All posts by Fr Tom Tirman

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Mother’s Day…….

Well, we are at the end of Mother’s Day, and it has been a pretty great day. Ben got his mom some flowers and had made cards for her at Cindy’s house. He “re-gave” them to her with the flowers and saved us approximately 75 dollars! Steph called from college (she is less than a week from returning home) and Scotty had Amanda on some sort of scavenger hunt with clues scattered all around the house tonight. And since we could not find him, she was certain that he would be popping out of some closet to scare her to death (because they like to do that to each other)…..but alas, it was just a fun way to send her a Mother’s Day note.

The day really started in a way that a finish like this would not have been expected. I had two services this morning only to return to my house with Scotty girlfriend calling in a panic. Someone had texted her that Scotty was being taken to the hospital.
Of course this scared the daylights out of us, and especially since we had not talked to him. He was on a trip with his lacrosse team outside of cell coverage, so my frantic texts and calls were not returned because they went nowhere. So we called the hospital. No, he was not listed as a patient. We were to head to the nursing home to visit my mom and then take off for the 2.5 hour drive to Goshen to see my grandma who was in the hospital last week, but now was home. She just turned 95 and still lives alone. But this was far more important, and we were scared to death, frantically calling anyone we could who was on the trip.
That was when Scotty called. Apparently some kid thought it would be funny to scare the daylights out of Scotty’s girlfriend, but in all honesty it scared everyone. So to make a long story short, Amanda talked to this kid’s dad. The kid called me an apologized personally (I hope he does to everyone else too), and I am dead-dog tired because I started the day thinking my son was in peril and I was completely helpless and ineffective in finding out a thing. It emotionally killed me, and yet after we had answers, though we were relieved, we were now an hour behind for about 9 hours of stuff to do. But we made it and all the moms in my family seemed happy……and even Ben seemed relieved by the end of the day (the picture is from the car ride home)
But as for me, I am just ready for tomorrow. Today has been a rough day!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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The end of Superman……

If he were not wearing it, I would throw the dang shirt away. Yep, the Marvel COMICS company has decided to go PC and apparently now Superman is going to renounce his American citizenship. I will NEVER buy anything from Marvel again, and I encourage you to do the same.

And it’s a crying shame too. I have been a big fan of Superman all my life. I have worn the shirts and stuff , all way before Shaq, and I even used to wear it under my shirts and let Steph and Scott get all wide-eyed when they would see the big “S” under my clergy shirts….I used to say, “please don’t tell anyone,” and they didn’t….but they grew up thinking their dad was Superman.
But not anymore. Sure, Marvel owns the franchise, but how dare they inject there political nonsense into the minds of children? It disappoints me a great deal, and the shirt will indeed go in the trash tomorrow.
I did however put up a shed/barn with it today, and Amanda was upset when she saw I had torn it. Thank God however that I didn’t tear an old t-shirt. She agrees…..it is going away.
Too bad too, Ben and Scott both love Superman. But we will patronize the kinds of heroes that love America.
Shame on you Marvel Comics. Go ahead, renounce your citizenship. But as for us, we are proud to be Americans, and will do business and raise our children with businesses that are proud of it too.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
And God Bless this great country of ours as well!
Tommy+
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Sixo de Mayo……..

Okay, I am a little behind the times and I do not speak Spanish but today will go down in recent history as the day it did not storm in Indiana…..okay it did sprinkle a bit. BUT there were no gully-washers to report, and even if there were I couldn’t tell you because I am not quite sure what they are.

But beyond this earth-shattering news, I will say that life is behind as well. There’s nothing like being away for the better part of a week without much cell service or Internet to screw my life totally up. My day was filled with phone calls and emails and apologies. I do love the place where we meet in Arkansas, but its remoteness is difficult to stay in touch. My preference would be a hotel where I can at least keep up with my work when we are done for the day. It would make these days a lot less stressful.
It is good however to be behind amidst all my “own stuff.” I am thankful for that, even if I am a bit overwhelmed.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Home, home at last………

I am pleased to say I arrived home and managed to get a few things done before this post. Scotty has an away game tonight, and I would have liked to have made it, but in all honesty, I was surprised to have enough energy to get home. I am receiving texts from the game, and at the half it is 4-4 playing a VERY good team. Scotty is apparently doing a great job.

