Pursue Dinner Time

May your table be like a ribbon at the finish line.

• Bri Mckoy

If you haven’t read Bri Mckoy’s book, Come and Eat, get your copy here, like asap, like right now. I didn’t think this book would make me feel the way that it did. There were chapters that resonated with me so much about how impactful it can be to come together and eat. I had to put the book down a few times and just let myself cry for a bit.

Especially the analogy of viewing our dining table as a ribbon at the finish line.

What a profound image. What a beautiful perspective!

I grew up having dinner with my siblings and my parents almost every night. Even in high school and early college, there was always a home cooked meal and we always ate together. One of us would set the table, one of us would help mom with a salad, one of us would wash the dishes or sweep the floor, etc. It was a family event that brought us together at the end of each day and kept us connected.

So it came naturally for me to do the same with my own children.

We eat a home cooked dinner together at least 5 days a week. Is it always perfect? No, not always. After a busy and exhausting day, the thought “I still need to make dinner” can literally make me feel like I can’t breathe. Yes, dramatic, but it feels like that sometimes. And sometimes hard conversations take place at the table and there is tension and disagreements. This is what life looks like. For all of us.

And when you’re raising little ones where evening time is that witching hour that makes you want to hide and cry, it’s even harder. My husband and I have been there. But somehow we still made it to the dinner table every night, ate a meal together, talked and laughed with our babies and felt all the stressors of the day lift off of us. The process to get there was hard but it was also worth it. Always worth it.

I think having the right perspective is everything. I also think it’s needed. We need to have this beautiful perspective about dinner time. We need to hold on to it.

Ending the day at the table with our families is truly the best way to finish.

It’s not another chore. It’s not something to dread. It’s not something to feel overwhelmed by. It’s not another stressor to everything else we have on our list.

Instead, it is a moment in this crazy world where we are replenished, where we get to exhale and connect with our spouse and our children.

Sitting down together for dinner as a family is our daily testimony that proclaims “we made it, yes we are tired, some stuff isn’t going that well, today was hard, but we are here together, we have each other, thank you Jesus.”

This still applies even if you are a single parent. Or a foster parent. It doesn’t have to be a specific family dynamic. Regardless of what your family looks like at the moment, coming together to eat is important.

So I encourage to pursue dinner time at least a few times a week. Have fun with it.

Create a soothing atmosphere. Turn on calming jazz in the background. Light the candles. Have someone set the table, have another help you in the kitchen, give long hugs, give an outpour of thanks to Jesus and then . . . eat, go around and share one high of the day, play the Would You Rather game, etc.

This moment in our day is so necessary now more than ever.

Pursue it.

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