Maintaining Intimacy In Times of Stress

Most families go through times of stress. For families who chose to grow their families through adoption, that stress can come in many forms and be a long lasting source of struggle and contention.

Our friends Beth and Stephen Templeton run a ministry and blog called Hope at Home, which is “dedicated to help adoptive and foster parents encounter the Father’s heart for their families, partnering with God to transform orphans into sons and daughters.“

Today on their blog I have a guest post on the importance of maintaining marital intimacy in times of stress. Most adoptions ministries focus heavily on healing and building the parent-child relationship, but not many address the important topic of maintaining your marriage in the midst of the stress of adoption. But the truth is that the best thing you can do for your children is to have a strong, thriving marriage.

Since my wife and I have not experienced adoption, I asked our marriage blogger friends Brad and Kate Aldrich of One Flesh Marriage to give me some insight on their own adoption experience. I think you’ll find their insights and experience helpful, so I encourage you to check it out.

One other thing to bring your attention to: Hope at Home is sponsoring a two day conference,  September 23-24, to refresh and equip adoptive parents. If you have adopted children I encourage you to make your way to Atlanta for the conference.

And if you know some other adoptive families who could benefit from some encouragement, click on the envelope icon at the bottom of this post and email the this article to let them know about the Hope at Home Blog.  I'd appreciate it if you would post this on Facebook or Tweet it using the buttons below.  And if you know an adoptive couple able to travel to Atlanta for the conference, encourage them to do so!

Finally, as long as we are talking stress and the toll it takes on intimacy, please take a second to let me know what things have created the most significant of stress in your own marriage by completing the poll question below.

Email/RSS readers:  here's a direct link to the poll: