adoption
Pundits and Poets on the Rewards of Long-term Marriage
The following is a collection of quotes on long-term marriage from experts and laypeople, famous and not-so-famous, from ages past and not long ago. If you're in a mid-term marriage and wondering at times if it's really been worth it, then read on. These nuggets of wisdom may serve as easy-to-swallow reminders of why you've stuck it out this far.
"It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love." — Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writing to a young bride and groom from his prison cell in Nazi Germany, 1943
"What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility." — Leo Tolstoy
"One advantage of marriage, it seems to me, is that when you fall out of love with each other,it keeps you together until maybe you fall in again." — Judith Viorst
Ann Meara of the comedy team Stiller and Meara was once asked if it was "love at first sight" with her comedian husband of 30 years. Without missing a beat she replied, "It wasn't then, but it sure is now."
"Commitment has kind eyes. He wears sturdy shoes. Everything is vivid when he is around. It is wonderful to sit and have lunch in his gardens around harvest time. You can taste in the vegetables that the soil has been cared for." — J. Ruth Gendler
"I think a man and a woman should choose each other for life, for the simple reason that a long life with all its accidents is barely enough time for a man and a woman to understand each other . . . To understand — is to love." — John Butler Yeats
"Marriage is one long conversation, checkered with disputes." — Robert Louis Stevenson
"Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years." — Simone Signoret
"Any fool can have a trophy wife. It takes a real man to have a trophy marriage." — Diane Sollee
"Marriage isn't supposed to make you happy — it's supposed to make you married." — Frank Pittman, M.D.
"Why would a couple that lives and sleeps together every night need dates and rituals? Precisely because they live and sleep together." — Bill Doherty
"Marriage is not just spiritual communion, it is also remembering to take out the trash." — Dr. Joyce Brothers
"All those 'and they lived happily ever after' fairy tale endings need to be changed to 'and they began the very hard work of making their marriages happy.'" — Linda Miles
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. — 1 Corinthians 13:7
The question is asked, "Is there anything more beautiful in life than a young couple clasping hands and pure hearts in the path of marriage? Can there be anything more beautiful than young love?" And the answer is given. "Yes, there is a more beautiful thing. It is the spectacle of an old man and an old woman finishing their journey together on that path. Their hands are gnarled, but still clasped; their faces are seamed, but still radiant; their hearts are physically bowed and tired, but still strong with love and devotion for one another. Yes, there is a more beautiful thing than young love. Old love." — Author unknown
Background Information
Agency Adoptions
When it is time to evaluate adoption agencies, consider these pros and cons.
Where Have All the Babies Gone?
The top reasons fewer babies are available to the growing number of couples who want to adopt.
Adopting on Your Own
This advice can help single parents who want to adopt children.
Causes and Characteristics of Attachment Disorder
For adoptive parents, attachment issues can be a huge concern.
Independent Adoption
These are the risks and rewards of adopting without the help of an agency.
Questions and Answers
Are adopted children more likely to be rebellious than children raised by biological parents?
Answer
How would you go about telling a child he or she is adopted, and when should that disclosure occur?
Answer
Review Frequently Asked Questions
Stories
Reflections on Bonding With an Adopted Child
Bonding with an adopted child can take time — and great patience.
A Second Chance at Life
Two adopted children arrived from the most unlikely of sources.
Adoption as Grace
How does enlarging your family reflect God's love?
An Act of Grace
In the midst of ethical ambiguity, one infertility treatment is a welcome development.
Climbing the Hills
A father tells his story of adopting his daughter from Russia.
If you've been through a experience related to this topic, we invite you to share your story with others.Share Your Story
Other Things to Consider
Where is God in the Midst of All My Troubles?
So many cry out to Him in times of need, but is God really listening? And, more important, does He care?
Related Topics
Life Pressures: Working Moms, Stay-at-Home Moms
Relationships: Blended Families, Divorce, Parents and Adult Children, Caring for Elderly Parents
