Marriage Preparation


We went to a meeting last night in Pensacola for the FOCCUS program (yes, it has 2 Cs)- that’s the other marriage prep program we work with. (The other is Pre-Cana) It was a typical church-type meeting with nothing exciting. It was interesting that there were 3 people there from Penny’s past 20+ years that were also involved in the program. 2 of them were deacons!


We will be having an engaged couple over for their first FOCCUS session in February. We will see them anywhere fro 2 to 5 times depending on how much work they need in their communication with one another. They are getting married in June so we should have no problem getting the necessary sessions in.


The more interesting observation on this trip is the changes that have taken place in Pensacola. Most of the I-110 roadwork is complete and the new I-10 double bridge is open (That was damaged by a hurricane 2 years ago). We got off the interstate at the University Mall exit. It is now a wide multiple lane (5 or 6 lanes, I’m not sure) exit and it took me a couple of minutes to figure out where I was. It was like a dream where everything is there but seems a little off. University Mall is about to close for renovations. When we stopped for a bite at Crystal near Cordova mall we saw why. Cordova mall now has some better stores – Ann Taylor Loft, World Market and Cold Water Creek to name some. Even the Crystal had changed; it was neat, clean and had good service. It also had Wi-Fi available. A MacDonald’s we passed later also had Wi-Fi. I guess that’s a new trend in fast food. The Krispy Kreme store is brand new and is brick construction. It looked very up-scale. Bottom line is that Pensacola appears to be improving itself nicely. Our town can take a lesson from them.

When I turned on the TV today it was on ABC morning news. I was about to turn the channel when they said they were going to take the Clinton and Obama statements from their little debate squabble and see who was telling the truth – I had to see this, I couldn’t believe that they would actually provide this information. They took each candidates statement – declared it true or false and backed it up with a film clip verifying their classification. It was great. Then they actually talked live with Obama about his falsehoods and he did a marvelous job of obfuscation. As he danced around the question the commentator reminded him about his comment that he would have to see Bill Clinton dance before he would say Clinton was the first black president. So he was asked if he would see him dance. Obama said that Clinton could dance all he wanted at his (Obama’s) Inauguration Ball. I thought it was a good answer.