CONNECT 2014 Marriage Retreat | WinShape Retreat | Mt. Berry, GA

Hey Guys!  Josh & I were so blessed this past week to have gotten the opportunity to invest time and energy into our marriage at CONNECT Retreat in Rome, Georgia at WinShape Retreat. You KNOW we love weddings, but we hope that through reading our blog you’ve come to realize that we value marriage even more. It’s truly a beautiful thing & one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. That’s why we LOVE to invest in ours.

We would love to share just a little bit about our experience at CONNECT. We arrived to Georgia on Sunday evening and the retreat didn’t start until Monday afternoon so we had some time to hang out & Josh really wanted frozen yogurt from Jandy’s, which is what we enjoyed last year before attending the retreat. We have now perpetuated a few traditions since this was our second time at CONNECT.  Check out the first time we went by clicking HERE.

We sat at the same table outside to enjoy our frozen treats and decided to take a self-portrait just like we did the previous year. The only difference this year was that our yogurt portions were MUCH smaller this year than last. Enjoying small treats every now & again is what keeps us sane. Indulging too much just makes us feel icky.

We grabbed some subs to go at a nearby sandwich shop & headed to the park. We strolled around the same park last year, too. When in Rome (GA). . .

The weather was gorgeous that day & the rest of our time at the retreat. Josh got quite the sunburn! Our skin hasn’t experienced such exposure to the sun for seven months!

We were also extremely happy to see blooming trees and green grass, as this particular Ohio Winter has been rather brutal.

When we arrived to CONNECT at WinShape, we were greeted by the lovely speakers, given big hugs, and handed our swag. The emotions that swept over us just by being at the WinShape campus again were unexpected. After the amazing experience that we had last year gave us pretty high expectations for this year, and we were blown away again. We forged such great friendships with our small group members & with others that we didn’t want to leave when the time came. We felt like we were exactly where God wanted us to be.

WinShape treats guests VERY well; the employees there are all very accommodating and exceedingly kind. The current housing used to be dairy barns, but have since been renovated into very nice and comfy guest rooms.

Our fun t-shirts for the retreat were designed by Jeffrey Woods, one of the speakers.

We also received a card with heartfelt words from Zach & Jody. It was a nice way to arrive to the retreat. . . feeling so very welcomed.

We all ate dinner together in the dining hall (Chick-fil-A owns the retreat so the food is tasty) and then gathered for our very first session. The CONNECT Retreat is a marriage retreat for husband and wife creatives in business together & it’s based on Biblical principles for us to apply to our lives. Before each session, we got to connect with God by singing praise and worship songs as a group; Zach Gray, Katelyn James Alsop, and Nathan Mace all contributed their musical talents & this time was unbelievably uplifting and meaningful.

Throughout our time at CONNECT, we really didn’t take very many photographs because we wanted to unplug, to truly experience life in the present, and to connect with each other and with God. Those were our main priorities so our camera didn’t leave its bag in our room very often. The main speakers at the event this year were Zach & Jody Gray, Michael & Katelyn (James) Alsop, and Jeffrey & Julia Woods. Since this was the second year for the retreat, they also gave an opportunity to five returning couples to share with the rest of the group one key factor that has strengthened their marriage. These sessions were only five minutes each, but they all held so much helpful & uplifting material.

Allen & Carol Adams spoke during the 5 Minute Marriage session on Having New Firsts to Keep your Marriage Fresh. They are such a sweet & compassionate couple & we were glad to get to talk with them.

We were really excited to be able to share our talk on Healthy Living for a Healthy Marriage. (Thanks to Danny Yang for taking these photos for us).

Sabrina Fields took this photo and the one below it for us.

Another photo from Danny. . .

Every photographer in the room raised their hand in response to my question, “Who has shot a wedding day and then felt like they got hit by a truck the next day?” 🙂 It was really fun being speakers & we’re so thankful we got the opportunity to share about how exercising together and sharing the common goal of living a healthy lifestyle has brought us closer together as husband and wife and also closer to God who has blessed us with only one body that we feel we have a responsibility to respect and treat well.

