My family rarely gets to eat dinner all together. One kid has play practice. Another has dance practice. Another is with the tutor. Another is at soccer practice. One will ask to have dinner at his friend’s house. The list goes on and on. It’s hard to nail down a time when everyone can be in the same room at once. Perhaps at Easter dinner...

Until the next holiday comes, I do what I can to create a time we all have to stop what we’re doing and come together. For us, that’s dinner time. There is no coming and going and eating anywhere and everywhere. Whoever is home has to sit at the table and we put away the phones and talk. We catch up. We laugh and sometimes we learn something new.

For you it may be different. Maybe you work a nightshift, so it’s hard to catch your kids or your sweetie in the evening. So make an extra effort on your days off to come together. You don’t have to plan an outing or an event and make a big to-do about doing something together. Simply make a household rule to sit at the table together for breakfast or dinner. Or make a promise to come together for prayer before bedtime.

Just be together – not in the same room with the television on. Be together, facing each other – gadgets and distractions turned off – and really spend a few moments of time in front of each other. It will make a difference in your day, I promise.

Tell me how you strengthen your relationships? Have you committed a special time of day together? Are you practicing the art of listening rather than interrupting? Are you turning off your technology? Or turning it on to reach out? What advice could you give to someone who wants to get closer to their loved ones? Write to me at D@Delilah.com today.