On your wedding day, did you vow “to love and to cherish, until death do us part”?
Is cherish a word you talk about, or something you practice in your day to day marriage?
No matter how long you have been married, or how strong your marriage is, or isn’t, Gary Thomas will provide encouragement and insights for you at the upcoming Cherish Marriage Event at ROCKHARBOR on Thursday, Feb. 2 from 7 to 9 p.m.
“God created marriage, marriage is important to God, and we want to help build stronger marriages and keep couples together,” explained Tamara Cianciolo, marriage associate at ROCKHARBOR Church. “Millions of married couples have pledged to love and to cherish until death parts them, and most of us understand and get the love part, but what does it mean to cherish our spouse?”
“The word cherish is a word that is minimized or almost forgotten after the marriage ceremony, and cherishing gets lost in life and stress.” she continued. “Too many marriages end up in the ditch. This is a preventative event, as well as a restorative one too, because inevitably we end up hurting each other. Every marriage needs small tune ups. The event will remind us that one day we said we would love and cherish each other, and Gary will encourage us to rethink our vows.”
Tamara explained that during the event, Gary will talk about what it means to cherish, the importance of cherishing, the impact it makes, and how to do it. She said Gary will draw on personal stories and teaching from the Bible to show how cherishing can have a powerful effect on marriage.
“Cherishing can breathe light, hope, and new life into a marriage—even one marred by
neglect and disrespect,” she said. “We are offering this one-night event as a fun date-night too,” she said. “It’s not a three-day marriage saver. It’s a date night. It will start out with a comedian to kick off the night and remind us that laughter is medicine to the bones. Gary has spoken at ROCKHARBOR before and he was very well received.”
Gary Thomas is the author of 18 books that have sold over a million copies worldwide and have been translated into a dozen languages. His book “Sacred Marriage: What if Marriage Was More to Make You Holy Than Happy” was a best seller. Gary is on a country-wide tour of churches sharing what he has learned about what it means to cherish, the importance of cherishing in marriages, the impact of it and how to cherish your spouse. Gary and his wife Lisa have been married for 30 years. His latest book is called “Cherish: The One Word That Changes Everything for Your Marriage.”
“Most marriages survive by gritting teeth and holding on,” Gary says in his book. “But marriages can and will not only survive but thrive when husbands and wives learn to cherish one another.”
“We’re excited about the event,” Tamara said. “And people of all faiths or no faith are welcome.”
Tickets to the Cherish event are $25, and include a copy of Gary’s book. Visit rockharbor.org.
Cindy can be reached at cindy@onthegrow.com.
