BMWK: Being that you have such busy careers, how do you create that time for each other and make each other priority?

Fawn: Well what we did from the very beginning is we surrounded ourselves with other couples who have done this well. We would ask them, “What makes your marriage work?” Then we would listen to couples that work through struggles, and we would listen just as intently to figure out what we should avoid.

One of the things we found in talking to different people is that daily time of connection is critical. It can’t be a once a week date night. It has to be daily. So every morning, we have what we call our “Weaver Coffee Hour”, depending on how crazy our week is or how crazy our day is.

For an hour we just connect. There’s no agenda. We could just sit and sip coffee or tea and talk about everything that happened that day before, or what’s on our agenda this upcoming day. But having that daily connection to download is important. And then we do that at the end of the day as often as we possibly can. But the morning is non-negotiable. We do it every day.

BMWK: That’s really great. I love the term “non-negotiable”. What would you say are some of the key components to having a happy marriage?

Fawn: In general, I would say the number one thing you must have is mutual respect. Number one. Facing God is important. And the reason why I don’t lead with that is because I think that that becomes a lazy answer for a lot of people. It’s an escape. If you put God as the center of your marriage, everything is okay. But what exactly does that mean? Does that mean you’re kinder to each other? Does that mean you’re gentler with each other? What does ‘put God first’ mean? And so that’s why I generally don’t lead with that. What people are usually lacking are the things to do, not the things to believe.

BMWK: How do you deal with challenges as they arise in your marriage?

Fawn: The thing that Keith and I learned from other people, and it’s been really helpful, is when there is a challenge, we actually don’t come against each other. When we have a challenge, we hunker down together to come against whatever the challenge is.

Keith: That’s right. We approach everything as a team. We like to say ‘Team Weaver’ because that’s what it is. It’s just Fawn and I against whatever those obstacles may be.