Dear Lovers,

Happy New Year! For us the New Year is full of hope and possibilities for the Marriage Encounter Movement in our area. We have 6 weekends scheduled and the opportunity to encounter at least 120 sacraments.

When we think about the impact that explosion of love would have on our area we feel excited like being in the first car of the roller coaster as it reaches the top of the big hill.

There is so much we can do to help married couples rediscover the deep love and commitment they once shared and to realize the depth of Gods love for them and the graces He bestows upon their sacrament. The first thing we can do is to invite as many couples, priests, and religious as we can to the weekend. Even if you've asked them before, ask them again. We just celebrated with Garry's sister and her husband when they decided to experience the Weekend after 20 years of marriage. They called us on the Sunday evening of their Weekend to thank us for inviting them and for repeatedly reminding them to take this time just for them. It was a joy to visit them over the Holidays and listen to the love and excitement in their voices.

Even the mothers of this married couple thanked us for encouraging their kids to go on a Weekend. They expressed how wonderful it was to see their married children so happy and close and loving after all these years. It was quite a gift for us also. To know that people we love and care about are experiencing the joy and closeness that we have in our relationship.

For that is what we are inviting all couples, priests, and religious to experience: an opportunity to increase the joy and closeness in their sacrament, and to grow even more in love. That is what every married couple deserves. But first they need us to invite them. It might take many invitations and many years, but loving persistence will pay off. It has for us. It will for you.

One way to interest couples in a weekend is to invite them to the "Romance after the Fairy Tale" Marriage Enrichment on Saturday, January 22nd. It is for Encountered and non-Encountered couples. Another event that is for Encountered and non-Encountered couples is the World Marriage Day celebration with dinner and the play "I do, I do". It is Saturday, February 12th. Or there is the Marriage Encounter Weekend February 11 - 13 they could give each other for Valentines Day. It is a gift they truly deserve. You can find more information on these events on the Rockford Marriage Encounter website www.alifetimeoflove.org and subsequent web pages.

We would like to thank you for your commitment to the dream, for your work and your dedication. We do appreciate all that you have done. You are the light that shines in the darkness. And we are with you as the New Year begins, inviting, hoping, and dreaming.

All our love,

Garry & Arla Thomas
(847) 658-1585
getart@flash.net

This month feature is all about Church Bulletins. There is a section of our site loaded with sample bulletin announcements about the Weekend.

They are divided into four categories: Generic, Four Seasons, Concepts, and Eye-Catching. Each announcement can be used as is or can be modified to fit your particular parish or church. There are some that refer to Information Nights and most have a reference to our Website and the toll-free number.

As a sidenote, we have been placing some special announcements in our parish bulletin and encouraging people to visit http://alifetimeoflove.org to learn more. We had 140 visits to the Website when the notices first hit our bulletin.

Here's a sample:

Daily Dialogue is a wonderful thing. But don't stop dialoguing just because we may have missed some days, weeks, or months. We should be flexible as to when we will dialogue. We don't need to set a fixed schedule and do it at the exact same time each day. However, we do need to keep in mind that it should be a time when we are not interrupted.

One of the keys to dialoguing is to remind ourselves that we are only spending 20 minutes a day doing this. Ten minutes for writing, and ten minutes talking to each another. Another helpful hint is to have a supply of questions readily available. Our Website can help in that area. Check out our Dialogue section for topics and questions.

We should never ask our spouse why he/she wrote or said something. This is a time for listening, not for judging. If we are apart, take advantage of the Internet by utilizing eMail or a chat room. Another option is to write the letters daily daily and then read them all when we are back together and have one discussion about them.

Focus on your feelings rather than your thoughts. This may be the most difficult for some of us, but it is imperative that we do just that. Check out the section of our Website that focuses on feeling words.

We should not try to change our spouse through Dialogue. Dialogue is meant to strengthen our relationship through understanding, not through change.

Also, remember to separate when we write if we are writing at the same time. Writing together may be a distraction. And remember. Don't go over the ten minutes writing and ten minutes talking. If necessary, set a timer.

