10&10 and A Whole Lot More

Social Media Frenzy

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:36:00 +0000

This may be the wrong place to share this being that if you're reading this, you're already online but we understand how muttling through all the blog/facebook/twitter/so-on can be quite daunting. So here's a little video that gives some more of the WHY behind it. Not helpful in the HOW department, we know but hopefully a little motivational and inspirational.

Hang in there!

Love!

Bill n Heather

WWME Dinner Cruise on the Majestic!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:19:00 +0000

Please forgive the delay in posting but this year's WWME Community dinner cruise was a great time! We sailed on July 30th and much to our pleasant surprise, we were on the Majestic, the flagship of the Gateway Clipper fleet. And the weather was perfect as the sun set on the Ohio River! Check out some photos and plan to join us next time!

Love!

Bill n Heather

Altoona/Johnstown Faith Day with The Curve!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:14:00 +0000

Hey Everyone,

We had the great pleasure of attending mass on a baseball field! The new bishop of the Altoona/Johnstown Diocese, Bishop Mark Bartchak celebrated mass on the field at the Blair County Ballpark Sunday July 10th. Read more at www.ajdiocese.org. The mass was accompanied by Faith Day where we were able to setup a booth and spread the word about Worldwide Marriage Encounter along with other ministries.

We even got to meet Bishop Mark and discuss how WWME can work with the diocese.

Prior to the Faith Day festivities, we had our team meeting hosted by Rick and Evie at their wonderful homestead.

Thanks to Rick and Evie for hosting a great day and for taking the lead in spreading the message of WWME in Altoona Johnstown!

The 4 Pillars of WWME

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:03:00 +0000

Hey everyone!

Did you know that each of the levels of WWME that we talked about in our last post are divided into 4 pillars. They are (in no particular order):

The Team Pillar, The Weekend Pillar, The Community Pillar, and The Structure Pillar. So what do all of these Pillars do?

The Team Pillar is basically the presenting team. The primary job of the presenting team is to present the weekends of course.
The presenting team writes the weekend talks using their personal experiences in hopes that through their sharing, they can help you have the best marriage possible.
They are not trained counselors or therapists. They are regular people just like you that have real life joys and sorrows.

The couples on our area presenting team are:

Bob and Cyndy McGill, Greg and Lorraine Fischer, Rick and Evie Wess, Fred and Sally Thomas, Fr Don Trexler, Bill and Heather Kreke (thats us!) and the two new additions to the presenting team are Terry and Beth Gillis, and Jamie and Karen Guentner.

WWME would not exist if it was not for all of the hard work that all of the people that volunteer their time for it. So to all of the past and present members of the presenting team, thank you for your love and dedication.

Next time we'll be talking about our weekend pillar and all of the wonderful people who's "jobs" fall under that pillar.

Love!

Bill n Heather

Onward to Glory

Did you know?

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:41:00 +0000

Hello All,

As promised (a while ago) here is the first f a series of Did You Know? blogs. These blogs are to provide you guys with a little more information about WWME.

Did you know that WWME is so much more than just the weekends and community gatherings that go on around here? It is a world wide organization that is made up of multiple levels? The levels of WWME are not a hierarchy like a business, they are all interdependent upon each other to function.

Local Area Level: That's us! We are made up of the areas covered by the Pittsburgh and Greensburg Dioceses as well as an outreach to the Altoona/Johnstown Diocese. The local level includes all of those involved in community and the couples who presented your weekend. We (Bill n Heather Kreke) are the local area leaders and we communicate with the presenting team, couples in our area, as well as with other area leaders, and to our section leaders.

Section Level: Our section is made up of PA, Western NY, South and Central Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. Bill and I attend quarterly section meetings to share ideas and concerns with other areas. Our section leaders are Mark and Joyce Kulyk from Erie, PA.

The North American Secretariat: This is the U.S. and Canada put together. Mark and Joyce Kulyk also communicate with all of the other section leaders at quarterly national meetings.

