Looking People in the Eye

2010 in Guam. Young Heistheway captures a special moment of Mom and I talking and cooking for a random special meal she wanted to have during her visit to see us.

This evening, as we were eating dinner, Pelaiah (9) started talking to me. I was pretty hungry but, as she spoke to me, I looked up at her and smiled while still enjoying and chewing my food.

"I'm so glad you and Daddy look at us in our eyes when we talk to you!" she said. Without realizing that she was going to say that, I was so glad I decided to look at Pelaiah in her eyes even though I was very interested in finishing my meal. "You make us feel so loved!" she blurted out. She said it with such exuberance that it got me pretty excited too.

It's amazing how you can teach and do something for years not knowing if it makes a huge difference in your children's lives. We try to remind our children before we get down somewhere especially before church service, that it makes people feel loved if they smile and look at people in their eyes to greet them or when spoken to.

There are many other things we teach them but smiling, responding respectfully, and looking at people in their eyes when speaking is near the top of our list. We haven't perfected doing those things 100% of the time, but making those things a habit is our goal. It is a joy to see our children feel loved when we apply it ourselves!

Question: Do you feel loved or important when someone takes the time to smile at you and look at you in the eyes when you talk to them? What things do you emphasize to communicate to others that they're important?