Neighborhood Dinner Table

One of the things that is new in our lives here in East Texas is that we live in a neighborhood, where in West Virginia we lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The mountains are beautiful, but don't lend to the real sense of "neighborhood". We did have friends that lived close by – we could walk to their houses or they to ours – but most of our immediately surrounding neighborhood was older people. There weren't a lot of children for my kids to play with, nor were there any paved roads for bike riding, skateboarding, or roller-blading. We are enjoying some of those changes, but one that I must say I enjoy the most is the fact that in our dining room at least once a week, we seem to have the neighborhood dinner table. Kullen's friend Todd eats with us at least once – usually two or three times a week – and sometimes the girls have a friend here for dinner too. Tonight we had two extras for dinner, and I was thankful for the large cut of roast that I bought last week at Sam's club. Every night after dinner we read a devotion from The One Year Book of Family Devotions – and our family is learning so much. It is a blessing to have a table full of young minds taking in the word of God with us.

Tonight's devotion was based on Philippians 1:6 – He who has begun a good work will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. The story illustration was a six month old baby that couldn't walk until they were ready – and a "new Christian" not being mature until they were ready. The other night we read a devotion about how sin is a lot like frostbite – and the more you sin, the less you seem to feel it – but the numbness is when it is most dangerous. We have remembered these stories and the scriptures that accompany the stories. It is a valuable time as a family – and I enjoy sharing it with others when the opportunity arises host the "Neighborhood Dinner Table".