As tears streamed down my face, I tried reminding myself, “Jen, you’re only saying goodbye to a table.”
I understood the reality of that statement. Yet… while it’s an inanimate object, our kitchen table represents a lifetime of memories, meals, and milestone moments that span nearly three decades. It’s more than simply a table, yet somehow last week in a spontaneous act of earning cold, hard cash, I posted our kitchen table and chairs on Facebook marketplace.
To say I didn’t think this through on an emotional level is an understatement.
Nice “stuff” isn’t important to me. I’m the queen of thrift store shopping and this table was purchased secondhand when our children were only babies. Before the internet, I’d page through the classified ads to furnish our humble abode, and when the newspaper description stated this table could seat up to ten people (or more if we smooshed), I knew this was the one.
My vision for gathering around our kitchen table started small. A day-by-day family routine that served more scratches, spills, and spaghetti stains than suppers. But as I extended additional invitations, it became a standard-bearer of sorts for curating sacred moments. Passionate about the power of family meal time, our normal ordinary rhythm became a call to linger, exhale, and pause amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A time to give thanks, share bits of our day, and remember who called us to the table in the first place.
Within hours of my spontaneous sale, someone messaged that they were on their way and the memories started bubbling over.
How could I sell the only table our children have ever known? For twenty-six years, nearly all our meals have been eaten here. Our five kids spit out their first veggies at this table and then scribbled with a permanent marker across the top in the name of creating art. We cheered on potty training success with their favorite ice cream cake in the same spot as the marker, and then in a blink, the same recipe was shared here for their graduation.
When I told our adult kids I sold the table, our eldest son jested in our family group chat, “Well Mom, that is the most special table and I don’t know if we can come home and eat family dinners on any other one.”
Celebrations and tears. Prayers, praise, and petitions. Sacred songs and silly banter. All have intersected around our life-giving table.
In Acts 2, we witness how the believers’ steadfast devotion to simple, everyday choices – God-honoring teaching, biblical community, prayer, and mealtime together — became the launching pad to their explosive revival in the church.
“And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.”
Acts 2:46
More than seven hundred times the imagery of eating laces itself throughout Scripture, but this simple phrase, “day by day,” gives me pause. As I scroll through Instagram, my life feels so chore-like, so “daily” compared to others. I have nothing extraordinary, no great stories to share. And yet, could our seemingly common, day-by-day, hour-by-hour, mundane faithfulness be the catalyst for a strong legacy that can shift the next generation?
As I processed the sacredness of this table transition, it hit me: Thousands, yes, thousands of guests have joined us around this very ordinary table. Day by day, meal by meal, bread is broken, His Word revealed, and the true Bread of Life nourishes amidst the most daily of rituals.
My tears continued. Our table isn’t quite as busy as it once was when we had little ones . . . but I began to think about the new family who might gather around its edges. In a moment of crazy, I shot out a plethora of texts to the woman buying our table. I found out that she has three young boys. (We have three boys and two girls.) And that commonality was all the encouragement I needed to share the back story of our beloved table and impress upon her the power of gathering with her family for mealtime. What I’m sure started for her as, “Facebook Stranger Lady, I just want to buy your table,” turned into deeper conversations. We even have another meet-up planned for one last “chair” exchange.
Who knows what the Lord has planned for the next season of this second-hand table? It’s served our family well and now there are new life-giving stories to tell. One thing I’m certain of: It’s not “just a table.”
If you want to see my table and hear my heart on the day I sold it, check my Instagram highlight.
What a great smile-giving story to start my day with! I’m sure there are tables in each of your children’s homes & a new to you table to come to your spot that will continue the legacy of more than a table. Blessings! (((0)))
Ruth – I’m so glad I could start your day off with a smile. (well a few days late, but still). Thank you for your kind words about the legacy of our new table.
Jen, I can’t even write for the tears blurring my eyes right now, but this hit home with me too. Thank you.
Kim – blurr away with the tears. They are so welcome. Glad it resonated with you too.
