Kid's Club follows, Stephen's accountability group meets, Thomas and I meet with a couple for counseling, Thomas has a meeting to review church documents, there is a dinner for the ladies, Thomas needs to look at a job, and the vicious cycle repeats itself over and over. (This is a random scenario.)
Where in all this rat race does a family find time to connect? We have to fight valiantly for it. So we set aside one evening a week as "Family Night". It is on the family calendar and is an appointment not to be lightly negotiated.
Because of our current living situation, it is difficult to sit around the table for any meals except the evening meal. And Sunday lunch. But if someone is gone for the evening it doesn't feel like it's worth the effort it takes to get the meal on the table (a little ways from the kitchen) for the rest of the family.
My whole being cries out against the disjointed mealtime situations, but the body part of my being is often too weary to comply with the spirit of my being. A table needs to be set up or the food carried half a mile (exaggerated) every time we eat and, especially in the morning, it is all I can do to get a meal made.
Let all these male creatures dive in and devour it after that. Sit on the couches, sit at the bar, or just stand by the kitchen sink. But I prefer contained eating where dirty plates remain on the table instead of the couch, floor or coffee table. And even more than that, I enjoy the coming together, the waiting for one another to come or to finish eating, the conversations that happen together, the cleaning up together. It's empowering rather than draining.
Can anyone relate?
What are mealtimes like at your house?
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