COGWA Members App
Feast App
ROKU AppThe Dinner Table: Gather Together and Make Memories!
Written by Vicki Willoughby
Family meals are vitally important in many ways. The dinner table is an essential part of family togetherness, and it’s the place where teaching our children hospitality begins as well.
Today I found myself reminiscing about how many memories have been made around our supper table. Through the years we have, as much as possible, made it a habit to eat the evening meal together. During the week, the meals might not have been all that spectacular, but the time together was priceless.
Just the other night we were at one of our children’s homes, and two of our children mentioned a couple of things that they remembered from meals gone by. The comments were not necessarily flattering reviews of those particular dishes, but we all had a good laugh.
From an early age, children can learn the importance of being generous and warm around the dinner table. When they are older, they will share that generosity and warmth with others.
“Who is going to do the honors?”
The other day a young mother mentioned to me a cute story about her 3-year-old son. When they gather around the table for the evening meal, they always ask God’s blessing on their meal. On this particular evening, the young boy asked his family, “Well, who is going to do the honors?”
At the age of 3, this precocious fellow is already very aware of the importance of giving God thanks for the food He has provided. He learned this from being around his family at the supper table. Little children are so impressionable and teachable! Christ often reminded us to be as little children (Matthew 18:2-5; Luke 18:17; Mark 10:15).
A gathering place
A few years back my husband built a dining room addition onto our home. After the room was completed, we took time to shop for a table that could accommodate our growing family. We wanted to find something that would be large enough that we could all gather around together.
This room is now the focal point of most of our family gatherings; and as our family grows through marriages and grandchildren, we are filling this room with even more memories.
Not all of our family members live close by, so we look forward to times when all of us can be together. These times are such a blessing as we gather together with food and family conversation.
As our family has grown, my husband has encouraged me whenever possible to use more disposable items to make cleanup easier, especially when we have a large crowd. We want the meal together to be remembered for the great time, not the burdensome cleanup.
Let us be given to hospitality
Learning how to be “given to hospitality” (Romans 12:13) starts in the home, with your own family. When your children are young, they will see the example set before them. As they respond to each other in simple ways, they learn how to give and share with others as they grow into adulthood.
Not everyone has a large room or a large table, but we can still get together in some way. So whenever and wherever you can, go and gather together, teaching and making memories.
Vicki Willoughby and her husband of 39 years, Jack, live in northwest Arkansas, where they attend the Springdale congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.
See previous posts by Vicki Willoughby:
