12th Annual Christian Heritage Marriage Retreat

Hal & Melanie Young are the award-winning authors of Raising Real Men, No Longer Little, Love, Honor, and Virtue, among others and are the creators of Craftsman Crate. They are publishers, writers, bloggers, and popular conference speakers internationally, known for their Christ-centered focus and practical, real-life stories. They are the parents of six real boys (all grown!) and two real girls and live in noisy, messy happiness in North Carolina.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3

3:30 PM Check-in

6:30 PM Session #1 – How to Be Married to Your Best Friend

After the session, enjoy your evening seeing the Festival of Lights at the square and a night on the town.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4

7:30 AM Breakfast Buffet

9:30 AM 2nd Session – How to Fight So You Both Win

10:45 AM Break

11:00 AM 3rd Session – Cultivating a Peaceful and Happy Marriage

12:00 PM Lunch

2:00–4:00 PM 4th Session and Q&A – Building (or Rebuilding) a Swoon-Worthy Love Life (Wives in the Danube Room)

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5

7:30 AM Breakfast

9:30 AM 5th Session – Yes, We Know What Causes That

10:45 AM Break

11:00 AM 6th Session – Habits that Build a Sticky Marriage

12:00 PM Retreat Concludes

SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Session #1 – How to Be Married to Your Best Friend

• We’ve all heard of Christian marriages ending in divorce. How can this be? What went wrong when a family at the forefront of the culture war spins apart? If you are raising your children for Christ, you already know you are in a spiritual battle. Don’t let your marriage be the weak point in your armor. Find out how to work through the challenges your marriage may face, not just to tolerate, but to find joy, strength, and friendship in each other as you mirror the relationship of Christ and the church to your children – and the rest of the world.

Session #2 – How to Fight So You Both Win

• Every single argument is an opportunity to grow closer as a couple or to shred each other to pieces. Learn the Biblical principles of fighting fair and get practical help in changing your communication during conflict to honor Christ and restore relationships. Learn how to disagree with your spouse in a healthy way without damaging your relationship.

Session #3 – Cultivating a Peaceful and Happy Marriage

• “He never talks to me.” “I have no idea what she’s thinking.” “I wish we could just have a conversation.” It’s easy to get into a cycle of communicating poorly with each other, but it doesn’t have to be that way! The Word of God gives us a lot of really practical advice about interacting with one another and building relationship, but it’s hard to know what that looks like in real life. Learn how to turn that advice into action, change your couple culture for the better, improve your relationship, and laugh a little, too.

Session #4 – Building (or Rebuilding) a Swoon-Worthy Love Life

• Years into marriage, is it possible to fall more in love than ever before? To desire each other more than when we were newlyweds? In the flurry of work, homeschooling, church, and extracurricular activities, romance and physical affection can sometimes seem like unattainable dreams. How can you find the energy for romance? You can revive your marriage and enjoy your relationship more every year! In separate sessions, Hal with the husbands and Melanie with the wives, we’ll discuss breaking through the barriers to intimacy we all face and building the kind of love life we’ve all dreamed of.

Session #5 – Yes, We Know What Causes That

• Homeschoolers often have larger families than the cultural average. How does that affect our marriages? Does openness to new life change the spousal relationship? What are the challenges and blessings to our marriage as we add more children to our family or as we struggle with miscarriages and infertility, and as our children grow up and leave home? Hal and Melanie both grew up in two-child homes. Hear their testimony of how and why they chose a bigger adventure – and the surprising things they’ve learned in a big family as their kids have become adults and they’ve approached being empty nesters.

Session #6 – Habits that Build a Sticky Marriage

• “What’s your secret for staying together?” That’s the number one question younger couples want to ask veterans of long-term marriage, according to a recent study. There are bonds which are tighter than the strongest glue, and they’re not dramatic – just very, very powerful, and what’s more, Biblical. Join Hal and Melanie as they share what they’ve learned in 40 years of marriage and years of talking to other couples about the things that stick us together – and help us enjoy it!