The World Council: The World Council is made up of all of the Ecclesial teams from around the world, including Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Pacific, and Pan Africa. They are led by the International Ecclesial Team: Tony & Cathy Witczak and Fr. Emile Frische, MHM.

Prayers please for WWME in Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:01:00 +0000

Dear Lovers,

Please see the note below from the Pan African Secretariat leaders regarding the upcoming weekend in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As you can see, the local area struggles to fund their weekends and with the lack of priests; but they are not giving up. Please keep them in your prayers for a successful Weekend.

Dear Family,

Greetings from Africa! Congo (DRC) is planning a WE for July 22-24, 2011, (below, in French). It is the richest country in Africa and the country where the population is the poorest.

The cost of the WE in kinshasa is about the yearly salary of an ordinary worker. And they have been struggling with the lack of priests. They are not giving up; can we keep them in our prayers please?

With love

Michael, Francoise and Fr Joseph

PanAf Team

Love!

Bill n Heather

Permission...

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:07:00 +0000

Hi Everyone and Happy Wednesday!

We read a number of other blogs about healthy, happy marriage. In a recent post on The Generous Husband, Paul shares an observation that most people tend to wait for "permission" to do anything that is out of the ordinary.

Paul writes "Since we live in a culture where good marriages are scarce and great marriages are truly rare, it seems logical that some are waiting for permission to have a great marriage. Maybe it’s not as much permission as confirmation that it’s possible, or that they can do it."

On a WWME weekend, we are asked to live a radical lifestyle, one that would be considered strange to many others who see marriage as a restriction on their freedom or worse. Do you ever feel pressured to give into "spouse bashing" amongst your friends or coworkers? Do you ever feel pressure not to be the best marriage you can be?

Well, here's your permission.

You are now permitted to live an "impossible" marriage!

Love!

Bill n Heather

When it rains, it pours...

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 05 May 2011 15:13:00 +0000

On this one beautiful sunny day after many many rainy dreary days, I am reminded of Steven Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People where he writes about the first, most foundational habit: Be Proactive. Being proactive is like carrying your own good weather with you wherever you go; think of it as "I don't let bad weather become my excuse for my bad mood".

What got me thinking today was that proactivity is hard work. With such a beautiful day, its easy to be in a good mood. On the flip side, Heather and I have also found that when the "weather" is particularly bad, its also easy to get sour quickly.

"Weather" can be anything around you; work, in-laws, the kids, school, you get the idea. When it rains, it pours... such a common cliche. There's truth in those words-but there's an out-ONLY IF WE LET IT!

When we're in a bad mood, things only seem worse than they really are. Trust these words! When negative feelings start to pour over you, embrace them for what they are-a natural response to a tough situation-and keep moving, the sun will come back!

Onward to Glory!

Bill loves Heather Kreke

WWME Flash Mob

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:02:00 +0000

Hello All!

WWME Flash Mobs seem to be getting more and more popular! We have been challenged by the WWME North American Weekend Pillar and our Section Leaders to draw even more attention to WWME by holding a WWME Flash Mob in the month of July!

What do you guys think? If you have ideas for locations, (Think somewhere with LOTS of people!) dates or what to do comment below!

Copy the links and paste them into your address bar to check out the WWME Flash Mobs

Singapore:

http://youtu.be/tdCOnlh9lUc

Florida:

http://youtu.be/UR7dicczNTg

By the way...Don't know what the North American Weekend Pillar is or who our Section Leaders are? We are going to be explaining those things in the next couple blog posts :)

Onward To Glory!

Love,
Heather and Bill

WWME Movie Night

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:05:00 +0000

Need a date night with your spouse?!

WWME is gong to be hosting a movie night! This event is what we know as an inviting invent. It is going to be used to promote WWME. We encourage all Encountered couples to come and bring along other married couples you know who could benefit from a WWME weekend. We will be giving a short presentation about the great things WWME has done for lots of people and then we will be showing the movie What If... (See info about the movie and link to trailer below).

