The morning session of our retreat was about listening, communication and developing a family mission statement. We started working on our family mission statement and plan to refine it during the week and have one completed by next Sunday. Here we go... "As a family, we will serve the Lord by living a grace and joy filled life. We will strengthen our relationship through family prayer and by bringing our family and others closer to God." We also want to include something about being committed to continual spiritual and intellectual growth - as a family. The idea is to create one, post it somewhere in your home and revisit it every year. It will probably change over time. And as Paul gets older--he can be included in helping to create it. A nice scripture for this is Ephesians 5:21, 25-33.
Also, we talked about communicating pitfalls to avoid with your spouse: garbage dumping (bringing up old hurts), Giving YOU messages, Blaming, using critical judgement, interrupting while your spouse is sharing/communicating, expecting your spouse to change because you shared your feelings, short changing the time together by not spending the full time talking about and continuing to draw out/explore the feeling.And we talked about guidelines for fighting fair for our relationship...b/c that is what we are all doing in our married lives....everything should be FOR OUR relationship...not against it. :-) One point we discussed...."fight for clarification, not to win. If I win a fight then I am sleeping with a loser."
And naturally, we talked about forgiveness in a marriage. This one item will give you the freedom from the bitterness which pollutes lives and marriages.
Then we had 2 1/2 hours for a lunch "date" with our spouse. Of course also included 30 min of shopping in the cute town of Comfort! We went to a nice little restaurant called The Hen House Cafe. I had a yummy Reuben sandwich and Danny had a juicy hamburger. Very delicious!
Back to the B&B for our afternoon session with our couple friends - the topic-- MONEY. And not about how to budget and save..but attitudes towards money. I will write about this while Paul is napping--right now I have to get back to the little dude..I think he is tearing up the family room. :-)
Getting back to our retreat--we talked about how to be a faithful steward. Vicki and George had this awesome book they used for our afternoon session. Danny and I are going to purchase it....around $13. I recommend it for all married couples...and even singles! Putting Money in its Place by Doug Britton. It's part of series on books/bible studies for couples. Good stuff!
From Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."
Some basic principles from the book which we discussed at our retreat:
*Acknowledge God's Ownership - God owns everything--your house, cars, clothes, toys, books, etc.
*Work diligently - with a positive attitude; avoid get rich schemes; balance work and rest
*Be trustworthy - be honest on the job; be honest as a couple
*Take care of your possessions - they belong to God
**Remember that God gave you the strength and talent to make money!!!!
And more goodies from the afternoon....
Love God, Not Money - recognize you are citizens of heaven, be aware of the dangers of wealth, realize it is possible to be Godly and wealthy
Be content - get your contentment from God, not circumstances, resist envy and greed, do not give up if you suffer a financial setback
From Matthew 6:33, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Oh and if you do read my ramblings from time to time--please leave a comment now and then--even if you simply say hi! Thank you!!
1 comment:
great post! I needed this today.
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