We've been Encountered

Last weekend Naty and I went on a "retreat" put on by Worldwide Marriage Encounter, our Priest suggested that we go (I tried getting out of it with the whole breastfeeding thing and he said, uuh no) and I was a little upset that it was a prerequisite before having our marriage blessed. As soon as we get to the hotel room Naty turns on the TV and I desperately search for a WiFi signal, it was ridiculous, I was holding my laptop in the air like that was going to make it any better and Naty was cussing up a storm as he searched for the Dodger game. It was not a great start to our "retreat" and I felt very anxious about being away from Nate and NOT knowing what the weekend had in store for us.

We make our way to the conference room and are given these big ole' books with loads of info that looks totally boring. Then I start to look around the room and notice everyone looks.....weird, I mean very different from us. For almost 1.5 hours I didn't pay attention and spent most of the time thinking of the kids and writing a big ole list of Things to do. As I look over at Naty, he's being a sponge and totally into it, I started to feel bad cause I wasn't mentally there. I felt even more bad when Naty reached over, grabbed my hand and told me he loved me. That is when I started paying attention. Before you know it, they sent the men back to their own rooms and had the women stay in the conference room and the question we had to answer was, "What do I appreciate most about you?" I spilled my guts out and wrote for the entire time they gave us and once the time was up we went to our rooms to meet with our hubbies and share what each other wrote. I really thought I'd find Naty messing with the sleep number bed or watching TV but NO, I was totally wrong, he was sitting on the table writing his little heart away. We shared what each other wrote and that's when we had a moment, I feel great about what had happened at that moment. I then told myself that I was going to stop being so close-minded and take advantage of the weekend.

Over the course of the weekend we wrote "love letters" to each other and did lots of sharing. It's a great way to get your emotions out without interruptions and basically being brutally honest about your feelings. This method is called "dialoguing" isn't that brilliant?!? it's a conversation between two people, WOW! whodathunkit? it worked for us and we're happy so we'll be dialoguing every night from now on, we had our first homework last night and it was great.

Oh and the "weirdos" weren't so weird afterall, they were actually amazing people with lots in common with Naty and I. I felt bad about everything that went on in my head but I'm glad that I was wrong and it was a great experience. A lot more goes on that I won't share because I wouldn't want to "kill" the experience for anyone. But if you click on the link about (WWME) you can find an encounter weekend in your area.

Overall, Naty and I really bonded and came out feeling great. I recommend all Married couples to be "encountered".