The Hour of Power

Shared meals are essential for a healthy family.  Gathering around the dinner table isn’t just something we see in reruns of black-and-white TV shows.  What takes place while your family is seated around that table will bear more fruit than you could possibly imagine.

The blessings of the dinner table are both obvious and numerous.  Around the table we can teach manners, model principles, discuss topics, and honor God.  Dr. Catherine Snow, professor of education at Harvard Graduate School of Education, followed sixty-five families over an eight-year period.  She found that there was something of more value to child development than playtime, school, or story time.

The big winner was family dinner.

Several separate studies confirm the profound effects of dinnertime together.  Eating regular meals together gives parents and kids time to talk and relate to one another without distractions.  Kids who sit down at the table with their families do better in school and in life, are more stable, and are less apt to get into trouble.  The leading common denominator among high achievers is not wealth, appearance, or intelligence; it’s the simple fact of eating dinner together as a family.

In other words, dinnertime is more than just a meal.

Check back throughout the week for dinnertime ideas… how to deepen relationships, share encouragement, and laugh uncontrollably!

Building Family Ties