Marriage

I wanted to know to what the experts say about how to have a healthy marriage so I did what any normal 28 year old would do, I googled it.  The first website of “10 Things you can do to have a Healthy Marriage” listed the number one thing at Spend Time with Each Other.  That’s exactly what our newly formed Marriage Initiative committee thought too.

For two years, Mika participated in the National Healthy Marriage Initiative through Futuro Now and taught classes for youth, single adults, and married couples on healthy relationships.  A year after the classes ended several couples from Mika’s target neighborhoods decided they wanted to continue encouraging healthy marriages and took it upon themselves to make it happen.

One example is Luis and Lydia, a married couple who, a few months ago, decided that it was time for Luis to give up his second job and join his wife in mentoring young couples in the Baker neighborhood. Luis and Lydia demonstrate what it means to prioritize family and to serve one’s neighbors.

When the planning team came together there was talk of retreats and weekend seminars, but quickly it was brought up that the couples they know simply needed a night together – away from the kids, away from the house, and a time to have fun.  So a date night was planned!

Pictures of each couple were taken as they arrived to the romantic setting and servers were dressed and ready to work.  One of our neighborhood leaders catered an Italian dinner and couples had the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company.  There was a brief time of sharing from Pastor Christian Parra and his wife Olga and then the couples were asked to face their partners and share things they love and appreciate about each other.  It was a powerful and special time of connecting for each couple.

This is the just the first of many events for our Marriage Initiative team!  They recognize how important it is to spend time with one another and feel passionate about encouraging the couples around them.