Our "couples weekend" is this weekend. I wish I had a better name for it. There are four couples (and nine, almost ten, children!) and we spend two or three days together talking and talking and talking. I've written about it before. Basically it's a time to do a yearly examen out loud, with dear and trusted friends. We've been through deaths, births (lots of those), job stuff, marriage stuff, depressions as well as highs, and plenty of questions of faith. Sometimes it turns into couples counseling. Sometimes its clear that one couple needs way more time than the rest of us. Sometimes we're in mourning, sometimes it's a total celebration.
It's a little awkward telling other people what we do on our weekend. I mean, I just up and say, "We hear each other's stories and then we pray for each other. And we eat. A lot." Usually people think that's just swell and move on. But sometimes people seem a little weirded out by it. I guess because we're not a church group or bible study, just a group of friends who made a commitment to do this every year. AND IT'S BEEN SO GOOD.
It's just nice to have this place where nothing falls through the cracks. Like if something were wrong in our marriage, it would come out here. Our friends don't hold back. They would hold us up and get us through whatever we were going through. That's probably the easiest-identified benefit.
But it's also pretty awesome to pray for each other too. I look forward to it every year. I don't get to do that with just anyone. Hardly ever, really, and God is always with us. ALWAYS. It's kind of crazy, because we're not all super holy or anything (although one of us IS a campus ministry director, she probably wins the holy sweepstakes) and why should we hear so clearly once a year? But that same friend once said that she thinks God "honors" our weekend, that he loves that we've put aside time to do this once a year, and he always meets us. I think that could be it.
I used to get all anxious about what I was going to SHARE and how I would SHARE it, but I'm a little older now, not to mention more tired, more busy, and more don't-care about the whole thing. I haven't given too much thought to what I will say about my year, other than 1) we survived grad school and 2) I would please like to have this baby NOW. But hopefully this just means I'll be more in tune with what the others are going to say, that I can really listen to them because I'm not obsessed about my own story.
Hopefully I will also not be obsessed with all the things I'm sure I won't get done in time - vacuuming, anyone? Sigh.
Have a wonderful weekend!
I think that this tradition is just amazing. I one day hope to have this same level of fellowship. You're so blessed.
Posted by: Sarah in Ottawa | 09/02/2011 at 07:14 AM
This is really amazing to me not only that you DO this, but that you have friends to do it with. I can't think of any friends of ours that I'd want to do this with. Actually, maybe one or two couples, but they aren't local so it wouldn't work anyway. Have a great time!
Posted by: A'Dell | 09/04/2011 at 06:54 PM