Stephanie’s team also plays tonight in Arizona. They made the National Tournament, and are 0-1 in it now. They lost last evening in triple overtime to Cal Poly. It was heart-breaking for all of them I know. They went in #5 and will need to play well the rest of the way. But it is VERY cool to see them in the finals in her freshmen year.
I took this picture of our house tonight. The grass is a mess because of all the rain, and Scotty’s car is in the driveway because he likes to drive mine when I am gone, but despite all of it, it is my house and I am so blessed to be here. I left this morning from Little Rock pretty early and flew to BALTIMORE, because nothing says “between Little Rock and Indy” like Baltimore, and arrived here before the sun went down. Tonight I will sleep well. I am home…..home at last!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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A tail-wagging good time……..

It is my last night in Arkansas, and as I was walking back to my room after lunch I was surprised by my good friend “Dempsey the Camp Dog.” He was following me on the walk, and it was a happy reunion. He was more than willing to get few pats and to hear how happy I was to see him. What he was also happy to do was to chase my new duck friends quickly and efficiently out into the pond when they cam up to greet me too. By the look of both dog and ducks I can without a doubt share that this was not there first encounter. And he was very proud of his accomplishment and came back for a congratulatory pat.

It really did make my day (not the chase, but to see him). When you are away you don’t just miss your family, but the pets who are a part of your family as well. And in the three times I have been to Frencliff (amounting to 12 days), Dempsey has always been there to fill in. I was just glad to know he was still around and will look forward to seeing him next time…..as opposed to the ducks who do not want to see him at all.
But I will leave tomorrow in the morning and be back in the afternoon. My family, and my home life awaits. It will be good to get back too. It has been a long week, and as Dorothy says, there really is no place like home.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Sure enough……

Well today has not been all bad. I was able to get a page out to my wife, who called my uncle, and who then was able to speak with me late this morning. Yes, the call was indeed about my grandma who was hospitalized yesterday in Goshen. She has been having a lot of trouble, and will be staying there as they get things under control. It is not anything I need to leave here for, so I will be staying until my scheduled return. We will head up to see her after church on Mother’s Day. And as for the situation down here, retreat center has repaired its Internet connection, meaning I can make and receive calls as well as get online…..that it as long as I walk down to the conference area where there is a signal. My room is not close enough to get connected, but at least I am not completely cut off. I have not seen my buddy Dempsey, which is disturbing. I have written about him twice before, the Ferncliff Conference Center Camp Dog. I really am afraid to ask. If he has moved away then so be it. But if he was carried off by some mountain lion of bear I just do not want to know. I watched a lot of “Lassie” as a kid and know things like that are real possibilities in places like this. I just hope to see him tomorrow. I have however been stalked by the “camp ducks.” It’s not that anyone has told me that is who they are, I just named them that. They see me and the start quacking loudly from wherever they are at. They are all females, and I think they see me as their king or something. I am sure it has nothing to do with the crackers and cookies I have snuck them out. But regardless, I am blessed by the attention. I need a good distraction here, and quite honestly they are it. And I will be supplying them for the rest of my time here. But as for tonight, I am done. A large group went to the movie theater, but I am just too tired, plus I am stressed by home and the fact that my team is playing tonight without me there. I have GREAT assistant coaches, but as my cell phone came back to life I had messages from a bunch of players who were going to miss a probable WIN that without them may be in question. It is upsetting. I hope I have assistant coaches tomorrow. I am sure they are livid. But from here I can do very little but pray. My grandma is in great hands and so is the team. I hope to receive a positive report about it all via spotty cell coverage, sometime tonight. Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Tommy+

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A worrisome post…..

I am writing this from Ferncliff, a retreat center in Little Rock, Arkansas where I am meeting with Church Leaders who do the same job I do until Thursday when we will return home. Ferncliff is a beautiful place, and a place I thoroughly enjoy, but it’s a place that is quite remote and one in which I have poor (meaning almost non-existent) communication possibilities. I do not have a cell signal, nor do I have a car……BUT my phone lists a call from what I fear may be my uncle. My Grandma Middleton, my mom’s mom who really shaped more of who I am with my grandpa than anyone, has been sick. AND, there was a missed call on my phone from a number in my uncle’s (her son’s) area code….and I am OUT OF MY MIND! My Blackberry Messenger will occasionally get a message off to Amanda, but there is no cell service. Please pray that it is just a fluke, and that my worries are unfounded. Sadly, this post may not even get out in a timely manor……..their Internet is down too! God Bless you my friends……please pray that my fears are unfounded…. Tommy+

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Of Cardinals and other soon to be extinct birds….

