| Strong Bonds Builds Better
Marriages |
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[3/21/2011] |
Source: Army News
Service
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By
Kaytrina Curtis, Fort
Stewart Public
Affairs
On Feb.
25, Soldiers and Family Members
of 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor
Regiment and 3rd Brigade Support
Battalion, gathered at Fort
Stewart's Main Post Chapel for
the first part of the three-day
Strong Bonds Marriage Retreat,
sponsored by the Army Chaplains
Corps.
Once the
participants signed-in and
dropped their children off at
the on-site childcare location,
the day of activities began.
After enjoying light breakfast
fare, 10 couples were encouraged
to volunteer for an icebreaker
session. Nervous husbands and
wives gradually walked to the
front of the room for what
turned out to be the kissing
game. Wives heavily applied the
supplied lipstick given to them
by Chap. (Capt.) Robert Olson,
3rd BSB, and were instructed to
then cover their husband's face
in kisses, which brought much
laughter and helped to loosen up
those in attendance.
Second Lieutenant
Chinenye Ferguson, 3rd BSB, who
has been married to her husband
Reginald for six years, said the
icebreaker was one facet of the
retreat she enjoyed the
most.
"I had some weird
visions about what it was going
to be like being held at the
chapel, you know starting out at
the chapel," 2nd Lt. Ferguson
said. "I thought it would be
like a confession and holding
hands kind of thing and
everybody telling their
problems."
One of the
many workshops planned
throughout the three-day retreat
began after the icebreaker.
Videos produced by Mark Gungor,
author of the book "Laugh Your
Way to a Better Marriage," among
other pamphlets and training
tools, were used as a part of
the curriculum throughout the
retreat. Gungor's seminars were
used to help spouses get a
better understanding of self and
spouse during the retreat, Chap.
Olson explained.
"They
(retreats) are both informative
and they also offer an
opportunity for couples to get
away and just enjoy each other,"
Chap. Olson said. "It's a
win-win because it doesn't come
out of anyone's (brigade, unit)
training budget."
In
addition to the initial
workshops, couples were then
released to make their way down
to the Sawgrass Marriott Resort
and Spa in Ponte Verde, Fla.,
for the remaining days of the
retreat.
Upon arriving,
Families and couples converged
into the Chaplain Corps
sponsored villas located on the
property to prepare for the next
set of workshops later that
evening. With childcare on site,
parents were able to sit back
and bask in the company of one
another during the sessions,
while learning skills about how
to positively communicate with
one another.
Meals were
provided throughout the retreat,
leaving Soldiers and their
spouses the opportunity to sit
back, relax and
reconnect.
Master
Sergeant Manuel Paulino, 3/69
Armor, a native of Portugal,
along with his wife Cresilda and
21-month-old daughter Natalie,
said they came to the retreat to
spend quality time together
after his year-long deployment
to Iraq.
"Even though our
relationship is good, there is
always room to make it better,"
he said. "After a year of being
gone, I realized that she is
doing a lot with the baby, and I
just need to do my fair
share."
Above all, most
in attendance seemed to enjoy
the retreat and many had plans
to sign up for yet another
stress-free, fun-filled weekend
away from post in the near
future.
The unit-based,
chaplain-led program has been in
existence since 1997. Since
then, the program has held more
than 1,300 training events and
more than 30,000 couples have
been
trained.
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