Testimony of Living

I got to see something really cool happen last night as my family sat at the dinner table.  Matthew is now two years old and Shannon and I have been trying (for the past two weeks) to start eating dinner together as a family.  For so many reasons this is important.  It is at the dinner table where our values are set.  It is where I can hear about my wife's day as well as Matthew's when he gets old enough to really communicate.  But even now, he thinks he is, and I want the dinner table to be a safe place for him to talk in the future.  It's at the dinner table where Matthew gets to see Mommy and Daddy talk and communicate our love for each other and him.  In all, the dinner table is hardly just about satisfying our hunger but even more about satisfying our need for familial community.  Its about setting the table of our marriage and our lives.  It's about building a foundation with everyones participation.  The most powerful of all was when Shannon grabbed Matthew's hand and said, "it time to pray."  Matthew turned to me, extended his hand and then bowed his head and closed his eyes as if it was something common place.  I grabbed his hand, shocked at what he had learned at the dinner table, and led my family in prayer.

It was powerful.