My Cloth Napkin Family

I grew up in a cloth napkin family. We used cloth napkins for every meal, even snacks. We also ate on my mother’s fine sterling silverware that she got as a wedding gift. Now, I know you are thinking that we must have been wealthy or ultra fancy. Nope! On the contrary, my home was far from fancy; it was comfortable. My mother was and is a Wal-mart end of the aisle bargain shopper. My father was a teacher with a modest salary. Why the napkins and silver, you ask? It was just a philosophy my family lived by.

If you asked my mom she wouldn’t know she was living by this philosophy; she just does. She believes in living life to the fullest. That means you don’t save the nice things you have for special occasions. Everyday is a special occasion. We ate on cloth napkins because it was cheaper than buying paper ones all the time. Also, Mom will tell you she would much rather wipe her mouth on cloth than paper. We ate on the silver just because we had it.

My grandmother loved to crochet before she lost her sight. She used to crochet lace around the edges of washcloths and give them as gifts. I have heard people tell her that they never use her washcloths; they are too precious. You guessed it. We used those at our house, too. There were no covers to protect the couch, no towels to keep the car seats from fading, and no floor runners on top of the carpet. I am not saying that you shouldn’t do those things. I’m just saying that is the way my family lived. If you had it, you used and enjoyed it.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Don’t all of us have treasures that we don’t want to use? The Bible tells us not to store up treasures here, but store them in heaven. If we aren’t storing them, then I say we use them.

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

I appreciate my parents teaching me to live every day enjoying all of life’s blessings. Now my family only eats with cloth napkins. We eat on our best flatware. Sometimes when I’m in the closet looking for something to wear, and I see a shirt I’ve been saving for a “good occasion”, I have to remind myself that today is a good occasion. I think about what my mom would say, “Do you like it? Do you feel good when you wear it? Then, wear it.” I put it on and think, “Don’t wait for a special occasion, make the occasion special.” I don’t want to look back on my life and say, “I should have…” I want to live each day enjoying my blessings, thanking the father that provided them.

Go on and break out the china tonight. Eat on cloth napkins and light candles. Won’t your family be surprised when they ask, “What is the special occasion?” And you reply, “You are!”

That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:13