Marriage Retreats: A healthy choice for your marriage

Retreat programs for marriages will vary depending on who’s offering them. For instance, ChristanMarriageRetreats.net or Power & Compassion Christian Counseling take on a couple-to-couple approach to ensure that both parties will be given the chance to speak up about issues, be heard, and in turn understood. You can only really understand someone anyway by talking to them. Power & Compassion Christian Counseling retreat programs make the most out of the time couples spend on the retreat by giving them the best avenue for sorting out whatever issues they might have.  Many  couples have reported great results through this type of approach to marriage retreat counseling.  The personalized one-on-one counseling provided by Power & Compassion coupled with a clear focus on faith and seeking the will and counsel of God a for your marriage sets Power & Compassion’s Christian marriage retreats apart from many of the other offerings that are available.

The simple act of getting away with your spouse to a new location for a few days and focusing all of your time and attention solely on one another can have a powerful healing effect as well. Consider how taking time off from your busy schedule and surroundings helps you to clear your mind and focus more effectively on the important things in life.  The same is true with taking time to get away on a marriage retreat and focusing your attention on your spouse for a few days.  It can play a vital role in the healing and strengthening of your marriage.  When deciding on the marriage retreat that is right for you, look for a marriage retreat that is held in a peaceful location so you can shed all of your stresses away and simply focus on the task at hand of improving your marriage. To get both you and your partner in the mood, find a marriage retreat that is held in a place that you both love. For example, if you both appreciate the great outdoors and share a love for being active, a retreat venue surrounded by greens and blues of nature could be just the ticket. Different couples have different issues they need to sort through so go for marriage retreats that cover a lot of areas. You may have a specific area in mind that you and your spouse have to work on but you can also contribute a lot to your relationship by improving on other areas as well.

Some things to consider about your marriage retreat

Christian marriage counseling may offer a different approach than other marriage retreats out there so make sure to consider as many options as possible first before choosing one. You are, after all, interested in a solution to your marriage problems. Since you’re looking for a solution anyway, might as well go for a marriage retreat you feel will be best for you and your spouse. Take into consideration what your beliefs are about marriage, for instance. People with differing backgrounds and beliefs may have different notions of marriage but everything will boil down to making a commitment to your spouse and sticking with that commitment no matter what. Attending a marriage retreat that sheds the right kind of light on the subject of marriage, love and devotion may be the best way to go for you. There are a lot of marriage retreats out there and as with anything, it is always better to have multiple options than none. Make the most out of this by comparing what different retreats offer to you, and whether you feel you can fit the cost into your budget. Your decision may mean you will have to pull back on some of the other spending that you were planning on doing over the coming months, but don’t worry because where it matters, you’re sure to have enough, and honestly, what price tag can you put on the health and happiness of your marital relationship.

To learn more about the christian marriage counseling services provided by Power & Compassion’s Christian Marriage Retreats visit our marriage retreats page at http://www.ChristianMarriageRetreats.net/marriageretreats.html

Attending a marriage retreat with Power & Compassion Christian Counseling allows you the freedom to step outside your normal every-day environment, where you can clear away all the noise and frustration your daily habits and complications which are putting a strain on your marital relationship, and instead gain a new and fresh perspective on life and your relationship with your spouse. There is no better place to step away from the stresses of life and clear your head then our marriage retreat cabin in northwest Montana. (Click here to see photos and more information regarding our marriage retreat location.) Here you will be able to clear your mind and focus your attention and efforts on growing closer to God and each other with the help of your professional counselors and a very powerful and proven counseling and thereputic process.

The experience that you will receive from attending a marriage retreat with Power and Compassion Christian Marriage Retreats is beyond words. Many couples have had their lives transformed and their marriages renewed through attending one of these exclusive personalized retreats. But don’t simply take my word for it… read about and listen to some marriage retreat  testimonies from our our past couples to see for yourself! The results speak for themselves.