Just like at One Community we will have pizza and free babysitting! We will also have a cake, cause who doesn't like cake?! :)

The move will be shown at St. Ferdinand Church on Friday, June 10th. Doors will open at 6:00pm. The movie will start at 6:45pm.

Please RSVP no later than June 7th. We need to know how many people will be there so we can arrange seating and food.

If anyone has any questions feel free to e-mail us :)

View Trailer:
http://oceanup.com/2010/04/12/debby-ryan-what-if-movie-trailer

It stars Kevin Sorbo, Kristy Swanson, Debby Ryan, and John Ratzenberger.

What If… tells the story of Ben Walker (Kevin Sorbo), who fifteen years ago left his college sweetheart Wendy (Kristy Swanson), and his calling to be a preacher, in order to pursue a business opportunity. Now with a high-paying executive gig, a trophy fiancé, and a new Mercedes, he hasn’t considered a family nor felt the need to set foot in a church in fifteen years.

But God has other plans. While on a thrill ride outside the city, his new car mysteriously breaks down, and he’s visited by a tow truck driver named Mike (John Ratzenberger) who claims to be an angel sent to show Ben what his life would look like had he followed his true calling. Suddenly Ben wakes up in the middle of domestic chaos as his “wife” Wendy and daughters (including Disney Channel’s Debby Ryan) are getting ready for church, where Ben is the new pastor.

Before he can get back to his old life, Ben must first embrace this reality and discover the value of faith and family, and perhaps restore his love for those who were heartbroken fifteen years ago: Wendy…and God. In the tradition of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Family Man,” What If… is a story of finding your true purpose in life.

Love,

Heather and Bill

Onward To Glory!

April's One Community

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:12:00 +0000

Hello All!

One more reminder that One Community will be held on April 16th at St Ferdinand Church in Cranberry. 2535 Rochester Road Cranberry Twp, PA 16066. Dinner starts at 5pm, presentation starts at 6pm, we will warp up no later than 7:30pm. St Ferd's had a 4pm mass if anyone wants to attend mass before community. Free baby-sitting will be provided so bring the kids. There are toys to play with and they usually watch a movie as well. :)

We will have pizza for dinner, please bring a side dish or dessert to share. We will have a basket for a free will offering to help us pay for the pizza.

It does not matter how many times you have been to community or if you have never attended at all. It does not matter is your weekend was in February 2011 or if it was 30 years ago. Everyone is welcome, come meet some new friends or reconnect with people you haven't seen for a while. :)

Please RSVP by leaving a comment so we know how many pizzas to order :) (If you have already responded on Facebook or by e-mail there is no need to reply here.)

May's One Community gathering will be May 21st. A reminder e-mail will be sent closer to that date.

Love,

Heather and Bill Kreke

Get your photo on the WWME website!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:45:00 +0000

Did You Know that a photo of you as a couple or family can be featured on the North American WWME website? The photos will be rotated to show the many faces of couples involved in WWME. Please send a jpg photo to Dick and Diane and Fr. Dick for use on the website. They will then request written permission from you to use the photo for WWME inviting and marketing purposes and on the website.

If you would like additional information, please contact the National WWME Weekend Pillar Coordinators, Dick & Diane Baumbach - dickanddiane66(at)bellsouth.net and Fr. Dick Morse - rmorse[at]bex.net.

Onward to Glory!

Bill n Heather

The Bad times are REAL!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:22:00 +0000

We have been given a taste lately of the bitterness that comes along with an argument. In our case, it has been over a playset for our girls. As we've gone back and forth through this, the issue keeps coming down to money, the classic quarrel.

