A Closer Couple

Well we just finished up our Engaged Encounter weekend and I must say that it wasn't anything like we thought it was going to be. Both of us thought it was going to be a lot of sharing your feelings in a big group and I just knew that Dave wouldn't do well with that. Turns out that there was a lot of sharing of feelings, but everything was kept private between the two of us.

Friday night when we got there, I saw this guy that I went to high school with. Instantly we had a friend there and it was nice because it made it a little more comfortable. Then another couple joined us and we decided to be a six pack for the weekend so we were all comfortable. This morning they asked if we all knew each other before we went there and when we said no, they thought it was so funny because we got along really well. So that was one nice thing we left with two new couples of friends. Friday night was probably the worst because we listened to them talk, then we went and wrote seperately on our topics, then we met together and that was what we did all night. So we didn't have high hopes for Saturday.

Saturday was a very long day. But by lunch time, we were having a lot of fun. Right after lunch we played a yes or no game and it was hilarious to see the ridiculous things that couples disagreed on and even some of the serious things they didn't agree on. The weekend consisted of talking about topics that are we will encounter as a married couple. Our presenters were a couple that had been married for 43 years and a couple that had been married for 4 years. Then we also had Father Chuck there with us. They alternated on the topics and spoke of there experiences concerning these types of things. Of course the topic of sexual intimacy came up and the older couple had us all laughing when they talked about the magic blue pill!! Satruday night was probably my favorite, next to this morning. We had a nice candle lit dinner and then we had just a big group discussion. We could ask questions regarding the church or just simple wedding questions like where might we honeymoon type of things. It was just one big session of advice and then we went to a prayer session. As a couple we got to write a prayer together. I thought this would be hard for us and surprisingly it came to us rather easily. We agreed that we would read it the night before we get married. After our prayer, they gave us a candle to take into the chapel. If you stood, they would come pray with you, either your prayer or just a simple prayer that they had. If you sat, they wouldn't come pray with you. Openly praying is something very new to both Dave and I so we decided to just read our prayer together and then sit. It was the most relaxing part of the weekend. All the lights in the chapel were dimmed and all the candle light lit it up...they had soft music playing and it was really just calm and peaceful. After everyone had prayed, we formed a huge circle around the alter. Then they led us in a prayer where the girls had to take the boys' hands in theirs and they read about how these would be the hands that would hold your first born child and stuff like that...then the boys were asked to take our hands and listen while they read about how these were the hands that would be rough from dishes and folding laundry (dave laughed and put my hands down at that thought!). You had to look into your partners eyes the whole time and it was incredibly romantic. Very few dry eyes in the room for sure.

Then this morning we got to write a love letter to each other. They sent the girls to the library and we were all told to stay in there until the boys came to get us. Well we did our writing and they told us we had only a few minutes to finish up. Here came the boys...the first guy walked in and he had a rose...of course all of the girls Awwwed, thinking where the hell did he get that! Well then in came the rest of the boys and they all had single red roses...all the girls continued to aww and it was very cute watching the boys try to find their soon to be wives. Not only did they have their roses, but each guy was carrying tissues in his other hand haha! It was very sweet...we then seperated and went and read each others letters. Dave's was very touching, espeically considering he made lots of jokes on many of the writings in the weekend. I blame the people because they said that it was important to keep a sense of humor through the weekend and that gave him a free pass he thought! But his letter was very sweet and we will take our letters and save them in our wedding book.

So, I must agree with Lisa...I would recommend this to couples. There are parts of it that are very churchy, but there are also parts of it that really could help couples who are struggling with things from the past or concerns about the future. Obviously I didn't recap the entire weekend here because really no need to bore you, but I shared with you my very favorite parts!!