April 2004

Skip and Becky Leffler's marriage was on the rocks. The couple had been married 18 years, and neither was sure if they were going to make it any further.

"It was rough, to say the least, for both of us; we were miserable," says Skip. "We didn't know if we'd see 20 years."

They heard about FamilyLife's Weekend to Remember® marriage conference happening in Dallas in 1986, and decided to give it a try.

The conference was the largest of its kind that FamilyLife had ever done with 2,950 attendees. Becky remembers being amidst all those people wondering what her own future had in store. "I was sitting and crying, not knowing if we were going to make it or not," she admits. Her eyes water and voice quivers at the memory. "Yet I left that conference with a little glimmer of hope that God could restore our marriage."

"There was no earthly reason for our marriage to last," Skip says. "The advice our so-called friends gave us was if it doesn't work out, get divorced. But that's not God's plan." They learned all about His plan for their marriage at the conference. They lasted another year, then attended another Weekend to Remember conference, and again the following year.

Now, 18 years after the initial one, Becky and Skip's marriage is in such good shape that they coordinate the conference that takes place annually in Dallas. They've been volunteering as Dallas or Fort Worth city ministry directors for 15 years.

This year, Skip, a banker, and Becky, a homemaker, rounded up about 15 couples to help them plan and organize the conference. All their labor—from praying for the getaway, to marketing it in churches to answering hundreds of phone calls—paid off in a big way. This year's Weekend to Remember conference April 2-4 in Dallas was the largest of its kind in the history of FamilyLife, trumping the one that God used to save their marriage nearly two decades ago.

"Once you've been changed, you see what God can do, and you want to tell others about it," says Becky.

Last year, for example, they met a couple on the verge of divorce. Skip and Becky convinced them to attend a conference, and they went. This year, while couples registered for the gathering, Becky spotted them in line. They were kissing. They spotted Skip and Becky and asked if they remembered them. "Of course we did," says Becky. "They said, 'We are happy now.' It was so worth it. This is the reason we do this."

They do more. According to Pat Alvey, who promoted the conference at his church in Tyler, Tex., "The Lefflers [financially] helped 10 to 12 couples from our church. Skip and Becky were so gracious." Plus, everybody they knew who even talked to the Lefflers attended the conference."

"You have to have the passion and the enthusiasm or it would be a chore," says Skip. "You can't do it on your own strength. It's God."

The God who restored their marriage years ago is the same God who is using them to help other spouses stay committed to each other for the rest of their lives.