Mark and Sarah live in Burgess Hill with their three children – Levi, Rosie and Eden. They have taken some time to share their experience of The Marriage Course.
We had been married for almost five years and had two young children. We were happy, but life was busy with housework, bills and nappy changes and this sometimes meant it was tricky to prioritise our relationship. When we saw The Marriage Course advertised we decided to give it a go. We weren’t in some sort of desperate “we need to save our marriage” scenario (although if that’s you, please keep reading!), but knew that investing in our marriage could only be a good thing. As an added bonus, we got to go out for a ‘date night’ once a week for the next seven weeks! The evenings were a great opportunity for us to spend time as a couple, eating a meal together (on our own table – there’s no group discussion), watching a video on a particular subject and discussing how it applied to us.
The course covers all kinds of topics, from conflict and forgiveness to sex and communication. We found the course really valuable and would greatly look forward to the evenings (although Mark was a little peeved to miss two England football matches for them – what dedication!). It helped bring us closer together, reminded us why we were married in the first place and got us talking about things that really mattered, but were easily taken over by the busyness of life.
Whether you’ve been in a relationship for years or are newly-weds; whether things are great between you or you’re not sure how you’re going to stay together – The Marriage Course comes highly recommended. There are many stories from those who did The Marriage Course as a last resort, and this helped them find a way to restore what seemed to be lost.
It’s also worth mentioning that, although it is called ‘The Marriage Course’, you don’t actually have to be married to take part. It is just as relevant for those in a long-term relationship.
Clearly life is a little different at the moment, but what better time to invest in your relationship?! The Marriage Course has been made available online, for free, during this time. It is helpful to have The Marriage Course journal, which you can buy online, as this contains discussion questions that go along with the video and you can also look back on it in the future. Set aside one evening a week as ‘date night’, light some candles, get the Ben and Jerry’s out (or a full-on meal if you’re feeling fancy!) and spend some time strengthening your relationship.
All you have to do is sign up online and follow the instructions: Sign up
Care for the Family are also offering a free online marriage course. It’s four sessions led by Rob Parsons so if you’ve done The Marriage Course above before, or fancy something different we also highly recommend that one too. Find out more