It has been an interesting lesson for us and there has been a flood of feelings that we've dialogued about like guilt over skimping on what we give the kids, fear about a lack of financial security, etc. As our argument became more and more heated, we had other feelings like failure - what will others think of us if they knew we had such a bad fight? We felt insecurity - we're in a leadership role, everyone is looking to us to be a perfect example.

Then we had a realization. This is REAL. Everyone has arguments like this. Its human nature. What Worldwide Marriage Encounter and the couples who have impacted us have done for us is that now, when we hit rock bottom, we decide to forgive. We decide to love. We decide to try again. We remember our vows and we DO them! Through good times and BAD.

The issue isn't resolved, it may not be for some time. The important thing is that we remember to love each other in the process.

Dialogue on this: Do I believe it is REAL and allowable for us to hit rock bottom? HDIFAT? (How do I feel about this?)

Onward to Glory!

Bill n Heather

Leadership Through Relationship - LTR!!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:17:00 +0000

Hi Everyone,

We just got back from our LTR training in New Jersey. What a great experience! We met so many other great couples from as far away as Hawaii! We've also learned a bunch of excellent new ideas for our area so stay tuned for more exciting news!

A couple of photos of our Section 3 couples who attended.

Left to right: Us, Kathy and Barney, Father Joe, Mark and Joyce, and Ron and Jackie

Father Joe with Kathy and Barney

And a few of the other great couples we met!

Frank and Veronica and Janet and Mike

Fred and Jenny

Onward to Glory!

Bill n Heather

Get updates about the area via email!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:33:00 +0000

Hi Everyone!

We've just added the ability to receive updates to this blog as an email so you don't have to keep checking back. Just put your email address in the box at the top right and follow the instructions. Its just that simple!

By the way, the April Weekend in State College if filling up fast, in fact there are only a few spots left so get the word out!

Love!

Bill n Heather

One-Community!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:38:00 +0000

Hi Everyone,

If you've already been on a WWME weekend, come to our area-wide One-Community meeting this Saturday, March 19th.

RSVP to bill.heather.kreke[at]gmail.com. Please pardon the [at], we just want to avoid spam.

Love!

Bill n Heather

One-Community February this Saturday!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:23:00 +0000

Hi Everyone,

If you've already been on a WWME weekend, come to our area-wide One-Community meeting this Saturday, February 26th.

RSVP to bill.heather.kreke[at]gmail.com. Please pardon the [at], we just want to avoid spam.

Love!

Bill n Heather

Reflection on The Five Love Languages Feb 15th

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:16:00 +0000

February 15th at 7PM at St Malachy's in Kennedy Twp, married couples and the engaged are invited to an evening of reflection on "The 5 Love Languages" by Dr. Gary Chapman, marriage counselor. Mary and Lou Locante from WWME will be the speakers for this evening.

The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. in the church with prayers and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The Locantes' talk will follow in Weirauch Hall. A free will offering will be taken. A social will be provided. Child care is available. For more information about the evening please call the Parish Office at 412-771-5483.

Let's make this February Weekend Happen!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:46:00 +0000

The next WWME weekend for our area is February 18-20 at the Gilmary Center in Coraopolis.

Please, invite anyone you know who could benefit from a great marriage (anyone, right). This week is the last week to get signed up!

We are still trying to get a priest to present so we will keep you posted.

Also, we are starting to pair up prayer couples with the weekend couples. We pray that you will be open to praying for and welcoming these new couples into our Community.

Love!

Bill n Heather

One Community 01.29.11

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 04:08:00 +0000

WOW!

Tonight was our area's first One Community Gathering and wow!

We are overwhelmed by the response to this idea. Eighteen couples got together tonight. Many have been involved in Community for some time. Others have been away for some time. And others still have never been in Community! We felt the Holy Spirit tonight in a very real and tangible way through these couples!

We presented "Changing the World One Couple at a Time" where we shared how other WWME couples have been changing our marriage and lives for the better. Now its all of our turn to go out and share God's love with others.

