Yesterday Steve and I attended a Regnum Christi Marriage Renewal Retreat........
(After a stressful start - more on that later) It was such a blessed time.
Usually we just can't attend such things, as they are a full weekend with overnight stays, and no children except "babes at breast"(which also just means babies not 2.5 yr old chatterboxes who can't sit still), but this one was a perfect time frame; 6 hours long, from 1pm to 7pm on Saturday. It just made it so suitable for us to be there.......... Our kids have never been the kind that are happy to be left with a sitter, so we have taken 10 years to attend a retreat, and while wee Raphael is still at breast, he can make it through 6 hours without me if he's with one of 3 families he feels secure with, or with my parents, and if his siblings are there too.
The material was nothing new, but was extremely well presented by Fr. John Bullock LC and the Holy Spirit...... so that several nuggets of truth pierced our hearts and minds with new understandings and a sense of being renewed and challenged. I personally experienced a moment of enlightenment about something a Priest friend of ours had said to me (about a gift)early in our marriage, I finally understood, and Steve & I were able to discuss this in context of our future vision and direction for our family. Steve actually included in his suggestions something that has been a quiet dormant dream of mine for years, before we met and married, and I don't think I ever shared it with him......
The mixture of talks and couple alone time, for reflection and discussion was pretty good, but we would have liked a little more of the couple alone time.
The retreat was brought to a close with a vigil Mass for Sunday including renewal of vows, and a dinner which was great for socialising and catching up with the other couples.
The stressful start to the day: My parents didn't turn up to babysit, they clean forgot, and I couldn't reach them on their cellphones. Trying to organise a new sitter "right now" for four children is no easy task! and only a mother of four or more herself is likely to be unfazed, so we thank God for our dear friend Bernadette, and her 4 children who met our need. My parents turned on their phones a few hours later, and were able to collect the children and bring them back home.
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Glad you got to go :-) Dh and I went on a marriage encounter weekend 9 years ago next month. It was such an awesome time for us..our youngest at that time was 25 months and was able to stay with my sis. Boy was I glad to get home to give her a nursey though LOL. The last two seemed way to young to leave them for 2 whole days at two. Funny how perspectives change.
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