DO YOU EAT TOGETHER?

In a day when many families eat on the run, around the TV, or at different times, why is it important to gather together as a family and SIT AT THE TABLE FOR FAMILY MEALTIMES? Because...

1. The table is a GATHERING PLACE. There is nothing like food to gather the family together. And when we gather together, we relate together. And when we relate together, it binds us closer together.

2. The table is a COMMUNICATING SPOT. It's where we interact with our children and talk heart to heart and soul to soul. Fellowship and food go together. God didn't intend us to eat on the run. When Jesus fed the 5,000 plus, He made them first sit down in groups before He fed them.

3. The table is an ENQUIRING PLACE. It's where the children can ask us questions and we can ask them questions. We become part of one another's lives.

4. The table is a DISCUSSION ASSEMBLY. I believe it is as important to prepare what you are going to talk about at the table as what you are going to eat. Think about topics you can discuss when you sit down for your evening meal --biblical, spiritual, geographical, or political, etc. Ask fun questions and get everyone involved. Or, you can ask each person to come to the table prepared to share about a book they have been reading recently. Or, share about a person who has impacted this world. Sometimes, we have a general knowledge quiz at the table. Use your imagination to make your family table fun and exciting.

5. The table is a RELAXING OASIS. Ooops. I know that it's not often like that when you are still training little ones. However, be diligent to keep training for you will eventually reap wonderful blessings. Food releases oxytocin which is a calming hormone. Therefore as you gather together as a family to eat and share together, you relax. Isn't that great?

6. The table is a SPIRIT-FEEDING PLACE. We have to get a new mindset. The table is not only a place to feed our children's hungry tummies, but a place to feed the whole man--body, soul, and spirit. If we let our children leave the table before we have fed their spirit, they leave half fed. The physical food fills us up, relaxes us, and prepares us for the most important feeding, the feeding of the spirit--Family Devotions. A friend in The Netherlands told me that when she grow up her family called Family Devotions, "Finishing up the Meal." They didn't leave the table only half fed, but finished up their meal by feeding their spirit. Don't starve your children.

Nancy Campbell, www.aboverubies.org

Links to check out:

 http://tinyurl.com/FamilyMealTable

 http://tinyurl.com/FamilyMealTableDVD

 http://bit.ly/DailyLightDailyPath