Falling For Pine Cove’s Couples Weekend

Editor’s Note: The following post was written by Adrianne “Snicks” Miller, a former Pine Cove Summer and Full-Time Staffer. Read about Adrianne and her husband’s experience at their first Pine Cove couples conference!

One year ago, my husband and I sat in our church community group discussing how things were going with each of the couples. One gal threw out an idea: “What if we all went to Pine Cove’s Romance Me Conference next year?”

Her idea was met with some silence, mostly from the guys. I could see their wheels turning. “Romance Me? Sounds cheesy… And don’t the staff jump and cheer all the time? So will they be cheering for us to be…romantic?”

We tabled it and said we’d revisit the idea – which the wives did, and upon convincing our husbands it would be wonderful, we all signed up.

Fast forward one year. About a month out, we began getting final communications – waivers, directions, what to pack, etc. And my husband and I began getting excited. Me with the idea of how wonderful it would be to be a camper for the first time ever (after being a Summer Staffer for three summers and a full-time staffer for seven years), and him at the idea of a weekend with NO kids. They told us we could arrive anytime between 5-7pm on Friday to check in, and that dinner would begin at 7:00. We arrived at 5:01.

We checked into our cabin, which was incredible by the way, and included the simple touch of roses and candies to set the tone for the weekend. We greeted our friends as they showed up and we walked around touring the Woods. With all the renovations done in the last five years, it was a brand-new camp to me!

And what was that sound… silence??? There was nothing but the sounds of nature and a few quiet conversations between adults here and there – the most peaceful sounds to this mom and dad of three preschool boys.

The next few days did not disappoint! Where else can you have intentional conversations, have your marriage spiritually invested in, and then play? Saturday consisted of delicious food, two deep and meaningful speaker sessions, followed by horseback riding, skeet shooting, a nap, and massages for the two of us. The evening rolled on with a date night dinner, which I assumed would still mean 8-10 of us at a table, but no, each couple had their own table complete with tablecloths, candles, and a server.

They told us after dinner there would be a follow-along painting activity and Jungle Pong – we assumed we would need to choose. And being that my husband and I are old stuff, naturally we were ready to jump all over Jungle Pong. But to my delight and my husband’s chagrin – it was a both/and evening. So we sat together to paint a lovely sunset together, which produced many laughs at our complete lack of artistic talent despite our concealed best efforts. And of course then came Jungle Pong, and playing a competitive game with my man is one of the best ways to end an evening in my book.

By Sunday morning we were refreshed, challenged, well rested, well fed, and ready to return to our Chaos. One of the things our speaker said helps kindle love within a marriage is making plans together and looking forward to them. We took his advice and pre-registered before leaving. Not to mention every guy in our Community Group that attended was completely won over and ready to pre-register as well. This may be an annual event for many years to come for us!

Romance Me Conferences in 2018 will be the weekends of February 2-4, February 9-11, and February 16-18. To register for one of these conferences, please call 877-474-6326. Spots are limited! Speakers and more information can be found here.