Join us for an enlightening conversation with Tony and Vanita, speakers from Family Life’s Weekend to Remember event. Discover the transformative power of this weekend getaway designed for couples seeking to strengthen their marriages. Whether you are a newlywed or have been married for decades, this event promises valuable insights that cater to every stage of marriage. The speakers share their personal experiences and the profound impact that these weekends have on relationships. Gain a deeper understanding of God’s design for marriage and the critical roles both husband and wife play in nurturing a thriving relationship.
Well, hey, it’s Mike Trim with Crawford Media Group, and we’re joined today by Tony and Vanita with Family Life’s Weekend to Remember. We want to talk about a very special weekend to remember coming February 6th through 8th at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. And Tony and Vanita, thanks for taking the time with us. Our pleasure to be here.
SPEAKER 01 :
Good to be here.
SPEAKER 02 :
As we spoke, we’re hoping for warmish weather when you come. We’ll see what happens. As we record this, it’s beautiful here in the 60s. So I don’t know. We’ll see when February comes what happens.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
So tell us a little bit. Let’s talk first just for a few minutes about both of you and your roles with Family Life and Weekend to Remember and then get into the conference and what you’ll be talking about. Go ahead, Vanita.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay. Tony and I, we’ve been married 40 years. Yes. We just celebrated our 40th anniversary in November, which is simply amazing. And he has a background. He’s retired. He has a background in business. And I stayed home and was also an accountant and involved in a bunch of different ministries at church. And that’s kind of where our stage of life is. We’re empty nesters, retired, and enjoying life.
SPEAKER 03 :
And we’ve been speaking with Family Life for about… 18, 19 years. And it’s just a thrill for us to be involved in ministry.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. We’re part of the speaker team. Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’ve had the blessing of going, my wife and I, to a couple of weekends to remember. And man, it has been memorable and such a great reminder of all the things that we want to do to be deeper in our marriage. What are some of those things? Talk to us about what couples typically experience when they come to Weekend to Remember. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
You want to go first, Vanita? You can go first. Okay. Well, they experience a lot of things that are different. Even repeat guests that have either different speakers or they’re at a different stage in life really receive the information different. So sometimes we’ve had speakers as young in their marriage as one day they got married the day of the weekend, the Friday, and all the way to 60 years. And some people are going for just maintenance and a tune-up, and others are going because it’s kind of the last thing. ditch effort before they consider separation or divorce. So they can expect to really receive a good foundation as to what marriage is meant to be and some of the main areas of challenge and some of the main areas that they can look for blessing. You know, what are the things that we can do to really make a marriage thrive? So that’s what they can look for. And it depends where they are is really my answer, Vanita, unless you have something to add.
SPEAKER 01 :
No, I think it’s a good weekend to learn. I like to say, um, to learn what you didn’t know. You didn’t know about marriage. Um, we think we know everything, you know, we experience it, but there’s so much, um, from a biblical perspective, then helps make you, uh, understand why you need to practice and live out what God’s plan is for marriage. And we lay it out so beautifully, and we emphasize the practical application of all the things that we’re learning, but both are very important. And I think it’s a groundwork. We have a groundwork and an on-ramp for just being able to improve your marriage and just Make it all that you would like it to be as far as you have the control. But it’s a great weekend.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now we’re speaking about the Broadmoor and Weekend to Remember February 6th through 8th. Tony, tell us about there’s a pretty amazing discount that is available until the 26th of January. So what’s that about and how can we save some money?
SPEAKER 01 :
Sure. Yeah, absolutely. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s 50% off sale. It’s really a buy one, get one free. Okay. And you just log into the website and they’ve got all the information there on how you’re able to take advantage of that. Vanita, do you need a code for that or is it just at the website?
SPEAKER 01 :
No, right now, whenever you register, it’s a countrywide sale. So it’s like a campaign, if you will. And we do it at the beginning of every year. There’s like a three-week, 50% off sale. And we also do another one in September or August. So you can always get this deal. Simply register, figure out where you want to go, and you go from there. That’s what’s going to happen.
SPEAKER 02 :
And it’s WeekendToRemember.com, right, is where people go?
SPEAKER 01 :
WeekendToRemember.com, correct. Okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
What a way to start out your year is just to strengthen your marriage. And Vadina, I’m going to throw this question at you. Do the wives take something different out of Weekend to Remember than the men do? How does that work? Do you see?
SPEAKER 01 :
I think, yes, both men and women come across or come away with something new, a fresh angle. We speak to how we’re supposed to show up as a husband and a wife within the marriage, but there’s also things that we get together, that we both are like, oh, wow, this is speaking to both of us. If anything, we do try to put into perspective the critical questions that we may have as women, like how do I show up? How do I connect with my husband? The men learn how to connect with their wives. We learn about differences, and we learn about things that are the same. So on Sunday morning, this is the time when the men and the women are – there’s a session Sunday morning where the men and the women go to different locations. They’re at different times. within the ballroom. And we speak to these types of issues, you know, how to love, how to respect, how to serve all of those wonderful, how to be friends, how to be a good companion, how to parent together, those kinds of things.
SPEAKER 03 :
And when we take over and it’s just men in the ballroom, we call it a big man cave. And when it’s just women in the ballroom, you call it a, a she shed.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. Perfect. Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah. We try to hear the truth about each of our selves. The differences. Yes. Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now tell me, do you find, Tony, I’ll throw this one at you, do you find that couples that have been married for a long time that say, well, we came, but we think we’ve got this pretty dialed in, are they surprised and they come out of it thinking, oh, wow, a lot more tune-up and things that need to be done than we thought?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, the evaluations will read feedback from the guests that attend. We consistently hear, I came to this not expecting to learn anything, and wow, did I learn a lot, or I really did not want to come, and I was forced by my spouse. Many times men will tell me that up front that my wife forced me to attend, and they say, I am so glad that I came. I would have never thought we would have received this much information.
