St. Isidore’s marriage preparation retreat: spiritual, educational, fun
By Shanda Walker
Senior in Public Relations
Kansas State University
The marriage preparation retreat at St. Isidore’s Catholic Student Center has become a strong tradition and is highly popular. The weekend consists of various talks, time for the couple to reflect together and time for personal reflection and prayer. Over the last 10 years, St. Isidore’s has seen approximately 700 couples attend the marriage preparation retreat.
A very important part of the weekend is the direction given by Father Keith Weber and three married couples. These couples range from 2-3 years of marriage, to more than 25 years of marriage. The couples are asked to speak on several topics related to living a Christ-centered marriage and their past experiences. The weekend also consists of speakers or activities focusing on everyday living, children, finances, in-laws, the newly-wed game and private discussion time for each couple.
Phil and Nikki Wankum are one of the couples who have helped with the marriage preparation weekend for five years. They have been married for 11 years and attended marriage preparation in 1993. They now live in Manhattan, Kan. and attend Seven Dolors parish.
"The weekend has lots of valuable information. We hope it helps prepare the couples for a real-life marriage and gives them different ways to look at problems; but most significantly we hope they see the importance of God in a marriage. With God in their marriage, they can have a happy; not perfect, but very happy life together," said the Wankums.
The Wankum’s marriage experiences have been shared with many engaged couples, along with the experiences of Kirk and Kim O’Donnell. The O’Donnells have been married for 25 years and have been a part of the marriage preparation weekend for more than 15 years.
"For the weekend, we feel it is important to plan on being open and honest with your partner, say what you believe and give the weekend to the one you love," said the O’Donnells. "Forget everything else and concentrate on the person you are going to marry with no distractions."
Another aspect of a Catholic marriage that the O’Donnells bring to the weekend is education on natural family planning. Kim O’Donnell educates many couples in this area and shares her expertise with the couples on the marriage preparation weekend.
"The weekend is great fun! We are lucky we get to go. Father Keith is so positive and energetic and coaches the team through the weekend so well," said the O’Donnells.
"Father Keith adds so much to this weekend. He puts so much energy towards the weekend. He keeps it fun, yet gets some very important points across," added the Wankums.