I went to a parenting conference. . .

No, we are not pregnant.

I went because my favorite professor was speaking at our church on parenting. I had already read his book Loving Obedience, by Dr. Bill Richardson, and had sat under his teaching for the last two years, so I knew the conference was going to be great.

I was right. At least I thought it was great and the feedback from other parents seemed similar. So, I now have a lot of tools for parenting (or babysitting), but more important for the present time, I have more tools to pass on to my clients. One of the most profound tools he spoke about is not just for parenting but for all relationships: notice and tell others what you like about them. It is possible to do this for strangers and we sometimes do: "I like that bag." "Where did you get your haircut." "You have a great smile." But it is often harder to notice these thigns in the people we love because they seem so mundane, and it is sometimes even harder to say them if life is busy or you are tired etc. Anyway, I felt challenged to offer more "truth in love" that is positive and not just the hard to hear truth that we usually think about.