The fun never stops in our "Fun Stuff" section.

We continue to create new crossword puzzles each month as well as new on-line quizzes. In addition to our "Romance" and "Marriage History" quizzes, this month we feature our New Year's Trivia quiz. There are only eight questions regarding New Year celebrations around the world, but be careful. These quizzes can be addictive.

We have also included a place for you to share your favorite recipes with other Encountered Couples. Everyone knows that Community nights are all about the food. Why else would everyone gather around the kitchen? Just kidding!

And while you're browsing the section, don't forget our downloadable screen savers for your PC. There are several pre-made screen savers with a Marriage Encounter theme. And as if that wasn't enough, we can customize and create your very own, personalized version of one of the available styles.

We are all family and we believe in the lifestyle and mission of Worldwide Marriage Encounter. From time to time we need assistance in fulfilling that mission. To that end, we have installed a quick survey and we want to get some information for what assistance you might be willing or considering to offer.

Is the Spirit calling you to be more involved in the WWME movement?

The Rockford/Madison/Milwaukee Marriage Encounter Community is in great need of couples who want to be more actively involved in changing the world one couple at a time! Listed below are some of the ways you can help. If you have any questions about any of these jobs or if you're a Community Leader and have a couple in mind that you think would be a great asset to any of these communities please contact Ben & Jane Deutsch at (630) 377-0635 for more information.

SUPPORT COMMUNITY
House Couple: Responsible for the set up and takedown of the Weekend. This job is split between 2 couples.
Greeter Couple: This couple is responsible for scheduling communities to greet on & off for the Weekend.
Prayer Couple Coordinator East: This couple is responsible for making sure all couples on the Weekend from the Eastern part of the Rockford Diocese have a prayer couple and extended Dialogue letter.
Prayer Couple Coordinator North: This couple is responsible for making sure that all Wisconsin couples making the Weekend have a prayer couple and extended dialogue letter.

CONTINUING THE JOURNEY COMMUNITY
Community Start up Couple: This couple would be responsible with helping the CTJ Leaders to get new communities started up. CTJ is also looking for seasonal couples who could help with different functions throughout the year. These different committees would be for "Puttin' on the Ritz" dance, WWME Family campout, and the Rolle Bolle tournament.

INVITING COMMUNITY
Ministry Fair Coordinators: This couple would be responsible for tracking and getting help, if needed, for parish ministry fairs.
Media Coordinators: This couple would be responsible for planning and placing ads in different Catholic publications. They would also explore other media vehicles for getting the WWME word out to people.
Mass Talk Workshop Couple(s): This couple/couples would be responsible for coordinating those couples who already have Mass talks written. They would also workshop couples who would like to write and present Mass talks throughout the 3 dioceses.
Pulpit Pal Coordinators: This couple would be responsible with the scheduling and maintenance of our pulpit pal boards. These new inviting tools are used in the backs of various churches as another means for getting the word out for the Weekend.

Is your community looking for a great way to invite couples to the Weekend? A romantic candlelight dinner might be what your community is looking for. Candlelight dinners are easy to give and fun for the whole community. The Rockford/Madison/Milwaukee WWME Community has 2 candlelight dinner kits available for use. Each kit contains all you need to help your community put on a romantic candlelight dinner. If your community is hosting a candlelight dinner please let us know and we'll announce it here in The eSpirit. For more information contact Garry & Arla at (847)658-1585 or by email at: getart@flash.net

Splendid Raspberry Spinach Salad

• 2 Tablespoons Raspberry Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Raspberry Jam
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 8 Cups Spinach, rinsed, stemmed and torn into pieces.
• 3/4 Cup coarsely chopped Macadamia nuts or toasted almond slices
• 1 Cup Fresh Raspberries
• 3 Kiwis, peeled and sliced

Directions:
Dressing: Combine vinegar and jam in blender or small bowl. Add oil in thin stream, blending well.

Toss spinach with 1/2 of the nuts, 1/2 of the raspberries, 1/2 of the kiwi's and the dressing. Top with the remaining ingredients (nuts, raspberries and kiwis.) Serve immediately.