Your dinner table is the classroom of daily living!

Your dinner table helps set the environment of your home and is the classroom of daily living! I remember when I was at the National Day of Prayer event in Washington DC. We had a guest speaker named Pastor Bill Muir. He was talking about a study that was done about honor students. The goal of the research was to determine what they had in common. The results identified that they only had ONE thing in common - that they all had dinner together with their family AT LEAST four times a week! That really hit me during a busy time of my life and career – so I set out with my wife to try and meet or beat that number every week!!

The issue is why would family dinner have such an impact.  According to Family therapist Anne Fishel, only about 30% of families regularly eat dinner together, despite family mealtime being hugely beneficial for kids. She's the executive director of the Family Dinner Project, a nonprofit that helps families find their way back to the dinner table with fun, easy conversations and meals. 

Her research found that regular family dinners are associated with lower rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, and eating disorders, and tobacco use, and early teenage pregnancy, and higher rates of resilience and higher self-esteem.

We like to think of it as the relational classroom of the family, as all the family gathers around the table to share life together, to encourage and support one another.  It particularly creates the opportunity to point and encourage their walk with Christ.  So, they walk in confidence with Christ and return home with honor - Our Family motto. Let me suggest three options from real families.

First realize, it is not about the food or when it is served, having raised four children, Janet and I know they find their way to the fridge without help! 8-)   It is about the time, which can be challenging with art and sports events. Late dinners work!! But the point is, think about leveraging the time you are together to make a spiritual impact.  

So, here are three ideas to help you set the “AROMA” of your home through Affirmation:

1 – With smaller kids, go around the table and ask three questions: What was a blessing to you today, what was hard or bad for you today and what is Jesus teaching you?  This gives you, the parent, the opportunity to share biblical wisdom in how you address each question driving discussions about God’s provision, protection and blessings as you point them back to Christ.

2 – With Middle Schoolers, use a family devotional that leads in with a story or situation and then has application questions.  We used The One-Year Classic Family Devotions (TYNDALE HOUSE / 2015 / PAPERBACK) another great one is Sticky Situations: 365 Devotions for Kids & Families By: Betsy Schmitt (TYNDALE HOUSE / 1997 / PAPERBACK

3- For High Schoolers, use the time with teens to learn what they are hearing and believing about key worldview issues.  For example, one family set up Thursday nights for discussion nights.  Dad would pick a topic, research the Christian World View issue, then assign one child to be for the issue and the other against (mom may have to fill in if only one teenager in the house).  Then they would start the debate!!  After learning what they are hearing in school you ask what they believe and why – then bring in the biblical world view. 

A parent’s responsibility before God is to present their children with the truth, the results are God’s.   Deut 6:7  ..teach them to your children, talk about them when you walk along the road and when you get up