The busyness of modern life can lead us to invest in many
things that are not truly significant to our Christian walk. Some of us are in careers that require
a great deal of time not only during the workday, but also in our hours at
home. Those of us who have kids
still at home can find ourselves stretched thin very easily by our children’s
involvement in even a few regular activities. Others deal with family or health concerns that chew up much
time and attention.
As a result, many times the most significant relationships
in our lives suffer. Sometimes it
is our relationships with our children, but most often it is our relationships
with our spouses. The early years
of childrearing require so much personal sacrifice that a couple can establish
an unspoken agreement that “we’ll reconnect with one another when this season
is out of the way.” It’s not at
all uncommon, however, for that “season” to become the normal way of life for
them and that couple eventually finds themselves existing with one another rather
than being truly intimate companions in every area of life.
Consider a few questions. When was the last time you sat down with your spouse and had
a face-to-face, meaningful conversation?
When was the last time you did something fun – just the two of you? Do you have any idea what is weighing
on your spouse's mind these days? When
was the last time you did something for the specific purpose of strengthening
your relationship?
Growth in companionship within marriage doesn’t happen
automatically. In fact, virtually
every influence around us will erode our companionship if we are not making
conscious strides to overcome them.
We desperately need to strive to continually cultivate a biblical
picture of companionship in our marriages.
A great tool to keep this on the front burner is to make
every effort to attend marriage events and conferences periodically. One of our sister churches, Clearcreek Chapel in Springboro, holds an annual marriage and family conference for this
very purpose. We’ve been invited
to participate this year and I’d like to encourage all of our folks to attend.
The theme of the conference is “Cultivating
Companionship.” There will be five
sessions over the course of Saturday, March 5, 9:00-3:00. Five pastors from the Southern Ohio
area will be speaking on various helpful topics, including the Biblical
foundation for companionship, how to cultivate companionship, and how to
protect companionship.
The cost of the conference is $20 per person and includes
the conference, materials, snacks, and lunch. The material will be suitable for anyone over 14 years of
age. Childcare will not be
provided onsite, so you’ll need to secure your own childcare (think of this as
investing in your own marriage and in your children – your children benefit
from your healthy marriage!)
Clearcreek Chapel is located at 2738 Pennyroyal Road,
Miamisburg, Ohio 45342. You can
find a more detailed brochure for the conference here. You can register for the conference at
chapelevents.org.
Please consider investing in your marriage in this way. The conference will be a great benefit
to you, your children, and our congregation!
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