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Men of Integrity, November/December 2004
Dinner Date
Theme of the Week: Family Glue
Monday, December 6
Key Bible Verse: And look at all those children! There they sit around your table as vigorous and healthy as young olive trees (Psalm 128:3). Bonus Reading: Psalm 128:1—6
The evening meal is a powerful instrument of family unity. Most families wish they could sit down together every night, but work schedules, athletic events, music lessons, and church commitments get in the way. Some families do make mealtimes absolute. Others, work out a compromise—like eating together four times a week. If you don't plan ahead and say no to some wonderful events, meals together will soon be rare.
Insist that everybody make the meal on time. Turn off the TV—even when a big game is on. Use the VCR to record those favorite or special shows. Turn on the telephone answering machine while you eat, and linger over the meal in conversation.
This may be a strain. When children are young, the fussing, fighting, spilling and pouting can wear you out. When they're teenagers, strained silence or voluble complaining may make you long for the day of inarticulate wailing. Family togetherness isn't supposed to be a constant joy. You're setting a foundation to build lives on. Foundations aren't made of glamorous materials, but they hold houses together. Day in, day out, mealtimes bring us together. Warm memories come later.
—Tim Stafford in Never Mind the Joneses
My Response: To guard some regular family togetherness time, I'll …
Adapted from Never Mind the Joneses (InterVarsity, 2004) by permission.
Copyright © 2004 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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November/December 2004, Vol. 7, No. 6
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Prayer for the Week |
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Lord, help me make my home a spiritual equipping center for each family member.
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