What's For Dinner?

I remember when Paul and I were first married, every night I would pack our lunches for the next day that we would share together at our first Corps (Church). Around Noon, we would steal away into a Sunday School room, and eat our lunch, talking about our day, our people, and making plans. At home, I studied my recipe books to make meals that we would both enjoy. All too often, I'd cook way to much of it.  We still laugh over the humungous pots of Spaghetti I'd make.  Or cooking an entire Roast Beast for just the two of us, leaving us ample amounts of leftovers.   I guess it was always in me to feed an Army!

We would sit (and stay!) at our dining room table and conversation flowed uninterrupted for an hour +.

Then, our firstborn, David, came along.  The very night we brought him home from the hospital, I remember the reality setting in that I may never get to sit through a meal again.  The second I would sit down with my mom and Paul to eat, David would start wailing, and of course, being my first babe and all, I just had to respond to his every little whimper.   (I'm over that now LOL!)

But dinnertime didn't go out the window, we just had to adjust it.

We have always shared at least our dinnertime meals together.  We just do.  We're Chouinards. 

I learned it from my family.  Paul learned it from his.

We don't answer the phone, we don't get up from the table, we don't bring toys, or books or whatever. 

We just eat and enjoy each other. (Well, most of the time on the latter ;) There comes much restoration from sharing a meal with family members you don't enjoy too.  

Now, the quiet dinners that Paul and I used to have are a faded memory.  But I smile as I type this, because we feel so bigly blessed!  Around our table you will hear "quit interrupting", "keep all four legs of your chair on the floor", "use your napkin", "it's gonna SPIIIIILLLL!!", "who is smacking their lips?" and more.

But you will also hear laughter, stories, thank yous, prayers, Bible reading, dreams, realities, and lots of heart-checks.  Praise God!

The older my older children get, the more I'm so glad that we have established the habit of sharing our meals together.

"Dinnertime

is part of the family's daily rhythm and balance,

something to be longed for and looked forward to." 

-Kelly Morris

 

     

Cheesy-Bacon-Noodle Delight

with crunchy bread topping.

Darn-Good Deviled Eggs

CoolSlaw

                 Grand Finale Chocolate Pudding

We are all busy... noone seems to have enough time in the day...

family members all going in different directions are hard to herd up for a dinnertime meal.

BUT

I encourage you to give it a go and make it a habit.  Noone's going to do it for you.  It won't just "happen".  Like so many important things in life, you really do have to be intentional about it.

Even if it's as simple as paper plates and a frozen pizza,

there is nourishing done at the family meal table that goes beyond our hungry stomachs.

Remember... when you are building up your family, you are building up the Kingdom!