Keynote #2 - Ron Deal, “Found Wanting”

• Hoping for a stronger connection with a child or a healthier, more harmonious blended family is frustrating when your longing is found wanting. How do you love someone who doesn't want you to love them? How do you keep your hope alive in the midst of the "not yet"? Ron Deal shares what to do with deferred hope while creating a safe place for relationships to grow. 

Blended Bit - Cheryl Shumake, “Love Without Leverage: The Hard Shift of Parenting Adult Children”

• When children become adults, the rules change—but the relationship still matters deeply. In blended families, those relationships can be even more layered with history, loyalty tensions, and expectations. This talk offers practical do’s and don’ts for building respect, maintaining connection without overstepping, and avoiding the common traps that quietly fracture families.