“…Let each one go home in peace” (1 Kings 22:17 NIV).
Nearly every Sunday after church our family has lunch at our house. All of our children are grown and married, but they all gather to eat at our table on Sundays. I assumed our grocery bill would go down after the kids left home… it hasn’t. They went out and multiplied and returned in greater numbers.
I lovingly refer to them as the “holy horde.” They descend upon our house like locusts every weekend and do not leave until the cupboards are bare.
But Robin and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We want our house to be a place of hospitality and peace for our growing family. We love being together. We love the happy chaos of a house filled with the smells of home cooking and the sounds of love and laughter.
There is a kind of peace that settles over me at these Sunday lunches at home. As we sit crowded around our dining room table, I have few words left (After preaching at two services every Sunday morning, I’m out of words). But that doesn’t stop me from enjoying all the loud conversation that bounces around our table (Have you seen a family where everyone talks at the same time?). I don’t know if it’s the fatigue from a great effort on Sunday mornings or the fullness of having just eaten my wife’s cooking, but a feeling of peace and satisfaction comes over me that is hard to describe.
The Hebrew word for “peace” is “shalom.” In Israel and in other Middle Eastern countries the word is used as a greeting and for saying goodbye. They say, “Shalom” as a kind of blessing on the hearer. The word has several layers of meaning. It certainly means to be free from warfare or worry. It may also include the state of mind that is at rest and is experiencing complete contentment. This kind of peace is only experienced as a gift from God.
This past Sunday when everyone at our table was talking, only two were silent… me and my grandson, Nathaniel. I had already talked enough and Nate hasn’t even started talking yet.
We kept our peace at the end of the table.
I wish I had this growing up and more than anything, I want this in 20 years. I can think of nothing that would be more meaningful than what you have with your family.
Chris, you will have what you seek. Believe it.
Is that boy holding own bottle?
So cute!