Marriage Conference Weekend Recap...

Hey there everyone.  Welcome to another Keil's Comments blog post.

Just wanted to write a recap on the marriage conference Sharon and I went to this past weekend.  I know what you're thinking -- "y'all are doing a marriage conference already? Something you're not telling us?" No. This was in the works even weeks before the wedding. This was not even your normal boring marriage conference.  The person they brought in was a great speaker.  His name is Dan Seaborn of Winning at Home in Michigan (he's originally from South Carolina).

The first night he asked us 10 questions to ponder over ("seeds" as it were).  Here are a few questions to give you an example.

• When your spouse sees you coming is there a "little leap" or a "little creep" in their spirit?
• Do you think about their world and the way they think and what they might be dealing with?
• Is your spouse afraid to bring up certain topics because of the way you react?
• If your spouse gave you a "living with you" grade, what would it be?

Dan also talked about some of the struggles that he and his wife have had over their 35 yrs of marriage.  So, safe to say he was not trying to hide anything, he was as real as could be.

The last session of the conference yesterday dealt with our vows.  Something I didn't know...the normal vows that are done were brought over with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower -- so we can thank Gov. Bradford and Company for that. I say "normal vows", if you were one of the ones that came to our wedding, Sharon and I did our own spin on them, but the core of the vows were still intact.  Anyway, each section of the vows meant a different statement.

"I, Robert take you Sharon..." is a statement of possession
"To have and to hold from this day forward" is a statement of companionship
"For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer..." is a statement of consistency
"To love and to cherish till death do us part" is a statement of commitment
"According to God's Holy Law" (Mark 10:6-9) is a statement of Authority
"And thereto I pledge you my faith" is a statement of decision.

Then Dan had us repeat our vows to each other which had my tear ducts working overtime.

It was a lot of fun and we got to meet some other great couples (one drawback from that, we should have had name tags so we could remember names better but oh well).

That is about it for now.  Now on to remember what this week is about -- the week that saw Our Lord crucified, die and be buried...and to rise again on the third day.

Until next time...