We all have in our Family air looms that are precious to us. That can go from belonging to our late Grandparents they can years and years old. That we never want to give away. But we know we have to old day. We know we have had good memories of times spent using them with Family and good laughs. We can treasure them in our hearts all our days. Yes we will have tears giving them away. Even if we sell them. The person that buys it no matter what it is that was precious to us. We hope in the back of our minds the things we have sold to them. They have as good fun out it with their Family. They take as good care of it like we did. Even if not just a table. We tell you will take good care of it like we did as Family had good time with it. We will miss it but we have to let go to buy a new one or bigger one. No matter what our reason for selling it that we have too. We have a sadness letting it go. When we don’t want to but have to. It reminds me of our Lord I know if we think about want he went through when he choose to have his son to have to die on Calvary for the whole world. He must have shed some tears when he saw him on the cross of Calvary for us because he loved us. I say He didn’t want to do have to do that. But he had to do it show us he loved sin was forgiven and when we leave the world we get to go to be with him if we have a relationship with him. he loved us that much by his son dying on the cross and sheding his blood for all mankind. So our sins can be forgiven we can have a personal relationship with the Father that father is our Lord God. With that we know when we leave this earth we are sure we are going to Calvary to be with him. That is why he did what he did to show how much he love us. It was not just about his son Jesus dying on the cross of Calvary. What a amazing Grace was that. For a Father to do that. Like you Jen to give away your table with so many memories. Even though you probably never wanted to. Our Lord probably never want to put his son on the cross of Calvary. But it was the only way he could to show the world he loved us and the only way to prove. If we come to know him as our saviour and ask him into our hearts. Our sins will be forgiven and we will have a living relationship with Jesus. Then when we leave earth one day know we are going to be with Jesus in Glory. I say Amen to that. Love today’s reading. Dawn Ferguson-Little xx
Yes, Dawn! Thank you for always sharing your heart with us here. 😉
Oh my word, this made me literally want to burst in to tears… It’s never “just a table” and I struggle with stuff like this as my parents age and start getting rid of things that have been in our household for years…. Beautiful story, thank you for sharing it xx
Donna – I’m so glad you understand that it’s never “just a table.” Thank you for understanding and glad we can share it together.
Jennifer thank you for sharing this heartfelt story. We have moved soooo many times! I’m completely amazed at the the pieces of furniture I have lugged into moving trucks across the miles and upstairs and into garages and finally to “it’s new home” where memories can be made.
I found a dresser at a yard sale for my daughters very 1st bedroom…and I still have it and she’s 41…OMGOSH!!! My husband is “usually” pretty “okay” with moving all my stuff, but the occasional “why do you still have this or why are we still moving this” does spit out…hahahha.
But when the unpacking and decorating is done and our favorite scriptures are placed we sit and look around, we realize we sold what someone else “loved” and can make their memories. We kept what we love. It will make new memories. Be in new pictures in our new home. Our hearts are filled and not as sad.
Excuse me as I go sit at my beloved “old wobbly” kitchen table and have b-fast..
and maybe I should consider giving the old dresser to one of my grand-daughters……hahahah \0/
Oh Janet – it sounds like we are meant to be friends with our stuff. 🙂 I wish I was sitting at your beloved old wobbly table with you enjoy a cup of coffee.
I loved this and can so relate to your table story. Some of us treasure “things” and attach emotional meaning to them more than others, it seems, and I’m one of those people. We lost my Mom in 2020 and were unable to be with her and Dad because of the closing of the Canada-US border. That was the start of a mostly painful and difficult season for our family, yet God has been faithful. Things are finally starting to get better, but it’s been a lot of loss to grieve.
Anyway, part of the pain was because after Mom died, Dad proceeded to sell/give away almost everything in the family home. He felt he had to do it, and tried his best to save what he felt would be important to my sister and I, but it broke our hearts. (Later we were to discover that he was in the beginnings of dementia, so he was just trying to survive the best he could.) Eventually, the border opened, and Dad brought boxes of things across to my sister’s home (she lives a lot closer than we do). He also brought my Mom’s beautiful dining-room table and chairs. We agreed that our family would inherit this gift, choosing another piece that Dad still had for their family to cherish.
We lugged that table in the back of our Honda Pilot the 500 miles from NY state to Massachusetts, but it was so worth it. It is not only an Amish-made, beautiful, solid table with enough leaves to hold a crowd, but more importantly, it is the table our family sat around each time we came to visit. It holds years of memories shared with our parents, as well as my grandmothers (who have both gone on to glory).
I am SO thankful, that even in the midst of great loss, God saw fit to have my Dad save this table for us. I pray that we will use it to share with many more family and others to add to the precious memories. Thanks for sharing your story!
Oh my goodness. Now your story is bringing me to tears. I’m so sorry for the loss of your mom during such a hard, hard time. I can’t begin to imagine not being able to be together as a family for that and you’re right, sounds like your dad was trying to do the best he could in the midst of such loss. So glad that you have that special table. It will serve as a legacy marker for so many. blessings xoxoxo
Jen,
Loved your story. We sold our old dining table a few years ago. We hadn’t used it much & I found one I like better. This new table now houses my computer & all my papers, plus it has open shelves for storage. Memories are made on furniture. Keep those memories alive, but allow others to use the items & make new memories.
Blessings 🙂
Yes, the new family will have such special memories on it too. I got rid of our dining room table and it didn’t hold many ties but this one was just something much different. IT hit home when it left.