by Dean Ballenger
If you know us, then you know we’re based on faith, family, and our love for country, the American flag, and our local community. We genuinely enjoy our events, including our customer appreciation event at the Grand Park Home Show, our Flag Day cookout every June 14, our bicycle giveaway at the annual Egg Drop, and our biggest event to date in 2022, the Mark Gungor Date Night event.
While every event is special to us, the marriage event we recently hosted was an event that deeply touched our hearts. Our agency team felt so passionate about this event that everyone took the opportunity to invite their family, friends, and neighbors!
Laurie & I have been married for forty years, and we genuinely believe a healthy family begins with a healthy marriage. A healthy family creates a healthy environment where children grow up feeling truly loved. Regardless of your age or how long you’ve been married, whether you’re newlyweds or long-time partners, somewhere along the way most couples eventually face struggles (and let’s be honest, the ones who say they don’t are probably lying!). We know this because at our age and season in life, we’ve seen a lot of things happen and have even experienced some struggles of our own. With that said, I’d like to tell you about a couple things happening in our community that you might not be aware of.
FIRST, let’s talk about
Hopeful Tomorrows
We held the Date Night with Mark Gungor event a few months ago, and 250+ people attended. To remind you, 100% of the ticket sales were donated so that marriages could be strengthened and encouraged. We chose to donate all the ticket sales to a local company, Hopeful Tomorrows, because over 80% of couples who attend one of their weekend retreats ends up recommitting to the success of their marriage. Isn’t that amazing?
If you’re interested in who they are and what they do, you can learn more about this great organization by clicking HERE. We were so excited to hear that some of our clients took the opportunity to spend a weekend with Hopeful Tomorrows learning to communicate better with their spouses!
There’s another Hopeful Tomorrows weekend retreat coming up on November 11-13, and the great news is that you can go for free. If you sign up, our agency will cover your cost for the retreat, and you would only be responsible for your hotel expenses. For information about the November 11-13 retreat, or to hear about other weekends they have scheduled, please reach out directly to derekandmissy@hopefultomorrows.com.
By the way, a word about confidentiality:
As an agency, we never know details about who signs up or attends a weekend retreat. Their coordinator lets us know (again, with no specific names or details) if people from one of our events attends, but they share this with us only so we can know we’re making a difference in the lives of our clients, family, and friends. If you decide to attend one of their weekend retreats, please know your privacy will be extremely well-protected, and the strictest of confidentialities will be maintained.
SECOND, let’s talk about
Better Together
BetterTogether.us is something Northview Church recently put together. They’ve created special date night events you can participate in, even if you don’t attend Northview Church. Just click on the link, BetterTogether.us, and choose your next experience – Paint Dates, Make Salsa Dates, Wild Edibles Walks, are just a few of the fun options they’re offering!
Regardless of where you’re at in your marriage, one or both of these opportunities (Hopeful Tomorrows and Better Together) can help you take the next steps toward strengthening your marriage, which we’re praying for you will last a lifetime!
