Oh heavens, I don't even know which day of the trip we are on, so I called it, hump day; well it's Wednesday, and we are actually over half way through our trip since we leave Nebraska on Sunday.

Tom outside one of his 3 greenhouses.

As a group, we have been amazed at the size of farms in Nebraska.  When I was growing up in Neshkoro WI, a couple hundred acre farm was sizable, and here farmers have thousands of acres.  But this morning we met Tom Schwarz and his organic farm which pales in size comparison, and he jokes at all the razzing he gets as an organic farmer.

We got to taste the various crops he grows, we learned a lot about greenhouses, and I personally am amazed at what a greenhouse can withstand in regards to wind speeds.

The Traveling Five & Bishop Maas

After visiting the farm, we visited BD, which is a manufacturing plant in Holdredge NE.  We then went to have lunch with Janice Gengenbach and Bishop Brian Maas.

We then went to visit Bertrand Nursing Home, which brought back memories to where Grandma Cele lived in Wautoma, WI.  Having visited such facilities in an urban setting while looking for a facility where dad would be safe, I do find the rural/small town facilities are really family focused.  I smiled everytime staff referred to the residents as elders, which brings to mind a Native American concept.

We then had some down time at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Bertrand, and headed to visit with various staff at the community school, which is school is K-12 and has attendance of approximately 260.  Each graduating class is 15-18, which is a far cry smaller than the small town of Westfield, WI where I graduated from.  Of course, we had 4 elementary schools combined to form Westfield high school.

We are now debriefing, and will soon meet with Luther League.

The biggest thing I see, which is no different than when I lived in a small town, everyone knows everyone's business; and that can be a positive and a negative.  As a leader in a small congregation,  in a small/rural community we live in the proverbial fishbowl.  The question is, how many people will join us in the fishbowl?