Growing up, we prayed before dinner, at home around the table, but not breakfast or lunch. So, the next step in my journey to making meals matter was to start praying at every meal. Boy, has the Holy Spirit been busy blessing my efforts. I actually feel more thankful the food we have and more mindful that others have so much less, and let me tell you, watching my daughter learn to pray has been so much fun! She loves to make up her own prayer before we proceed with the blessing, telling God what she is thankful for, and sometimes even what she is sorry for. My husband, who is not Catholic (or religous) even gets in on the action sometimes, reminding her to bless herself, making the gestures himself. :-)
But Praying before meals isn't enough to really make your meals matter, no, no. I want you to dedicate one meal to focusing on spiritual matters.
When my daughter was an infant, I would spend breakfast reading and contemplating the daily readings (also a great idea for those of us with older children). In my current stage of life, with a toddler and preschooler, we spend breakfast (or lunch, depending on our schedule) reading and discussing a toddler's bible story from A Child's First Bible
and daily children's devotional from Blessings Every Day: 365 Simple Devotions for the Very Young (Little Blessings)
. You could read or paraphrase about the Saint of the Day, or use the Advent and Lenten Books provided by your local parish. Whatever you choose, the important thing is that you are discussing spiritually relevant topics with your children on a daily basis, that you and your children and learning with about each other, and connecting every day.
Previous Challenge: Set Your Table
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