Come To The Table

My first baguette, up-close and personal

I prepared dinner tonight for my family.  

This is one of my favorite things to do.  Early in the week I peruse my recipe book, chock full of our family's best-loved dishes.  For a meal to make it into this thick three-ring binder, its directions for preparation secured in a sheet protector, is a high honor.  It means that for the most part, my family likes it, it is usually on the healthier side (although not always!) and it contains made-from-scratch ingredients as opposed to out of a box or can.  Tonight's menu included French baguettes, lasagna and salad.

What's that?  Lopsided, you say?  No, no, that's just the camera angle. 

I carefully choose our breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the seven days in the week, and then I shop, sticking to my list in hand.  The meal plan stays posted on the side of the fridge throughout the week for easy reference. 

Table set for dinner.  What a joy!

Our table holds a very important place in our home.  It is where we share our meals, take sustenance for our bodies and refresh our souls.  We laugh hard with each other there, serve one another and resolve issues together.  We have grown from just the two of us, to having a highchair pulled up, then booster seats; and now five heads, often more, are seated regularly on the wooden chairs and bench.

It is a place where our hearts and souls meet.  It is a place of refuge, where the wanderer can find healing and rest.  And it is a place of sanctuary from the busyness of each day.

Thrifted terra cotta pots freshly planted with herb seeds

What if every meal were one in which Christ's love was communicated to those sharing our table?  That in the passing of the bread, the bowing of our heads for prayer, the smiling and honoring one another, we are ministering through Christ to one another on a very deep, yet primitive, level?  This is one of my prayers for my family and our guests at each meal.

Total cost for place setting?  $2.50, includes charger, plates, napkin and utensil.  Check out thrift stores and yard sales for great savings on table gear!

This weekend, go ahead and set your table.  Break out your good dishes.  Spend them on your family.  And then invite a few friends or wanderers over to share in mutual fellowship and encouragement.

"You feed them with blessings from Your own table and let them drink from your rivers of delight."  ~Psalm 36:7-8

Enjoy today,