MY SEAT AT THE TABLE

The Kid Table (google)

     Some things never change, over time. I asked my boys when they returned from Thanksgiving with their Dad's family, "Didja graduate to the adult table yet?" Even when the kids have grown into adults, it just seems easier to place the "experienced" lives at one table and the "learning" lives at another.
      When I was young I couldn't wait to get to that table because I loved big secrets. I realized early on, that big secrets have great power. I didn't want to get anyone in trouble, unless it was my sister, who just hit me. I just really liked knowing adult information that I couldn't understand. It made me feel trustworthy and smart. When I became an adult, what I found at the adult table was the exact same crap that I had been eating at the kids table.
       So and so isn't sharing. So and so stole ____, and it's not his/hers because I had it first. They hurt me so bad, I would like to maintain the solace, anger gives me, rather than make nice and move on. Her clothes are ugly. His breath stinks. He doesn't play fair. She is mean. Oh, and gossip in the form of a prayer request was the snake on the table. No boundaries. No freakin' boundaries.
        I have always been a child at heart, but my kids helped me grow up. How? By sitting with them at the table, or the couch. Tradition may make you feel good, warm and fuzzy, but really, the truth is lying on the carpet as nettles from the fresh Christmas Tree you have to vacuum after and water about 4 times a day. Yuk! For the first 3 years of my boys lives, I was nursing, cooking, cleaning up dishes, and getting them down for nap, so no adult time. I really wanted to miss it, but I was having so much fun with my boys. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/534239574516663832/ (sorry no computer skills).
       My boys and I love the tv series "Friends." We've watched them so often, we have memorized the lines. Each episode never fails to rip us up with laughter. In this video I'm sharing, Ross had met Mona out at the table where you got your seating assignments. Well, Ross wanted to sat next to Mona rather than an older relative. He asked what table she was assigned. After she left, he thought he had picked up the card for the table next to her. Unfortunately, he had read the 9 as a 6. The scene that follows is hilarious and poignant. You must have a clear conscious when pursuing your goal.

Jesus at the table (google)

       This is not a new struggle. The disciples asked Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom, and can I sat next to you, and what about John. Oh yes, there was childishness remaining in the disciples. But after the Cross and the revelation that all betrayed Him, they were left with three days of torture of conscious and a battle in faith. However, after the Resurrection, they became secure in LOVE. Fifty days later, the Holy Spirit empowers them for healing, deliverance and restoration. I would love to say that the Bible is full of children and women, but no. They are few and far between. That's because God saved the best for last. When we look at the Last Supper in the Bible, it is important that we know, seating is predetermined by God, so that no man can work his way to the Master. Those closest to Him are appointed to greatness...in suffering. To gain insight/compassion, it is required that you go to the humbling place: the kiddy table.

Wedding Party (google)

      At the kiddy table, your heart can be cleansed from goals that are self-serving, entitlements, fears, and agendas that do not bring Him glory. I read a book once from a well known "Prophetess," and was appalled by her actions. She had a dinner with several of the church's women who were spiritually gifted. One lady assumed that because she worked so closely with the "Prophetess" that she had a seat next to her. The "Prophetess" openly reprimanded her and told her she needed to go sit at the table of least importance. Surprise, its actually in the Bible in Luke 14. Jesus explains to the Pharisees that if you come to a wedding and take the seat of honor, the groom will have no choice but to humiliate you to humble you; however, if you come in humble, there is at least a chance that the groom will exalt you to a place of honor.
       What brought this on, is in this passed week, I witnessed two incidents where there was no adult manning the children. Two boys fighting in a church. Boys have to be manned all the time, looking purposefully at the direction of the heart. My boys ruff housed, but I was there to look for the subtle change in attitude. With girls, they have to be manned for picky, unkind words. You are literally giving them the tools they need to cultivate their own garden as they get older. Unattended gardens grow massive weeds, because they feel uncared for. This Christmas, volunteer to sit at the kid table, and find out what you have been missing.