Some of what you will experience at one of our multi-day intensive marriage retreats will include:

• A reawakening of romance and passion within your relationship. – Our specialized couples therapy sessions and individualized counseling sessions wil help you discover new ways to communicate, interact and connect with your spouse in ways that will reignite and rebuild the romantic feelings that brought you both together in the first place.
• You will discover essential methods and principles that will allow you to build a rock solid foundation for your marriage moving forward, and help you to multiply you feelings of love and respect for one another as time progresses.
• One of the most powerful tools for building a deep connection and love relationship with your spouse is having a good solid open and balanced communication with your spouse. At Power and Compassion’s Marriage Retreats, you will learn and discover a plethora of tools and techniques for opening up these powerful lines of communication allowing you to connect with each other in a very strong way and these new communication techniques will help you to maintain that connection and grow even stronger within that connection even after your marriage retreat experience is over and you move back into your normal everyday life again.

These are just a few of the powerful ways that you will learn and grow when you attend a marriage retreat with Power and Compassion Christian Marriage Retreats. If you would like more information on one of our multi-day intensive marriage retreats, visit our website at www.ChristianMarriageRetreats.net or call us at 406-253-6427 we would love to talk with you about your individual needs and situation so that we might create a customized plan to help your healing process begin.

When people find themselves in this type of situation their feelings of love and affection towards their spouse can often get pushed aside and begin to fade or be forgotten. But the truth is, love is not a feeling. Love is a promise. Love is a decision and a commitment that you made when you said your vows to one another at the altar of marriage before your family, your friends, and God. Love is a choice that you made “for better or for worse…til death do us part.”

Love is an action, not a feeling. It is something that you must control, not something that you are controlled by.

People who are having problems in their marriage often say things like “I just don’t feel like I am in love with her any more,” or “I’ve just fallen out of love with him.” But when you understand that love is a choice…a decision…a promise, not a feeling that you are controlled by, then you will understand that love is not something that you can “fall out of” or something that “fades away.” Passion and romance is something that we can easily let fade away, when we are not careful, but our commitment to love is something that you can never “fall out of” of give up on.

Because love is a choice and a promise it is something that you cannot give up on or choose not to do. It is something that you must fight for and something that you must take drastic measures in order to preserve and keep alive. It is something that you plan for and budget for and treat the same way as you would any other important thing in your life like your job or your hobby.

This might look like setting aside one night each week as a “date night” with your spouse where you go out for a nice dinner, or go to a movie or play, or simply take a quite and romantic walk together down town or in a park… anything that allows you guys to step out of the everyday mundane and focus your attention on one another.

It also means you should set aside some time every few months, or at least once or twice a year to do something really special together like a special holiday or romantic vacation. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive if your budget cannot afford it, but it does have to be something that shows your thoughtfulness and care for one another. An example of this could be planning a romantic getaway to a place you have never been before and creating an itinerary that focuses your time and attention during this holiday specifically on one another. Many people enjoy and receive great romantic and emotional benefits from planning a weekend getaway to Power & Compassion’s Marriage Retreat’s in northwest Montana for this very reason.

Whatever you decide to do, remember, that love is a choice and a promise that you made to your spouse. Love is not a feeling that you are controlled by or that you can loose or fall out of. It is something that you must harness and control yourself. It is an action and a promise. Fight for it!

For some reason, being physically healthy in today’s society is the only thing looked at for being healthy. To be perfectly healthy, for the majority of people, means eating the right foods, and doing the right exercise program. While this is true of our physiques, it is not true for the rest of us. Emotions play a really big part in your health, and so does your mind, so you should be equally concerned with them as you are your physical health. Maybe not in every instance can you change how you feel, you can at least control your feelings. There are things that you can do to improve your mental and emotional health. There are many things to do, and these are a few of them.

Help improve yourself with personal willpower. Sometimes people indulge in behaviors they never thought that they would, simply because they slack off due to feeling down or depressed. You might think that you deserve to wallow, but all it does is make it tougher to climb out of the pit you are in. When inhibitions are lowered, we do things we normally wouldn’t do, because they seem okay because of our present circumstances. When you are depressed, if you wallow too long, it is going to be hard to ever get your life back, unless you can make yourself do what has to be done. The best thing you can do for your mental and emotional health is to take care of your responsibilities even if you need to force yourself to keep going. Don’t ever give up, no matter how bad you feel, and do this by finding a reason to tell your heart and head that your life is still going on. Start off everyday with something you like. You can lower your blood pressure and increase serotonin levels in the brain, by walking through a garden or a park, according to studies. You will feel better emotionally by doing something physical that allows you to relax. So, allow yourself to spend some time admiring beauty-whether it is through actual art and architecture or in the beauty of living things around you. Your mood can be elevated by the inspiration of beauty. You need to find the beauty in all situations. Everyone is an individual, so there is no reason to expect everyone to have the same reaction to all things. It is okay to like something different from others.

