Deb Fortina
I have been at Creighton for just over 14 years with most of the time spent in the V.P. for Academic Affairs office.  My job is varied and interesting.  My primary responsibility is coordinating all matters relating to budget between the areas reporting to the AVP office and the Budget Director's Office.  I like what I do because it is ever changing and I work with great people.

I earned a BSBA from Univ. of Nebr. at Omaha and an MBA from Creighton 7 years before coming to work here.  Prior to Creighton, I worked for Enron, US Gas Marketing and MidAmerican Long Distance Co. primarily in the area of Budgeting. 

More about me:

I am single and really enjoy my life.  I am the oldest of 6 children. There is seven years difference between me and the youngest but only 8 minutes separating me and my twin brother, Dave.  We were raised in Holy Cross Parish here in Omaha.  I have a good relationship with my family and am grateful I have been able to stay in the same city with most of them.  My brother's kids are all in college with just 1 left in high school. 

I have a good many single Christian friends, both men and women, and I am never wanting for something to do.  I am a season ticket holder to both the men's and women's Creighton basketball games.  I like participating in sports, but spend a good amount of my summers cycling and walking.

When I'm sitting still, I like to work on sewing projects or read or listen to lectures.  I also enjoy my garden, which has a few rose bushes and perennials and lots of snap dragons. 
 

Writing these reflections:

Sharing in this online ministry has been a powerful experience for me.  Through the monthly practice of writing a reflection I have become more engaged with God’s Word.  I use a prayer practice called Lectio Divina which along with Centering Prayer allows me to sit with the reading and allow it to reach into my heart. The difference between hearing the passage read once vs. reading it to yourself over and over, until the message is fully formed and clear is very engaging.  I learned about this prayer while on a retreat sponsored by Nebraska Contemplative Outreach (NCO) in 1995; today I co-chair a leadership role for this Chapter.

My interest in the Spiritual dimension of my person has steadily grown since making my Christians Encounter Christ (C.E.C.) weekend with a Cursillo format in the Fall of 1990.  I have worked many more weekends, thus experiencing over and over the energy of God’s Spirit as it is expressed overwhelmingly in Love.  Through NCO, I have gotten to experience several retreats with a silent format.  I have deeply appreciated the many people I have met walking both paths.  They were paths that cut across several Parishes as well as other denominations and Churches too.  There are many of us searching…it feels like God is bringing in the harvest…growing His Labor force a hundred fold…Each day there is another sojourner to meet.

DeColores and May God Continue to Bless You

Other links to me:

e-mail: dfortina@creighton.edu