ZH: The weekend helped us tremendously. We both learned many techniques on how to make a relationship last. What most helped was the fact that we have a decision to love. It bothered me in the past that I didn't always feel love toward my fiance. Now I can accept that as being normal. The religious/spiritual dimension affected me greatly. Before the weekend, I didn't see the importance on having religion in our lives/marriage. I have come to the conclusion that it is a part of God so it is important to share our love with God. The only way I know how to do that is through religion.
ML: The structure "forced" us to articulate sublime feelings to each other. This has reaffirmed our engagement and has opened our eyes to new things to work on....I commend Donna, Aaron, Sheri and Bob for their openness in sharing their lives. It helps to have truly nice people "leading" us.
anon: I am not Catholic and am here because his church required this so we could get married. At first, I felt uncertain about coming due to possible religious pressure, but we were able to spend the time talking about us and what we need to work on as a couple. I think the weekend was successful for us....Although we had discussed some of the issues, it was good to communicate, both written and orally, with each other and get our feelings out in the open....I am glad we came for the weekend. It is 2 weeks before our wedding, and first of all, we needed the time to relax! We also enjoyed using the time to "finish up" those final bits of communication/issues/decisions that needed to be discussed about our relationship. Thanks!
anon: Greatly apprecited the presenting couples' sharing of their often very personal experiences and the insights they have gained from them.
anon: Writing thoughts and feelings down helped us focus on particular issues and brought out issues of communication and how we could be more effective and constructive. The religious/spiritual dimension was important without being overbearing.
Y & V: We found it to be more valuable than we originally anticipated. Helped enhance our confidence in our future.
DC & MS: What most helped was tips on how to fight, being ale to specifically discuss certain issues. The Religious/spiritual dimension was an integral part of the weekend. It was refreshing to hear the teams' honesty in their faith....Bob and Sheri were great!
Mc: I wasn't very excited about coming, but found that much of it was very useful and a good way to open up communications between my fiance and I.....I believe that religion and spirituality are an individual's business, and I'm generally against organized religion. However, the faith and belief was evident in the team (especially Bob and Sheri) and that is always encouraging and brought me closer to God.
KS: I think writing about our problems and opinions helped us understand what is really important to the other person. I feel this weekend helped us to reevaluate our values.....I think this weekend provided very good opportunity to understand the role of spiritual dimension in our life. In my opinion, it was very well balanced, and I appreciated the up-to-date approach of the priest. I enjoyed it.
anon: We thought it would involve group discussions, and we liked that it was just between us. The most useful part was rules on fighting, and seeing what the other thought in writing instead of just hearing it. It was good. We enjoyed it and think what we learned will be helpful. Our favorite part is that we have all our thoughts in writing to look back on.
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Note from Sheri and Bob: The Engaged Encounter weekend is a gift to us as a presenting couple. It is always beneficial for us as a couple to be around 30 or so couples who are so in love with one another. As engaged couples, your love for one another challenges the two of us to be romantic again!
We strongly urge married couples all over the world to contact their local parishes and churches to see if you can be involved in this wonderful endeavor or even start it in your own area or faith. Engaged Encounter is constantly expanding, growing and reaching out.
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