Married Couples Find Adventure at Ridgecrest

Written by Jenny Rice

RIDGECREST, N.C., -- Adventure and thrills, peace and quiet were the ambition of married couples at LifeWay’s Ridgecrest Conference Center over Memorial Day weekend.

 Ridgecrest hosted a Marriage Impact conference over Memorial Day weekend. This conference focused on worship, Bible study, and prayer, with a good dose outdoor fun - hiking, whitewater rafting, and swinging on a high ropes course - in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.

"Sometimes you have to pull away from all the demands and disconnect from it because we need a fresh touch from the Lord," said Marriage Impact worship leader and speaker Russell Johnson.

Twenty couples, married from two months to 37 years, traveled hundreds of miles to Ridgecrest for quality time with God and with each other. The weekend schedule intentionally included corporate worship time as well as extended quality time for individual couples.

Marriage as an adventure
Paul and Maggie Mraz from Chapel Hill, N.C. walked down the shaded path to the high ropes course, ready for a challenge.

"We’ve been married 16 years," said Maggie. "The 16th year has been the hardest. This weekend has been perfect for us. It has been freaky what has been said and what we needed to hear."

The Mraz family has faced transition before, with job changes and moves. However, the past year has been especially hard as Maggie felt God calling her to full-time ministry at the same time Paul was transitioning in his career. With three children at home between the ages of 7 and 11, the couple was trying to cope with the stress in the midst of change.

"So many people think there is an ‘out’ to marriage," Maggie said. "But there isn’t an ‘out.’ We made a covenant before God to be married."

Seeing the stress the Mraz’s were experiencing, a single friend from Paul’s men’s Bible study suggested that the couple find a marriage retreat to get away and spend time together. Maggie went online and found the Marriage Impact weekend sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources. She was one of the last attendees to register, but the timing was perfect.

"It was exactly what we needed," she said. "I wish we hadn’t waited 16 years to do this."

Worship leader Kristi Johnson described marriage itself as an adventure.

"There are always changes and challenges," Johnson explained. "It’s really hard the first year you are married just trying to incorporate another person and gaining another family with in-laws. Then add a child, and then a second child - it is definitely an adventure."

Conference attendees Melanie and David Mitchell from Knoxville, Tenn., married for 37 years, advised newer couples in the group to keep God the focus of their marriages.

"Talk about tying the knot, God doesn’t tie slip knots," David said. "He never leaves us nor abandons us and He wants us to commit to each other, too."

The Mitchells also addressed the perception that marriage is always easy.

"People think that if you are married a long time you don’t have problems," said David. "But you will have problems in every season. Jesus has seen us through. By His mercy and grace He has kept us together."

Russell Johnson added, "The one thing Satan would love for us to do is take our marriages for granted. We need to pay attention to each other and to our relationship with Christ."
 
Future events
LifeWay sponsors additional marriage retreats throughout the year, including a second Marriage Impact weekend Aug. 11-13. Visit LifeWay.com for more information on this and other retreats sponsored by LifeWay.

Jenny Rice is a corporate communications specialist in LifeWay's corporate communications department.

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