Most homes have a focal point... the kitchen, the media den, the living room, the reading nook. Our home's activities centre around the dining table. It is where we gather as a family, bond over meals, and make memories. It is around the table that we sit down together as a family after a long, busy day. The place where we have our family prayers, where we grapple with questions of faith, and pour out our hearts before God. It is where we hold hands and ask each other, 'What are you grateful for today?'
It is where we gather to iron out the details and reconcile after a stormy outburst of emotions, where we sit down together to apologise and remind each other that love does not keep a record of wrongs!
It is in the cornermost seat that I have my quiet time, journal my thoughts, and plan my day with my steaming cup of tea in the wee hours of the morning. It is my oasis of calm before the morning rush and the day's demands come rushing in.
Our table is where the love and laughter of family and friends echo. Where we have celebrated love and life's milestones. When my parents were celebrating a milestone wedding anniversary, my sister-in-love planned out all the details, down to the decor and dainty doilies. For our part, we loaned her our dining table to put together her work of love. My parents' faces beamed with joy and contentment as we gathered together as a family, and it is one of our most treasured family memories.
It is the centre of the buzz when we have guests over. Long after the meals have been relished and, dishes have been cleared away, and the desserts are still being savoured, it is where we sit down and chat. Linger around over another hot cup of tea. Share the same old jokes. Listen to wise counsel. Share our life's experiences and the mercies of God. Speak our hearts out. Ponder over choices. Cry with a friend who shares struggles and fears. Where we can offer nothing other than prayers and love.
Week after week, it is where we sit and adjust our screens to catch up with friends and family on faraway shores and make sure we stay connected through the distance and different time zones.
This is where strangers have shyly come in and found a place in our home and hearts, where friendships have blossomed and taken root.
It reminds me of a kind, thoughtful soul who invited a lonely hostel girl and made a place for her at their family dining table on an Easter afternoon. And as the years rolled on, she has made place in her heart to accommodate not just me but my family as well.
It was such a joy to have her family gather around our table recently when they were visiting from distant lands. Our children hovered around as we caught up on life's stories and laughed at old, familiar memories. One of them asked how we became such good friends; I shared the story of how I was trudging back to my hostel room after Easter service. As they drove past, she was kind enough to roll down her car window and said, 'Come home with us for lunch.' I hesitated to barge in on their family reunion but hopped in and never regretted it. They were warm, gracious hosts, and I felt welcome, and I remember them telling me there is always room for one more at the table.
Accepting that invitation changed my life!
I found a friend for life. Though we live in different parts of the world now, we have the privilege of being prayer partners, shopping companions, gratitude journal buddies, helpline assistants, friends who love at all times, crying unashamedly, rejoicing in the goodness of God, spurring each other on.
Isn't that how the Master, the Shepherd of our soul, calls and invites us to His banqueting table? The Bible says He has prepared a table for us. He does not want us to miss the feast He has lovingly planned for us.
We should not be scared, apprehensive, or too busy and preoccupied to accept His invitation. There is always room for each of us at His table, and He waits for us to accept His invitation…
Trust me, you will not regret it!
Photo Credit: Nehara George
