Your beautifully 

unique table

Earlier this year I was asked to attend a special man camp with my son where all of the Year 8 boys at their School had invited an important mentor there with them for the afternoon. After a few team working games there was a set amount of time that we could spend one on one with our child.

There were a few things that were suggested that we talk about and then we were given the opportunity just to spend some precious intentional time with each other, no one else around, just the two of us. Having nine people living at our house including five kids this time was very valuable for us and quite a rare occurrence.

I had noticed a national park really close to the campsite, so we headed there for our time together. After our initial conversation we went for a bushwalk and I kept thinking these words in my head repeating over and over again “Don’t let this moment pass you by”.

After the walk I thought to myself, what do we need to talk about???

I looked up at the trees and the amazing scenery and thought to myself, this is something I can use to have a great conversation with my son. These trees were massive and just staring up at them we were in awe of God’s creation. I also remembered at that moment one of my colleagues Greg who has been a furniture maker for longer than I have been alive and the amazingly beautiful pieces of artwork that I have seen him create from wood.

I said to my Son, “How amazing are these trees?” “Yeah” he replied. 

“They are so majestic, so strong, so beautiful.” “Yeah” he replied. 

“I wonder how long they have been growing for.” “Yeah” he replied.  

I said “I just find God's creation so amazing.” “Yeah” he replied. 

I started to go into some imagery of sorts. 

“God created all these trees, they are here because He created them, these trees are old, they are solid, they have seen so many days come and go. These are kind of like your grandparents and your great grandparents, they have lived amazing lives, they have seen and experienced a lot and they have set  amazing examples and have shown years of strength for our family history, without them and their sacrifice, strength, protection and wisdom we would not be here today.

When going through your life sometimes I picture it like a table, a beautiful one of a kind, unique table that shows your life and all it contains. The wood is your family history and how deep those roots go.

The legs are your parents and immediate family and even now some of your friends or other mentors. People that have raised you up off the floor, that have fed you, given you strength and supported you through your formative years and will continue to hold you up wherever life leads you.

The beautiful table top is the entirety of your amazing life. Your experiences, your victories, your trials, moments that you will always remember and everything you have had to go through to get to where you are in life right now.

Your table is now built, you are a teenager and you are now starting to make more decisions yourself, gaining more freedoms, generating your personal opinions, really thinking through some big things in life. This is now where it gets interesting. 

You have the sandpaper in your hand now and every moment, experience and decision you make now is like you are sanding back the wood to have a smooth finish and complete your beautiful masterpiece. You might make some mistakes and experience the pain of splinters, you will also get some things right and sand back your rough edges well. But it is up to you how you finish your table and who you invite to sit around it and share your amazing life.” 

“Yeah” he replied.

No matter where you are at with your parenting journey it is always important to know that your child will at some point make decisions themselves, sometimes they are not the best but your continued support is something that will always hold them up.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.