When I say, “I love me” or “I love you,” what do I mean? I love me. My need to do my own thing, and my right to be me, are immeasurably precious to me. The thoughts I think, the emotions I feel, the words I speak, and the actions I take are mine. They all are freely chosen by me, and for them I am totally responsible. Where satisfying or not, they are my experiment in … [Read more...]
When the Vow Breaks; Part III: My Husband No Longer Believes in God!
Similar beliefs, values, and interests augur towards long, happy marriages. That’s why we worry when someone we know who is a Buddhist, marries a Baptist. But what if they share similar beliefs and values in the beginning, but then one spouse’s faith stance changes and the other spouse’s doesn’t? Jack and Jessie Jones came to a MAKE IT OR BREAK IT retreat because that is … [Read more...]
When The Vow Breaks, Part II – But The Affair Was Just Emotional!
Mary was a stay-at-home Mom of three little children. Walter, her husband, was a “Type A” entrepreneur for whom a 70+ hour work week was the norm. Because he was making loads of money, Walter decided he wanted a bigger, better house. Mary would gladly have settled for their current house and more Walter. She reported, “When he’s home, he’s not really home. He’s emailing, … [Read more...]
When the Vow Breaks, Part 1: Is you is or is you ain’t?
When one – either the husband or the wife – leaves their marriage emotionally and spiritually, that marriage becomes just as defunct as if one of the spouses had physically died. At best, the partners live alone together. At worst, the marriage becomes a living hell. Some couples eventually separate but never divorce. Others divorce with rancor and a bitterness that lasts a … [Read more...]
What Makes This Couples Marriage Retreat Unique?
When a couple comes to one of our "Make It or Break It" marriage retreats they may have already decided they want a divorce. But often they are undecided, or one partner wants a divorce and the other wants to preserve the marriage and stop divorce. Because this is so, we spend a period of time listening to each partner describe what they have in mind. This may well be the … [Read more...]