AMY GRANT, VINCE GILL & FAMILY BALANCE

BY TRACY DONOVAN

 

Family balance for singers Amy Grant and Vince Gill was a challenge when they  got married eight years ago! Amy entered the marriage with three children, Matt, Millie and Sarah while Vince went into the marriage with one daughter, Jenny.

 

BLENDED FAMILY

 “In our wedding pictures, all of the children are grim-faced and understandably so, because these were not their choices,” says Amy.  The beginning of their union required work as they pressed to make everyone in their new family feel comfortable. Love was an important element to the new family as well as their ability to effectively parent.

BONDED BY LOVE

 Amy and Grant agreed that a wonderful way to extend the bond that they shared was to have a child together.  When their daughter Corinna was born she brought something special to their blended family.

 KEPT BY RESPECT

 “The one thing you have to require in a family is that everyone is respectful. But you can’t require closeness. That comes in its own time,” says Amy.  Amy  loves the fact that Vince treats all of the children the same. No one child gets special treatment which makes all of them feel equally loved. 

HOW THEY MADE THE NEW FAMILY WORK

Amy says that Vince helped with the new family relationships  a lot by creating space for her to spend time with her three children during the evenings.  While he went an read a book or watched a game, that  special time helped  her, at the time 7, 10, and 12 year olds, adjust to the blended family.

BEGINNINGS FILLED WITH FAITH

 Amy Grant was born in Augusta, FA on November 25, 1960.  Her parents were well grounded Christians who were socially and financially sound.  As a Prostestant, she was raised in a very strict atmosphere.

Moving beyond the strictness of the church wherein no musical instruments were allowed to be played and hymns were song in cappella, her parents allowed her to start taking piano lessons at the age of ten.  During her seventh grade year she changed instruments: from piano to guitar.  She maintained her faith filled roots; however, she transitioned from the strictness of her upbringings to the Charismatic movement when she became an adult.

Amy appreciates her faith endowed beginnings as they have helped her lead a wholesome life, be a wife mother an balance the multiple roles that she has. M