Meghan and Pete fell madly in love at their small Midwestern college. When they weren't in class, or working their respective jobs, they spent every waking moment together. After just a few months, the couple began to dance around the subject of marriage. A year later they made a commitment to one another before God and their friends and families.
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The married couple moved to Washington, D.C., where Meghan started a prestigious internship on Capital Hill, and Pete waited tables while saving for medical school. In spite of the busyness of life, the two loved the newness of marriage and their friendship with one another.Flash forward fifteen years: Meghan and Pete have four young children. Meghan left her job as a Senator's aid eight years ago to raise their newborn son. Pete, now a doctor, works long hours at a large teaching hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.While the two are active together in ministry at their church, they have lost the fire of friendship that once defined their relationship. They work hard to keep up with schedules, work, finances, church activities and taking care of the home - it is not uncommon for them to go a week or more without having a mere ten minute conversation about anything other than a recollection of events. At the suggestion of another Christian couple they've instituted a "date night" once a week. More often than not, however, this practice has fallen victim to the tyranny of the urgent.
The word "friendship" conjures up thoughts of honesty, vulnerability, companionship, and mutual respect. It also implies a certain outlaying of time and energy. C.S. Lewis said of friendship: "It is when we are doing things together that friendship springs up - painting, sailing ships, praying, philosophizing, and fighting shoulder to shoulder. Friends look in the same direction."
