Prayers for couples going through divorce

I want to ask for prayers for some friends and family of friends I have going through divorce. Divorce is so painful, and sometimes it's hard to know what to pray for in regards to such turmoil.

I ask that you lift up these troubled couples in prayer and ask for God's grace, peace and will be done.

Prayer to Saint Joseph
Based on Matthew 1:18-25

We ask your prayers, St. Joseph, an upright man, a spouse who planned to divorce Mary in secret and who, by God's grace, was able to see his role in God's plan.

We ask you in our behalf to pray to God that our loved ones' marriages be healed. We are enveloped in pain and despair as you must have been when you learned of Mary's pregnancy. Be for and with us, Joseph, in our hour of doubt. Let us listen to and heed the voice of God as you did.

Be our intercessor to your Jesus, to give us the blessings to change, to listen, to forgive and most of all to hope that their marriages will heal and their families remain whole and holy.

We give you honor, quiet St. Joseph, for you are a spouse like us, who while knowing pain, did not divorce. By God's grace you nourished the Holy Family and the Savior of all families throughout the ages.
Amen.

*Taken from Retrouvaille, marriage help for couples with marital problems

Top 10 favorite dates

As you know, Mark and I have date night every Tuesday, come rain or come shine. We never make other plans on that evening; our marriage is top priority.

What's fun about having our date night on Tuesdays is that it forces us to be creative about our dates; there's not as much obvious stuff going on on a Tuesday as there is a Thursday, Friday or Saturday! Luckily, I married a creative date planner, so I've had to try hard to match par with his ideas.

Here are my top 10 favorite dates so far (not in order):

1. Cooking class at Artisan Bistro
2. An evening at the Elephant Room, Ken's Donuts and Spider House Cafe (our first date, which we've recreated a couple times!)
3. Painting With a Twist
4. Paella cooking demonstration at Malaga
5. Ventana, restaurant for Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Austin, followed by Viva Chocolato, which is, sadly, no longer around
6. Dinner on a Lone Star River Boat cruise for two on Lake Austin (one of our dating anniversary dates)
7. Painting our own wine glasses one Valentine's Day at a ceramic place, followed by dinner at Gumbo's
8. Getting engaged during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (that's a date if it's just the two of us and we had the get together scheduled, right?)
9. One of our dates just before we went to Europe in 2010 when I made a French dinner, followed by Italian dessert, followed by watching "Wizard of Oz" since we would be seeing "Wicked, the musical" in London. A little foreshadowing of our soon-after trip to France, Italy and London!
10. Wine tasting classes with Wine for the People. We've taken classes from Rae at the Whip-In, House Wine and St. John Neumann Church. Always a fun time!

Think about how you can go beyond dinner and a movie to create a memorable dating experience!

The day we got engaged: Aug. 29, 2008. Out celebrating with friends!

Couples of Faith panel

Mark and I have been asked to sit on a panel of married couples for this month's Couples of Faith night at our parish. I think it is a beautiful opportunity to witness what's been revealed to us, so far, about marriage and Christ's plan for this vocation of ours, but I have to admit we're also a little hesitant. Most of the audience will be couples that have been married for quite some time, while Mark and I will be sharing our two years' worth  of reflections. We've been assured, however, that we're thought to have some valuable input on what it means to be intentional about including Christ in our marriage, so, with prayer, may every purpose God has for including us on this panel be fulfilled. Keep this event and our witness in your prayers, if you will, and, if you're in town, come to it! It's this Friday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

We have given a similar witness on our vocation before; hopefully having more time under our belt will allow us further insight.

St. Joseph, patron saint of married couples, pray for us!

June 13, 2009