January's 'opening day' of divorce season
We picture the holidays as a happy time, with families gathered
cheerfully around the tree. Reality doesn’t often match the Hollywood image.
For many, the holiday season adds increased pressure to an already struggling marriage.
Issues like overspending, along with differing expectations and conflicts with in-laws, can push some
relationships to the breaking point.
BY AMY MORGAN
In fact, the first day children go
back to school in January after winter
break is “opening day of divorce
season,” says Carl Caton, founder of the
San Antonio Marriage Initiative
(SAMI). “Many hold out until after
Christmas, and then they have just had
it. They file in January, and the divorce
rate peaks in March every year.”
Carl created SAMI 10 years ago to
change the narrative in our culture
about marriage and to give couples
hope. “Never has it been so important
to speak positively about marriage,” he
says. “We want to share the beauty and
possibility of marriage and the impact
it has on family and society.”
The good news is that San Antonio’s
healthy marriage indicators have been
moving in a positive direction. In the
past ten years, the divorce rate has
dropped 26.5%, despite an increase in
the number of marriages.
Carl notes San Antonio’s statistics
— 400,000 marriages, 80,000 couples
struggling and 9,000 filing for divorce.
Of those filing, half of them did so
because they didn’t know what else to
do, he says. SAMI provides alternatives
to divorce, by training and equipping
leaders on the front lines of preserving
marriages — pastors, counselors,
church marriage ministries and
“champion couples,” who walk along-side
others. Thousands find help and
hope through support emails, videos,
6 www.saBeacon.com December 2019 / January 2020
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