{"id":1413,"date":"2011-08-17T19:21:02","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T23:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1413"},"modified":"2011-08-17T20:01:33","modified_gmt":"2011-08-18T00:01:33","slug":"the-place-setting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/the-place-setting.html","title":{"rendered":"The Place Setting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I was in the eleventh grade when I learned exactly\u00a0how a proper place setting should\u00a0look.\u00a0 We were preparing for our Junior-Senior Banquet.\u00a0\u00a0To insure that we all knew how to use the correct forks and spoons, it was part of our curriculum in all English classes to learn how to set a table.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was pleased to see that my mother knew how to set a table correctly.\u00a0 I had questioned her abilities because she was a \u201ccountry girl\u201d and some of the more \u201csophisticated\u201d mothers of my friends\u00a0put the forks, knives and spoons on the wrong sides.<\/p>\n

From that time, I attempted to set our table correctly.\u00a0 Today, I began to muse why\u00a0setting\u00a0the table\u00a0properly in our home\u00a0was important to me.\u00a0 There were probably several reasons.\u00a0 Yet, perhaps the most important one came from something that my mother said to me\u00a0as I was reaching my teen years.<\/p>\n

She was a Stanley Home Products dealer and I often rode with her when she made her Saturday deliveries.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get candy or Cokes when I went with Mother, like I did when traveling with my dad but I got much more.\u00a0 I got to be with Mother alone\u2013all to myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a>One Saturday, she pulled up to an extremely small home that was positioned in the back of a large fenced lot.\u00a0 I thought nothing about the house but my mother said as she got out of the car,\u00a0\u201dLook at this house.\u00a0 The lady who lives here is poor, dirt poor, but she and her husband keep everything neat and clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she loaded her arms with the box of items that had been purchased, she said, \u201cLinda, always remember, you may not ever be rich; but you don\u2019t ever have to be lazy and dirty.\u00a0 You can always live with dignity, no matter how much money you have.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

I sat in the car as Mom visited with the family; and I never saw the woman\u00a0about whom\u00a0my mother spoke.\u00a0 But she had a profound effect on me.\u00a0 I always tried to live up to the level of that unseen and unknown lady who lived in dignity in\u00a0the\u00a0tiny, white\u00a0house\u00a0inside a\u00a0large, fenced yard.<\/p>\n

One day as a group of her staff sat at lunch,\u00a0an agency head said, \u201cI love working with mentally challenged people because they struggle to make themselves better.\u00a0 They are never satisfied with the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, that is a generalization.\u00a0 However, it is a pretty accurate accessment of the population in general.\u00a0 It\u2019s the little things, like Sam who comes to church each week in a suit and tie.\u00a0 Perky Annie who can do more with her one arm that is works than most people who have both functioning arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their bravery and dignity\u00a0are a great example to me.\u00a0 I delight in looking at them as they interact with each other and play silly games.\u00a0 For me, they are\u00a0the church in action.\u00a0 They are using the few assets they have and\u00a0allowing God to magnify them\u00a0for his glory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was in the eleventh grade when I learned exactly\u00a0how a proper place setting should\u00a0look.\u00a0 We were preparing for our Junior-Senior Banquet.\u00a0\u00a0To insure that we all knew how to use the correct forks and spoons, it was part of our curriculum in all English classes to learn how to set a table.\u00a0 I was pleased…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,186,49,16,8,12,4],"tags":[690,688,249,699,701,694,689,692,6],"class_list":["post-1413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-religion","category-simple-truths","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christianity","tag-dignity","tag-faith","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-religion","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Place Setting - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/the-place-setting.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Place Setting - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was in the eleventh grade when I learned exactly\u00a0how a proper place setting should\u00a0look.\u00a0 We were preparing for our Junior-Senior Banquet.\u00a0\u00a0To insure that we all knew how to use the correct forks and spoons, it was part of our curriculum in all English classes to learn how to set a table.\u00a0 I was pleased…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/the-place-setting.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-17T23:21:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-08-18T00:01:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/08\/casual-lunch-m1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Place Setting - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/the-place-setting.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Place Setting - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"I was in the eleventh grade when I learned exactly\u00a0how a proper place setting should\u00a0look.\u00a0 We were preparing for our Junior-Senior Banquet.\u00a0\u00a0To insure that we all knew how to use the correct forks and spoons, it was part of our curriculum in all English classes to learn how to set a table.\u00a0 I was pleased…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/the-place-setting.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2011-08-17T23:21:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-08-18T00:01:33+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/08\/casual-lunch-m1.jpg"}],"author":"Linda G. 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