Starting a family will stretch a marriage.  That stretching has the potential to deepen the purpose and sweeten the friendship of your marriage.  Having a baby, however, isn't the magic solution to turning a bad marriage into a good one.  If you've been struggling with your spouse, we want to recommend a book that our publisher is releasing the same day that our book comes out.  It's called The Marriage Turnaround and it was written by Mitch Temple, a friend and colleague at Focus on the Family. Here's a description of the book from his Website:

Most marriage books and speakers address the topic of marriage problems from a reactive standpoint -- symptoms rather than root causes. The emphasis seems to be on changing behavior without getting to the thinking, mindset and beliefs driving the behavior. Yet most destructive patterns in marriage stem from destructive myths, thinking and attitudes.

Common myths in marriage today include: "I can change my spouse ..." "My marriage is about meeting needs ..." "As long as we are happy ..." "We can't have a successful marriage ..." "It doesn't matter how we treat each other...."

Such distorted thinking destroys good marriages.

The Marriage Turnaround takes a fresh, practical, humorous approach in tackling marriage thinking, attitude and behavior problems. Whether you are about to be married, just married or been married for years, the insights based on over 25 years of experience and wisdom will benefit you and your spouse.

Mitch frequently makes the point that one of the best things parents can give kids is a healthy relationship with their spouse.  We believe Mitch's book is a great resource for that purpose.