Investing in your marriage is a life-long process. Every phase of married life can benefit from some form of intentional relationship-building. The returns on that invested time, money, and energy are: better communication, more safety for being vulnerable, more laughs, deeper intimacy, better sex, safer fights, more peace in your home, deeper emotional connection, a stronger legacy…the list goes on and on.
Whether you are newly-married, in the trenches of sleepless nights and diapers, tag-teaming between kids’ sports and activities, white-knuckling through teenage angst and driving lessons, launching young adults into the world, caring for aging parents, juggling jobs or big transitions, figuring out retirement – whatever stage you’re in, it is vitally important that you’re in it together. And whether you’ve had a drama-free relationship, or had your whole world blown up by an affair/addiction/disease, or anywhere in between, there is always an opportunity to take what you’ve got and make it better.
At Ballast Lodge, we are huge proponents of couples getting away from home for a couple of nights. (It is worth the effort of making arrangements for child care!) We have designed our accommodations and property to be a space where you can let your shoulders down and breathe. We are committed to keeping our prices affordable. And we’re excited about the marriage-building options that we have to offer you.
Marriage Retreat Options
We have two incredible marriage retreats that can be added onto your stay. One is called “Principle Pursuit” and it’s a fun, interactive, activity-based experience. Similar to an escape room, it has puzzles and challenges that you need to figure out together. You’ll get some fresh air and exercise, you’ll put both partners’ strengths to good use, and support each other in your weaknesses. You’ll laugh, possibly get frustrated, have great conversations, and along the way you’ll learn principles for building a stronger marriage. Once you complete all the challenges and figure out the final puzzle, you’ll be able to open the locked box to claim your prize. If this sounds like something you’d like to try, you can read more about Principal Pursuit here.
The other retreat option is called “Together for Good”, which is a video-based experience put together by FamilyLife Canada. This option consists of five one-hour video sessions that you will watch together in the privacy of your accommodations, according to your own schedule. There is plenty of time during your stay to go at a relaxed pace, taking as long as you want with the discussion questions. You can read more about Together For Good here.
Both of the above marriage retreats are mostly self-directed, but we’ll also schedule some time for you to sit down with Pat and Anita to discuss any questions you may have or topics that haven’t been covered in the material.
FamilyLife Canada Weekend Getaway
There is one other option that we’d like to highlight for you today, as it’s only available once a year. FamilyLife Canada hosts annual Weekend Getaways across the country, and we are excited to once again be part of their volunteer team for the Atlantic Canada conference happening in St. Andrews on April 26-28. As much as we love our private retreats here at Ballast Lodge, there’s also something to be said for the experience of going to a large marriage conference with a bunch of other couples. The atmosphere is dynamic and the speakers are very engaging. You can get more information about the Weekend Getaway here.
You don’t have to be in a troubled or failing marriage to attend any of these retreats or conferences. We are fully confident that even if your marriage is rock-solid, you will learn something interesting about yourselves or each other, and you’ll have a whole lot of fun, too!