Today I am posting late, very frustrated and struggling. I know I don’t do things for any type of praise or glory, and I try and encourage others to have the same attitude, but it is so very discouraging for me to see and deal with disrespectful people. I really do hate seeing people get hurt, and though I often try to make sure that doesn’t happen, unfortunately I do not have that kind of influence or control. I only wish I did.

So I am up right now and it is late. I am not seeing sleep in my future anytime soon either. I just hope and pray for people to come around. Keep me in your prayers. Tonight for me has not been a good night!

I hope you have had a good one! Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well, I gave my daughter for the last time as a high school student. She graduates next Friday night and to be honest, it felt pretty weird. I guess I just need to resolve myself to the fact that I am going to have a lot of these moments over the next few months. Because I just had another….this blog is now the first blog after the last time that I gave my daughter communion as a high school student. Dear Lord, it is a vicious cycle!

But all and all I am having a lot of fun. There is a lot of excitement in the air, and I am happy for Stephanie and all her friends. They are a remarkable group of kids who have been a blessing to know. I am going to enjoy the summer with them around.

But of course we have a lot to do over these next few weeks, and without the lacrosse season being my excuse for being too busy, I am clearly available for the list of chores my wife has in store for us before the graduation and open house. I will gladly do them too.

But for now I will call this day over. I have been given “landscape” tasks for my day tomorrow. I am praying for a nice cool day too. Regardless, I will get it done. I have posted tonight’s picture of me mowing. These are very important times for our family, and I want to do my part to make it nice!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Yep, today was it. The State Final took place, and though we were not in it, Stephanie ended her high school athletic career by being named 1st Team All State. It was quite and honor, and for me one of the pinnacles of my life. She has worked hard and really deserved it. I am certain this picture will be one of my favorites of all time. I cannot even begin to tell you how proud I am.

AND, in usual style, though we wanted to take her out to dinner, a few of her friends are over at the house and we just grilled out. I know she is moving, but I hope that doesn’t end. It seems like there are always people here and I am sure if they suddenly do not show up one day we will miss them. Of course I will get by if no one is here, it is Amanda who will have to adjust because she will have to talk to me!

But in all seriousness, it has been a great time. Three of our players were All Region and two All State. And though I know I have to write a sermon for tomorrow and get ready, somehow I feel God calling me to just enjoy and stay in this time here. I can wake up early if I have to, but this is a moment in time I need to enjoy.

On this night I thank God for the blessing He has giving me in a wonderful daughter and all she has accomplished. It was her day and I am proud of her. She now enters a new era and I am no longer her coach. But I am always satisfied and more comfortable to just be her dad. I couldn’t ask for a better daughter, and even if I could, I cannot imagine a better one. Thank God for her, and for this wonderful day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I spent all evening at the State Semi-Finals watching the Final Four. And although it was fun to be there and not have the pressure of playing such an important game, my mind went back over and over to our game on Wednesday night where we fell just one goal short of playing here. Carmel, the team who beat us was beaten handily by Culver in the first game. The second game was a real barn-burner and was won by Zionsville, who beat Park Tudor 13-12 in overtime.

Tomorrow morning I will be one of the coaches who will coach one of the Indiana Rising Stars teams. Then, I will just hang out and watch the other two final games….first the consolation game, then the State Final. We have awards after that, which some of my girls will be receiving, then it will be off to my office to write a sermon for Sunday. All things considered, I should be able to pack all that into one day as long as I do not take time to eat or talk to anyone. We will see.

But for now I need to call it a night. I am just happy to have made it through the day. Congratulations to Zionsville and Culver. Tomorrow is the big day!

Goodnight my friends and God bless!

Tommy+

I had already worked all day and was exhausted. My intention was to clean out all the lacrosse stuff from my car, and get some church work done too since this St. Patrick stuff has put me very far behind. But just suddenly I found myself needing to do work here at the house, and it was physical….and exhausting.

When Amanda got home she had Ben, and I was still not quite done. She reminded me that she was teaching Financial Peace University tonight and that Ben and I would be here alone. She also said to make sure I gave him a bath too.

Generally, this is no problem, because I usually have a lot of energy and enjoy laughing at him in the tub. But in truth, I was whooped! I made him dinner (macaroni and peas) and I sat in the chair barely able to move. AND, to show you how bad it was for me, I even sat through most of the episode of “Thomas the Train,” which is so bad that they show it to people in emergency rooms in place of Ipecac to induce illness.

But there we were, and as he finished I got up to give him his chocolate pudding…….but it was then that he finished me. As I looked over at him, he had decided to use that pudding (which he loves) as some sort of a face mask. And it that were not enough, when I said “NO” he panicked and wiped his hands into his hair, because we have told him not to wipe his hands on his shirt.

I have to confess, I really did plan on just sitting and resting tonight, watching whatever I had to in order to pass the time before the return of his mom. And in all honesty, I was intending to wait on the bath too, because I really didn’t have the energy. I am sure she would have understood, because I have been working so hard. But I doubt if she would have understood my waiting for her with pudding crusting all over his head……though I did weigh every option.

The blessing of all of this though, is not that he is clean and in my bed now watching that stupid train while I type, the blessing is that one day he will have children of his own. Ultimately it is all about payback, and as my dad would probably tell you, grandchildren work for their grandparents….particularly in the revenge business.

So I will patiently wait, not just for Amanda to come home, but for that right woman to walk into his life, the marriage, and then the bouncing baby paybacks….I mean grandchildren. I know it will be worth it, and I am not making a list, I have one. Stephanie and Scott’s are extensive…….but their little brother still has quite a bit of time!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Our season, and our second consecutive run at an appearance in the Final Four came to and end tonight in a one goal overtime loss to the Carmel Greyhounds. So before I go any further, let me congratulate them on their win and title as Regional Champions. We will be rooting for them in the Final Four. And yes, I know the picture does not make sense, but it was a close as I could come to finding a picture about moving ahead!