Enjoy yourself in your spare time. Life will be nothing but drudgery and depression, unless you raise your levels of happiness by finding something you can enjoy during your leisure time, even though indulging in laziness is not a good thing. You can easily run your emotions into the ground, when you are only working, even doing housework, because the work needs to get done. Doing something just because you think it is fun helps you feel happy. When you have things you must do because they are your responsibility, times of happiness can make them easier to manage. Your emotional and mental health will be much better, as long as you can get your life to be less tedious. Any mental health problems that become too severe to handle will require a mental health expert to be consulted. Your mental health, as well as your emotional health can be made better, as long as you are willing to work for improvement. Sometimes our emotions might seem uncontrollable, but they can be managed. Just because something happens that make us sad, we don’t have to become depressed, and we can find ways to be happy. The tips in this article are just the tip of the iceberg. Anything that has to do with your life, unless you are being manipulated by someone else, is completely up to you and your choices, whether they are good or bad.

To learn more about how Power and Compassion christian marriage counseling retreats can help you to improve your marriage relationship through developing and strengthening your mental and emotional health, visit http://www.ChristianMarriageRetreats.net

In marriage, there comes a point where the couple’s interest towards each other tends to wear off and the passion begins to fade. This can be triggered by factors such as pressure in the family, career and personal development, financial obligations and poor sexual activities.

Through the years, marriage retreats have become increasingly important in renewing the passion and romance in the  married lives of couples. Christian Marriage Retreats offer an invaluable support to couples whose relationships are constantly struggling. They provide couples with a temporary yet valuable escape from daily routines which results in a renewal of love and devotion for one another and a more harmonious, exciting and enjoyable marriage life.

With the help of a professional marriage counselor, personal and family problems are tackled thoroughly and solutions are found and applied in a practical and effective manner. Basically, personalized marriage counseling is specially designed to provide long lasting and positive solutions to issues such as anger, stress, anxiety, depression, affair prevention and repair, interpersonal difficulties and spiritual, emotional and physical intimacies. When these problems are left unresolved, it can negatively affect the quality of relationship of the couple. In the long run, this can trigger the both parties to concur for a divorce or annulment. When this happens, children are left at the losing end of the equation.

More often than not, marriage retreats stimulate couples to create a conversation which can bring about a number of benefits to their relationship. In fact, it provides a good opportunity for them to talk about their marriage and problems. Furthermore, a retreat allows the couple to evaluate themselves and formulate concrete and long lasting solutions to their imperfections. With the help of a professional marriage counselor, the couple is able to open up, share their feelings and disclose their sentiments and emotion with one another more freely.  Keeping those feelings bottled up inside can result in frustration, mistrust and other destructive behavior, so it is important to open up and communicate about what is on your heart.

Marriage retreats also allow the couple to appreciate their relationships and rather than focusing on the negative, find reasons why they should make the marriage work. It serves as a good reminder about the vows that they made, towards each other during their wedding ceremony. Marriage retreats are also good opportunities for couples to express their commitment and lifelong relationship with each other.

There is a common misconception that marriage retreats are only for couples whose relationships are struggling. But this is not really the case. Marriage retreats are also beneficial to married couples whose relationships are going along smoothly. In fact, marriage retreats offer valuable opportunities for couples to transform a good marriage them into a great marriage.

Marriage retreats provide couples with a great deal of motivational forces to work with their marriage instead of letting it fall apart. And most importantly, a Christian marriage retreat with a professional counselor allows a couple to renew their bond of love for each other and establish God as the center of their marriage.

