"A Weekend to Remember" Conference

FamilyLifeOk, so I know that I was supposed to blog Friday... And I tried! Let me tell you... My husband and I had the privilege of spending the weekend and celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary at a Family Life Marriage Conference. As cleche as this sounds... It truly was "A Weekend to Remember". I'll elaborate in a few...

Let me start with Friday... I left home early to drop Angel Food stuff off at the church... followed by going to work for a few hours... Nothing out of the ordinary. I met my husband at Enterprise and we picked up our rental car. I swung by the bank and withdrew some cash, and slid into Fashion Bug for a last minute purchase. (BTW I got a killer purse and a cute pair of black pumps for less than $6 each!) I picked up lunch and headed to the house to pack... I know, I know, why hadn't you packed yet? WELLLLLLLLLL I had packed four times prior for each of the kids... This was going to be a piece of cake. :) We were on the road before 2:00. From there we traveled to Cleveland. 2:20 hrs later we were at our destination... Just in time to check in, eat dinner, and get back for Friday's night session... Here is where it starts to get interesting! :)

The host hotel was The Renisannce Hotel. By the time we checked in all they had left were rooms with two queen beds, but no big deal... The hotel was not only the host hotel for the conference (which had 800 attendees) but was also the host hotel for the MAC Basketball Tourney and there was a cheerleading competition in town so there were cheerleaders EVERYWHERE~!:) The hotel was sold out both nights we were there... Now the conference got a GREAT rate for the room. Normally the hotel would cost $355 per night plus $23 a day for parking, we got it for less $100 per night and that includes parking...  HOWEVER here is where it gets a little errr ridiculous... The room was SMALL, I think my bedroom at home is bigger. The TV was an old tube tv, the bathroom was very tiny, there was no air in the room, AND finally if you wanted to use internet it was $12.95 per day! I mean seriously, what hotel charges for internet these days? Especially one that is $355 per night... I mean we were driving down 71 and the Super 8 had a sign that said $39.99 per night and free Wifi... Needless to say, we won't be staying here again! (Oh and the breakfast buffet for 2 was $35!) When we attend our next conference if its at this hotel we'll stay somewhere else and walk!

Now on to the conference...Friday was a welcome session as well as the first two seminars... I'll be honest I began to question what I had gotten us into, and what it was that "WE" could get from this. I'm not going to pretend, we are not "perfect" by any means, nor do we have the perfect marriage, but I really wondered what we were going to gain from this...

We went into Saturday and I learned so much, by Saturday evening we had already learned new things about each other and how God's plan was for what our marriage should look like. We were given assignments and asked to complete them, I thought for sure my husband would laugh this off and totally disregard what we were being asked to do... He really surprised me. I am glad he is my husband (flaws and all) because I got to see a little peak into his soul. We concluded Saturday's sessions with Marriage after dark seminar, yes its just that, sex and God's plan for sex. Yes I know right, but it was enlightening. We had a romantic dinner for two at Hyde Park... Way too expensive, but it was a nice treat.

Sunday began with FamilyLife Career opportunities, something we'll be praying about. The next session we were seperated, I believe this may have been the most powerful session for both of us. The woman to woman and man to man sessions defined our roles in marriage and in parenting. Many may feel that this is regression to where women have come, BUT God's plan for this is so powerful.

I encourage you to attend a FamilyLife conference, whether your marriage is AMAZING or in shambles, its worth every moment. I will be starting a FamilyLife Conference group. This will allow people who are interested in going to sign up at a discounted rate.

http://www.familylife.com/ for more information. The conference is worth every minute!

Soon we'll be starting a HomeBuilders small group study... We are excited to share and grow with others.

God Bless!

Amanda