We're home for the evening, so I'll give a more complete update now. I am working long hours, and loving it. Saturday I have an all day meeting 65 miles from here. Daughter gets dragged along, of course.
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Tuesday I met with the area clergy. We gather monthly for lunch and a program. I met my colleagues, and had a wonderful time with a great group of people. I missed the support of colleagues when I was in Tiny Village. I've had conversations with two rather interesting people since I got here. It turns out that both of them have been making the rounds of all the churches. We shared some interesting information on them, and we're going to refer the one to the tall steeple pastor next time she calls. We scheduled some cooperative events, including a dinner on Fat Tuesday, a worship service and picnic in the park this summer, and a pulpit exchange-- we literally drew the names of churches out of a basket for that one.
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This morning two men who are leaders in the church came in to meet with me. One was unhappy with the budget. I sat an listened to all his concerns. He had note cards with everything written out, but he didn't refer to them, because I just sat and listened. He had some good points, and I told him that. I shared with him the plans I was making to address his concerns (and yes, I already had plans in place). I think he was happy when he left.
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Yesterday I met with two women involved in the educational ministry of the church. We talked about the needs in it, and made plans to address them. I recommended a new curriculum for them, and they wanted it. When I offered to order it for them, they assured me they could take care of it. The one woman was in her 70's or 80's, and she uses the computer and was going to place the order. The people here are much more willing to take things on and follow through, and much more confident about their abilities to research and figure things out. It's going to take some adjusting on my part, but it is a wonderful and very welcome difference.
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I discovered yesterday that we have a child protection policy that is supposed to be reviewed annually. It's not getting reviewed, and it's not being followed. That will change. There is just so much to do, I plan to spend some time Monday prioritizing my work over the next couple of months. I'm excited about all the possibilities and opportunities ahead of us.
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I think life will be easier once Daughter starts her program. She's understandably stressed about it. She's thinking she'd rather stay with me. We'd both go crazy. This program is relatively new, and they're still feeling their way along. The Case Manager was concerned about Daughter's ability to handle the constant changes and such. I assured her that it would be easier for me to help her adjust to the changes than it is for me to have her with me 24/7. The CM agreed that was a good point.
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So that's the news from Capital-- at least most of it. There's so much happening it's hard to remember what I've posted and haven't.
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