The Marriage Rocks Banquet, where 26 couples attended, was focused on each couple Celebrating their unique marriage. It was held at Faith Free Church here in Stanley, October 23, 2021. The banquet was a great time of food, fun, fellowship and encouragement.

The Speakers were from Northern Wisconsin, Rick and Lori Goff. Rick and Lori have been married for 36 years, have 4 chil – dren and 4 grandchildren. Rick has been a pastor for over 30 years working with families and teenagers specifically for over 20 years. Rick is an author. The most recent book “Before I Say I don’t”. There is a blog, https://www.beforeisayno.com. Rick and Lori gave incite and the how's to make marriages Rock.

Rick stated these truths: Strong nations fall when marriages fail. Marriages are under attack. Marriage was God’s idea!

The couples were encouraged to do something special with their unique marriage.

To revive marriage, they spoke of two of God's important covenants: 1) Salvation, attained when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross so that we could have our sins forgiven and become right with God. 2) Marriage as it is vital to God. God hates divorce – it causes hurt and pain for all involved.

Some Rocks to build upon: Resist divorce. Ask God to help, find good counsel with pastor. Don't let the enemy hurt you or your children.

Lori named her three specific Rocks to build on: 1) Forgive – Be willing to forgive; God gave us forgiveness. When you don't forgive it hurts yourself.

2) Repent to spouse, say you’re sorry and turn from it.

3) Work at it – don't try harder, work at giving it to God con tinuously. There is an Enneagram personality test you can take

See BANQUET, page 8 to help you to understand each other, it’s a piece of the puzzle.

Rick named these specific Rocks to build on: 1) Intentionally spend time together. There are seasons of life and marriage changes. Kids keep us busy – make sure you take time for each other.

2) He concurred with Lori on the importance of forgiving each other. We often think "poor me"…we can be very selfish. It's a choice you need to make every day to forgive.

3) Find your identity in Christ. It needs to be in Christ. Our identity is not our job, being a friend, a mom or dad, husband or wife. It needs to be in Christ. God helps thoughts, gives understanding of who you are in Christ.

Neil Anderson’s book “Identity Crisis” is a good resource. Your spouse will let you down. All identities will fail except the identity in Christ. You cannot change your spouse, that’s God’s job. Spending time praying for your spouse and allowing God to change you is the way to go.

Neil Anderson has a book “Life as God created it to be.” Neil also has a Freedom in Christ website.

Cards were given to the couples so that they could thank each other and let each other know what they really appreciate about them.