but we can always find a way to work together and get what we all want. I think it’s really inspiring, if you can keep the laughter down. Have a look…
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