On Saturday morning, May 19, the married ministry of the Ocean State Church of Christ gathered for breakfast and fellowship at the Blackstone Valley Historical Society in Lincoln.

At 8:30 am, they began to arrive bringing in quiche, bagels, eggs, sausage and more. There was a buzz in the room, as couples came in with kids left behind. Freedom to relax and enjoy good friends and food hung over the room. After about an hour, everyone headed upstairs.

For the next hour and a half, there was some great teaching on marriage and parenting from Chris and Michelle Charon, members of the Worcester church. Their emphasis on seeking God first, spending quality and individual time with the kids, practicing hospitality and a host of godly wisdom left us all spiritually satisfied. Following a period of questions and answers – small discipleship groups broke up to discuss what we had learned from the day.

As the morning concluded, all worked together to clean up and catch a few more minutes of discussion and laughter. Around noon, all had gone back to their lives, but with a little more heart and strength for the journey.