©2004Empowering people to create happy, lasting, spiritually-based
marriages—the foundation of a prosperous, unified world
| February/March
2006 |
Volume 3, Issue 2 |
© 2006
Marriage Transformation LLC
Susanne and Craig To Present Workshop at Smart Marriage Conference
Coming Soon: Third Edition of Marriage Can Be Forever--Preparation Counts!
Listserves/
Newsletter Subscriptions
HUMILITY
"Humility is seeing our real selves and our real strengths in relation to God and to other people. It allows us to be equal partners in our marriage and not consider that one of us is more or less important. It helps us to acknowledge our imperfections and inability to have all the answers.
"We recognize our limitations, and we can ask for help. We respect ourselves, recognize our strengths, and are modest about our accomplishments. We do not speak of what we have done with excessive pride or boasting.
"We are happy to serve one another in a humble spirit of love. We know the other's needs are as valid and important as our own. We admit mistakes, learn from them, forgive, and let go of judgment. We are willing to seek and accept help from many sources, including spiritual ones. We acknowledge the best in others and ourselves. We are humbly thankful for the blessings in our life."
~ Pure Gold, p. 186
Featured Product
On sale for $13.95!
Pure
Gold:
Encouraging
Character Qualities
in Marriage
(Second Edition)
Discover how character qualities such as trustworthiness, loyalty, truthfulness, and courage can transform your marriage and enrich your communication skills!
"Pure Gold is a
lifeline for today's couples."
~ Linda Kavelin Popov, author of A Pace of Grace
Y Y Y
Watch our short inspirational movie here! (2 min, 30 sec)
The Marriage Transformation Project is a global
social and economic development project committed to relationship
and marriage education and skill building for people at
all stages of relationships. In addition to our own independent work
in developing materials, with a strong focus on character and communcations,
we draw on the work of marriage researchers and experts. We also
derive part of our inspiration and content from the teachings of
the world's religions. These include the following faiths: Baha'i,
Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim.
Click here for further
project information.
We welcome new subscribers! Please share! We had a delightful weekend up in Maine for Valentine's Day (February 14) facilitating a married couples weekend. We had warm hearts, but ended the session with a blizzard outdoors. A key part of the session was talking about the importance of couples both maintaining their "he" and "she" identities, but also forming an essential "we" that is nurtured by both. Terry Hargrave, Ph.D. refers to it as "us" in our featured book this month, "The Essential Humility of Marriage." "We" for us though has a more outward orientation, as in "we serve other" or "we parent our children together." Hargrave says, "The heart of 'us' is not that I sacrifice my individuality for my wife, but that I willingly give a part of who I am for the sake of the relationship. When I give, and my wife gives, we bond parts of ourselves together to create a unique new entity..." So, our question to you this month is what are you doing to maintain your relationship? Talking together? Having a date night? Running away for a weekend? Taking the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's? Hargrave encourages couples to build the trust, stability, security, and sincerity in your relationship. What actions are you taking? Loving greetings,
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Susanne
and Craig to Present Workshop
We're very excited to share that we will be first-time presenters at the 2006 Smart Marriages Conference in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) this June! We hope some of you can join us. Details of our session are as follows: WHAT’S
CHARACTER GOT TO DO WITH IT?
For more information about the conference, see our "Other Workshops of Interest" section below, or visit www.smartmarriages.com. If you live in the Atlanta, Georgia area and cannot attend the conference but would be willing to help work at a Marriage Transformation booth June 22-25, please email Susanne at susanne@marriagetransformation.com.
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UPDATE! As we indicated in our January 2006 newsletter, our latest book, Can We Dance? Learning the Steps for a Fulfilling Relationship is in its final editing stage and will soon go to the printer. We delayed for a few weeks to ensure we had enough funds, and because after months of trying to recruit a young adult male onto the editing team, we were finally successful. We are committed that what we write is of interest to both men and women, as we believe it is the responsibility of both to maintain relationships. So, now the release date is April. Thank you for your patience. Excerpt from Can We Dance?,
Chapter 1:
Coming
Soon: The Third Edition of We'd like to thank you for your help in supporting the importance of marriage preparation. As you may know, our marriage preparation book, Marriage Can Be Forever--Preparation Counts!, went out of print this past year. However, due to its success and your willingness to learn the vital steps of preparing for marriage, a third edition (hard copy) is in the planning stages! We welcome both testimonials from happy users of the workbook, as well as any helpful suggestions for improvements, edits, additions, and more. Please email susanne@marriagetransformation.com. Watch future newsletters and our announcement listserve for more details on availability. An updated compact disc version will also be available, and the current CD is still available for sale.
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All books $10 or less! We are continuing our book clearance sale, with extraordinary books by best-selling authors John Gottman, Howard J. Markman, Gary Chapman, and many more! These informative books will help you gain vital knowledge to support your relationship or marriage, or give them as gifts to your friends and family. To learn more about each book, click on the title (Please note: By clicking on the links, you will be directed to various pages on our website, so click on the BACK button in your web browser to return to this page). Pure
Gold: Encouraging Character Qualities in Marriage (Second
Edition) What's
Character Got To Do With It? Saving
Your Marriage Before It Starts Love
Talk: Speak Each Other's Language Like You Never Have Before The Seven Principles for Making Marriage
Work 12 Hours to a Great Marriage 101 Things I Wish I Knew When
I Got Married Happily Married With Kids His Needs, Her Needs for Parents Buy them for your holiday, wedding, anniversary, or other special occasion gifts at these great prices! Quantities are limited and are available on a first come, first serve basis.
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We are continuing to make strong efforts to spread the message about the importance of character in relationships and about how to have a great marriage. This month, we are happy to report coverage in the following publication: The
Washington Times
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We will be on Vancouver Island, British Columbia (Canada) for a singles weekend August 11-13 and a married couples weekend August 18-20. We will return to Bosch Baha'i School in Santa Cruz, California (USA) for a singles weekend November 3-5 and a married couples weekend November 10-12. Watch for more details in future newsletters! |
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FranklinCovey Community Health
Marriage Conference Join other community leaders, marriage
and family therapists, clergy, and lay leaders as you learn how
you can involve your entire community in the marriage initiative.
This conference will enable you to: For more information, including registration and pricing details, call (800) 331-7716 ext. 76152 or see the flyer (www.marriagetransformation.com/FranklinCovey8HabitsConference.pdf). Y Y Y 10th Annual Smart Marriages Conference NOTE: Hotel reservations are already in short supply; Visit www.smartmarriages.com/conferencedetails.html for more information. You may also wish to subscribe to the FREE Smart Marriages e-newslist at www.smartmarriages.com. (Note: This is a heavy traffic listserve.)
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The
Essential Humility of Marriage
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Listserves Join our listserves if you want to learn more or become involved in marriage education! Join today and help transform marriages! MarriageTransformationEducator-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com Get the latest news about marriage and The Marriage Transformation Project as it happens! Join our announcement listserve today! MarriageTransformation-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com Did a friend forward this newsletter to you and now you want to receive your own copy each month in your email inbox? To sign up for this newsletter, go to our home page, www.marriagetransformation.com, and register in the "Newsletter Sign Up" box!
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Please contact us at staff@marriagetransformation.com or (216) 383-9943 if you have any questions or comments, requests for subject matter to be covered in the newsletter, need to change your email address, or want further information about the Marriage Transformation Project. If you wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter, please click on the link below. |
Marriage Transformation™ Project
P.O. Box 23085
www.marriagetransformation.com
by Susanne Alexander
Joyce Ashman
and Design
by Joyce Ashman