So, many of you know that 3 times a year Ang and I put on a workshop at our church called “Beyond I Do.”  Typically, this all day workshop (or sometimes spread out between 2 weekends) is for engaged couples within the church. Recently, however, we have had more married couples coming for a kind of “refresher” on some things.

We cover a lot of material, which we break into 4 broad categories of Spirituality, Communication, Conflict Resolution, and Sexual intimacy. Here is a picture of most of the 21 couples that attended this past Saturday (Feb. 28th).

- We had a great time, and I always love working together with my wife to help influence people’s lives!!

Here are my top 10 highlights from the day:

10. A comment from one of the couples “to defray desires becoming expectations, simply imagine what it would be like if you were still alone.”

9. Giving people some insight on how the enemy is going to try and attack your marriage

8. Outlining in detail the “good” fight – conflict is inevitable, and the proper handling of it can make you stronger than ever!

7. Talking about the idea that if the point of communication, especially disagreements, is to truly understand each other. . . .then. . . “winning” – really has very little to do with it!

6. Seeing people “get it” when we talk about some of the gender differences that can lead to all kinds of communicative difficulties.

5. Helping couples begin to pray together, outloud, – some for the first time – ever!

4. Having one of the guys comment in front of everyone – “WOW, I am getting a lot more out of this than I ever expected!”

3. Referring to our very frank Q & A session regarding Sexual intimacy – yes, we talked about _________.

2. Seeing several couples crying during one of the prayer times where we have them look at each other while Ang prays for each one of them – she does an amazing job with this!

1. My amazing wife pausing throughout the day to breath through contractions and back spasms – I am so proud of how tough she is for the Kingdom! One time I even reassured everyone “don’t worry, she’s a professional. . . “