One day during the retreat, we all got to participate in “experiential activities,” which were a lot of fun. The experiential activity photos below were all taken by Sabrina Fields. Sabrina and her husband Ben were in our small group & we were so glad God placed them into our lives this week. Her blog about CONNECT is HERE. Check it out!

WinShape is a gorgeous place to be for a few days a year.

We REALLY want some of these comfortable rocking chairs at our house! (Not to mention the 80 degree and sunny weather!)

At the end of the retreat, any couple who wanted to share with everyone how God worked in their lives & what they learned & how they had changed during their time there, had that opportunity. This was certainly one of the most powerful moments of the entire retreat. A couple who labeled themselves as very near divorce and who had been separated prior to coming to the retreat had barely made it to the retreat due to financial issues. However, they prayed about it and the wife pleaded with God to allow them the money necessary to attend because she believed it was the last hope for their marriage. A group of friends raised the money for them to be able to attend. While at the retreat, their marriage was restored. They told us all that God had worked in their marriage during the retreat and that the husband would be moving back in to the family home when they returned there after the retreat. Witnessing this moment of prayer for their marriage and for the challenges that they’ll inevitably face once they returned home was extremely profound.

We’re so very thankful to Zach & Jody for organizing this retreat. Like we said in our blog about the retreat last year, their hearts are so sincere & they’ve helped many more people than they know by doing all that they do.

It was so difficult to say goodbye to friends! Kelly & Loni are so fun & I really want to visit them sometime! I wish they lived closer to us than Nebraska! 🙁 We wanted to talk to them for hours.

Ben & Sabrina live in South Carolina. Like I said previously, we’re thankful God put us in each others’ lives. Their smiles can brighten anyone’s day, but one of the best things about them is their love for Jesus & their courage to speak out for Him in their lives & their business.

Maison & Caleb were “the engaged couple” at the retreat. They are so sweet, funny, and kind. I know God has big things in store for their marriage and I’m so excited to see their wedding photos come August! I also can’t wait to see photos when she gets her entire arm inked. These two are from Wisconsin.

Amber & Chad REALLY fired us up in a lot of ways & challenged us. They also gave a Five Minute Marriage talk. Their talk was all about listening to God’s plan for your life & obeying it. We’re all uniquely designed by God & He has a unique plan for each of our lives. We’re getting started on the book that Amber & Chad recommended to us & we couldn’t be more stoked (and, to be honest, slightly nervous) to start this journey! They’re also from Wisconsin; seems like we should road trip across the U.S. to visit everyone!

We met Laura & Danny at CONNECT 2013 and couldn’t wait to see them again this year! Their openness to others & their love shines through in their sincerity & happiness. We loved chatting with them at the bonfires at night & getting to connect (hehe) with them again this year! Also, we really need to invade their home in Florida; they grow kale in their tower garden that is bigger than their heads! Yum!

After the retreat, we just had to stop by the She-Wolf in Rome, Georgia. We saw the “real” She-Wolf in Rome, Italy this past Fall & thought it was cute that Rome, GA also has a She-Wolf.

You can read about the She-Wolf if you are interested here.

After the She-Wolf photo-op, we got to stop and grab a sandwich at Jamwich, a small local sandwich shop in Rome.

Here’s my sandwich: The Swagger. It was, HANDS-DOWN, the BEST sandwich I’ve ever eaten in my life. I’m not exaggerating. It had caramel-almond butter, fresh local honey, bacon, and bananas. WHOA!

Josh went with The Drewberry.

The music playing in the shop was eclectic and really great. The songs we heard while there ranged from classic 70s rock to modern hits from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

CONNECT 2014 was a huge blessing & we were so happy we got to attend and were sad to leave! We’re excited to see what God does in our lives & how what we learned can be implemented into our business.

Check out our recent work & some little snippets of our personal lives here:
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