I just now about slapped myself. I stared at my online bank statements and decided to add up all the restaurant expenses to see if we had reached our max allowance. I regret to say that even though we had done "better" we were far from "cured" of the habit of eating out. Really. It's a habit, and a very bad one.
All a sudden it struck me like lightning. We've replaced the dinner table. We've traded our sacred time of eating a home-cooked meal together, with bickering about what we want at drive-thru joints and sitting at restaurant tables at Golden Corral or East Coast Wings. (No offense Golden Corral, but your food is NOT homemade.) We cheat ourselves into thinking that somehow eating "together" at a restaurant is having "family time".
Eating out is a habit that's hard to break and it grows stronger over time. I grew up in a town that was so small it only had a Hardee's and a Bojangles (didn't get a Bojangles until I was 16!). I didn't start eating out a lot until I was married and had moved to a larger town. Truthfully, covenience is a killer. Many people eat out for different reasons. It's really a sign of the break down of family. Mothers have to work now. Men don't have wives to cook for them. Daughters aren't taught how to cook before they marry. Children are in broken homes and don't have a whole family unit to sit down and have a meal with.
We've become self-gratifying, entitled, and lazy. I hear all the time, "Let's just get some _______ (interject any restaurant), because it's faster." There's you're sign; you want something faster and that's self-gratification and impatience. Both are very bad habits that you just didn't just develope in one day. I've caught myself thinking,"Well, whatever, I didn't feel like cooking anyway!" Ouch! That's laziness rearing its head and I need a swift kick in the gut. Then when we order our food, we complain about the prices being too high. You're not entitled to choose what prices you want to pay. Quit griping, and go cook a home-cooked meal for yourself and you'll find that it would be much cheaper and more satisfying. Guess what? At least you won't have to tip anyone!
Our children need to learn the satisfaction of making something physically themselves and enjoying their success whether it's making a grilled cheese sandwich, or running a little lemonade stand. Constantly shuttling them through a fast food drive-thru will just teach them that they don't have to have patience, they don't have to do something for themselves, and they are entitled to get anything they want. Sometimes they need to learn that it's perfectly fine to sit around the table and enjoy pintos and cornbread or a bologna sandwich, as long as they are eating together at the family table. It's time to make the dinner table sacred once again. Dust it off and learn to love all the scratches and crumbs. It's part of what makes your family special. On that table you will read the Bible to your children, and teach them to pray their first prayer over their food. On that table, your children will do their homework or draw a picture for you to put on your refrigerator. On that table, you will learn that your husband is better than you at Chinese Checkers and Monopoly. But that's okay.
Feeling guilty? That's awesome because that means that you still have a conscience and want to change. We all are guilty. But making excuses for your current family behavior isn't going to help your plight. You've got to resolute that you and only you can make changes that will embetter your family. It's not too late to clean off your dinner table and plan meals together. Let the whole family get involved: invest in a little chalk board or dry-erase board, and write down the meals for the week. If you can't cook, check out Youtube and Pinterest; you will learn a lot! Do you hate that the dishes pile up after every meal? Have everyone pitch in, wash their own plates, wipe the table, and sweep the floor. The important thing remains: you're all together as a family. A family that eats together stays together.
Oh, and read Acts 2:38. Just obey it!
-HRC
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