“…your
children like olive plants around your table.”
–Psalm
128:3 (NASB)
It is a Friday night- 8:18pm.
As I sit typing this, the dishwasher hums and jingles as it runs; my
daughter lies in the living room playing with the cats when she should be
trying to sleep; and me? I’m
exhausted. So it goes in the everyday
life of a single parent. The house needs
to be cleaned, I have a million things on my mind, and my own personal alone
time is virtually null lately. Yet, there
is a calm and peace- a warmth over this apartment. I know the Lord is residing with us
tonight. It has been a long week and now
it’s time to relax and enjoy a weekend with my little girl. Tonight was sort of on the fly. Dinner consisted of a frozen pizza, rice,
carrots, and water. Not exactly a
4-course gourmet meal, but it did fine. You
are probably wondering “Where are you going
with all of this, Matt?” Well, the
idea for this article was just laid upon my heart less than an hour ago. You see, as we were eating, my daughter
proceeded to tell me almost an entire week’s worth of school occurrences in a
matter of minutes. Given the condition
I’m currently in, it would have been so easy to write this off as normal
babbling and tell her to hurry up and eat so we can get ready for bed. Thank God I actually picked up on this ever
so slight, but priceless and meaningful moment.
These are the times we should be living for as parents, times I’m sure
slip by more often than they should. So
what is so important about eating together as a family? Tons.
If you noticed in the opening scripture, the psalmist made it a point
to include the words around your table in
the verse. What does dinner time look
like in your household? From my own
experiences and hanging out with other single parents, I understand that dinner
can be anything from pizza on the go to a fast food drive through. It may even be considered as letting the kids
go in the living room and watch a movie while they eat so we can get caught up
around the house. Sound familiar? It does to me- because that’s the way I
handled many meals in the past. I never
grasped the magnitude of what it means to bring dinner back to where it
belongs: at the dinner table. Studies
have shown that when families do eat together, the children are less likely to
engage in self-destructive activities such as drinking, drugs, and sex. They are more likely to increase school
performance, be healthy, and have higher self-esteem. (Webmd.com) I even had one lady tell me that asking
questions as simple as “How was school today?”
can have an incredible impact on future academic growth. Although every single one of these factors
carries tremendous weight, I still believe it goes beyond that. Thinking back to tonight as I listened to my
daughter talk, I realized not only how passionate she is about life- but how
well she perceives it already too. She
was literally breaking down something that happened in gym this week and told
me just how it should be handled. Funny
thing is, I agreed with her. “Wow” I thought to myself, “I learned something about her tonight.” I honestly cannot tell you the last time I
did that. Yes, we get to know our
children as they grow, but when is the last time you actually learned something about your son
or daughter? Again, subtle but powerful
moments that often seem to vanish as quickly as they appear.
We need to slow down. Our world
is already chaotic enough and in many ways, the family structure has been
destroyed because of this. God instructs
us to “be still” in His Word. Our personal time with Christ will set the
stage for what our time with our kids looks like. If we only get our quiet time with Him in
when we can, then we produce the same with our families. Jesus tells us in Luke 6:38 , “For with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you.” (NIV) Don’t let
that happen in your home. If necessary,
begin to make the changes today to enjoy sit down meals as a family. Shut the cell phones and TV off for a while. Ask questions and laugh with each other. Create memories now that will last for
generations. When you do, then your
children WILL grow- just like a bunch of little olive plants around your
table.
With that being said, all is quiet in my house now. The dishes are done; my daughter is sound
asleep; and I am going to bed grateful and content. God’s grace in my life allowed me to step
away from myself long enough tonight to catch just a glimpse of how He sees us
every single day.
