Building Healthy Christ-centered Marriages

 

We want to help support couples as we build healthy Christ-centered marriages through all stages and circumstances. One of the best ways to get connected with other couples is to join the Couples group.  Calvary Christian Center has many Newlywed Couples as well as Empty Nesters.  It doesn't  matter how long you have been together, we invite you to join in and get connected.  This group is designed to give couples time together with other couples up to age 50.

 

 We will have group events which encourages interaction and  friendships while offering support with other couples.  We will meet about six or seven times a year.  Past events included: Luau, Murder Mystery Bed & Breakfast, Bowling, Volleyball, Game Nights, Ohio Dinner Cruise, Camping and Canoeing,  Squire Boone Caverns -  hay ride & bonfire,  Weekend Marriage Retreats,  Newly Wed Game,  Costume Party,  Hosted 50's & 60's Church Dinner, Progressive Dinner's and Dinner Outings.  

 

 

 

 

                                                                    

                                                                                  

Thanks to all those who came out for the Spaghetti Dinner, the night turned out great.   We had alot of fun talking with others and meeting a few new couples that have been attending Calvary for quite some time.   There are still several more couples that are new to Calvary that  we have yet to meet and many more to come.  We ask that you personally help us to encourage other couples to attend our event outtings, especially newer couples.   We get a lot of new couples who visit that are looking for a home church, and we want them to feel welcome.  One way we can do this,  is to make it a habit each week to search out new couples and introduce ourselves to them.  This might mean that we hang around  5 or 10 minutes longer on Sunday mornings, but we feel this is a very important part of the Couples4221 ministry.   Who knows, you might be the very reason a visiting couple desides to make Calvary Christian Center their home church.  Loving God, Loving Others and Lighting the World. 

 

Thanks again!!!!                                                                                      

Ted, Kandice, Jesse and Carami.         

                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                           

                  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                 

                                                                   

Up Coming Event: 

Saturday September 29th, 2012     5:00 p.m.  -  ???? 

 

             

 

    The "Not So" Newlywed Game is a revised version of the long-running game show "The Newlywed Game".   Husbands and wives will take turns answering  questions while their spouses are taken to a seperate room.  After answering, the spouses will return and be asked the same questions, earning points if their answers match their spouse's. The couple that finishes with the most points wins a  dinner certificate to Outback Steak House, with second place receiving a dinner certificate to Marks Feed Store.

 

    We will also be having a cookout that day.  The cost will be $ 6.00 per couple to help cover the cost of hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and buns.  If you will be attending, we ask that you also bring a 2-liter drink and dessert.  Sign ups begin August 19 th at the church information desk.  Deadline to register and pay is September 23rd.

 

Come out and enjoy the fun and laughs!!!!!

 

 

For more information, contact:

 

Ted or Kandice Dunnavan 502-538-2494

Jesse or Carami Davis  502-538-4419

                                

                                                                                                      

 

Written by Laura Jeanne Allen - published in Chicken Soup for the Couple's Soul

 

My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word "shmily" in a surprise place for the other to find.

They took turns leaving "shmily" around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more. They dragged "shmily" with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio where my grandma always fed us warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring. "Shmily" was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath.

 

At one point, my grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper to leave "shmily" on the very last sheet. There was no end to the places "shmily" would pop up. Little notes with "shmily" scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows. "Shmily" was written in the dust upon the mantel and traced in the ashes of the fireplace.

This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents' house as the furniture. It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparent's game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love - one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents' relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious little games; it was a way of life.

 

Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affection which not everyone is lucky enough to experience. Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other's sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome an old man he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew "how to pick 'em." Before every meal they bowed heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessings: a wonderful family, good fortune, and each other.

 

But there was a dark cloud in my grandparents' life: my grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared 10 years earlier. As always, Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that color so she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside. Now the cancer was once again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and my grandfather's steady hand, they still went to church every Sunday morning. But my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she could not leave the house anymore.

For a while, Grandpa would go to church alone, praying to God to watch over his wife. Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone. "Shmily." It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother's funeral bouquet.

 

As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins, and other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time. Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother's casket and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and grief, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby. Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that moment. For I knew then that, although I couldn't begin to fathom the depth of their love, had been privileged to witness its unmatched beauty. S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.

 

  Date Activities for Christian Married Couples:

Not only is it important to get together with other couples, but more important that you have quality time together, just you and your spouse.  No kids allowed.  Couples need time to focus on each other.  Set aside one day a month and plan a date. 

Pick you a special spot where only you and your spouse share.  My wife and I will occassionally visit Rocky's Italian Grill in Indiana.  We sit on the patio overlooking the Ohio River while enjoying dinner together. Just down the street from Rocky's is a small park where we visit afterwards.  We have a special park bench we share while viewing the night lights of Louisville from across the river. It gives us time together to talk and just share much needed time with each other. There is also a neat little ice cream shop within walking distance with fantastic hand dipped flavors, a great ending to a perfect night.

 

Some dating ideas are:  

Lay out on the deck while viewing the stars in the night sky.  Take this time to engage each other in conversation.

Take a walk in the park.  Pack a lunch and spend a few hours together by yourself.  

Get rid of the kids and plan a night at home alone.  Create a romantic atmosphere ( music, lights, candles )  Cook dinner together and share time without the children.

Dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory then afterwards take a horse and buggy ride through downtown Louisville.

Take a walk barefoot in a creek.  Find a big rock to sit on or a secluded area to sit and talk.  Reminisce about when you were dating or share with each other the qualities you like about each other.