For more information on the Christian Marriage Retreats provided by Power & Compassion Christian Counseling, visit http://www.ChristianMarriageRetreats.net

One thing that sometimes prevents couples from attending these types of marriage retreats is the embarrassment of thinking that they are somehow abnormal individuals because they are having problems  in their marriage and their relationship. Often times people don’t want to admit that they are just as human as everyone else.  If you feel this way you are not alone.  Many marriages could have been saved if only couples were able and willing to set their own pride and self-centerdness aside and seek help through some sort of intensive counseling .

If you’ve have ever met a couple in love, you may have noticed that even if their marriage seems perfect, they themselves are not perfect.  However, they probably are ‘perfect’ in each other’s eyes.  Why is that so?  More importantly, why do most couples lose this state of marital bliss?  Is it because people in love only look at the positive side of each other and only put forth their positive side?  That may be so, at least in the early stages of a relationship.  However, maintaining that state of bliss throughout a marriage is not realistic.  So what is it that keeps couples together even when times are rough?

The key to a happy marriage is realizing that you do not always have everything under control.  Sometimes you are not going to ‘feel’ in love with your spouse.  Love is finding pleasure in the good times, and having patience in the bad times.  It is submitting your way, and your will to a higher authority and allowing God to shine his love through you towards your spouse and your family.  Maintaining a happy marriage is much more easily accomplished when you recognize that you are not in control, God is in control and you are dependent upon him for everything in your life.

The Benefits of a Christian Marriage Retreat

Marriage is also a whole lot easier to maintain when you are equipped with the right tools and knowledge to relate to and communicate with your spouse on a deep and intimate level.  Christian marriage retreats are designed to remind you of why you fell in love, analyze what happened, and help you improve your current marital situation.  All you have to do is agree to come to an intensive weekend marriage retreat, even if you feel that your relationship is beyond the point of repair, you might be amazed at how powerful an impact one of our Christian marriage retreats can be in your marriage and in the way that you relate to your spouse.

The retreats are held at our private log cabin retreat in beautiful northwest Montana, just down the road from Glacier National Park.  This private and serene location provides the opportunity to temporarily escape from the normal duties of everyday life.  Both couple and individual counseling is available through our weekend intensives.  Power and Compassion Christian Counseling provides a safe environment to open up and be sure that everything you share is confidential.

For those of you who are not yet at the breaking point, but find yourself in a place where you feel your marriage could use a little rekindling, it is still definitely a worthwhile decision to attend a Christian marriage retreat at least once in your lifetime.  You may discover that your marriage could be far more rewarding and incredible than you ever imagined possible.  Who wants to be just ok in their relationship, when you could be head over heels in love again?  Attending a marriage retreat may even be just what is needed to ward off potential disasters in your relationship such as a dreaded affair, or some other sort of hurtful unfaithfulness.

Don’t let fate rule your relationship.  If you made a decision at the altar to make it work “till death do us part”, then make a decision now to keep your marriage strong and vibrant.  One great place to start asking questions is at a Christian Marriage Retreat.  Visit www.christianmarriageretreats.net today to find out more.

Thank you for the authority You have given me with the name of Jesus. I exercise my spiritual authority over the current circumstances of my marriage to fortify God’s destiny and sustain undaunted commitment toward a Godly heritage for my family. I know your thoughts toward me are to give me a future and a hope for my life. Inspire me by your Holy Spirit’s grace and mercy to be in tune with your purpose and plan for my life. As your faith child, I am thanking you for the power and right to claim each one of your pure and holy promises over me as a covering, and I promise to minister this covering over my family. I call upon You as my Provider to release your answers so You may show us great and mighty things.

No success in my life will outweigh a failure in my marriage. Quicken my heart for fervent prayer and ignite passionate love aflame for God and my marriage. You are the Author and Finisher of my faith. Help me yield to your plan. You nurture my growth in Your image and likeness as I choose to love and serve others. From this day forward, I choose to trust in you with all my heart, no longer leaning on my own understanding, but following your lead. I now drop my agenda and commit our marriage as a welcome place for your perfect wisdom.
Paul’s tender letter to the Ephesians encourages me to forgive my spouse as quickly and completely as God in Christ forgives me. I do not want your forgiveness to be withheld from me, by my lack of forgiveness to others. Your wonder-working love covers a multitude of sins, and so, in your gracious and final manner, I forgive those who have trespassed against me. Wash away any resentment or anger toward myself or toward my spouse. With thankfulness and humility let me be generous in granting forgiveness as You so generously granted me forgiveness.