We are flying high tonight!

See you all next month February 26. Pizza at 5PM at St Ferdinand Church in Cranberry Twp. Presentation at 6, done by 7:30. Babysitters will be provided.

World Marriage Day is Sunday February 13th!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:42:00 +0000

Dear U.S. Lovers,

We urge you to visit the home page of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops ( www.usccb.org ). The front page story is about World Marriage Day and credits WWME as promoting this World Marriage Day and also notes that World Marriage Day received the Apostolic Blessing of Pope John Paul II in 1993. The article also refers readers to our World Marriage Day website (http://wmd.wwme.org). We are so grateful to our World Marriage Day coordinators Deacon Mario and Olga Lopez and Fr. Joe DiMauro for all the work they have put into publicizing World Marriage Day! Please share this in your Areas, pass it along to all the circles and communities.

We have the Bishops’ attention! Now it is time for us to show them what we can do!

With our love,

ScottandKaren & Fr. Tom

"Feed my sheep" (John 21:17)

Also, the Diocese of Pittsburgh will be celebrating World Marriage Day on Feb 12th at St John Neumann Parish in Franklin Park. It will start with a mass at 5:30pm, Father Bob Guay will be presiding. There will be a wine and cheese reception following the mass. The evening will be capped off with a presentation by Father Joe Freedy. This is for all couples who are engaged or married so please invite your friends. There is a $10.00 per couple donation requested.

To register please call the Office for Adult and Family Formation. 412-456-3160

Love!

Bill n Heather

We are one community!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 03:08:00 +0000

WWME is a movement that is bigger than any of us alone, it is led by the Holy Spirit and is made up of national, regional, and local area presenting team couples and priests who all volunteer their time to keep this movement alive. While our area leadership team is busy coordinating the weekends, the soul of our area is kept alive by the community of encountered couples in our local sharing circles. Every weekend and the growth of our area are direct results of the hard work of all you devoted couples and the presence of the Holy Spirit among us.

Our vision for our area starts with our Community. We are excited to unite and strengthen this wonderful area and to see us all grow together.

Beginning January 29th, it is our pleasure to invite all of you to our first area-wide Community gathering for enrichment and sharing at St. Ferdinand Church in Cranberry Twp. Pizza will arrive at 5:00 just after the 4:00 mass and the presentation will begin at 6:00 to be followed by 10&10 and small group sharing. We are arranging for babysitters and a kids' room as well so everyone can come. If you have older children who are willing and able to watch the younger kids, please let us know. Please RSVP by emailing bill.heather.kreke[at]gmail.com

This will be an ongoing monthly Community gathering for all encountered couples in our area. We look forward to seeing you there!

The dates for the next five months are as follows. All Saturdays.

Jan 29
Feb 26
March 19
April 16
May 21

Love and Hugs!

Bill n Heather Kreke

January 2011 Section Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 03:03:00 +0000

We just attended the January quarterly section meeting for WWME.

Did you know that our area is part of a whole section including all of PA, most of NY, NJ, MD, and DE?

We had a lot of good discussions there including some improvements coming to the national website at www.wwme.org and the online application process for couples coming to the weekends.

Our fearless section leaders, Mark and Joyce, had a friend of theirs make beautiful crosses with the WWME logo on them for each of the sections. Here's the area leadership board with their crosses and a close up too.

Hello!

noreply@blogger.com (Bill n Heather Kreke) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 02:48:00 +0000

Hi There,

Welcome to the new Worldwide Marriage Encounter Southwest n Central PA Area Community Blog!

That's a mouthful, right!

We are Bill and Heather Kreke, currently the area leaders for WWME. We've started this blog to get in touch with the other encountered couples in the area and to get them in touch with each other and with the WWME mission.

We will be posting various topics that may be helpful to area couples as well as news about the WWME movement and opportunities for couples to step up and help.

Stay tuned!

Love!

Bill n Heather