MCG SPOTLIGHT: A YEAR OF JOY
Looking Back on Our 1st Year
by: Alli Malikowski, WCI Leader Couple, Roseville, MN.
As I assume many are familiar, Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a time for everything. For many, the season of being newly married, working, navigating a residency program, and welcoming newborns into the family does not necessarily correlate with committing to a group that meets weekly. It simply doesn’t seem like that is the ideal time amidst everything. For many, there may be a temptation there in the busiest seasons of life to turn inward, to limit community time, to spend less time in prayer, to isolate.
Thankfully for us, the Lord’s timing is and forever will be better than our own. A year ago around this time, my husband, Jordan, and I had just finished the leadership training and were starting to ask couples if they would prayerfully consider joining our Married Couple Group (MCG) to follow and live out Saint John Paul II’s Rule for Married Couples. Before we met with each couple, we couldn’t help but think of a hundred and one reasons why they would probably say no: “They just got married. They are far too busy with work. They are busy enough with residency and their baby.” The list continued. By the grace of God, every couple we asked said yes.
Don’t get me wrong, two couples had just gotten married and were navigating being newlyweds. Another couple was juggling residency and caring for their baby, and the other couple was also in the midst of starting new positions at work. The reasons to avoid joining a group that met weekly at that point in their lives were evidently there, no doubt, but the desire for a community that strengthened their marriage and encouraged joy in their families was greater.
As we reflect on this year, we are simply overwhelmed with the generosity and goodness of the Lord. In a season of life that tempted us to turn inward, we were faithful to the yes that caused us to pour outward into our community. We often found ourselves wondering how we were all able to make it work; the evident conclusion was that if we were willing to prioritize our marriage and intentionally set aside time each week, He would bless us abundantly. Abundantly He did indeed bless us. Over the course of the year, we walked through the first workbook and deepened our understanding of the Rule. Our prayer, both with and for one another, has grown. The weekly consistency of the group has allowed the trust and vulnerability to strengthen amidst all the couples, and we have supported and loved each other deeply through many major life events. We have, as one could say, truly become a family of families. For that, we will be forever grateful.
As we look forward to the upcoming year, we continue to ask the Lord to bless our commitment and small “yes” that He so evidently provides for and multiples tenfold. There is a time and season for everything, and this clearly is the time for our marriages and families to change the world.
Want to start your own married couple group following St. John Paul II's Rule? Learn how here!