This year. It’s been tough, hasn’t it?
In Australia we have experienced devastating bushfires, drought, floods and now our world is experiencing a global pandemic.
Social restrictions and lockdown have presented many challenges for those working and parenting from home. Being in close proximity nearly all of the time can be a challenge for the best of marriages. A May 2020 Relationships Australia study on the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions found that 42% of people experienced a negative change in their relationship with their partner.
‘Building a Safe & Strong Marriage’ has responded to these challenges by re-packaging our marriage enrichment course into an online marriage course. Hear a little about the course from its co-creators, Keith & Sarah Condie:
The course is easy to purchase and, once you’ve registered on the online learning platform, you have 10 weeks to complete it at your own pace.
Each session deals with a different aspect of marriage: from friendship and communication, to sex, spirituality, and God’s design for marriage. And because disagreements and conflict are a part of every marriage, we talk about how to manage conflict gently.
Session 1: God’s design for marriage
Session 2: What damages our connectedness in marriage?
Session 3: Building the positives – friendship and communication
Session 4: Building the positives – sex and spirituality
Session 5: Managing conflict gently
In the last few weeks, as I’ve chatted with a number of women, I’ve seen how adept they are at juggling and pivoting. But we have many balls to juggle in life. Our plans go awry, and those balls just start tumbling. And this is when we feel the weariness and stress and think, ‘I can’t keep doing this.’
The question for us as pastoral carers is whether Jesus saw any other significance in laying down his life for the sheep. And consequently, is there a type of sacrifice which Jesus calls his followers in pastoral care to make?
The God of all grace is not remote and he doesn’t simply delegate to others. He is willing, so to speak, to get his hands dirty.
This was a moment of grace, during an ordinary routine, given to me by our creator God. Pumpkins had given me a new song to sing.
The Mental Health & Pastoral Care Institute is a part of Mary Andrews College, an Anglican Deaconess Ministry.
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