My Mom and Dad packed us all in the car one day after school was over to go shopping. I was 13 and remember it well.
We’d always had a table before, a little one that seated four in our tiny mobile home….one I don’t remember before that, but I can still picture the kitchen that it stood in. I can see Grandma and Grandpa’s dining room table. It was a large cherry wood table with brass lion paws for the legs and a glass cover cut just the size of the table. I always knew which was my Grandpa’s place when all the family would gather for the holidays. My mother would usually be the one to set it and then she’d have us stand next to it to have our picture taken before the food was happily and hungrily devoured.
But it was our own table that we went shopping for that I remember best. My brother and sister and I quickly scanned the tables the store had in stock. We sat in chairs pretending to eat, we looked underneath them to make sure there was no gum adorning the underside but we kept returning to the table that mother liked best. It was a formica top in a wood color with a funny little ameba print to it. The chairs had a soft rust color seat and back, framed in wood and metal. This had to be the prettiest table we’d seen and we were all quite proud of it when we took it home.
I along with every member of the family picked their favorite spot at the table to sit at. We still sit in these spots today.
I remember how inviting that table was when I came home from ball practice or a game and Mom had dinner waiting. It held all the homemade cinnamon rolls and goodies wonderfully at midnight after the prom when all the kids came to my house to celebrate. Those soft seats became incredibly hard when I sat in them to have a discussion with Mom and Dad over grades or boyfiends! But I would sit in them all night with a bowl of popcorn playing card games with my family and friends.
Sometimes after dinner my family would watch out the big picture window next to the table as the rabbits played and the birds would come to drink in the yard.
The table hasn’t moved over the years. It still sits in front of the same window. The chairs rattle a little and the formica has a couple of chips now though, but it has gathered our family together with love over the years. We’ve added a son and daughter -in-law to the table, we added children’s laughter to the table too. My mother no longer sits with us any more and she is always missed when we come together. But the Lord still gathers us together at the family table.
I have my own table now. My table has big strong oak legs with a white tile top. I had a man make it especially for my family. That was only my husband and I at the time. Now we have three wonderful chidren that say Grace to God at meal times, who don’t like to eat their peas and who make their Mom and Dad laugh. Our white tile top table always has room for friends and family just like that old formica top table does. Each family table still welcomes me with love and warmth.
One day I want to sit at my children’s family tables with sounds of my grandchildren’s laughter filling the air and the love of the Lord in each of our hearts.
I wrote those words back in February of 1994. Time has continued to march past but I still love to reminisce about those days. The last sentence is what hits me so hard though.
My thankfulness is beyond measure when I see how God has answered the prayers of my young mother’s heart. Our kids were 3, 5, and 7 when I wrote that. My children all have spouses and their own children now. I have enjoyed dinner at their tables more times than I can count. When one of the grandkids sings a prayer of grace for our food or shouts Amen at the end of our prayer my heart is full!
Gary and I have 8 grandchildren now so our family number is at 16. Our white tile top table was lost in a move so now we have a big wood table that we squeeze around. Dinner is loud and chaotic and full of love! The best days are when my Dad comes and he sits with us at our table! He is always so happy to be there and oh how I miss my Mom!
Friends your table is so much more than a table. It holds your family together. It is where you live in happy and sad times. It is where you live in health and in sickness. It is where you live with family and friends. So I hope that when I am helping to inspire you to set a beautiful table for a meal that I am inspiring you to more than that. I want to inspire you to live well at your family table!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Blessings,
Carrie
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