Growthtrac Community

[Julie]

I am a pastor's wife and am in need of some refreshment & renewal. I am not sure that I am looking for a pastor's wife retreat ... maybe something more general that could recharge my batteries. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have looked a little online and haven't seen anything that has jumped out at me. Thanks!

[SAM]

I personally am not aware of anything that is designed specifically for a pastor's wife. Growthtrac is more marriage focused so that is what you will find here. I know for myself, just time away with my husband that concentrates on our marriage is refreshing to me and to us. It means I have his uninterrupted attention and that is important to me.

Here’s an alternative for your consideration: Please take a look at the following information about GT’s own marriage seminars custom designed and created for your church or organization. They are exciting, God-honoring and a lot more intimate that some of the larger mega-conferences.

We present our seminars at your church or organization's location. We have designed them to be "seeker sensitive" such that they can be used as a community outreach event for evangelism as well as a marriage enrichment ministry event for your church body. They are tailored for married couples but can be custom designed for engaged couples as well.

Consider the following weekend seminar suggestion for married couples:

A Friday night church-hosted dinner followed by our first session focusing on God's design for intimacy in marriage (titled Recharging Your Intimacy Batteries!). This Power Point presentation includes a participant's outline, table (3-4 couples) exercises, individual couple’s exercises and many humorous stories - all biblically based and God honoring. During these group and couple exercises, each table will have developed relationships that emulate the "small group" concept - characterized by trust, affinity and sincerity. The program would start at 6 PM and conclude before 10 PM.

Saturday morning could begin at 9 am with a church-hosted continental breakfast followed by another GT Power Point/interaction session (same couples at the same tables) discussing God's design for spiritual intimacy in marriage (The Forgotten Intimacy). Similarly, all sessions include both table-group and couple's-only interactions.

The Saturday afternoon session is a study of God’s design for conflict resolution (Fighting For Your Marriage). This session is a very humorous and dynamic presentation filled with Biblical insights and practical conflict-resolving tools for each couple to take home and apply.

The seminar is concluded with a gripping "our story" segment from Growthtrac's founders - Jim & Sheri Mueller. They reveal how their marriage survived issues of mistrust, financial ruin and extended periods of loneliness in a marriage that started out so apart from God. They tell of how a near-death experience guided them to seek God's will and discover how they could be transformed into a couple eager to serve each other as fully-devoted followers of Christ. It’s an awesome and impacting story that encourages couples to surrender their hearts and become focused on a Christ-centered marriage.

Keep in mind that Growthtrac seminars can also be used as an evangelism outreach event for your community. They are "seeker" sensitive yet do not compromise God's word and incredible design for marriage. Participants are joined together with your church body at tables of 3- 4 couples for the purpose of sharing group exercises structured to promote a small-group experience, as well as couple-only interactions interspersed throughout the entire seminar. Relationships are formed that can last well beyond the event’s timeframe.

Finally, Growthtrac offers many other topics including discovering his needs/her needs, effective communicating (Smalley), speaking our Love Languages (Chapman) and remarriage/step-family parenting by God's design (Deal).
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Hoping you are recognizing God's daily blessings -

[webacus]

I have seen occasional "pastor's wives" events, I just can't
remember where

I'll take a look for you.