trust fun
My years in California prevented me from developing geographical snobbery, that condition in which you assume your city/county/state has the corner on all things progressive and everywhere else is a barren wasteland. It’s a hobby along that coast; one California megachurch pastor (CMCP) actually told me Willowcreek grew to its current ginormity because “there’s nothing else to do out there. What’s in Illinois, yaks?” Yep, buddy, their church is just way bigger than yours because Chicago’s boring.
So I anticipated my first-ever visit to Nebraska with an open mind. However, already today I have….
–been called “doll” by two different men, each my age or younger.
–driven 17 minutes on a country road without seeing another car (I clocked it).
–spent three hours in a building Mapquest doesn’t have a record of.
–held a meeting in which one of the other participants sat across from me and knit a sweater.
And I don’t want to be negative, but let’s just say that if CMCP’s theory had any merit, the churches out here would make Southeast look like a small group.
Fortunately I am here on a good mission. I work part-time for Financial Planning Ministry, an organization that creates living trusts which allow couples and individuals to plan their estates, choose medical conservators, and name guardians for minor children. Unlike wills, living trusts avoid probate completely and free thousands of those dollars for gifts to family and ministry. And unlike wills or trusts prepared by an attorney, FPM offers a living trust at no cost; we simply ask each family to consider a gift out of their estate—when they’ve passed away and won’t care!—to one of our sponsors. More than 50 Christian churches and parachurches sponsor FPM and make its ministry possible.
So Christian families practice good stewardship with their lifetime accumulation of assets, Christian ministries receive a portion of those funds, and FPM offers a valuable service free of charge. It’s a great business model and a great organization, one I’m even willing to brave Nebraska for. Cornhuskers, I’ll be here all week—holler if you want to learn more about living trusts, practice condescending nicknames, or teach me to knit.
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Jennifer Taylor
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Twittering @seejenwrite- seejenwrite: Looking forward to hearing @susanisaacs and @donmilleris tonite. Flexing my fingers in preparation for copious note-taking.
- seejenwrite: Buying tix for trip to Orlando in January!
- seejenwrite: Here are my thoughts about the Twilight craze, from earlier this year: http://ow.ly/E3Vc
- seejenwrite: @FlowerDust See you there!
I’ll teach you to knit or crochet, my sisters can help you with the condescending sarcasm, and you can teach me about trusts
Welcome to Nebraska; we’re glad to have you. As natives we won’t take your lack of excitement personally. Just enjoy the slower pace, the sunsets, and a deeper understanding of “It’s a GREAT place to live … but I wouldn’t want to visit there.”
It’s also good to hear FPM getting additional exposure; it is a great concept. Keep up the good work with the Standard etc. too!
Thanks for your gracious response, K. I did get to see a million stars in the sky last night, and it was beautiful.
Your comment about being called “doll” by a couple of men your age or younger reminded me of a time when one of my customers was calling me “sweetie.” She was about my age, too. I didn’t have a problem with it, until she switched from calling me “sweetie” to calling me “pumpkin.” Then, I thought that it might be time to lose a little weight:).
“–driven 17 minutes on a country road without seeing another car (I clocked it).” Hmm. To make this as accurate as possible, you’d have to start your stopwatch every time you saw a car, and then taken the largest number. Of course, given the tenor of your post, I’m assuming there wouldn’t be many numbers from which to choose