Once upon a time (isn’t that how all good stories start?), nine years ago to be exact, my hubby and I were navigating our way through our first year of marriage in the midst of my college classes and part time job and his full time job. Most of the people we knew were single, and honestly, friendships with single friends change when you get married. Though we still valued our friendships with our single friends, we needed community and fellowship with others who were in the same situation as us.
We knew a few other married-in-college couples and decided a Bible study with them would be a grand idea, and thus, Married Couples Bible study was formed. We met faithfully each Sunday night throughout college and ate endless amounts of cake mix cookies and corn dip while digging into the Word and sharing both laughter and heartache. 
This group of couples, all so very different, was brought together by two similarities: 1. A belief in God and 2. Being married in college. We did life together and became like family.
But as is the case in college towns, we started moving away. The first year, it was just one couple. The next time, two couples—us and another—off to different locations. Those special times we had shared had come to an end. We tossed around the idea of getting together for an annual reunion with nobody really knowing if we would make it work…but we did.
Just last evening, we returned home from our sixth annual Married Couples Bible Study Reunion. We have gone from a group of seven couples with no babies when the first couple moved away to seven couples with 24 children between us. This year all except one family was able to make it. We had six couples and twenty children present.
For the third year we met on the family ranch of one of the couples in middle of the Nebraska Sandhills. We sleep in tents or campers, cook smores, and just enjoy the beauty around us without the distractions of town life. The children played with each other and made up new adventures. The men picked sweet corn and swam in the river. We ladies talked and talked and talked some more.
When Sunday morning rolled around, it was time for “church.” The children all lined up and learned a new Bible verse complete with actions from our resident English teacher. Then we circled our chairs and the deep talk began. As we went around the circle, we shared what God had been teaching us, the high and low points of the year, and what we could use prayer for.
