Family time..

So basically on the daily, my coworker and I tend to have heart to heart conversations about life, love, and all the things that drive us crazy. 

We talk about a variety of things, ranging from our shoes, nails, ignorance, broken hearts, death, love, and most of all our families.

We work in a place where the word family, does not always mean much.

We have a lot of people come to us with brokenness- we just try to pick up the pieces and put them back together. 

These circumstances often bring my coworker and I to a place of realization. 

We realize time and time again of the many blessings that we have, and just as many others do, we often take those blessings for granted.
There are so many little things in life that often get overlooked.

One topic we always touch base on; the simple act of eating together at the kitchen table for dinner.

Often we all forget how important it is to spend intimate time with our family. 

Whether you are newly married, have no children, have one, have ten, or you’re elderly, family time is necessary.

In particular, "Dinner time" is extremely important for children- of all ages.

 I see so often, many children going unnoticed. 

Parents get too busy, they lose their focus, and forget that their child/children have needs. 

Eating, bathing, having clothes on their backs, having roofs over their heads, etc..those are simple needs to a child. 

They may not always be simple to the parents out there, but to a child there is so much more that they need. 

Every child strives for attention. Whether they get it in a negative or a positive way, they NEED and WANT your attention.

I found a statistic that actually kind of made me really sad…

“The average parent spends 38.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children” (Jessica Barna).

38.5 minutes?!

               I can easily spend 38.5 minutes on Twitter (in one setting), no problem. 

There are parents out there who are not even spending that much time with their children per WEEK? It’s an overwhelming feeling to think that there are many parents out there who probably do not even really know who their children are. 

Spending time around the dinner table is the perfect opportunity to talk with your children. 

Get to know them for who they truly are. 

You might even be surprised, they probably would like to know who you are too.

I can honestly say, some of my best memories with my family is time spent
 around the dinner table. We never ate without giving thanks to God, sharing our day with each other, and loving on each other.

 I cherish those days with my family because those days, I will never get back.

Each day that you spend not knowing your child/children, is a day that you will never get back.

Having “Dinner” with your family is not about what you eat, how much food there is, where you sit, or how many times you get seconds. 

Having “Dinner” with your family is about how much love you share with one another. 

It’s about getting to know your children, helping them through their hard times, guiding them through life because we all know life is not always easy, and laughing with them.

Time is sacred, use it wisely- Children are not children forever.