What our Constituents told us this Month

Some recent comments from changed lives

“Our experience at the FamilyLife Weekend to Remember is never the same! Each year, the Lord gives us something different to work on so that our already wonderful marriage can be even better. Since we have gone quite a few years and are older and have been married over 44 years, we usually go with two goals in mind: to add to our own marriage and to minister to someone else as the Lord directs. This year, goal number two was such a blessing that we are still overwhelmed! As you know, on Friday nights they recognize those who are the newest newlyweds and those who have been married the longest. We were third in line for the longest. Where does the blessing come in?? On Saturday morning, a couple came up to us and they were married last May. They told us that they really admired us because we had been married all these years and still were coming to a conference to make our marriage even better. We shared with them our story and gave God the glory and went about our weekend as usual thinking that was the end of it. Well, the Lord wasn’t through yet. On Sunday morning, when they passed out the Marriage Covenant promise pages, they hunted us up to sign it instead of the speakers or their own pastor. WOW. God is so awesome, and we are never too old to be used of Him. ( I am 70 and my husband is 74.) We enjoy our Weekend to Remember so much that we have become more involved with the local team. It is our desire to see many marriages restored. As we greeted people coming in for the weekend, we could see many many were hurting, but by the end of the weekend, you could tell many had received God’s ministry to their marriage. What a weekend!”

“I don’t know who to share this with, but I thought you may like to know that a year ago this spring, my husband and I attended your Weekend to Remember conference in Indianapolis. We were legally separated at the time. We almost did not make it through Friday night at the hotel, but God got us through to the next day. I want someone from FamilyLife to know that the conference saved our marriage, and we have truly never been the same since. We will never forget that weekend and hope to return again as ‘happy alumni.’ Thank you for all you do.”

“My marriage was in shambles. My husband didn’t want to tap into any resources I suggested. For seven years I tried to do my part, but I was worn down emotionally. I felt I was out of resources and at a dead end. One night, I cried out to God and said, ‘Lord, here I am. I need something completely different and NOW. I pretty much need a miracle. I don’t want to quit. Please guide me.’ The NEXT AFTERNOON I received a mailing for the WEEKEND TO REMEMBER! (miracle #1) and thought about it privately for three days, doubting my husband would ever spend money and time for something like that. Finally, I approached him and he was for it! (miracle #2). We just attended the Minneapolis conference. It was definitely a WEEKEND TO REMEMBER. There were couples there married three weeks to 48 years! I laughed (a lot) and cried (a lot) and had a BLAST! We even publicly renewed our vows and I just…WOW. I don’t really know how to describe it. The weekend was so powerful. I think it’d be great for any couple. EVERYONE should be able to experience it. The speakers were INCREDIBLE and HILARIOUS! The projects were deeply meaningful and date night, of course, was extremely special. This catapulted us forward in the right direction. We connected in a way we hadn’t for a LONG time (spiritually, emotionally, and physically). On the weekend feedback form, we both said one thing we took from it was that ‘We fell in love again’ (Miracle #3). The cool thing was that we filled out our forms separately! THANKS FamilyLife!”

“Greetings FamilyLife. As a pastor, so much of my time is concentrated on the people of our congregation, so much so that they become my primary focus, and my wife and our sons tend to become secondary. Things seemed to be falling apart on the home front while I was trying to be strong for other people. These few days helped wake me up to what a wonderful gift God has given me in my wife and our two sons and how they deserve to be my priority in life over the needs of the people of the congregation. Now I feel I can pastor more effectively by example and serve as an example not only to the congregation but more importantly as an example to my sons. An example of what a loving marriage is all about. We plan to make this event something that we attend every three years as it truly helps to rejuvenate our marriage. Thank you and your entire staff for your work and your ministry. We will do our best to help encourage others to attend these enriching weekends.”