Yesterday we talked about having order at our table. Part of keeping order at the table is training our children to sit at the table. Often, that is easier said than done! It takes training. Everything to do with raising children is training, isn’t it?
Mother, you are a trainer, among the 101 other things you do as a professional mother.
Is it important to train our children to sit? Yes, God thinks it is important. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
In 1 Samuel 20 we read the story of where King Saul was jealous of David and wanted to kill him. David and Jonathan made a plan that David would not come to the meal table and wait to see what King Saul would do.
That night the king sat down to eat. Let’s see how they sat at their meal table. 1 Samuel 20:25 (NET) says: “The king sat down in his USUAL PLACE by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him and Abner at Saul’s side. But David’s place was vacant.” Do you notice how everyone had their assigned seats? I think this can be a good thing. Often, we let our children sit anywhere at the table, but sometimes that can end in fights because one wants to sit on a certain seat and another sibling is vying for that seat.
We notice that they sat down for their meal. We also notice that each person was expected to be at the table for the evening meal. Verse 20 says: ‘The second day, David’s place was still vacant. So Saul said to his son Jonathan, ‘Why has Jesse’s son not come to the meal yesterday or today?’”
We go to the New Testament ad read the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 men, plus others. We notice that before Jesus gave thanks to His Father and fed this multitude, He first “COMMANDED them to make all SIT DOWN by companies upon the green grass. And they SAT DOWN in ranks” (Mark 6:39).
Matthew and Mark both used the word “commanded.” Mark, Luke, and John use the words “MAKE THEM SIT DOWN . . .” I am sure that took some doing with all those thousands of people. But Jesus would not feed the people until they were seated, and seated in companies, not just “any old how.”
Do you notice that He told them to “MAKE them sit down”? Do you have to do this at your table? You have to MAKE your children sit down! Don’t despair. You’re being very biblical! But as we teach them from little ones, they learn the habit.
And it is a good habit. When you eat standing or walking around you are usually doing something else at the same time and don’t really remember that you’ve eaten. You may become hungrier sooner.
But the main reason is that God intends us to sit while we eat is because eating is more than consuming food. God wants us to eat and fellowship. To sit down together and dialogue and communicate. And as we do this we get more nutritional value from our food.
Make it a habit to all sit together at your table. We also take this concept into the spiritual realm. Ephesians 2:6 says that God has “raised us up together, and MADE US SIT TOGETHER in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Be blessed,
Nancy Campbell
When God showed Moses how to set up the tabernacle in the wilderness, we notice that God established order for each day and order in every department.
“Every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands” (Proverbs 14:1). Build into your marriage and family each day. Always building. Never pulling down. 
The devil’s temptations come to our minds. But we don’t have to receive them. But how we discern? By filling our minds RICHLY with God’s Word. God’s Word is the greatest deterrent against deception—in our own minds and the minds of our children. Make sure you fill them with God’s Word. 
I woke up this morning with the phrase “the Spirit and the Word” upon my heart. It is not good to have one without the other. I love the quote:
I know you will be blessed and encouraged. 
It seems that many mothers find cooking for their families a chore. “Oh no, not another meal to cook for this hungry family.” “Here I go again, day after day, day after day, with no let up!”
Don't you love these words? So true.
The greatest blessing you can have in your home is the presence of the Lord. When the ark of the Lord (which represents the presence and glory of God) was in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, the Bible says that “the Lord blessed Obed-edom, and all his household” (II Samuel 6:11).
The other day my lovely daughter-in-law, Simone, sent me this idea.
Discipline is training. And training is a daily process. It’s not just for the moment, but for the future. You are preparing your children for their success, for marriage, to fulfill God’s destiny upon their lives. Therefore, you cannot let the little things go unattended. Deal firmly with negative attitudes and moods and laziness as well as disobedience and willfulness so these things do not become habits in their lives. 
“The greatest thing you will ever do in your life is to be a part of the creative act of God by giving birth to a brand new, refreshing, sweet life. It is the greatest privilege and glorious honor ever bestowed upon women. I now look at my children and tell them, ‘You’re the best thing I ever did.’”
Is this an outlandish statement? No, it is the truth. Everything that happens in this world, the workforce, the great inventions, the amazing feats all happen through people. And everyone of these people come to the world no other way than through the womb of a mother! The womb of the mother is a powerful place. It is a place if destinies. I wonder who God has planned to bring into the world through your womb? How sad to forfeit plans that God has for this world. 
You’d better believe it. Why do we do last that which we should do first? You have no greater weapon in your hand than prayer! 
Have you read God’s Word to your children today? And if they are of reading age, have you taught them the habit of reading God’s Word themselves each day? I love the quote of the Chinese man who said: “No Bible, no breakfast!” He would not feed his body until he had first fed his soul and spirit. Don’t let the souls and spirits of your children starve! 
Are you building today? We build with every word and every decision we make. Make every moment a building moment (Proverbs 14:1). 
Home is where God loves children to be. Make your home a place where your children love to be, filled with peace, love, righteousness , contentment, and happiness. 
The next question we need to ask is: “what are you teaching your children? It's easy to get into the mode of packing information into your children's brains, the more the better! But "information" is not education. "Right thinking" is education. Unless your children know how to think correctly, information won't do them a lot of good.
Are you facing a storm in your life? This is when God delights to come to your aid. Do you remember when the disciples were in the midst of the storm and battered by the waves? Jesus came walking on the water and what did Jesus say to His terrified disciples? “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (Matthew 14:27). The meaning of the word “cheer” is to “take courage.”
I am sure, like me, you have found a rotten potato in your bag of potatoes. Isn’t it such a foul smell? There’s nothing worse. I found one the other night in my bag. The only trouble with a rotten potato is that it contaminates all the other potatoes around it! I had to throw out a few others that were beginning to rot around it. And then wash all the others!