Radical Wisdom: A 7-Day Journey For FathersSample

Dinner Together  

I can count the things my wife has been insistent on with one hand. Dinner together was one.

“When will you be home?” she’d ask. “I’m tied up . . . it’ll be a little while” I’d say. Undaunted, she’d retort, “Untie yourself and get on the road. We have dinner together in this family. It’ll be ready and we’ll be at the table at 6:30!”

I'm exaggerating a little, but not much. My wife consistently insisted we have dinner together every night as a family. At first, I didn’t quite see why it was important.

But over time, especially as my kids moved into adolescence, I saw the value. It was the one time every day when we were eyeball-to-eyeball. We talked about things. We could hear their hearts and they could hear ours. They could see how their parents talked, worked together, and loved each other. Brother and sister sat there for a little dose of family.

If not at home, where will your kids learn about committed love, family dynamics, loyalty, empathy, relational problem-solving, and forgiveness? Who will prepare them for marriage and family life? I’m not aware of a “husband school” or “wife school” where our kids learn this stuff.

Question: Does your family sit together at home with any regularity? Ask yourself, “Twenty years from now, will what they got from outside activities be more important than Family 101?”