Embers is FULL!!!
Ember Marriage Retreats : : Repose, reconnection, restoration, rekindling, and renewal
Introduction
If you are like most people, when you pause from your busy, frenetic pace to reflect upon the key areas of your life, you consider the condition for your most treasured relationships. Of course, for those who are married, you know marriage should be the central relationship to everything in our lives. How is your marriage . . . really? If you are uncertain, just ask your spouse and see what you learn.
Strong marriages really matter. Marriage matters for those in the marriage and for those who experience the marriage. Far beyond having an authentic, thriving, loving marriage, the impact couples have on those around them has life-long, even generational, influence.
For those who are serious about working to have a stronger marriage, consider attending an Ember Marriage Retrea
Why Ember Marriage Retreats?
Ember is for couples wanting more out of their marriages: a space to focus on their own marriage away from the daily demands and distractions, to become better together no matter where you are on your marriage journey. Think about it . . . marriages usually begin fully ablaze. Not a lot of help is needed to get the fire going! Yet, as couples go through the various seasons of life, sometimes life circumstances can tap down the intensity. Job changes, children, relocations, health, aging parents, empty nests, disappointments, and even our own aging creates pressure and incredible stress on our marriages. Just as the most blazing fire will eventually be reduced to an ember, all marriages need to be rekindled to build, or even restore, the flame that started years ago.
Location
Ember is hosted at the beautiful Rockwood Lodge www.rockwoodlodgenc.com in Highlands, NC. Located on a privately owned mountain top, providing 360-degree views, Rockwood Lodge provides the ideal environment for intentional marriage conversations.
Hospitality Leaders: Woody and Rae Faulk
Rae is a women’s ministry leader and Bible teacher, a former high school teacher, and a vocalist. Woody spent almost 40 years in the hospitality industry.
In 2020, God began to place in our hearts the growing desire to help other couples progress in their marriages. In response, after 33 years of marriage and raising three daughters, we launched Ember Marriage Retreats. To be transparent, we needed something like this for our own marriage. You get the marriage you work for . . . or conversely, don't work on your marriage, and you will get "that marriage" too.
Teaching Leaders: Pam and Chip Hanes
Our teaching leaders for the retreats are Dr. Chip and Pam Hanes. Married for 53 years, with five children and 17 grandchildren, Pam and Chip have been facilitating married couples at marriage events for over a decade. A sought-after speaker, Pam speaks to various groups, encouraging and drawing them into a closer relationship with God. Chip has practiced general Obstetrics and Gynecology for 25 years before specializing in Urogynecology and teaching medical students for 20-plus years. He remains an active physician and is teaching the next generation of obstetricians.
Approach
Ember uses a marital framework that is both practical and powerful. The core of the framework is a reintroduction, or for some an initial introduction, of a Christ-centered marriage and an understanding of how all parts of the triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are central to a healthy, thriving marriage. Apart from a deep, growing relationship with God, marriage, at best, can become just pure dry commitment and unfulfilling loyalty.
Yes, there are undoubtedly practical marriage skills and tactics that can help any marriage. The marketplace is full of resources that cover those topics - and we encourage you to embrace them, read widely, study, and apply the principles. However, it has been our experience that you can move from seasons of "toughing it out" to "tenderness and reignited love" by embracing a deeper spiritual commitment individually and together and turning your relationship truly over to God by "flipping the ownership" of your marriage.
Ember is NOT for marriages in deep crisis or relational trauma with a history of severe discord, abuse, separation, or talks of divorce. It certainly is not a place for couples who think they've tried everything, and this is a last-ditch effort to save their marriage. Couples in this situation need to move quickly to seek professional marriage counseling and assistance.
Costs
As this is a ministry, the retreat cost is heavily subsidized by caring donors who have attended past retreats. They are paying it forward for others to attend. We ask each couple to invest $2,500 per couple toward deferring the overall actual cost of the retreat (3 nights and 3 days lodging in an exclusive home, 8 meals prepared by a legendary local chef, and other overhead expenses). However, if this cost is a burden, please don't let this prevent you from attending - just contact us, and we will find a way. We are committed to not allowing cost to be a barrier for couples who seriously want to work on their marriages.
What do you want for your marriage?
We realize it will take a lot of effort for you to attend (time off, travel logistics, childcare, existing commitments, which you would have to say no to, etc.), but we want you to know that all of our previous attendees had the same challenges. Those who have been able to attend have self-reported a 100% "Very Satisfied" survey response.
We hope you consider attending Ember because, as the saying goes, “what you feed grows.” Don’t waste this opportunity to dig into necessary conversations that have not happened or are stuck in the crazy cycle and have never been completed.
Repose, reconnection, restoration, rekindling, and renewal . . . that is Ember.
Information and Registration
Please contact Woody Faulk woody@embermarriage.com 404.983.1474