Some couples celebrate Valentine’s Day with chocolate, flowers or maybe even a fancy dinner. But this year, 45 couples in Florida chose to spend their Valentine’s Day weekend at the Emerald Coast FCA marriage retreat and football clinic. Now, we’re not sure if it was the beach destination or the idea of stealing away their husbands for a weekend that did the trick, but let the record show, the wives CHOSE to include football in their romantic weekend!
Honoring the Sacrifice
High school and college coaches spend countless hours pouring into their athletes both on and off the field, in and out of season. It’s tough to be a coach, but it may be even tougher to be a coach’s wife. A coach and his wife both sacrifice time with their family for the coach’s “other kids,” also known as the team. It’s a tough balance—even if you know what you’re signing up for! But when we sacrifice, we practice what the Gospel teaches. Live like Jesus. The retreat was designed to refresh both coaches and their wives, and to encourage them in their sacrifice.
The couples who attended the event make daily sacrifices as they use their passion for football to impact the next generation. These coaches and their wives even made sacrifices to travel across the state to attend this retreat, hosted by legendary college football coach Tommy Bowden.
Strengthening Marriages
Some couples attended the retreat to strengthen their marriage and others were in distress when they arrived. But at the end of the weekend, they all had one thing in common: every marriage was deeply touched and impacted on an intimate level.
The weekend was filled with guest speakers who were both entertaining and motivating. They spoke directly to the hearts of the coaches and their wives. They understood the issues and needs that coaching couples carry. While the coaches dug deeper into football x’s and o’s, the wives launched FCA’s new Coaches Wives Huddle ministry that encourages wives to connect through fellowship, study of God’s Word, and accountability for each other.
God’s Love Shared
The stories shared during the retreat were great, but the stories shared after the retreat were even more powerful. Marriages were recharged. Coaches began new Coaches Huddles. Wives created Coaches Wives Huddles. Athletes’ lives were being influenced by faith-filled leaders. Ultimately, God’s love was getting shared.
What’s next for Emerald Coast FCA? They’re praying the annual romantic weekend will expand with even more couples from across Florida attending, and coaches from a variety of sports will come. Football shouldn’t get to have all the fun!