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I was skeptical...but I was willing to try anything to save my marriage

Not coming from a strong religious or Godly upbringing I was skeptical about attending the New Life weekend in Dallas, but I was willing to try anything to save my marriage.  The thought of holding hands and singing "Shall we gather at the river" didn't appeal to me.  When we broke into the small group sessions to meet our group memebers for the first time, I thought to myself who is God going to provide for me to share our problems, particularly what men am I going to relate to.  When the first couple came in and the guy was a crusty little truck driver from Texas, I thought O.K. there is still another couple that might be better.  The next guy, a baptist minister from Arkansas.  At this point I didn't know if I was going to be able to hit the pool from the 26th floor, but I was willing to try.


To make a long story short.  By the end of the weekend, The love I have for all of the people in the group was unimaginable to me and like we had always known each other.  Great people that had either done some terrible things or had terrible things done to them, but filled with love and wanting to share it and feel it.  People that were willing to bear their soul witht the risk of being judged.  Truly caring about everyone's issues and giving wonderful advice and also listening when advice was given.

I thank you for providing the venue for this to occur, but more importantly to the 5 new friends we have that shared their lives and allowed us to share ours in order to heal.  I also wanted to share a special thank you to Dwayne Collins, our counselor.  Dwayne's gentle spirit and calming demeanor fascilitated a safe environment that allowed all of us to share our pain.  He is truly one of those rare individuals that most of us strive to be.  Imperfect, but the first to tell you that.

Thank you again.
Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 by Mike

2 comments (Add your own)

1. A New Peaceful Me wrote:
I attended the New Life Weekend in Dallas and have to say that it was one of the biggest blessings in my life. The tools, love, friendships, and healing that I received at the weekend were amazing. During the last several years my world seemed to unravel for a number of reasons (like the roof falling in metaphorically) but one big reason was because I was a peoplepleaser who had just had it and as a result I begin to just not take it anything any more. I had never set appropriate boundaries in my life and was taken advantage of whether or not the individuals in my life doing this realized it.

One of the biggest situations in my life related to some marriage issues in which I was being deceived to the point that I felt I had to get out of the marriage. In essence, I used divorce as a final boundary because I really did not know what to do (even though I suspected that divorce was too drastic of a boundary).

I so wished that I had experienced this much earlier in my life so I could have set boundaries early on so some of the things in my recent life history did not have to occur. After the recent years I also had to deal with the guilt of feeling that maybe I should not have divorced, etc. I could not forgive myself and became stuck.

The weekend allowed me to gain a heart knowledge as well as a head knowledge that God can and will love me and nothing can separate me from Him. I always knew this in my head but never could accept this in my heart until this weekend. I am now at peace truly knowing that God is in control. I finally learned to just Stop It and quit trying to pick up my mistakes and surrender them completely to God.

Thank you so much to my group and counselor - Bob Good!

As a side note, I'm not sure what the future brings for a rekindling of my marriage or not but I'm ok giving the situation over to God. However, I do know of a man, my ex-spouse, who could benefit tremendously if anyone would be willing to help him attend one of these weekends. He truly does not have the funds to go. Again, I was in Bob Good's group and he should be able to provide my information to anyone who may be led to bless this man as I have been blessed.

God Bless to all who have supported this ministry!

September 22, 2009 @ 7:09 PM

2. A New Hope wrote:
I was greatly impacted at the Costa Mesa weekend intensive. I was at the end of my rope, looking for a long term facility to go to. I was considering getting immediate help in the ER. I needed a new look on everything. I needed for things to change. I knew that they way I was handling my life was not working. I could not see any future for me the way I was living. This weekend was like a cool breeze of ocean air. It was uncontamined. It was fresh and cool and breathtaking. The tears washed away all the hurt that was rising and falling around all over me. The heaviness lifted and a new hope came into my heart. The weekend felt much longer than 3 days, maybe because of how much was accomplished in that short time. I will spend the rest of my life recommending this organization and these intensive weekends to people who are struggling and hurting. Life happens, but we can overcome the affects of it, as long as we just have the tools. Thank you for all the tools you gave me, and for teaching me how to use the tools I already had. I plan to stay connected with this program for a long time.

October 5, 2009 @ 10:26 PM

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