Leading a Conference on Marriage

This has been a hectic two month period for me. In addition to the normal duties at my job, (which included the resignation of my assistant and the search for a replacement!) we held our first marriage conference. We were thrilled to have as our plenary speakers Dr. Gary Chapman author of the bestselling book, The Five Love Languages. I have to tell you, if you are in a relationship, and have not read that book, you are doing yourself and your partner a great disservice by not reading it. It has one distinction that is remarkable for a book its age. It was first published in 1992, and has steadily sold more copies each subsequent year. That is the exact opposite of almost every book in print.

Dr. Chapman is from the same home church that I am from, so that is sort of a feather in my cap, and I did nothing to achieve it. (There are other names for that, but I will allow that to pass!) I have had nowhere close to the impact of his life however. He travels internationally, speaks to governments, military personnel, and has rubbed shoulders with presidents (Bill Clinton for example) on more than one occasion. He was a great speaker and challenged us on a level that we all could easily reach.

Our second speaker was Dr. Robert Michael Franklin, President of Morehouse College in Atlanta. Morehouse college is the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Franklin shared with me over dinner that Moreshouse has just been given by Dr. King's widow his entire writings that have been sitting in her basement all these years. Some of that should prove fascinating after they are transcribed and place into public awareness.

You learn a lot from running these conferences, and I have run many over the years. You learn a lot about people and a lot about yourself. One thing I was thrilled with was the opportunity to sit over dinner and learn from two men who I hold in high esteem. To them it was a business dinner but for me it was much more. I learned so much from both men without them even realizing it.