“Don’t stop doing this,” she told us as tears rolled down each of her cheeks. “It can feel hard to make this happen, especially as time goes on, your families grow, and ‘life’ happens, but don’t stop gathering together. Community is CRUCIAL in this life and these friendships will become absolutely invaluable, they will become family.”

All four of us couples were getting ready to go our separate ways after a weekend together at Tauschek’s Bed and Breakfast in Plymouth, Wisconsin. All four wives — we lived together in college and a couple of months ago, we decided that a weekend away with our husbands would be a wonderful way to rest and catch up! We found a log cabin B&B (with exactly four rooms!) and we each rented out a room for the whole weekend. We had the house to ourselves and spent the weekend cooking meals together, playing board games, and going for a snowshoe hike (the only thing I actually remembered to take pictures of, which I think speaks for itself!). It was WONDERFUL, so good to spend that semi-“unplugged” time together, and really catch up on one another’s lives.

As we were leaving, the B&B owner shared the words I wrote in the beginning of the post with us. The importance of gathering together and making the valuable relationships in your life a priority. Her words were SO heartfelt and so powerful — I knew she was speaking from experience.

When I stop and think about it, though, I mean … how hard was this weekend to plan? A couple of months ago, one of the wives sent out the idea in a Facebook message, proposed a month we do it, and we all picked a weekend that worked. It was far enough in advance that we could easily make any needed plans around the weekend away and let me tell you, I think I can vouch for each couple in saying that any “hassle” that might have come along with making the weekend happen was SO worth it.

Today, I guess my message is simple — “don’t stop doing this,” like she told us. Don’t stop meeting together or intentionally finding time for those relationships you value in your life. Don’t let excuses interfere or “life” get in the way — it really isn’t THAT hard to make it happen and the time together might just be exactly what your soul needs <3