SPEAKER 02 :
It seems like it could be either side of the couple that say, you know, I think the Holy Spirit’s telling me we need this. We need to do this, even though the other spouse might not be picking it up. Is that sometimes the case, Vanita?
SPEAKER 01 :
Absolutely. Absolutely. The things that we talk about, the… the experiences that the speakers bring, uh, the authenticity allows the Holy spirit to work wherever he needs to work in each person in the ballroom individually. Um, and that’s one of the things that we hear all the time. He spoke to me and it’s what I needed to hear, or I could see myself in either the husband or the wife, either speaker, because the ways that we, you know, for lack of a better word, fail or don’t show up, it can happen to any of us. And we can hear through the stories and through their experiences. We say, that’s me, Lord. Okay, I’d like to start moving in a different direction. Or, okay, I see I need to ask for forgiveness or I need to forgive.
SPEAKER 02 :
I think part of that is just we mention it so that as a listener, someone that’s hearing this interview says, okay, I think we’re pretty good, but I don’t think my wife thinks we’re pretty good or vice versa. Right. You know, I, I’m thinking we really need this. And my spouse is probably going to say, really, what did I do wrong? And that’s, you know, we just have to get past that. Don’t we?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. And I would say, I think the stat is 96%. It has 96% of couples reported significant improvement in their marriage. And I, And anecdotally, when people come up to us afterwards and they say they’re so glad they came, there’s a lot of people that one spouse really wanted to come or just thought it was a good idea. You know, just let’s try it. And the other spouse didn’t necessarily want to come or was very, very hesitant. And they report to us that it’s really transformed their marriage.
SPEAKER 01 :
We see some big smiles on Saturday morning from a lot of the spouses who are like, I just didn’t want to come. And they are beaming by Sunday morning. It’s a beautiful, beautiful transformation.
SPEAKER 02 :
So one thing that in our notes, and we’ve kind of talked about back and forth, is one thing that isn’t is counseling. I’m not sure how you and Tony process that, but Vanita, what does that mean? And who’s kind of the target needs to be there? Absolutely do not pass on this, especially with the buy one, get one. So it’s half off for you. And then when would you say, go get some counseling first, then come to a weekend to remember?
SPEAKER 01 :
Oh, you know, I would not say get counseling first. I would say come to a weekend to remember regardless. Good to know. Regardless of where you think you are in your relationship. We speak to all the situations because it’s general information, and the Holy Spirit can do that. So you can come to a weekend to remember, and you should go to counseling, or you can go to counseling, or you may choose. But… But they both work in very different ways. And many times couples already are in counseling or we give them that extra push to seek it out. But it’s for any couple at any stage of their marriage.
SPEAKER 02 :
And Tony, is that part because you guys are raw and honest and real and the person might realize, oh, it’s not just us. Okay. Other couples, including the speakers, are dealing with this.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, all of the speakers, there’s two sets of speakers, two couples that are speakers for the weekend, and all of us are very transparent. And another consistent feedback is, I’m not alone. We appreciated the transparency. It was good to see that another couple went through something that we’re going through and they’re on the other side and showed us how that happened. So it’s very, very common for us to receive that feedback.
SPEAKER 02 :
That is so good. Well, it’s The Weekend to Remember at the Broadmoor, February 6th through 8th. Once you hear this interview, you’re running out of time for that 50% off. It’s only through January 26th. So you have to register. It might even be not through the 26th. Register by January 26th is what it says in my notes. Weekendtoremember.com. That’s weekendtoremember.com. Half off at the Broadmoor. What a beautiful place. So… Any final thoughts, Vanita, that you would add?
SPEAKER 01 :
I would say yes, no matter where you think you are, no matter are or whether you think you need it or not, particularly if you think it’s only for people who are maybe in a desperate situation. Any couple will come and they will be glad they did. 96% satisfaction is really hard to beat in this world on anything.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right.
SPEAKER 01 :
We love it. And I will tell you on Sunday morning is such a glorious day.
SPEAKER 02 :
Just to see those smiles, as you said, Tony, how about the guy who’s reluctant says, I don’t want to invest a weekend. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to spend the money. You know, whatever the excuse is, what would you tell that guy?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, there’s no excuse. We have a good time. I spend a lot of time talking about guy stuff that really connects with guys and connects with me. We talk about analogies that use mechanics, analogies that just guys being guys, especially in the men’s session, we have a good time. So I would just say, hey, this is great. There’s no small groups. The only conversation we really want you to engage in is the conversation with your spouse. You only talk to other people if you want to. We encourage it, but Please come, shake my hand. I’d love to meet you, and we’re going to have a good time.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s weekendtoremember.com. That’s weekendtoremember.com. 50% off. Register by January 26th. It’s at the Broadmoor. Beautiful, beautiful venue. And I’m guessing there might be some room, you know, room, special room rates. I don’t know that for sure, but you can sure check with them. Otherwise, just go. Don’t make any excuses. Just go. Tony and Vanita, thanks for taking the time with us. We’re so grateful for you both.
SPEAKER 01 :
Absolutely. And if they do sign up, tell them that if you do sign up for the Broadmoor, for the Colorado Springs event, come and say hi. Introduce yourselves to us and say we heard you on the radio. We would so appreciate that.
