St. Louis FamilyLife Weekend Set for November 11-13
FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember Restores Hope & Marriages

    Rick and Cheryl Lietz didn’t want to separate. They didn’t want a divorce. They just saw no hope for their marriage.
    Years of unresolved struggles, resentment and inattention had finally exploded in angry and hurtful words for Rick and Cheryl. So on the day of their fifth anniversary, instead of a special celebration, Rick packed up and moved back to his home state of Minnesota. Days later, Cheryl moved into an apartment near her parents in Iowa.
    Three months after they separated, Cheryl was chatting with a long-time friend and mentioned that she had asked Rick for a divorce. In stark contrast to her own failing marriage, Cheryl’s friend said she and her husband had just returned from a FamilyLife Weekend to Remember® conference and were excited about what it had done for their marriage. Cheryl’s friend found information about the conference at FamilyLife.com and passed it on to Cheryl. “It may be too late for you,” her friend told her, “but I wanted to let you know about the conference.”
    Cheryl was doubtful that the conference would do any good, but decided she would give it a try. “Rick had been encouraging me not to close any doors and for us to consider getting back together. He was asking me to give him a chance to make some changes in his life.”
    Rick was excited when Cheryl told him about the conference, but still had reservations about what good it would accomplish. “I didn’t think the marriage was going to work, even though I kept praying that it would,” Rick says. “I knew we should be together.”
    And so, two weeks later, a skeptical Cheryl and Rick were together for a Weekend to Remember® conference. They had no idea what the God of hope was about to do in their marriage.

Getaway Weekend Coming to St. Louis

    The original FamilyLife marriage conference is a dynamic 3-day getaway that will revolutionize and reenergize your marriage! Conferences are held in a romantic hotel setting and give you and your spouse great opportunities to talk, laugh, learn, and reconnect. The event will take place at the Hyatt Regency at Union Station in downtown St. Louis, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 11-13. Information about registration and group discounts are located at the end of this article.
    FamilyLife’s marriage experts are real people who know what it takes to have a fulfilling marriage. They will lead you through a relaxed conference schedule that allows plenty of time for you and your spouse to discuss what you’re learning, and a romantic date night will provide time away from the distractions of daily living.
    That is what Rick and Cheryl found at the conference they attended. From almost the start of the conference, Cheryl perceived that the speakers were listing the very problems in her own marriage as they spoke of five threats to marital oneness. “On the first night, we were thinking, ‘So this is what’s going on in our marriage. This is not the direction we’re supposed to be going—we’re supposed to be working together.’” Hearing the problems was not a discouragement to the couple, but much-needed confirmation that the problems they were having were very common and that they could work them out.
    During one project on the second day, couples were told to spend time in personal prayer and then individually craft a love letter, which they would read aloud to each other.

A Marriage Restored

    “Rick and I really needed to work on sitting down and sharing our hearts,” Cheryl says.  “We definitely talked about some things that we wouldn’t have talked about any other way. Because of this workbook assignment, I felt like I could sit down there and share my heart without being so exposed. I knew I had done things to damage our marriage. I was beginning to realize that I had rejected our marriage, and was not working to keep the marriage together.
    “Realizing all this, I was feeling pretty bad about what I had done. I needed that reassurance that he (Rick) was willing to love and accept me even after what I had done. For me, having him look at me as he read his love letter and hearing him share his heart really did wonders for helping me move the marriage forward.”
    The rest of the weekend was building toward a new marriage. By the end of the conference, Cheryl was finally ready to open up to Rick and to the idea that their marriage was worth saving. That Sunday immediately after the conference is indelibly etched in Rick’s memory.
    “We were sitting outside on the front step of my home. She started crying and said she really did love me and wanted to get back together. We both cried, and it was a wonderful moment for us. We left the conference with much more hope for our marriage. I recognized, ‘Thank you, Lord! What a miracle!’”
    In very little time, Cheryl was on her way back to Des Moines. There, she packed her bags, quit her job and returned back to Rick in their new home in Minnesota.
    Rick and Cheryl’s story is not unique. In fact, 99 percent of those who respond to FamilyLife say that the getaway weekend helped them draw closer to their spouse.

Take Your Marriage to the Next Level

    God desires that you have a rewarding marriage relationship, and He is willing and able to make that happen. For nearly 30 years, the Weekend to Remember® has been teaching couples of all faiths and ages the biblical principles necessary to build lifelong, caring relationships. Lives have been changed and relationships have been restored.
    This year in St. Louis, alumni of past conferences will have the opportunity to attend the Peacemaker Alumni Sessions. Conflict in marriage is inevitable. Even Christian couples must take deliberate steps to prevent problems and persevere through troubled times. In The Peacemaker Marriage, couples will utilize the peacemaking principles to learn to deal with conflict before trouble arises.
    Sessions will prepare you to respond to inevitable conflicts in a biblically faithful manner. As you and your spouse learn how to be peacemakers, you will not only strengthen your marriage, but also turn it into a place where God is glorified, others are served, and both of you are steadily being conformed to the image of the great Peacemaker, our Lord Jesus Christ.
    A Weekend To Remember® conference can make a good marriage better and can spark new hope for a relationship that has nearly died, as in the case of Rick and Cheryl Lietz. Whether your marriage needs hope for the future, practical skills for daily living, or simply a time of refreshment, register today for a weekend that will change your marriage and your life forever!

Registration Information

    To register by phone, or to order free brochures, call 1-800-FL-TODAY (358-6329), 24 hours a day. Registration, as well as other information about the conference, is available at www. FamilyLife.com.
    You can save $60 per couple off the registration rate by inviting other couples and putting together a group.  To qualify for the group rate of $69 per person, register five or more couples (or 10 people) together by October 28.  After that date, you may add couples to your existing group at the same group rate of $69 per person by phone until the day of the conference.
    If you plan to stay at the hotel, you are encouraged to reserve your rooms early since the event is expected to be a sellout. The Union Station Hyatt Regency offers a discount for the conference. Contact the hotel at (314) 231-1234.
    If you have any additional questions about registration or group discounts, please call 1-800-404-5052, ext.3423.