Fulltime Mama
My name is Elizabeth, and I am the happy wife of ten years to Fabio and fulltime mama to four beautiful children: Joshua-9, Dominique 7, Israel- almost 5, Johann-3 and expecting a new baby in April 2012! We are currently living in Brazil as missionaries and life never ceases to be an adventure!!!
I love motherhood with a passion and am passionate about providing a place here at MamaKnowsBest where mothers can learn, grow, and share ... pooling the wisdom of many into one big jackpot for mothers.
This is an exciting moment for me, that I have been looking forward to for some time - the chance to introduce you to Mrs. Margy Tripp!
Many of you may have heard of the book Shepherding a Child's Heart, which was written by her husband Tedd Tripp. He said at a recent conference at our church that even though Mrs. Tripp's name does not appear on the front of the book, her voice can be heard all through it as well.
More recently they have co-authored another book, Instructing a Child's Heart. These books are invaluable resources for parents who are interested in shaping their child's character from the inside out, rather than just requiring behavior modifications. Mrs. Tripp has generously agreed to donate some of these books to MamaKnowsBest readers, so check the bottom of this interview for details on how to win your copy!
It has been such a pleasure for me to hear from Mrs. Tripp's heart, and I am certain that you will enjoy it as much as I have. She has been so gracious in really taking time to deliver some deep truth to us in her words - in fact, so much so that I want to be sure that we all have time to properly digest what she has to share with us. Therefore, I have decided to publish the interview in several parts. Stay tuned for future segments within the next couple of weeks!
INTERVIEW WITH MRS. TRIPP
1.Please tell us a little bit about your family. (How many children do you have, their ages, grandchildren, etc.) We have three adult children and regard their spouses as our dear children as well. Tedd II is thirty-nine and is married to Heather Davida. They have four children; Amilia (12), Teddy III (10), Elliot (7), and Sophia (1). Heather Lynn is thirty six and is married to Joseph. They are praying for the blessing of children. Aaron is thirty five and is married to Danielle and they have five children; Naomi (11), Benjamin (10), Isaac (6), Orion (3), and Dante (1).
2. What are some of your fondest memories with your children? (and/or) What do you think your children's fondest memories are of their childhood? Probably our fondest memories of our children's young years and their fondest memories are the same. We were involved in an open home ministry in those years from the late nineteen seventies to mid nineteen eighties, when left over hippies were still roaming about the US trying to "find themselves". We lived on an eighty-three acre working farm with pigs, a milk cow, steers, and four hundred chickens. We had a huge garden. We had many teens and twenty-somethings either living with us or passing through all the time. Meal times were times of interesting conversation. Many of our guests had wonderful skills which led to marvelous evenings of entertainment. Spiritual conversation and fellowship were rich and constant. Caring for the animals, gardening, canning, freezing, making butter, cheese, and homemade sauerkraut, grinding and filling sausage casings, selling 400 eggs a day, butchering, baking all these were hard work, but also wonderful fun. In the years that followed, we built a home (literally) together, went on several cycling vacations (the longest was 650 miles to Niagara Falls and back when the children were from 12 to 16 years old), as well as working together to start a Christian School which is now in it's 31st year. During these years, family worship times were precious and often, and when the children were in their early to late teen years, lasted for hours.
3. What do you wish you would've done more of when your children were at home? This could be a very long list but I will restrict my answer to two areas that I believe would have had the most powerful spiritual influence on our children. 1) We always taught our children the gospel, but I wish that we had been more aggressive in rehearsing grace in every situation where God's law was needed. Parents are often good at telling their children what they should or should not do (the Law), but not as thorough at coming alongside their child with the encouragements of the gospel that Christ lived perfectly because we cannot, and died on the cross as payment for our failures and sin. There is hope for us because of Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:13, " God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." This promise is true because Christ " was made like his brothers in every way so that he could be a merciful and faithful High Priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of his people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (Hebrews 2:17, 18) And the "way out" spoken of in 1 Corinthians 10:13 is described in Hebrews 4:14-16, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need." When we bring the Law to our children without an even greater announcement of grace children grow discouraged because they cannot keep the law and feel helpless, OR children reduce the law to a keepable legalistic standard which leaves them feeling self righteous and judgmental of others.
2) We spent a lot of time with our children when they were young. We did everything together. This was great and we are thankful that our life style allowed this but as I look back I realize that the time to have individual relationships with each child was not what it could have been. All the training and instruction that is done in family worship and life together has grand personal application that must be done in times of individual conversation with each child. This is precious and powerful preparation for the teen years when relationships either grow strained or grow stronger.
4. How would you recommend mothers with small kids prioritize their marriage? It is easy to get involved with mothering - the joys and busyness and challenges that are women's preoccupations - and forget that our husbands are a necessary ingredient to biblical parenting wisdom, direction, prayer. Often mothers are upset with husbands who are not involved with their children through their puberty and teen years but Mom never nurtured Dad's involvement in their child's infancy and early childhood years by encouraging discussion, prayer and partnering in the parenting work. Also, husbands will usually respond to their role with relish when they are regarded as important to the process. I know there are exceptions! In a sense, nothing is more important than maintaining the primacy of your marriage relationship through childrearing years. There are at least two reasons for this: 1) A solid marriage is one of the most powerful influences in a child's life. Mom and Dad discussing and praying together over life's issues shape the way children think about manhood, womanhood, roles, love, problem solving, loyalty, forgiveness, and restoration. 2) The marriage relationship is the permanent relationship. The dependant, nurturing portion of the parent / child relationship is temporary and necessarily morphs into a relationship of mutual kinship in adult years. If marriage relationship priorities are not established and maintained through the childrearing years, spouses may develop other priorities that lead them to conclude in later years that they have nothing in common after the children are raised.
