As you can imagine in the Five in a Row family, books are important to us. And one of our favorite things is to pass on recommendations of books that we believe are worth reading!
There’s a book I want to share with you, and it’s the kind of warm, earthy, uplifting and nurturing book you can read again and again! It has captivated my thoughts and I find myself leaving it all over the house; picking it up time and time again in order to be refreshed and inspired. It is a book by author Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (daughter of L’Abri Fellowship founders Francis and Edith Schaeffer) and is entitled For the Family’s Sake – The Value of Home in Everyone’s Life.
As we’re caught up in this frenetic and task-oriented world, For the Family’s Sake will touch you like a warm summer wind. You are caught-off-guard by the simplicity and power of the ideas Macaulay presents and you remember why “home” can and should be the most wonderful place in the world. Written with honesty, humility, creativity and passion, Macaulay carefully explains specific things you can do to create a secure, loving and purposeful home. Topics she explores include ways to build routines, the importance of books, how to live with more on less, the essentials for children, creating a home of beauty, the significance of rest and peace, planning healthy and varied meals, bedtime rituals for children, etc.
Drawing significantly from her own experiences, Macaulay guides you through her home, her day and her family life. She shows you things she now recalls as successful and important, and ideas and activities she now realizes were misplaced and ineffective.
So many books covering similar themes come across as a huge guilt trip. I read the book and I’m devastated – depressed by all the things I’m not doing right. For the Family’s Sake is the exact opposite. Each time I read a paragraph or chapter, I’m encouraged and I feel lighter! I’m inspired by a new thought or idea – a glorious new direction I can follow to make my little home a place of greater safety and comfort for my husband and daughter.
My absolute favorite chapter is found under the heading “Of Beds, Balance and Books.” Here, Macaulay shares her love of family read-alouds. In my life, few memories bring back greater warmth or security than thoughts of my family’s reading times. I can remember countless mornings and evenings spent cuddled up on the end of my parent’s bed, listening intently to page after page. Because of these books, my family shares a common history – a familiar understanding of places we’ve been and characters we’ve known, who don’t really exist, but reside in the pages of those precious volumes and in our imaginations.
For the Family’s Sake is a special book. May you find as much supreme satisfaction in Susan Schaeffer Macaulay’s words as I have.
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