Park Cities Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Article Archive
Boot Camp for Lovers
Premarital couples learn about relationships
By Caty Coffey
Published May 1, 2009 in Witness
To become a doctor, you must first attend medical school. To become a teacher, you must receive a degree and complete an internship. To become a Marine, you must finish boot camp. Most occupations require some form of training and education, but the part of our lives that can impact us the most—our relationships—often does not receive the training it needs to be more successful. On March 7, couples gathered together for Boot Camp for Lovers, a seminar in which premarital couples learned more about the wonderful and growth-producing realities of marriage as well as how to experience Christ and model His grace in their relationships.
Formerly known as Foundations of Marriage, the day-long seminar trained couples considering marriage to think purposefully about how to do their relationships better. The returning keynote speaker was Dr. John Cox (see more about Dr. Cox here). To begin the day, Patrick and Christy Lafferty led a talk about sexual intimacy, and then the couples broke into gendered groups for more discussion. Next, Dr. Cox addressed the not-yet-marrieds with a talk entitled Communication and Connection. Couples learned about levels of interaction and what to do when both people want a different level of closeness in the relationship.
Next, Dr. Cox addressed conflict resolution and taught couples how to address their problems in a way that allows both spouses to matter. I then sought to help couples learn practical ways to listen and respond to each other better, especially during times of conflict. Dr. Cox continued with a segment pertaining to needs in marriage and closed with a final discussion about leadership and submission. He encouraged couples to think about how to have a loving marriage with godly roles.
We are delighted to have hosted Dr. John Cox again. His humor, experience, and insight engaged listeners and gave them practically helpful tools for creating and maintaining a thriving relationship.