This concludes this portion of the interview. I hope you have gleaned much from Mrs. Tripp's wisdom, as I have! Please stay tuned in the coming days for forthcoming portions of the interview. In future segments, Mrs. Tripp will be sharing on the following questions:
5. Looking back on your marriage what things did you learn that helped make your marriage more enjoyable? 6. What does submission within a marriage look like in day to day interaction? 7. What are some ways you were able, as a mother with small children, to spend time with the Lord?
8. How would you encourage stay at home moms who are tempted to be discouraged that they arent able to be as actively involved in church life as theyd like to be?
9. Whats your favorite book of the Bible and why? (or if you would prefer to talk about a favorite verse, that is okay too.) 10. What have you found most challenging about motherhood, and how did you handle this challenge? 11. When life gets hectic, how did you maintain a feeling of connectedness with your children? 12. What book or resource helped you the most as a mother? 13. Have you ever done a home business or worked outside the home, and if so, how did you balance that work with your responsibilities in the home? 14. Looking back, is there anything you have learned since the time your children were small that you would pass on to younger mothers in regard to prioritizing marriage, housework, child training, etc.? Please tell us a little bit about Instructing a Childs Heart.
ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF THEIR BOOKS!!! If you would like to be registered to win a copy of Shepherding a Child's Heart and/or Instructing a Child's Heart, please leave a comment below, including your email address so we can contact you. You can be entered for one comment per interview segment, so continue to read and leave comments on the forthcoming segments as well. We will do the drawing after the last segment has been published on the site. One set of these books will be placed in a separate drawing exclusively for those who have added our button to their blog or website! If you have done so, please let us know so we can check out your site for confirmation.
What a great article. I really like what she wrote about marriage.
Posted byDebra on April 22, 2009
Great pearls of wisdom! What an encouragement to me as a mother.
Posted byJessica on April 21, 2009
I love having this website and this interviews in particular as an available resource to me. I will find much guidance in them now and years to come!
Posted byAnna on April 14, 2009
I am glad Mrs. Tripp shared about marriage during the early years of parenting. I feel like it is extremely important for the marriage to stay strong during those years: it's crucial to the family.
Posted byLady Roadkill on April 10, 2009
"When we bring the Law to our children without an even greater announcement of grace children grow discouraged because they cannot keep the law and feel helpless, OR children reduce the law to a keepable legalistic standard which leaves them feeling self righteous and judgmental of others."
This really resonated with me. I need to realize this for myself as well as for the kids
Posted byAbby on April 10, 2009
What a great reminder to teach children about grace as well as law. We so often forget that. Thanks for sharing!
Posted byPhyllis on April 09, 2009
I would like to enter to win a book! :-) Thank you so much for sharing here.
Posted byMamaMahnken on April 06, 2009
HA! Look at you trying to extort comments by letting u enter to win in each segment! Lucky for you, I thoroughly enjoyed this part, and was convicted too, so I will definitely be back for more :)
Posted byChristy (Nexis777) on April 05, 2009
What a blessing to learn more about Mrs. Tripp and glean some of God-given wisdom.
I would love a chance to win a book from her :)
Posted bymomy on April 03, 2009
I would really like the opportunity to learn from a more experienced mother as I parent my own tribe of children.
Posted bySuzy on April 03, 2009
Thank you so much, Mrs. Tripp, for sharing your wisdom with us all! I have read "Shepherding a Child's Heart" and loved it! I would love to win a copy of the "Instructing a Child's Heart"!
Posted byLori O'Dea on April 03, 2009
My own heart has been instructed and my soul challenged by the book Shepherding A Child's Heart, and most recently, by Dr. Tripp's personal instruction at our church parenting conference. I'd love to win his latest book, "Instructing a Child's Heart". Thanks for the opportunity.
Posted byAllie on April 03, 2009
Cycling vacations! What fun! Seriously, I enjoy reading anything that wise, godly, been-there-done-that parents have to say, and I respect the Tripps very much.
Posted byTammy Engler on April 02, 2009
enjoy hearing about things we can actually apply to our day to day life
Posted byKendra Linde on April 02, 2009
thanks for taking the time to speak to us via the computer. it is always a treasure to listen from a mother whose children are all grown up. thank you
Posted byrhonda on April 02, 2009
enjoyed her wisdom. teaching/showing grace to your children is so important. would love a copy of the book!
Any information found on this website do not dispense medical, legal or professional advice, nor do they prescribe any treatment or strategy that should be tested without the advice of a professional. Information presented on this site is for educational or entertainment purposes only. You are responsible for your own actions should you use any information found on this site. Please use common sense and good judgement and be always cautious and wise in everything you do. Remember, "A Wise Mama is A Good Mama."
...Tedd Tripp speaks on parenting...
Comments and Discussion Wall
Posted by Carrie on April 25, 2009
