Learn to be the conductor of your table. Set the rhythm and the rules of your conversation. Make sure the quiet are heard, make sure the talkative are loved. Through your example, teach your children to be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry” (James 1:19). Let your table be the training grounds for graciousness and consideration.
When I look at the adults my children have become, I do not regret a single ounce of the effort I put into shaping our family dynamics.
Our dinner table became what I had dreamed it would be—a place of sharing and of growing. As I look back, I know that this has been one of the most formative parts of my parenting and discipling and my life in general—watching Jesus, the Word made flesh, bring life to all of us through the gift of words.
Read more about this in The Lifegiving Table.