We went to a married couples retreat over the weekend... more than a week ago (some day i'll get better at posting *right* after things happen. you have no idea how many drafts are waiting to be finished and posted on this blog. there are 6. now you know). We forgot to tell our baby that it was a *couples* retreat - she came with us.
Going to a couples retreat with your newborn is different than going to a couples retreat with just your spouse (way to state the obvious). For one thing, you don't have to focus on your spouse at all! You can put all your attention into keeping your baby from screaming at the speaker. And there's no awesome game nights with other couples because you get to go to bed early with your baby. I'm doing my best to make this sound fun. It's not working.
Jokes aside, the retreat was a really good time. We did get to hear some good words from the speaker in between "shhhshhh shhhhh's" and back pats. He talked about going to Jesus first - before you lash out at your spouse, before you respond to a hurtful comment, before you yell at your kids for coloring on the wall. If you go to Him, He will give you what you need to respond to the situation you're in. Also go to Him for fulfillment, not to your spouse. He (the speaker) talked about a whole bunch of other important stuff that I, unfortunately, wasn't quite able to commit to memory - like the 4 lies we believe about marriage, what true love really is, and the secrets of the universe. It's really too bad I missed out on that stuff, but it's nigh impossible to focus and retain 100% when you have the world's cutest baby in your lap and she wants to smile, coo, eat, cry, and poo.
One of the most practical things we mastered over the weekend was the art of eating one-handed while balancing a wobbly baby in the other. When I say we, I really mean Husband. I've given up trying due to my tendency to drop both the baby and the food. I can't keep wasting food like that.
I highly recommend going to marriage retreats - with or without your baby. If you go without your baby, you're likely to learn a lot and make some new couple friends. If you go with your baby, you're still likely to learn a lot and make some friends AS WELL AS give your baby a jump start on a healthy marriage AND (if you're lucky) get some extra sleep because your little one is so tired out. Our baby set a personal record of 7 hours - never mind that it was day light savings and we skipped an hour.
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| Our group for the weekend |
Going to a couples retreat with your newborn is different than going to a couples retreat with just your spouse (way to state the obvious). For one thing, you don't have to focus on your spouse at all! You can put all your attention into keeping your baby from screaming at the speaker. And there's no awesome game nights with other couples because you get to go to bed early with your baby. I'm doing my best to make this sound fun. It's not working.
Jokes aside, the retreat was a really good time. We did get to hear some good words from the speaker in between "shhhshhh shhhhh's" and back pats. He talked about going to Jesus first - before you lash out at your spouse, before you respond to a hurtful comment, before you yell at your kids for coloring on the wall. If you go to Him, He will give you what you need to respond to the situation you're in. Also go to Him for fulfillment, not to your spouse. He (the speaker) talked about a whole bunch of other important stuff that I, unfortunately, wasn't quite able to commit to memory - like the 4 lies we believe about marriage, what true love really is, and the secrets of the universe. It's really too bad I missed out on that stuff, but it's nigh impossible to focus and retain 100% when you have the world's cutest baby in your lap and she wants to smile, coo, eat, cry, and poo.
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| World's Cutest Distraction |
One of the most practical things we mastered over the weekend was the art of eating one-handed while balancing a wobbly baby in the other. When I say we, I really mean Husband. I've given up trying due to my tendency to drop both the baby and the food. I can't keep wasting food like that.
I highly recommend going to marriage retreats - with or without your baby. If you go without your baby, you're likely to learn a lot and make some new couple friends. If you go with your baby, you're still likely to learn a lot and make some friends AS WELL AS give your baby a jump start on a healthy marriage AND (if you're lucky) get some extra sleep because your little one is so tired out. Our baby set a personal record of 7 hours - never mind that it was day light savings and we skipped an hour.
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