I posted last night about being a busy beaver, and tonight I am posting from a hotel 5 minutes from the St. Louis Airport (the one that was hit and closed by the tornado 7 days ago) where I will be flying to Little Rock tomorrow morning. But I have been to Peoria today where I met with Church Planters from Peoria and Bloomington, Illinois AND I am waiting for Stephanie to get out of the year-end lacrosse banquet so I can take her and her buddy Cassie (who will live with us this summer) out to dinner and give Steph her car. It has been a delight to travel in her 1999 Mazda 626 for all these miles. My almost 50 year old back feels like a cracker.

But it will be great to see her. Everyone else is holding down the fort at home, and as I spoke with them the conversation was cut SHORT…..meaning, most probably, that I am in trouble. Genetically, Ben causes trouble because of ME. And tonight he was doing a great job of just that, causing trouble. Our phone conversation was cut short. We will see if she calls back.
But tonight I will get to go out and visit with Stephanie and Cassie. It will be a nice time, and I am looking forward to it. It doesn’t overshadow the work we did today in Illinois, but it reflects a contrast. This morning there were 12 of us at lunch and 5 of us where 3 and under. I live that life with Ben. But I remember Steph and Scott at that age, and all kids get there. And as we visited at lunch with clergy wives and kids, my memory went into full gear. Times change, but we need to realize the importance of them all. Time will fly by…..we need to enjoy it all.
And today, I am. Thank you Lord for my family, and for all the wonderful people you have put in my life to walk and work with me in faith. They are a blessing to me….let them be a blessing to all.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless, from the home of the EVIL and God’s LEAST FAVORITE TEAM, the St. Louis Cardinals.
Tommy+
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A Busy Beaver…….

I guess I really do not know what a busy beaver is, nor have I ever seen one. But it is an expression from my childhood, and one that I must believe to be true, sort of like “Cubs win! Cubs win!” although this one I am sure is true.

But I use it to describe my life today. I have been up since the “crack of dawn,” though I am not sure what that means either other than pretty dang early. And, I will go to bed well “after the cows come home” which means late, and in my case tonight very late. I have night games tonight, and afterwards I will head to Peoria, Illinois where I will stay the night so I can meet with the team from Epiphany, our new church plant in Peoria tomorrow. I will also be meeting with some folks looking to plant in Bloomington, Illinois as well. It should be a pretty good time, and much better if I am awake!
So today starts a flurry of activity for me that should let up by Thursday night (yeah, I know probably some Thursday night in April of next year…but I can dream)
I know being this busy isn’t for everyone, but I really do enjoy what I do.
On your mark, get set, GO…….
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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It’s da PROM…….

Tonight we had the great honor and privilege to see Scotty and his girlfriend Lizzie off to the Prom! It was a wonderful experience. Scott, as you can see, was as handsome as ever, and Lizzie looked absolutely striking. Of course I see them both just about everyday, but Lizzie most often at practice since she is my starting center. Generally I see her in workout clothes with her hair bundled up…tonight was a pretty big difference.

But the beauty is that they were elated to be going, and especially together. They always have a great time, but tonight I am sure will be special. I was glad to be a small part.
We brought over some desserts (okay, Amanda made them at Scotty’s request) and Lizzie’s mom was making them, and another couple, dinner. Amanda gave Scotty her car for the night, and although his joke about keeping himself at .07 on the alcohol limit t keep it legal was a funny thing to say to her (Amanda), it was a baseless joke as he is still 3 years and a month away from drinking legally anyhow. He will need to work on his formal wear humor.
The day was not lost on his brother either, who informed me this morning that he was going to Prom too. When I asked him about his date/girlfriend, he told me that he was going with Lizzie too, and that Scotty would be sharing. Tonight when that didn’t work out for him he allowed only TWO pictures to be taken of himself and the happy couple. I sure to hope that Prince Harry was a little bit more generous today at the Royal Wedding.
Anyway, it was a great time. And although it is just nine, it is a great enough time for me to retire. I am sure Scotty and Lizzie will enjoy the night, but I will hear about it tomorrow. They join a lot of wonderful kids that I know tonight, and many of whom happen to be my players. I hope it’s Da Bomb…..after all, it is Da Prom…..
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+