Edith Schaeffer

You may have heard of Francis and Edith Schaeffer and their ministry called L'Abri in the Swiss Alps. Edith Schaeffer has been a favorite author of mine for quite some time now. She is a godly wife and mother and has raised several kids in an involved and intentional way that truly inspires me. It started with this book, which my sister recommended to me:

Beautiful, beautiful book! I promise if you read this, you'll be encouraged and inspired!

Then I bought this one:

Equally great!

Recently, I picked up this one on Amazon:

Love, love, love!! It's sort of a compilation of short writings of Edith's thoughts on parenting. So, so good. And since the sections are short, I read just one a day in my special quiet time chair with my coffee. 

Consider her thoughts on loving relationships:

"Compassion and understanding of what another person needs comes through having been cared for ... A family is the place where this kind of care should be so frequently given that it becomes natural to think of the needs of other people ... Love isn't just happiness in ideal situations with everything going according to daydreams of family life or married life or parent-child closeness and confidences. Love has work to do. Hard and sacrificial work--going on when it would be easy to be provoked and think evil. (p. 28)"

In those rare moments when the children are playing peacefully, the house is clean, dinner is in the oven, a candle is lit and you're having a good hair day, it can be easy to think, "this is what family life should always be like." Oh, not true! Love has work to do!! And love is so much better exercised when kids are bickering, when the laundry is way behind, when dinner is burned, when the husband is late and when life is just a mess! 

I think if you go to Amazon.com and type in Edith Schaeffer, you could pick any one of her books and be blessed :)