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As Guilford County’s only agency specifically focused on family life and parent education, the Family Life Council provides accessible, high quality, and diverse programs, resources and advocacy for today’s families, educators and community agencies. |
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Events of Interest
Click on an item below for more information.
How NOT to marry a Jerk (or Jerkette)!
Mondays, January 24, 31and February 7th from 6:30 - 8:30
Building Bridges: Fostering Healthy Youth Relationships
Tuesday, January 4,2005 - 6:30- 8:00
Active Parenting Now
Wednesdays Series - 6:00-7:30pm
January 5, 12, 19, 26 & February 2, &16, 2005
Active Parenting of Teens
Wednesdays Series- 6:00 - 7:30pm
January 5, 12, 19, 26 & February 2, & 16, 2005
Healthy Communities - Healthy Youth Training:
Level I Facilitator
Wednesday, January 19, 2005 from 5:00 - 7:00pm
PREPARE / ENRICH TRAINING
Friday, January 28,2005
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Introducing...The Guilford County Marriage Resource Center
Strong, healthy marriages have always been an important focus for the Family Life Council. Despite the promise in fairy tales and bridal magazines, a wedding is not the end of the story. As a nation, millions of dollars are spent on romantic weddings and exciting honeymoons. We pay much less attention to how relationships fare once the presents are unwrapped and the cake is eaten. The divorce rate still hovers around 50% and many married couples have found themselves struggling to have the quality of relationship they desire.
The Family Life Council created the Guilford County Marriage Resource Center in January 2004. Beginning in September, these resources became available in both Alamance and Davidson Counties – leading to a Piedmont Marriage Resource Center . This center will serve as a clearinghouse of information for professionals, lay leaders, and the general public. The Marriage Resource Center offers:
- Trainings for volunteers and professionals working to support healthy marriages. Click here to see a listing of upcoming training dates.
- A Resource Library for marriage support activities. Click here to see a listing of some of our most popular titles available for loan to any Guilford, Alamance, or Davidson County resident or organization.
- A website of marriage related information – www.gcmarriage.org. This website contains a calendar of community events focused on healthy marriages. Organizations from across Guilford County can submit their programming information to be included free of charge.
- The Community Marriage Covenant for Guilford County . Over 86 faith organizations have signed this covenant to support healthy and strong marriages both before and after the wedding.
- A Speakers Bureau with staff and volunteers able to present on a variety of relationship oriented topics to groups of youth or adults. Popular topics include Effective Communication, Decision Making in Marriage, Keeping Romance Alive While Parenting, and How to Create a Vital Marriage Ministry.
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Mark your Calendars for Marriage Month: FEBRUARY, 2005
Marriage Month – a time to celebrate, renew, and cherish healthy marriages in our community.
Start planning now for how you can be involved. 
- You can attend a program offered by the Family Life Council’s Marriage Resource Center.
- You can sponsor a marriage education or a marriage celebration event with your organization.
- Faith groups can offer sermons about healthy marriages.
- Youth groups can learn more about healthy marriages or they can create an event to recognize and support married couples.
- Individuals can take the time to offer appreciation to married couples who have been able to create and maintain a healthy marriage.
Once you have decided how you can be involved in Marriage Month 2005, click here to let us know and we can help publicize your event. |
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Did you know? Here are some Ideas, information, and some intriguing thoughts.
- A key finding from the National Marriage Project’s 2002 State of Our Unions Report : “Marriage trends in the United States in recent decades indicate that Americans have become less likely to marry and that fewer of those who do marry have marriages they consider to be “very happy.”
- Of 6,000 High School Seniors surveyed, 3,000 boys and 3,000 girls..... Just 58 percent of boys and 66 percent of girls state that it is “very likely” that they will stay married to the same person for life.
- About 43 percent of first marriages end in separation or divorce within 15 years, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control. The report also found that the older the bride is, the longer the marriage will last.
Read the full report, titled First Marriage Dissolution, Divorce, and Remarriage: United States (PDF).
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HOW TO KEEP YOUR LOVE ALIVE
Couples don’t always realize how important it is to work at their marriage after the wedding has come and gone. The truth is your marriage needs on-going maintenance. This special attention helps to keep communication open and love alive. There are fun, practical, and inexpensive ways to do this. Try some of the ideas below and let us know how they work for your relationship with your spouse.
- CHOOSE A DATE NIGHT – Choose one night out of each month to do something that you both consider to be fun (without the children). If you have difficulty agreeing, put your ideas in a jar (6 for each of you) and pull an idea each month.
- CHECK IN WITH EACH OTHER– Set aside time to talk about important issues each week. Turn off the television, put the children to bed (and the dog out), and turn the ringer off on the telephone. Take turns sharing and listening. When one talks, the other needs to listen. Important: no interruptions while your spouse is sharing.
- MAKE IT HAPPEN – Be intentional and do something on purpose for your spouse. Let it be something that your
 spouse deems important. Do it for the purpose of satisfying, encouraging and indulging your mate. Make sure there are no conflicts on the calendar!
- EXERCISE TOGETHER – In an effort to support good health for the sake of your marriage, encourage your spouse to “get physical” by exercising together. Find something you both enjoy – swimming, bicycling, floor stretching exercises, walking or exercising at the gym. The important thing is that you “Just Do It!”
- AFFIRM YOUR SPOUSE – Encourage your spouse with positive words and kind actions. Refrain from blaming your spouse for negative things you see in your relationship. Take responsibility by owning your part. Don’t tear down, build up.
- CULTIVATE YOUR FRIENDSHIP – Friends share and care for one another. They enjoy being together and miss each other when apart. Nurture your friendship by calling each other during the day to check on one another. “I just called to say I love you” is a powerful way to cultivate your friendship.
For more information, comments, or ideas, contact Lamonica Mitchell |
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Call For Content
GCMRC e-Magazine is looking for well-written marriage-related articles, poems, quotes, book/movie reviews, news, event announcements, product reviews, successful marriage stories, clean humor, letters to the editor, information on marriage legislation, and other family-related content.
Click here to Submit content.
NOTE: By submitting content, you represent that you have the rights to this content and that you give GCMarriage.org and the Family Life Council the right to reprint this content on the Internet, via e-mail, and in print form.
To Submit an Event
GCMRC will help you to advertise your marriage / family related event. Visit GCMarriage.org for an online form to submit the information.
Refer It
We hope you enjoyed this issue of GCMRC e-Magazine and encourage you to forward it to others who might find this information useful.
To Subscribe Or Unsubscribe
If you want a free monthly e-mail subscription to GCMRC e-Magazine, or would like to unsubscribe, email GCMarriage.org and put "Subscribe" or "Unsubscibe" in the Subject line.
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