A Place to Gather
I love seeing my dining room table in the afternoon sun. The light filters in and highlights brown threads within the golden maple planks. It’s not only one of the main gathering spots in our homes, it’s also one of my favorite pieces - handcrafted by Darryl — sturdy and timeless.
Each day the table is cleaned, hot food is put on the table, places are set, and chairs pulled back expectantly as I call down the stairs and then up the stairs, “Dinner time!!” It’s a table meant for six so adding Calvin’s wheelchair and an exchange student from Beijing has brought a new dimension of “cozy” as we gather around the evening meal.
No matter what is on the table, we’re all eager to gather. Food is passed, stories shared, second helpings offered - it fills us physically but also meets our need
to be known
to belong
to be heard
to listen to
to receive
Sometimes we come discouraged or excited to share, and some days just tired and quiet. But no matter the mood, no one stays away tucked in a bedroom. To do so would not only guarantee future hunger pangs, it would also mean isolation.
The dinner table offers both food and fellowship.
Filler Food
Sometimes I’ll do a quick clean-up in the kid’s hangout area downstairs as I’m calling them all for dinner. A few times I’ve found multiple sets of Skittle wrappers and granola bar wrappers laying around — they’ve filled up on stuff that tasted good but had no real lasting capacity to nourish or satisfy them. The result? In addition to an upset mom, they’ve ruined their appetite for the good stuff.
While I don’t overeat Skittles before dinner, I do know what it’s like to spiritually fill up on stuff that’s accessible and appealing and then lack desire for the main meal. I’ve found it easier to listen to a gifted speaker or attend a conference than simply engaging the Word on a daily basis. I find myself reaching for my phone and reading quick takes on Twitter on good subjects before engaging with challenging material myself. It’s like scrolling through gorgeous food pictures on Instagram - inspiring, but not filling.
Grab and go food is fine and can add a quick burst of energy when needed. But for ongoing health and strength, we need meals! It’s true that daily meals require time, fellowship, and investment, but they provide benefits far beyond the meal itself.
Bread of Life
We are in the most resourced time of Christianity ever, yet many of us are starving for communion with Christ through the Word and Spirit. We gorge on the quick fixes of the world - TED talks and Twitter while the Bread of Life remains broken on the table, untouched. The result is a malnourished faith, real vulnerability to sin, an anemic hope, a weak mind, and discouraged hands and hearts.
The good news is, the table is ready and we’re invited to rest a while and be filled and restored in Christ. The only requirement is thirst and hunger and the desire to receive:
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Isaiah 55: 1-2
Jesus is the Bread of Life. He is the feast found in the Word, the bread broken for us, the strength we receive as we make our way from Genesis to Revelation. As we read the Word we are changed as we behold Him.
Equipped and Strengthened
What if we stopped starving ourselves, eating filler food, and just sat down at the chair pulled out? Are we tired, hungry, isolated, confused? Come to the feast. Gather around the table and sit awhile.
Choose one passage for the week and each day pray through it, study it, and talk with someone else about it. (idea: Hebrews 4: 14-16)
Be under the weekly preaching of the Bible at a local Bible-believing church
Use a Bible reading plan (so many to choose from! McCheyne, MacArthur, etc) and follow it with a friend or your spouse. Check-in weekly with each other.
Find someone who loves the Word and learn from them.
Read the Bible at dinner time and as a family ask three questions: What does this reveal about God? about us? How does this change my life?
Notes from home
-The leaves are nearly all of our trees, it seems like they all fell this week and our front lawn is a golden carpet. Darryl and I stubbornly continue evening fires on the patio.
-We just returned from a night away with friends to the Ligonier conference. The highlight was dinner out and listening to Dr. Godfrey speak on the mission of the local church. Also - sleeping without any medical alarms = major highlight!!
-Calvin has been really stable on the vent. He is so full of courage and joy even as his body is increasingly stressed by the neuromuscular deterioration. We’ve had some hard test results to grapple with after our visit to U of M.
-Books floating around the house: Count of Monte Christo (young adult), Sophie and the Heidelburg Cat (kids), A Place to Hang the Moon (kids), and a new cookbook from a friend that makes for a fun and fascinating read Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking. Now if I can just incorporate this into the kitchen….
-This fall I finally went to Darryl’s dream spot and camped on the Manistee River. No power, just waders, tents, Kind bars, and the wild. We survived!
-We welcomed a new exchange student into our home. It’s been an adventure full of cultural changes for us and him! Imagine going from being an only child to joining this gang….
Much love from our home to yours,
~Kara
KaraDedert /Copyright: Think Twice
So true! Thank you for sharing, Kara! Enjoyed feasting with you in Ephesians 1 last night and today! Blessed Assurance…