Breakfast is the new dinner

I used to lament the fact that my family just cannot seem to get a family dinner going-- you read all the time about how important the family dinner is and how crucial it is to the mission of creating a Godly family culture.

Not having a husband and Father in law on board for the family dinner thing has been endlessly annoying to me. That being said- we actually HAVE family dinners more often than not. It's just that I can never "count on" the fact that it is a priority for each family member, each day of the week. It seemed like everytime we got into a trend of three or so family dinners in a week, I would get excited and start plotting ways to add a family devotional or something in my mind, and then get thoroughly disappointed when the next supper found us all eating in different parts of the house as we worked on various projects. Rather than lament, I placed these frustrations squarely in the hands of the Lord, who opened my eyes to something amazing this morning.

When we first moved in here, I was endlessly irritated at my Father in Law for his morning habits. First, because he seems to set his alarm for the minute that I have tons of stuff to do in the kitchen and then we have to dance around each other getting in each other's way, and second because he seems to be intent on asking us if he can make us something and then resenting the fact that we don't thank him perpetually for all his good deeds all the time, which make us more likely to just
say "forget it!"
Case in point, the great Bacon fiasco of 2009, where he made a HUGE deal out of making sure everyone in the house got bacon for a week straight. The kids, who had never had bacon before got super excited about the very thought of bacon with all the enthusiasm with which he would describe it, and everymorning he would race through the halls going: "Bacon! Bacon's on the table for everybody! Who wants bacon??"
Then one day he was like... "Hey, well you guys are eating bacon every day. The kids REALLY like it. Maybe you could chip in." Seriously?
Add to that the fact that neither myself nor my husband are morning people--- and that we normally eat like, a breakfast bar and a cup of tea (including the kids) and it was like hell on earth for us getting up in the mornings--- where we were accosted by his good mood and his glee over the huge breakfast he had made us and how much energy it was going to give us.

Fast forward a few months and I began to notice that we DID have a lot of energy for the day when we ate a good breakfast. And then, as our appreciation for our Scottish/Irish heritage grew in proportion to the kilts we accumulated (Haha) I began to develop an appreciation for traditional country breakfasts, which are based largely on traditional Scottish and Irish breakfasts. I started praying about ways to incorporate his dad's morning methods with our own and we finally worked out a system in which there was limited "kitchen dancing" going on and more goal orientation.

Nowadays, breakfast is like a well-oiled machine. He makes the coffee and bacon, I make the eggs, tea, oatmeal, fruit and toast. If someone wants grits, they know Grandpa's the expert. When Saturday's roll around, I make the pancakes or waffles. And Grandpa makes us his special biscuits and gravy once a month. Everyone wakes up cheerier now that we know what to expect and the kids, I have to say, eat more at breakfast than any other meal.

We all sit together every morning and we talk naturally, optimistically and openly about the day ahead instead of with resignation and frustration about the day that's past. And honestly? It's a glorious time. And we laugh-- because morning is always a little slow and silly.

I guess it took a change in attitude and a desire to make it work for us to see fruit in our family life, despite ourselves. And that devotional? We have it at the breakfast table.