A dining table is a place to experience life. When bellies are full and plates are empty, the table invites a place for elbows on the table and for us to lean into a conversation. It’s a place to listen, to laugh, to live, to learn, to love. It’s a place to … linger. (“Linger – verb – to stay in a place longer than necessary because of a reluctance to leave”) When I was growing up, table-time was a daily event that took place every evening around 5:30. (In our neck of the woods, this was known as supper time.) Supper time meant everyone stopped what they were doing to gather around the table to be fed, to be encouraged, to be heard, to be loved. Every meal at the table began with a simple prayer … “God is good, God is great. Let us thank Him for this food. Amen.” When my girls were young, we taught them a similar prayer … “Come, Lord Jesus. Be our guest. Let this food to us be blessed.” I didn’t know it then, but those little prayers were more than just words to be said before a meal. They were an invitation extended to a precious God to join us at the table. Those prayers acknowledged His presence at our table for every meal and every other time we gathered. And He leaned into our conversations, and He listened. As the meal was finished … our plates empty, our bellies full … He lingered. Just as He does today. So much life happens around the table. Sure, there’s food. But there’s also lessons to be learned, games to be played, art to be created, problems to be solved, laughter to be had, tears to be shed, life to be celebrated, life to be mourned … life to be lived. “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.” Lean in to our conversations, listen to our hearts, and linger with us as life is lived around the table.
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