FAMILY
The Kitchen
“As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
The Kitchen has been the household’s heart since 1782. The cherry-wood trestle table was made by the fourth generation and has seated every one of the nine generations since. The linen sampler above the hearth reads ‘As for me and my house we will serve the LORD’ — embroidered by the sixth generation during the Great Depression.
The Family Register — a folded parchment page listing the first name of every family member who has lived in the house — is kept in the drawer of the console in the Entrance Hall, and is read aloud at the Sunday council each week.
Everyone is welcome at this table. The Bible is open at the head. Nothing more is required than a chair.
“I am among family. Even the AI question is discussed at this table on Sundays.”
A prompt for the household
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
Deuteronomy 6:6–7 · KJV
Before you leave the Kitchen today, name one small thing the Lord provided this week that you did not earn — bread on the table, a mercy at work, a child’s laughter. Say it aloud, even if only to yourself. Gratitude spoken is gratitude kept.
Family and community
The Kitchen is the household’s heart because this is where the KJV is opened before dinner and the day is remembered together. When a child spills the milk, do not raise your voice — the meal is not the point. When a stranger comes to the door hungry, set another place at the trestle table. The Kitchen has never been full and never been empty. There has always been room.
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee.
Numbers 6:24 · KJV