memoirs

“Marriage is a union of two perfectly defective individuals”

That is just one of the quote and quote lines which make sense that reknowed speaker Francis Kong Jr. said during the Marriage to the Max Seminar my husband and I attended last November 20, 2009 at the Xavier Estate’s Club House. I was thrilled when my husband told me his partners invited him to get a ticket and join the seminar. We don’t have major problems with our relationship but we both consider joining this seminar a perfect opportunity to learn more and strengthen our marriage.

Francis Kong Jr. has been trained and licensed by Maximum Impact of Atlanta Georgia to do the Maxwell leadership programs. Trained and licensed by The Ziglar Corporation in London to do the Ziglar Sales and Presentation programs. He is a co-recipient of the Anvil Award for Excellence for the staging of the Dr. John Maxwell Leadership Seminar Series, Recipient of the Year 2006 Gold Quill Philippines Award of merit for Public Speech category sponsored by The International Association of Business Communicators and Recipient of 2008 Dr. Jose Rizal Award for Excellence in the field of Journalism. He also is an author of 10 books. Knowing the background and recognition of the speaker, we know there’s a lot to learn from this guy.

True enough! the venue was jampacked with participants, tickets sold out and there were some couples who went there hoping to still get some tickets. I was glad to see some couple officemates joining the event. The seminar is more than the P380/head ticket cost. The buffet consisted of sumptuous menu we enjoyed during dinner and what’s more fulfilling fact was that the said event ’s proceeds will help feeding children in some part in Cagayan de Oro (I’m sorry, I can’t remember the place correctly). The video of the kids who will benefit are shown and we were all touched of the innocent and happy faces sharing the grace sponsored by the Rotary Club.

The topic majority consisted of the differences between men and women, husbands and wives for that matter. Francis Kong made his discussion fun and enjoyable rather than the traditional serious and boring way of talking in-front. With the differences he cited, we couldn’t help but really laugh! in short tinamaan kaming lahat! hahahahaa! He shared personal stories depicting his commitment to his wife. He pointed out that marriage is not just love but it is more of a commitment. He gave emphasis on putting God in the center of the relationship and that if you want to please God, you will not do anything to upset or dishonor your partner. In hurting your partner, you are displeasing God. So since you value your relationship with God you will not do anything to displease him. It’s a nice cycle one can really ponder. I must admit that we are not the religious type of couple but one thing for sure, we have fear in God. Another topic discussed slightly was how different kids and teenagers already are in this generation! Very true indeed! He jokingly said that telling them na “para silang sirang plaka”, they will not understand it because its simply so out of their world! Plaka is soooo yesterday! You instead say “Para kang DVD na pirated!” hahahahha! that make sense! Celebrity couple Cesar Montano and Sunshine Cruz were also present to grace the night and share there secret as a couple, their struggles in the limelight and what made them stay together despite all the gossip and trials.

We didn’t notice the time and the seminar ended without feeling a bit of boredom and sleepiness (as what normally happens during symposiums ). At the end of the night, we renewed our vows as husbands and wives. We have the copy with our signatures on it to validate our vows (lol! so we won’t deny!). A stem of rose for the wives were hidden underneath each table for the husbands to find. We went home happy and thankful that despite our happy marriage we still took time to join and listen. Francis Kong made a great job in enlightening the couples making us understand our partners more.

These are just few of the differences I gathered.

*It is the woman who brings the relationship. Ones the woman said, she can’t take it anymore and she wants out…..most likely, the relationship is over*

*Men are focused, they cannot multitask, women on the other hand can do a lot of things at the SAME time*

*Women tends to ask for direction when lost, Men find this a sign of weakness* – kaya pala ako lagi nagtatanong ha! LoL!

*Women are better in dealing with emotional wrecks, men seldom handle them well*

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