The National Marriage Week USA site lists a bunch of events so I said to myself, Hm...let's see what National Marriage Week events are going on in the city of Boston -- the largest New England city and the tenth largest metropolitan area in the United States! I began scrolling through a list that was supposed to show me events in my area, but it really just showed me events in everyone else's area: Texas, California, South Dakota, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, Texas, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, oh, and Texas.
So figured it would just be faster to put in my state and -- voila! -- a whopping two events appeared. One in Dartmouth, Massachusetts which my husband had to explain wasn't THE Dartmouth but more like THE Dartmouth's stepcousin, and another in Holbrook, Massachusetts, a suburb about 20 miles south of Boston.
Now, considering that the stated purpose of National Marriage Week is to strengthen marriage, I assumed any associated events would be just that: an opportunity for couples to strengthen their marriage in substantive ways. Maybe an opportunity to set aside the distractions of the week to sit face to face and connect. Maybe a couples rub down that might lead to you know what. Heck, maybe even a room with one of those 7-foot champagne bathtubs like in the Poconos! But no, one of the events was essentially a Saturday evening potluck followed by a viewing of a two-hour, Focus on the Family webcast.
No disrespect to Dartmouth, Holbrook, or strong marriages, but on this one...I'll have to pass.
Just curious - is it the lack of activities in your area that persuaded you to pass? Or the type of activities in your area?
ReplyDeleteI'm a former Christian, born and raised in the South. When I read that list of states and realized most of them were in the Bible Belt, I wasn't surprised to read, further down in your post, something related to Focus on the Family.
@Daphne
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking. Probably a bit of both.
I did think the blatant lack of Boston was kind of funny. I wasn't TOO surprised, but it certainly made me wonder...
In terms of the actual activity, for starters I'm not a night person, so by the time the 2-hour video rolled around (regardless of WHO made it), I'd probably start nodding off due to food coma (yes, very romantic, I know).
But the whole thing did make me think about what does it practically mean to "strengthen marriage"? And what does it mean to have a strong marriage? Would love to hear your thoughts and any one else's. Thanks for reading.