Responding In Faith

Family Reunion 1947, originally uploaded by See El Photo.

We have out grown our family table. When we had originally bought our table, we had truly thought it would be large enough for our family plus some guests. Our Amish table is beautiful. I absolutely love it. I thought that it would be a family heirloom. But there is one problem. It will only seat 10. So now we have two tables set up in the kitchen…horizontally to one another. I dream of a table now that would seat twenty!

I really don’t like our current setup. Everyone is not around the same table. It makes my heart sad. I miss seeing everyone’s faces all at the same table. This weekend I think I will try to rearrange the tables once again. There has to be a way to connect the two of them so that we can all be together again at meals.

To some this may seem silly. But to me it is not. There is something about the entire family around one table. A unity that forms and brings us together! A time of reconnecting with one another. A moment in time when we all stop the business of our day, collect our thoughts, and commune with one another. It is a time of lifting each other up. No negative words are to be spoken.

We have a special plaque that we had made that says the following:

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.

Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 12:10

Honor:

Treating people as special, doing more than what’s expected, and having a good attitude.

This is our reminder for ourselves that we are to honor one another. It is a reminder that the words that come from our mouths should be words that lift each other up and not tear each other down. As we go through each day, we try to remember our verse on honor. We start our morning with it when we eat our breakfast and we end our day with it as we dine upon our dinner.

Our family table is a very important part of our family. It is a place that brings us together at the beginning and end of each day. So for now, I will have to settle for two separate tables, but one day we will have our table that seats twenty! And who knows, maybe it will be filled with all our children!

Lord, I thank You for all the beautiful blessings that I have around our family table. I thank You for allowing our family to continue to grow both through biological and adopted children. In my heart they have all been born from me…they have all been born in my heart. I thank you for the reminders that You give us in Your word to be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Thank you for allowing us to start and end each day together as a family. Amen.