Engaged Encounter Weekend

Fred and I spent the entire weekend in Cullman, AL for marriage preparation. The Catholic church has an Engaged Encounter program which is a couples retreat for dialogue, reflection and prayer in preparation of the marriage because: "A wedding is a day....A marriage is a lifetime." We did the retreat with the Birmingham Diocese because we thought it would be halfway between Fred in Milton, FL and me in Nashville, TN. The location was actually at the Sacred Heart Monastery in Cullman (50 miles north of Birmingham).

There was a two hour break so we went to check out the Ave Maria Grotto. It was located on the grounds of St. Bernard Abbey. Basically it was miniature buildings of stone and cement by Brother Joseph Zoetl, O.S.B., a monk of the Abbey for 70 years.
We discussed many topics: communication, the rules for argument, finances, becoming a family, intimacy, the Sacrament of Matrimony. In case you are wondering, in the Catholic faith, marriage is a sacrament. A sacrament is God's presence and love for us reavealed in a visible action or relationship. The priest is actually a witness of that sacrament on the wedding day. The couple becomes ministers of the sacrament to each other and mirror God's love through daily acts of loving, serving and forgiving. I really enjoyed learning more about Fred, about our love and how we each see our future together. I think it really helped to talk without distraction for the entire weekend. There are only 179 days until the wedding day and I am so excited to finally be united with Fred. Keep us in your prayers!