What marriage means

Michele Marr

Some marriages may be made in heaven, but every one is sustained, or

broken, on earth.

On Thursday and Friday, Calvary Baptist Church will sponsor a

weekend workshop, More Than Married!, designed to make the marriage

experience richer, more rewarding and more intimate, and to ask the

question, “What does God desire from my marriage?”

The workshop is intended for couples at any stage in their

marriage, couples who are about to be married and also for men and

women of all ages who are single, divorced or widowed but who hope to

marry, for the first time or again, some time in their lives.

“We’re looking forward to finding out what the experts have to

tell us,” said George Pappas, who married Carol 47 years ago when

they were both just 17.

They also suspect they may have some experience worth sharing

themselves.

“In this day and age, you find a lot of people who don’t have

forgiving hearts, and one thing that has been good in my marriage is,

my wife has a forgiving heart,” George said. “She forgives me pretty

easily and doesn’t hold things against me.”

“We all make mistakes,” Carol added. “No one is perfect. It’s what

we make of it. We can make our marriage happy or we can make it not

happy. It’s not the problems. It’s how we react to them.”

“That and faith in God -- that’s what we’ve put our marriage

foundation on, faith in God,” George said.

“We have tried to make sure we keep him on top of all priorities,”

Carole agreed. “Then everything else works out.”

Participants can register for either the full two-day workshop or

for Saturday only. A workbook for the workshop and lunch on Saturday

is included with either registration.

The two-day workshop includes a Valentine’s Day dinner, catered by

Randazzo’s Italian Cafe in south Huntington Beach. The church social

hall will be transformed to look and feel like a traditional Italian

dining room. Robin LaLonde, who has organized the weekend along with

her husband, is bringing in paintings, red- and white-checkered

tablecloths and candlelight.

Live music featuring acoustic guitar and flute will set the

romantic atmosphere for dinner. The menu will include a choice of

entrees, lasagna or mostaccioli with tomato and basil sauce, and a

choice of desserts, plain or chocolate raspberry cheesecake.

Melanie Kruger and Scott Creps, both 21, are excited about the

weekend. They have a June wedding planned, and their pastor

recommended the workshop.

“In the brochure, there is a very cool list of things couples will

get out the workshop,” Kruger said. “Things like how to leave your

family and cleave to your spouse, how to see relationships needs,

like attention, affection and respect, how to give and receive

appreciation.”

With their marriage only a few months away, Creps said they are

eager to do everything they can to prepare themselves.

“We also thought, because it’s Valentine’s Day weekend, it’s a

great date idea,” said Kruger. “The dinner should be very nice.”

Speakers Dave and Dorothy Schmidt, from Intimate Life Ministries,

will present the workshop. They have been married for 30 years.

Dorothy is a teacher and Dave is a former professional baseball

player.