God calls us as parents to live with the heart of a first responder, ready to run toward difficulty to provide, rescue, protect, help, and heal. I’d love to talk and talk about all the things I loved about this book (and if you’re in the area come on over and we can discuss it over dessert!) but for now I’ll share a few quotes that jumped out to me.

And though I would never say that I’m my children’s owner, that’s often my mentality when I make my children my source of identity and base my happiness off of their behavior. This struck me because I honestly don’t often think of myself as an ambassador to my children. He starts out in the introduction reminding us that as Christian parents we are to be ambassadors from God to our children, not owners of our children. Tripp presents in this book are so refreshing. Parenting is less a hands-on, practical book as it is a careful look at some important principles that will play a major roll in how we parent.Īs an example, here’s the principle from chapter 6: “You must be committed as a parent to long-view parenting because change is a process and not an event.” And from chapter 14: “No parent gives mercy better than one who is convinced that he desperately needs it himself.” Rather, we need the rescuing grace of God-grace that has the power to shape how we view everything we do as parents. Outlining fourteen foundational principles centered on the gospel, he shows that we need more than the latest parenting strategy or list of techniques. Instead, he presents us with a big-picture view of God’s plan for us as parents. In this life-giving book, Paul Tripp offers parents much more than a to-do list. Feeling pressure to do everything “right” and raise up “good” children, it’s easy to lose sight of our ultimate purpose as parents in the quest for practical tips and guaranteed formulas. In the midst of folding laundry, coordinating carpool schedules, and breaking up fights, many parents get lost. Here’s a snippet from the back of the book: Several more of his books are now on my to-read-soon list.

Parenting was my first read by Paul David Tripp and but not the last for sure. But – believe me – I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is probably the best book that I have read on parenting. So, you may be tempted to roll your eyes a bit when I say how much I loved Parenting. That’s because, generally, if I’m reviewing a book for you on here it’s because I really liked it. I know that I have a tendency to rave about the books that I’m reviewing. Well, here it is folks: my much anticipated review of Parenting by Paul David Tripp! (Ok, maybe not much anticipated, ha, but it’s been a long time coming on my part so I’m excited to fiiiinally be writing this!) “We are more like our children than unalike.”

Parenting by paul david tripp