Bush and Wolfman remained on good terms after the end of the relationship.[17] While Bush was at a backyard barbecue in 1977, friends introduced him to Laura Welch, a schoolteacher and librarian. After a three-month courtship, she accepted his marriage proposal and they wed on November 5 of that year.[18] The couple settled in Midland, Texas. Bush left his family's Episcopal Church to join his wife's United Methodist Church.[19] On November 25, 1981, Laura Bush gave birth to fraternal twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna.[18] Bush describes being challenged by Billy Graham to consider faith in Jesus "Christ as the risen Lord", how he began to read the Bible daily, "surrendering" to the "Almighty", that "faith is a walk" and that he was "moved by God's love".[20]

Alcohol abuse
Prior to getting married, Bush struggled with multiple episodes of alcohol abuse.[21] In one instance on September 4, 1976, he was pulled over near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, for driving under the influence of alcohol. He was cited for DUI, fined $150, and received a brief suspension of his Maine driver's license.