The Family Table

It was a morning ritual.
Lunch boxes and brown bags were lined up along the kitchen island.
I often thought that it must have looked like Lucy and Ethel in the candy factory.
I had my own production line but no quota to make or speed to keep in check.

It was easier to make lunches that way.
It wasn’t five lunches duplicated and placed in the appropriate place.
It was five different lunches, as I considered each child’s preferences.
Some may say I was being ridiculous; I say I was being me.

One child liked peanut butter and grape jelly and one preferred strawberry jelly.
Another wanted a cheese sandwich.
Homemade brownies or chocolate chip cookies were placed in their lunch as well.
They would also have water or juice to drink and a napkin for when they finished.

The littler ones would get a note in their lunch.
Sometimes, it would be something written in code that they would have to figure out.
U R GR8 was always a favorite.
My youngest saved all of those little index cards from those early years.

A piece of home was being tucked inside their lunch box.
It was more than a note; it was a reminder that I loved them and was praying for them.
My one daughter, who is now a teacher, loved when I drew a sun with a happy face on her bag.
Since we always sang, You Are My Sunshine, it became her trademark.

On a very busy morning, I sometimes forgot to draw the sun on her lunch bag.
Those were the days she would come home and ask me if I was mad at her.
Mad at you?
No, Why do you ask? I would say hoping to get to the bottom of her question.

Because you didn’t draw a sun on my lunch bag today, she would say in all seriousness.
I made it a point to rarely forget drawing a sun on her lunch bag.
Old habits die hard.
Some habits are special and should continue.

I was talking to a young mom about dinnertime and picky eaters.
I smiled as I listened to her.
I never understood how mothers got their children to ask for carrots and celery, I said.
We ate healthy meals but I had picky eaters, too, I admitted.

She seemed interested.
I never wanted the family table to be a battleground.
The family table was a place to talk, and listen, and share hearts.
It was not a place to battle over food.

During our conversations, the dinner was eaten as we talked together.
Tastes for broccoli and green beans were acquired and eventually happened.
I expected everyone to try everything on their plate.
I wanted meal fellowship more than I wanted a finished meal.

The family table was holy ground.
It was a place where we gathered every night.
It was a place where hearts were shared, tears were sometimes shed, and laughter sang.
It was a place to connect and enjoy being together.

I remember the years when my older children were playing sports.
Dinner would be a bit later so that we could make the game or practice yet still eat together.
I would make dinner earlier in the day so it would be ready for us.
Somehow, knowing that we would all be together made all the difference.

Many nights it would have been much easier to grab something quick.
For us, the family table with a hot meal eaten together was worth it.
It was very worth it.
It is still something my grown children remember and cherish.

There is accountability at the family table.
It is very difficult to be in meal fellowship if you are mad at each other.
It is very difficult to pray together if there is something unsettled between you.
The family table is a way to contribute since many chores need to be done to make it work.

I may have prepared the meal, but I needed the table set and the table cleared.
I needed help with the dishes and someone to take out the trash.
I needed my boys to take the trash and recycling to the curb on the night before trash day.
If they wanted their lunches made, I needed their lunch box all cleaned out and ready for me.

Everyone had a job in order to make the family table a place of fellowship and peace.
We had our moments.
Sometimes there were things that needed to be worked out between two people.
However, the desire was there to make mealtime special and the fellowship true.

Of course, pizza nights happened and were thoroughly enjoyed.
Even pizza nights happened at our long table with benches.
It wasn’t what was served as much as who was served.
It was about the people, and the hearts, and the love, and the togetherness.

The family table cannot be forgotten for the sake of convenience.
It may be a bit more work but it is so worth it.
You cannot hide, when you know you are expected in your seat every night at dinnertime.
If a game ran long, or an after school job took longer than expected, dinner could be reheated.

Those times were few and far between.
That place at the family table seemed very empty when the person was not there.
When each one went off to college, no one else sat in their place.
That place belonged only to them.

When my youngest went off to college, everyone else was on their own.
I looked at my husband that first night when it was just the two of us.
I looked at the long table with benches.
I set our place for dinner on the kitchen island.

I could not bring myself to sit at our long table with most of it being empty.
I think my husband thought that I would get over than notion in time.
My youngest daughter is a junior in college.
My husband and I still eat at the island when it is just the two of us.

When our children come over for dinner, we all sit at the long table.
Even though they are now adults, they automatically sit in their place.
Now, two spouses have been added to our family.
They have seats next to the one they are married to, and there is more than enough room.

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to any one as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)

Meal fellowship was important in the early church.
God used coming together over a simple meal to increase their numbers.
They ate together, prayed together, and shared their possessions.
They were together and they were glad.

Protect the family table.
Share a meal together most nights during the week.
Talk, share hearts, and create a safe place to come together.
The memories made will be cherished and hopefully replicated in the next generation.