Couple 2 Couple
Married? Getting married? Seriously dating? Our ministry exists to
encourage you in your relationship with God and each other by doing
couples' Bible studies and events, marriage preparation and REFOCCUS
after you are married. We believe that divorce is not an option. We
know that God has ordained this ministry because He has guided and
grown and blessed it as you will see in some of the testimonies we
will share.
ENGAGING
ENCOUNTER
We start with a tool called FOCCUS, a survey that the bride and groom
complete individually in the home of our team coordinators, Dave and
Kari Rajotte. The survey is based on years of research, and focuses
on thirteen major categories or topics for discussion. Some of the
topics to be discussed are ones known to contribute to relationship
break down: sex, finances, and religion. With a
minimum
of four months notice prior to your wedding day, you can meet
with one of our mentor couples, couple to couple, in their home in
a series of personal, confidential, couple to couple sessions.
You will have a chance to discuss any differences between your answers
or between your answers and the preferred responses. Our couples provide
a safe, confidential environment for these discussions, and they will
share their experiences with marriage.
The discussions are supported by a number of exercises and tools
designed to prepare you to have a healthy, happy marriage. Generally,
you will meet four to eight times prior to your wedding day, on a schedule
mutually agreeable to you and your mentor couple. The relationship
does not end there; your mentor couple is always glad to have you call
to give an update, or to help you to REFOCCUS after your marriage.
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TESTIMONIES
Here are some testimonies from some of the couples who have participated
in our marriage preparation program.
The following are some testimonies from participating couples:
ok, here's the Cole's Notes version.
"Allowed us to discuss issues with mediators present. Sooo valuable
because the privacy of the home can allow for convenient barriers to
arise. A mediator, however, helps both parties to see things objectively."
"Provided additional moral and spiritual support that weren't 'mom &
dad'"
"itemize and catalogue priorities. Get us focusing on the things
that really needed help. Example: Our finances have always been well
managed. Thus we spent a fair amount of time on relational topics."
"Made new friends!!! We love you guys."
"In sharing their struggles, the mentors reinforce that this is
a
'process'. Not always a quick fix to things. Goes back to #2
to help strengthen us in the journey."
What the marriage [preparation] program meant
to us:
"Without this program, we could have had great difficulty surviving
the first months of our marriage. Never the less, we did survive because
we were better prepared and equipped with coping skills we learned
with our mentors (God bless them). They pointed out (very lovingly)
our strengths and where we needed to grow. The pre-marital inventory
was very intensive and thorough. Having previously been married led
us to think we would go through the program with ease. This wasn't
the case. Coming from different backgrounds, our expectations were
somewhat different which caused a lot of misunderstandings. Never the
less, with God's help and our willingness to change, we are happy to
highly recommend that any couple contemplating marriage should take
the marriage [preparation] course.
PS. We are very happy to be married! God bless."
"The program was helpful. We learned that our family of origin
influences how we express things within our relationship. It is important
to think about the questions where we were on the same page, and where
we were not. Although you can't resolve everything prior to marriage,
it is easier to deal with those issues when we face them in our marriage.
There was also a spiritual impact. We wouldnst have ended in the same
place if we had just been married by a Christian pastor."
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MARRIAGE
MAINTENANCE
Much like we need to do preventive maintenance on our cars, we need
to continue to work on our marriage relationship after marriage. REFOCCUS
is a tool we use, either for preventive maintenance or to work on a
repair if you are struggling.
You will complete a survey similar to the FOCCUS, again developed based
on years of research and work with a mentor couple, couple to couple
in their home on a mutually agreeable schedule.
OTHER
COUPLES' ACTIVITIES
Watch this site for notices of couples events and Bible studies as
well as links to recommended marriage and relationship resources.
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Message Notes