Live . . . from Omaha

Flew down to Omaha, NE, yesterday for a Province VI stewardship meeting. Almost all of the stewardship/development officers from our province are present (the only one missing being WY). I ended up here because I'm co-chair of our own Congretational Development Committee and when the information about this meeting showed up, I guess I seemed to be the logical choice.

So I'm in Omaha.

After being picked up at the airport (and fighting my way through the film crew -- apparently George Clooney is in town and, no, I was not asked to be in any of the shots), I was driven out to the conference center, which is very nice. I was surprised to see that this area of Nebraska is actually relatively hilly and fairly pretty. The trees aren't yet blooming, but I'm sure it's lovely here.

I've since spent last night and all day today in a stewardship meeting gathering information on what other people and dioceses are doing regarding stewardship and have picked up some good ideas to take back home. Hopefully I'll be able to translate some of this stuff into action in my own parishes. I'm feeling pretty good about it all right now, but am also wondering how long until reality sets in.

Oh . . . and I gotta tell you . . . After being in a pension fund meeting last weekend, my last leadership class on Sunday, down here in Omaha for three days in the middle of the week, and clergy conference next week . . . this has not been good for my mid-section and backside. I'll have a week to recover before going to Atlanta; and at least there, I'll need to walk between venues.