Today I want to talk to you about Edith’s book, “What is a Family?”Do you know who Edith Schaeffer is? She is the wife of the late Francis Schaeffer who wrote How Shall We Then Live?

The Schaeffer’s founded L’abri Fellowship, a Christian Community in Switzerland. (The story of L’Abri is fascinating as well.)  Edith is 85 years old and now living in Switzerland near two of her children. I just wanted to introduce you to Edith because she had such a great influence on me when I was a young mother. I thank God that he led me to Edith, because reading her books was like having tea with a Titus woman. I desperately needed one, and she was there for me.

In What is a Family? Edith begins by comparing a family to a work of art. A mobile that has been perfectly balanced and is hanging in its delicate form. Then she helps us imagine a mobile that has been vandalized. Some of the strings have been cut, and some of the beautiful pieces have fallen to the ground. The mobile no longer has the right balance or shape. The work of art has been forever changed for the worse. It no longer has the symmetry or balance. I am from a broken home, and I’m sure that many of you are too. Many years ago, when I was at the stage of life you are in, I began to learn about God and read the Bible. I realized for the first time a lot of the things that went wrong in my home growing up. I knew I could never go back and change those things, but I did make a decision that I could make things different for my kids. I could try my best to make sure that this would not happen to my kids.

One thing that tends to happen as we do anything in life is that we automatically go back to our experience. Even if we don’t want to, if we haven’t been reprogrammed somehow, we revert to type. Well, I prayed about this, and one of the tools God used to reprogram my life was this book.

Edith discusses the different aspects of the family, and the difference they have on the members. Edith talks about the family as a school; the formation center for relationships, a shelter in time of storm, an economic unit and a museum, among other concepts. This book is a treasure and I would encourage you all to get a copy and begin to be intentional and proactive about protecting your marriage and your family.

Some other books by Edith Schaeffer that are wonderful are: the Hidden art of Homemaking, Christianity is Jewish, L’abri, and Everybody Can Know

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