I’ve been ask why I call my restored dining table sets “Gathering Tables” well this is why. The season of gathering is upon us. We fill our days with shopping, wrapping, attending events as the days melt away. Then comes the day we stop and gather to celebrate Christmas. In my home we celebrate the birth of Christ. We gather on Christmas eve and Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve we open our home to those that don’t have a family to go to or spend time with. It’s the gathering event I love the most in this season. Loving on those special people in our lives. On Christmas morning it is more intimate with just my kids and their families. We open our gifts and have a special lunch.
Gathering in our home you would think happens in the dining room but it doesn’t. We start there filling our plates but we don’t sit in this room to eat. In our house we have what is called the poker room. It’s kinda Greg’s man cave room. Years ago I found a table in a dumpster. I drug it home to restore it back to life. It had no chairs at all so I had to find some. At a court ordered estate sale for a Hoarder I found a stack of old chairs that looked like what you would find in a restaurant. I’m not kidding when I say stack, there had to be at least 200 chairs in this stack. I carefully picked out 10 chairs. I was driving a Kia Soul at that time but I managed to get all 10 chairs in the car and away I drove home. I restored the seats and backs, refinished the metal and I had my finished set for the poker room. Little did I know this table would be the gathering place for so many events and years to come.
I’ve been working on a gathering table the past few days. It is made up of so many different parts. I love when people say I don’t have a nice set to redo. I love that because I love to prove you don’t have to have a perfect set to have a gathering table in your home. Bits and pieces of this and that can be pulled together with just chalk paint. The color of the paint gives all the piece a connection. The connection of the pieces make up a place to gather your family. Gathering is much more than the holiday’s or a place to eat. This gathering table will be a place that you can come together all year. Game nights, crafting projects or just to have a family meeting is what a gathering table is all about. This gathering table will debut on Friday’s blog.
Connection is what we all want this time of year. A place to feel connected and that we belong. As you go through your traditions make sure you look around to see if someone you share your daily life with isn’t alone. Offer to bring them a plate of food or invite them to your family gathering. Open your heart to giving someone a place to be or to feel like they matter. After all this is the season of gathering.
