I hope those of you who have been reading For the Family’s Sake either for the first time or like me, re-reading it, have found it worthwhile. Feel free to add any thoughts on any of the chapters. Thanks to those of you who have commented here or have let me know your thoughts in other ways. I didn’t think it would have taken me seven months to get through it but blogging about each chapter slowed me down!
One of my favourite sections is Chapter 6. Taking time and care to create the atmosphere of our home is something that is lifelong, whether you are newly married, have a house full of children or you’re living on your own.
What about you? Is there a chapter or an idea that stood out to you; something that you want to put into practice or refine?

So, this is the last chapter:
🌸 A Look at the Everyday All Around Us – All Year Long.
An idea used throughout this book has been the beads-on-a-string image. As persons we need a basic routine for life but there are many variations as to how this will look.
Even in times of crisis we need some sort of basic schedule to life or we risk pulling out the string from the string of beads. Our days need to be simplified so that the “string of comfortable beads on our routine” do not disappear.
It is good to think about our year’s rhythm – special days, celebrations, a weekly ‘sabbath,’ (not in a rigid sense but a sensible break from our regular day to day lives) cultural feasts, national holidays, family holidays.

There will always be some obstacle in our way when we try to put these life-giving ideas into practice. There is no perfect time nor place – or if there is it probably won’t be like that for long. As C. S. Lewis wrote just after the outbreak of WWII in 1939,

* ‘Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun. We are mistaken when we compare war with “normal life.” Life has never been normal.’

If we postpone caring for our homes, our families and our communities until everyone thing lines up nicely we would never begin. Life will never be normal.
The reading of history, the stories of parents and grandparents, of those who have lived through a war or experienced the Great Depression tells us this. If you have experienced the sudden loss of someone you love, or if you have faced a life-changing diagnosis in your own life or in the life of someone close to you, you know this.

There is an Appendix to this book which mentions some resources relating to family life and relationships in general. 📚 I’ll link below to some that I’ve written about.

For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay – I haven’t written about this specifically but highly recommend it to anyone who has the care of children. It is a very accessible book which introduces Charlotte Mason’s educational ideas. It was life changing for me.

Home Education by Charlotte Mason

What is a Family? and Common Sense Christian Living by Edith Schaeffer (Susan’s mother)

The God Who is There by Francis Schaeffer (Susan’s father)

How to be Your Own Selfish Pig by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

Books by Elizabeth Goudge:

❤️

Pilgrim’s Inn (Herb of Grace)

The Scent of Water

A book she didn’t mention but one that treats a marriage breakup and its effects on the kids very truthfully & poignantly:

The Battle of the Villa Fiorita by Rumer Godden

*The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

Start here for the commentary on For the Family’s Sake