Support for First Responder Marriages
First Responders provide a servant role in society; it is a giving of oneself. The same giving mentality applies to the spouse of a First Responder. We are one in our endeavor and our commitment to the calling. Many first responders are married to first responders, some in a different arena than the other. It is paramount to take care of your Marriage in positive ways – the rewards will be profound.
Daily Dialogue is the central concept taught in Worldwide Marriage Encounter using the 10 and 10 technique. In nearly all situations, dialogue is a beneficial method to explore the feelings of one another. Utilizing this technique enables you to actually feel what your spouse is feeling. How cool is that!
As you begin dialoguing at home, please refer to your Experience workbook, regularly, to review the W.E.D.S. technique. Like a sport, dialogue will take practice and using this technique will keep you on track for success in your daily dialogue.
Remember, feelings are neither right or wrong. They are a spontaneous inner reaction to a person, place or situation. Thoughts are not feelings. Thoughts include judgments, opinions, beliefs, ideas, concepts and perceptions.
The goal in dialogue is to experience your spouse’s feeling.
The Online Dialogue Resource lists, at right, will help you to experience your spouses, feelings, daily. In turn, this will bring more intimacy and ultimately joy into your relationship, each time you dialogue.
Special Considerations
Community offers relationships of like-minded couples. Having social circles within a chosen field of endeavor is appropriate, mostly because of common ground. Building or adding to a different community separate from work can lend itself to broader perspectives in society. Church groups, bible study and the Worldwide Marriage Encounter community opens the door to a richer environment to continue to build your relationship and share it with the world.
Keep your marriage special. Keep your Sacrament sacred. Live intimately and responsibly as a couple and hold your unity in high regard. If you work hard and do well at your employment, then your marriage deserves the same effort, and more.
Many First Responders are also current or former military. We salute you and please know that Worldwide Marriage Encounter offers resources for Military Marriages.
Heidi and Steve Prentup are retired from law enforcement with over 65 years of combined service in Colorado and have been married for over twenty years. Both began as patrol officers and finished their careers as Division Chief and Commander, respectively. Heidi was one of the principals in bringing a peer support program into the agency where she worked recognizing the extraordinary need in taking care of one another as first responders.
Since 2003, they have presented over thirty various WWME Experiences and Marriage Enrichments. They “walk the walk” and dialogue daily on any topic you can imagine. Understanding and experiencing each other’s feelings has been pivotal in their lives together as first responders. They are committed to spreading the good news and benefits of Daily Dialogue to all First Responders.