Episode # 107 Discovering Vision for the Beauty of Your Table
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"Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35
Table-Discipleship Principle: Creating an environment of beauty, comfort, and acceptance cultivates hearts that are open to your messages.
IT'S TOO MUCH!
With all the pressures we have as mamas to cook, care for, clean after, inspire spiritually, meet the needs of others, why should we cultivate ideals around the table? It seems too much.
I so empathize with all of you sweet ones who pour yourselves out and do it without much in the way of support. You get exhausted. Sometimes you feel depressed. It is HARD!!!!! But I feel more deeply than ever, as we look at all the ways culture and our worlds are falling apart, it is more important than ever for families to stay fast to ideals, for us, as women to do all that we can to build personal, humane, honoring, engaging relationships in an isolationist, lonely fearful world. More important than school test scores, more important than out of the house lessons. More important than making more money or working at social media.
The most important thing in our lives is to Love God and then love those around us because of our love for Him. Taking the time to love and then love again and then lay a foundation of love and security is what gives deep roots and will hold our children fast, and our friends strong, when they encounter storms in their own lives. It's hard to know, but it seems like we must be approaching the end times or getting closer to the end times. Jesus said that in the end times, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold," and I believe for us to keep good relationships, to keep the bond of love in families, to give our children a heart that hopes in God's goodness, they must feel it, believe in it because of our taking the time to invest in loving them well now.
Either love will be felt at our table or emptiness, lack of belonging, fussing, just getting through it. But casting a vision for loving those in our home and scope of life must be planned, embraced, envisioned. That is why I wrote this book, to try to capture a vision for women as the conductors of love and cultivated relationships within the walls of their own homes.
Creating a life-giving table begins with a vision for cultivating beauty and a hosting place for others. In this episode, Sally and Kristen dive in to chapter 4 of the book, The Life Giving Table, to share stories and encouragement that will help you develop your own vision and sustain it through a commitment to your original ideals for years to come.
What we talk about:
-Sally’s special story of her first apartment as a newlywed in Vienna, totally unfurnished and an adventure to find a second hand table that would eventually seat thousands
-How we create beauty that reflects our own unique circumstances and preferences, without comparing to Pinterest or anyone else
-Understanding that the way our tables become a are a part of our history and family story
-The table as a place to extend life and a hosting place to share Christ and offering Him the bread of life, who will feed and nurture us through all of our years.
-The promise we have that Jesus wants us to never feel alone or wonder where He is
-Accepting the differing personalities of our tables and the limitations of those who are sitting there and growing a little at a time
-Understanding the place of planting a flag and keeping fast to Commitment to ideals as important to sustaining vision
-The way we create family culture at our table and learning to shape it over years
-Ideas to involve very young children in bringing beauty to your table
Be sure to get your copies of these books so you can have the recipes, get the table talk starters and underline the ideas that help you in your own home. I pray you feel encouraged.
Happy new week.