Make a meal of it

Last week I preached the last in the series of Meals With Jesus and a few days beforehand a survey came out that reveals some alarming things about how today's families eat. The research, commissioned by Bisto, says:

* More than half of families no longer eat their dinner together in one room, instead eating in up to four different rooms in the house.

* One in five children eat dinner alone in their bedroom.

* 61% of families are too busy to sit down and eat a meal together.

* If they do eat together, 59% admitted they prefer to send text messages, watch television or go on the internet than talk with the rest of the family.

I find this so scary! Anecdotal evidence says that lots of teens feel that they can't talk to their parents, some self-harm and many say that they have considered suicide (how seriously, who knows?) It seems that our eating habits are only adding to the problem.

We get plenty wrong as parents but I am glad that we always eat together at least daily. It's a time to talk and catch up and sometimes to laugh, cry or argue. But we do it together.