The look of reclaimed barn boards is something that most people enjoy. It gives you that connection to the land and to the past. The vintage feeling you get as you touch the rough boards that were weathered and worn from years of standing strong against the elements, will take you on a whimsical journey in your mind every time. You wonder what animals or crops were contained within its walls at one time so long ago. Our forefathers cut these from the trees that grew on their land and fit them for a special purpose.
It is my great privilege to have these old barn boards fashioned into an elegant dining room table that I can gather my loved ones around. It gives me a purpose. When my husband dreamt up this table about 3 years ago when we lived in Shackville, I never imagined that it would be this beautiful. I remember the day that he rescued these old boards from an old rotten out barn. It took days for him to hand pick each board among dozens of others that were too crooked or too eaten up with termites to be used. I saw these boards and wondered how they could ever make a table. He didn’t have a plan and he never made a table but he comes from good Irish farmer stock and a grandfather who was a furniture maker. I think somethings are in your DNA. Building is like breathing for my man of very few words.
The greatest gift of material value he could have ever given to this wife of nearly 21 years, is a table. Tables have been in homes for thousands of years. People always gathered around the table to nourish their bodies. Some people sat around old wooden tables and had nothing to offer their loved ones, and I always keep that in mind. I figure we are so blessed to be able to grace our table with warm, nutritious meals. Sitting around a proper table is a lost affair in today’s society. People often forsake the gathering around their tables because they are too busy or never keep a schedule that works for everyone. People are chasing off here and there and never get to look into each others eyes and fellowship with those in their own households. There are still quite a bit of people that still have their meals around the table but I see it far less in our modern fast pace society.
There is something slow about the table. It causes you to stop, sit, relax, and slow down. When you sit there around a table with your family, you can talk about the days events, or what’s going on in the world, what everyone is dreaming of doing in their life, or just to pray for other’s needs. You slow down to cherish those around you and hear their voice. Making eye contact is much easier around the table when everyone is facing one another.
Some of my most cherished memories were built around a table with our homemade bread, the produce we grew on our little homestead, our farm fresh eggs, and all our little homegrown children bowing their sweet little heads in prayer.
The Bible has a lot of references about sitting at a table. God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. There is also the banqueting table that the Lord invites all of us to. I love that Jesus, himself broke bread at a table with his closest friends.
Royal Feasting at the Table…
I even love to dress up my table for special events and to give some of my most cherished friends a royal feast. I get to put an old thrift store table cloth on it, and even as plain as a white cloth can be, if you put some candles on it, some old dishes, and silverware, it looks fit for a king. I was given these lovely dishes from my grandmother who has passed away, but you can go to any thrift store and you can find stacks of pretty plates for a few dollars.
Once a lady was completely offended when she looked at my pretty table all set with all these fine things on facebook and judged me that I must have spent a fortune on it all. She wined that she could never afford such luxury. I bet if I went to her home, I could use everything she had in her home to make a table just as nice as mine and I would be smiling enjoying the fun of it all. I was given every bit of it or found it for pennies at thrift stores on half off days. But look at how lovely it looks when you put it all together with a little love…
Getting to serve my precious people that I call family around our table is such a joy to my heart…
My friend, Vange, has the most glorious looking table. She used an old plastic fold up table because they do not even have a table. She used a white bedsheet for the table cloth, used her everyday plates, and dressed it up with some grapes, and she even ripped strips from a white sheet to tie around each chair for a classier look. She didn’t even have enough glasses, so you can see a couple stainless steel mugs at the table. For the centerpiece, Vange likes to go outside to find branches or grass to dress it up.
They don’t have anything fancy in their home but with a little creativity, Vange can make it dreamy looking in a flash. It looks royal to me and I know she didn’t spend a dime to make it that way. Royalty is in the heart. Line your posture up to what God’s word says. We are a Royal Priesthood in the Kingdom of God, so that makes us all Kings or Queens, Princes or Princesses. Look at Vange’s Royal table in her humble home and let that inspire you…
Life is what you make it. If you want to complain, you will always find someone to blame for your lack. I just go out and make it happen. I find a way. You can make a pretty table from even common dishes. Use a an old flat, white bedsheet if you like. Don’t make things too complicated. Have fun with it. If you don’t want to do anything fancy, just gathering around the table is the most important thing of all and spending time together as a family.
Building the Farmhouse Table…
Watch this video of my husband explaining how he made our beautiful table. He just used old boards he found and made something miraculous out of them. What a gift! And a gift that keeps on giving!
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