The Family Table an Extension of Our Heart. At our family dinner table is where I become a student of my children and husband. It’s where I pause and slow down to look into their eyes and really know how their day has been. It’s where we lavish them with encouragement after a hards day of battling the pressures of the outside world.
Sadly, the meaning of meal sharing is largely lost in the Christian community today. In the Near East, to share a meal with someone is a guarantee of peace, trust, fraternity, and forgiveness.–the shared table symbolizes a shared life. ~Brennan Manning
As you know, I’m knee deep in practicing thankfulness. We try to do it year-round but this is our time to hone in on it and embrace the daily little miracles.
Well, todays prompt (you can download your free one here) is, “I love this about our home…”. There are so many things I love about our home. I love our fireplace especially since we have no central heating or any other form of heating our home during winter. I love sitting out on our patio and enjoying the brief moments of sunshine that sneak in through the huge building that blocks the sun. I love that our boys have a room for their toys and my craft supplies. I love that my kitchen is huge and my husband has helped me make it my own, in light of the awful tile wall and brown cabinets. He built me an island and a ceiling pot rack!
But what I especially love about our home is our dinner table!
I don’t mean so much the physical family table though I like farm style, firm, heavy wood with benches on each side. But it’s more about what our family table represents. Many prayers have been lifted up from there. Many tears have been shed over homework frustrations and life.
Each groove and dent on our table is filled with fond memories of kids painting, crafting, and stories. Oh, the stories–too many for me to remember some that are better left forgotten others that we want to share over and over again.
But our family table is not just about our family. “Framily” is our endearing term of those who have frequented our table; people from all over the world have warmed those cold wooden benches. Deep and silly conversations have been enjoyed and many sorrows have been shared at our table.
It’s not about fancy food or ornate decorations though I do enjoy them both. Many a good meal has been shared but also ramen noodles have been served.
Our table is a shelter from a hard day at work or school.
It’s where my boys and our guest can come as they are and feel accepted and heard.
I love our family table!
I love our dinner family time so much that I guard it like a mama bear. It’s the time I get to listen to my children’s thoughts and we discuss life. It’s the time where I can focus in on teaching them our values like gratitude, respect, good manners and critical thinking. It’s our family devotion table and family game night time. It’s our catch up with family from abroad time (the only time technology is allowed at the dinner table). It’s our time to just sit still next to each other even if it’s in silence.
It’s where I become a student of my children and husband and look into their eyes to really know how their day has been. It’s where we lavish them with encouragement after a hards day of battling the pressures of the outside world. It’s where we challenge them to remember who they are and who they belong to. It’s where we meet in the morning to find not just physical nourishment but words of affirmation and prayers to make it through the day.
It’s a place where strangers and familiar faces are welcomed.
Our table is an extension of my heart and it symbolizes a shared life. It’s a broadening of my arms where I say–I love you with warm food and laughter. And if you’re lucky I might even have fun napkins.
Though I guard our family dinner time, we still host people from all walks of life. I have learned to keep it simple so it’s not stressful but an enjoyment. We have last-minute invites when I make too much food or we are just in the mood for company. My kids absolutely love having guest over for dinner and helping out with setting the table and thinking up questions to ask our guest.
An Orthodox Jew’s saying, “I would like to have dinner with you” is a metaphor that implies, “I would like to enter into a friendship with you.” …to extend a dinner invitation is to say, “Come to my mikdash me-at, the miniature sanctuary of my dining room table, where we will celebrate the most sacred and beautiful experience that life affords–friendship.” ~Brennan Manning
Want more?
This article is Day 3 of 21 Days: (Re)Discovering the Heart of Your Home series! As we consider our house let’s think beyond making beds, cleaning dishes, and doing laundry. As we think about homemaking let’s look beyond whether we work outside the home, work in the home, are single, empty nesters, or don’t have children…
Let’s put all of that aside and let’s view it through the lens of relationships and His kingdom purposes and let that guide us.
What is the purpose of the space between these four walls? What do I want to overflow from our home and from my heart to my children, my spouse, my guests, my neighbors…?
Cultivating a home is so much more than keeping a clean house, making food from scratch, having an organized and tidy home it’s about cultivating beauty, laughter, peace, and love in your family and in your relationships.
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Your turn!
What is it that you love about your home?
