5 Dinner Table Truths

 

And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the LORD your God has blessed you. Deuteronomy 12:7

 

When I was growing up (one of six children), we ate dinner as a family every night. So, when I had children, we did, too. I am grateful for the training.

It got a little difficult for us when our kids were older. They were often playing sports, working, or in some other activity. On the whole though, dinner together was a high priority.

In recent conversations with some Moms, I am seeing what is being lost as we give up this tradition of family meals.

When children eat by themselves at the computer or in front of the TV, they lose the benefits of the family table. Some specifics families need to consider follow:

1. Communication skills: Children who are sitting want to move something. At the table where arms and legs are restricted, they may be willing to move their mouths when they are not chewing. We were able to discuss a lot of different topics at the dinner table and, as the children got older, sometimes help them learn to “fight’ with words in a respectful way. (This was not an every night event. Some nights we were not sitting long. Other nights, if there was a conversation, everyone stayed.)
2. Consideration: Lessons about considering others flow naturally at the dinner table because there is a limited amount of food for the number of people there to eat it. Everyone should be able to have some, so (usually) Mom must be teaching children how to share. Often, it is an unconscious teaching as we claim our own “fair share.”
3. Common courtesy: When engaged at a table as family we learn, and can teach: take turns, be generous, rejoice or mourn with family members, and be thankful for the food and the family sitting in front of us.
4. Consistent gratitude: As a child, night after night, year after year, we thanked God for His provision of our food. We were taught the Lord’s prayer, and occasionally reminded that Jesus taught us to ask, and be thankful for, our “daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).
5. Connect as a family: I do not know what God designed into us that makes “breaking bread together” special, but it is definitely there. Sitting down to a meal together regularly brings with it fellowship, a closeness that we do not get anywhere else. Maybe, because our hands are busy and our legs are still, we are at peace and so the conversation is easier. Every family member should have an opportunity to say something.

Today, we have too many things to do, too many commitments.  Mealtime may be the only real “family time” we get with one another. The family loses when we fail to make this time to sit down together for meals.  The kids lose their learning opportunities; the parents lose their teaching opportunities; the family loses its bonding opportunities.

If you’re doing it, know that your kids will benefit from your commitment.

If you are not doing it, will you reconsider, at least a few days of the week?