Your holy scripture instructs me to love my spouse as you have loved me. Your plan for my marriage is both as simple and as difficult as that. God love my spouse through me. “You in me and I in you” (John 4:20). Fill me with your faithful, unfailing love. Guide me as a peacemaker making each word a gift to bring relational restoration to my spouse and with all others. I recognize that people are created in your image and are infinitely precious to You. Let my heart overflow with the power of Your Spirit.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken, even as a Christ-centered marriage is strong. I open our marriage to Christ’s love as our strongest strand. The joy of the Lord is my strength and I will pray daily for the joy of the Lord in my spouse. You are true to your promise, 0 Lord, for you will never leave me or forsake me. With You as my Helper I shall do valiantly. Truly You are the Faithful God, the Merciful God, the Mighty God, the Great God, and the Living God. My life is transformed with you as our Lord, our Righteousness.

Jesus you are the Deliverer, Friend, and Majesty of my life. You are my Creator and Sustainer, my Consolation and my Wonderful Counselor. You are the hidden Wisdom of the ages who lives to make intercession for my spouse and for myself, both in our marriage and in our outreach to others. Because you are the Lawgiver, your grace is sufficient for me and You are my joy. Amidst all of life’s daily trials You deliver me from my fears and instill firm courage.

Any difficulties, discouragements, or abrasive afflictions are but a whetstone to sharpen a zealous and ardent spirit in my life for You. For You are Truth, Justice, Righteousness and the Perfection for My Life. I commit my life and our marriage to You, “our Dayspring from on high … ” as You “guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79).

“The joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8: 10)”

Scripture References: Jeremiah 29:11; 33:3; Hebrew 7:25; John 10:10; 15:11; James 4:12; Ephesians 4:29, 31-32; 2 John 5

©2007 Dale & Adi Lee http://www.ChristianMarriageRetreats.net

4)Keep the Communication going : Nothing harms a marriage more than a communication gap. Holding things to yourselves or not expressing them properly is one of the biggest marriage killers.  A period of sustained communication gap can create so much of a void in a marriage that it can never get filled. So just talk and talk and talk and see all your problems, issues and grievances disappear into thin air.  We provide very specific training during our christian marriage retreat weekend which can help you tear down the walls that you might have built up that are preventing you from having a real deep and meaningful relationship with your spouse, we will teach you new ways to connect with and and love your spouse through solid communication.

5)Express your love : Its never too late and too much when it comes to expression of love. How sweet is listening to a 75 year old telling his 70 year old wife that he loves her like crazy and she has been an amazing person to be with. Don’t we all want this, our partners expressing in loads that they love us. So instead of thinking that the other person already knows or has had enough of it or waiting for him or her to start, begin immediately. Just shower your spouse with the three most magical words on this earth.

6) Compliment : Nothing works better as a mood uplifter than a beautiful compliment coming our way and that too from the most important person in our lives. So what are you waiting for, just start complimenting your spouse every now and then, on her looks, on his intelligence, on the way she manages the kids, on the way he resolves the biggest of the problems…..just think about it, list can be endless.

7)Bond with the families: Last but not the least, marriage is not just about two individuals coming together but about two families as well. The better you bond with your spouse’s family the stronger is going to be the bond. Respect and love the  family of your spouse as you do yours and then see the magic working.

Hope these help some of the couples around resolve some of their problems. Be happy my married friends.  For more tips and ideas on building a stronger marriage visit our website  to learn more about our intensive marriage counseling and how it can make a big impact in your marriage and your life.

1) Respect your partner: Love fades away but respect lasts. Over a period of time in every marriage the love or the lust factor reduces and all that binds two people together is a sense of mutual respect and admiration. It is very important to be completely aware of the strengths of your partner and respect and regard him or her for those. Form a mutual admiration society among yourselves and you will find the relation rock solid always.

