“You can’t love what you don’t know,” said Libby Dupont during an interview on the Jan. 29 Practicing Catholic radio show. She and her husband, Brad, are leading the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ upcoming Newly Married Retreat, which will be online Feb. 6 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Libby said she and her husband will discuss a number of communication skills during the retreat — which fits with the retreat’s theme, “talking with purpose.”
Libby and Brad DuPont
“Communication in marriage is so important,” Libby said. “I think what happens sometimes in marriage is we put all of our communication in one bucket. … We say, ‘we’re going to talk about this, but we don’t realize that there’s so many different tools to communicate (with). … If I want to have a conversation to reconcile a hurt between us, that’s a different tool than if I just want to get close to my husband or if I want to find out who’s picking up the kids from practice.”
If you need to text your spouse because of distance, for example, Libby said using emojis can help replace the facial expression and tone that are missing from communication that’s not face to face.
The Duponts, who have been married for 17 years, live in Overland Park, Kansas, where Libby is a consultant for Marriage and Family Life at the Archdiocese of Kansas City. She previously served as a youth minister at St. John the Baptist in New Brighton as well as a volunteer and staff member with NET Ministries.
Shehan Perera
Practicing Catholic host Patrick Conley also interviewed Shehan Perera, a manufacturing engineer who, with his wife, Rose, are the lead couple of the Newly Married Retreat Team. He also is a former NET missionary and former peer counselor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. The Pereras, married for four years, attended a different retreat with Libby and Brad last year. “What I loved about the retreat is that … as they are delivering the content, you (say to yourself), ‘Well, that’s something I need to talk to my wife about,’ and then the presenters said, ‘Now turn to your wife and have that conversation,’” Perera said.
“I think, for us, we had some really good conversations about … things that oftentimes went unsaid … and it was wonderful for us,” he said.
Dupont said that she and her husband will address communications that are “other centered” – “making sure that we’re focused and generous on the other. So how can I make it easy if I’m the one speaking? How can I make it easy for the listener to listen? And how, if I’m the listener, can I make it easier for the speaker to speak?
“So … the golden rule of communication in general is, how can I put the other person first?”
The retreat’s target audience is couples married up to seven years. Those interested need to register by Feb. 1 at archspm.org/nmr. The $20 cost per couple includes the course and a downloadable workbook.
To learn more about the retreat — and more of Dupont’s and Perera’s thoughts on using emojis when texting your spouse — tune in to the radio show at 9 p.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM or by using one of the links below.
“Practicing Catholic” is produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Other guest interviews on the Jan. 29 “Practicing Catholic” show are Sarah McCauley, a licensed associate marriage and family therapist, who discusses civil disobedience, and Bishop Andrew Cozzens who addresses missionary discipleship.
Listen to their interviews after they have aired:
soundcloud.com/practicingcatholic
Practicing Catholic on Spotify
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