2) Have trust: It is said trusting a person is much more difficult than loving him or her and trust is the most important pillar of a successful marriage. Whatever your spouse does instead of doubting or getting angry the first thought that should come to your mind is that there must definitely be a good reason for the other person to do or say this. And with this thought when you start looking for a reason most of the times you find a valid one. Lack of trust absolutely shatters a marriage and then there can be no coming back, so behold it like your most valued treasure in life.

3) Let the fire on: Don’t let the lust die in the marriage ever. Whatever be the age, time, circumstance… always keep the passion for each other going. Nothing resolves a fight or a bitterness better than those beautiful moments of closeness. A wonderful sex session makes you forget all the grudges you have been holding and wants you to always start afresh with a new energy.

Next week I will be back with 3 more tips for you to use for keeping the romance healthy and strong in your marriage.  If you want to really jump start a marriage that is suffering from strife, or has become stale and lacking in passion and romance, perhaps one of our intensive weekend christian marriage retreats is exactly what you need to reignite the fire and save your struggling relationship.   Our weekend marriage intensives are the equivalent of weeks of marriage counseling packed into one life-changing, romance recharging weekend.  Learn more by visiting our information page at http://www.ChristianMarriageRetreats.net

This is a sad reality in our world today, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Marriage is not just a bond that is to be honored when everything is bright and sunny, it is a commitment to love and care for your spouse through the good times and the bad, when the skies are sunny and when they are gray.

Below are a few tips to help you keep your marriage running strong and the romance alive.

1. Share the responsibility of marriage and don’t allow yourself to become complacent.Remember that even though some things may have changed, and you may be going through a rough time right now, your spouse is still the same person that you fell in love with, and the same person you made a commitment to love and care for for life…the same person for whom your heart skipped a beat every-time you saw one another. With time, marriage can become monotonous and boring as you get entangled in all the responsibilities of everyday married life. Children can complicate things even more. But the truth is that the responsibilities have always been there, it is only your perspectives on the responsibilities of marriage that have changed. Remember that a marriage is a two-way street. The responsibilities of a marriage are something that you must share equally with your spouse in order to keep your relationship healthy and strong. Don’t allow yourself to become complacent and don’t start dropping the ball on your responsibilities in a marriage. Just because you have put a ring on their finger doesn’t mean you should stop trying to ‘win’ the approval of your spouse every single day just like you used to do when you were dating. One way to do that is to remember to stay faithful to your responsibilities as a companion and marriage partner to your spouse and your family and go above and beyond to make them feel loved and comforted.
2. It’s never too late to impress.When was the last time that you wanted to look good (i.e. good and sexy) for your partner? If you cannot remember the answer to that question, then its time to suit up… Remember that spark…that special chemistry that you used to feel when your spouse would dress up in a special outfit, or in their best cloths, just because they wanted to look good for you. It is not too late to invoke those same feelings of love and excitement in your spouse today. Step outside the box and outside of your comfort zone and make yourself look good and sexy for your spouse. Whether that means putting on your ‘sunday best’ for a night out on the town, or putting on some sexy apparel for a ‘special night in’ you might be very surprised at what an impact this simple act can have on your relationship with your spouse.
3. Go on a mini-honeymoonWe all start to take things for granted when we get too used to a situation. Don’t allow this to happen with your spouse. It is so important that you never take your spouse for granted. A good way to ensure that that does not happen is to plan some special time away on a regular basis to do something special with your spouse. A mini-honeymoon if you will, at least once each month. This can be something as simple as a nice evening out at your favorite restaurant, or a weekend getaway to a romantic resort somewhere. It doesn’t have to be something where you spend a lot of money either, some of the best memories that we all have in life are from the times that we allowed our imagination to run wild and did something unique and out of the ordinary. The idea is to make your spouse feel some love and excitement. You want them to recognize that you have taken the time to design a little ‘getaway’ that is just for them, to show them that you still care.

Learn more about ways that you can build a stronger relationship with your spouse and help to fortify your marriage by visiting http://www.christianmarriageretreats.net