Tonight was however, a disappointment to many of our girls. I know they wanted to win very badly. Oddly enough we kept it close the whole night, even leading at points, but it was a night that we never had our “A-game.” Had we been healthy and on, it might have been another story. But that’s just how sports are. You cannot cry over spilled milk. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t.

But what I want to share is how very proud I am of each and every one of them. To place this high in the state with the amount of adversity we have faced is a real tribute to the hard work and dedication of the team that we coach. In my entire life, I have never had to work around injuries and illness like I have this year. We had girls out with Mono, strep throat, and just about every kind of orthopedic injury imaginable. Yet despite that, they came to play. They are a tough group of girls…..and they will continue to be.

We however are losing 7 seniors, including my daughter. That worries me every year, but in truth there are always underclassmen who are inspired to fill the big shoes left behind. It will be different without Stephanie out there playing for me, but we will both have to make do. I am sure however that we will both continue successful lacrosse careers apart from each other! I just am hoping to get to a few of her games.

Anyway, there is no practice tomorrow…..but there is always work to do. Our banquet is June 9th and I am looking forward to it. Whatever the outcome of the night, I still coach the best team in the league and I am convinced of that thoroughly. What a blessing it has been and is.

Way to go Lady Millers!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

We had our last practice before the Regional Final tonight, and after we win tomorrow night, we will have just one more. (Yes, I expect to win…..I always do!) But as I stood there on the field watching the girls practice in the drizzle, it hit me that a week from now it will be but a memory. The high school lacrosse careers of 7 girls, including my daughter, will come to an end, and a new chapter will open. It is always so bittersweet for me, and this year more than ever.

Though I am at home with Ben, Amanda is at the board meeting giving our report. Our boy’s coach, who is also the Director of Coaching for the entire organization, is retiring this year. Rick is a top shelf coach and man, and he will be missed. Andy “Mac” steps in to take his place, and has served as Rick’s understudy for years. The program will continue to develop and grow, it just will feel different….for all of us. Rick is really the father of Noblesville Lacrosse, and for him we are all very thankful.

And as for me, I have agreed to continue on. As ANY of our coaches will tell you, we love what we do, and have great players and parents. Noblesville is a wonderful community too. I would love to do it forever, because I love the challenge and I love to develop athletes. I never intended nor wanted to coach lacrosse (I was a baseball and hockey guy and always BOYS) but circumstances led this to happen. Women’s sports is different, and female athletes are VERY different too. But I really have to say I respect each one of my players, and the only tense part of coaching is coaching your child….especially when she is an amazing player. I am very interested to see how I do when our relationship is not in play. I am sure she is too.

But what I want to say is that her development into one of the best players in the state has less to do with my coaching ability and everything to do with her drive and desire to be a top-notch player. My job has been to see the big picture and pull this team together. I am truly blessed to have such a dedicated and passionate player to coach….it is just a double blessing that that she is my daughter too.

Anyway….tomorrow is the Regional Final! Go Lady Millers! It all comes down to the next few days!

Goodnight and God Bless!

Tommy+

Just when life seems that it cannot get any weirder, I hear that I was arrested last Thursday night at our game……yep, it was a surprise to me too…..NOTHING could be FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. The ref did threaten to call the police on parents from the other team, but my perfect record of not getting arrested FOR ANYTHING was never in jeopardy…..not even was it ever close. I behave pretty well! And to make matters worse, this was from people who should have known better. This story has more drama than Julliard. But in all honesty, as I shared it with my team yesterday, we had a good laugh about it. Our job however, is to not get distracted, it is to win three more games by Saturday.

But as a hypothetical renegade, my mind does wonder about a lot of things. I mean, should I be getting myself some temporary tattoos and maybe a tricked out scooter? Should my bishop be notified and should he temporarily suspend me as they sort this out and check deeper into my past for things that might reflect my true character…….like overdue library books or a history of pulling the “do not remove” tags off my mattresses after getting them home. Clearly I could be a priest on the edge and I am influencing high school players……this could be a great concern.

Drama drama drama….I hate it, but in anything competitive or where there are groups of people you often see it. It does bother me, but in the end it makes a pretty funny story. It reminds me of the boy approaching the K-9 officer and while looking at the dog in the back seat of the car asked the officer, “What did he do wrong?’ The answer for both of us is nothing…..and unlike the dog, I have never even sat in the back of a police car!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yee ha….St. Patrick’s opened at its new location and the people loved it…..THANK GOD! I am pleased that we can begin to move on from this big mess! I celebrated at 2 services there this morning, the first being our very first 8am service at ANY of our missions, with just me and a VISITOR! (Thanks Doug!) It was probably not as spectacular of a visit as he was expecting, but as I told him, it makes for a better story!

From there I ran up to Christ the King to preach and celebrate. We were not sure whether Father Michael was prepared to do the service without me this morning, because we talked about it on Thursday at the move, but never really confirmed it. So I headed up, just in case.

The big blessing was that Father Michael was not expecting me at all! He had a sermon and though I am the technical “big cheese” I decided to just help out and have him preach and celebrate with me there. It was a great time with a great group of people and a great blessing to me! I was able to end my day there and head home for a nap with a set of toddler feet jammed into my side.

But the big thing is that we have moved into a new era. With this issue behind us we are free to move on……and to where??? Well, Muncie, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and maybe even UPLAND come to mind…..and did I mention we are planting in Peoria, Illinois in July? Pretty cool huh?

Okay…enough of my rambling! Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I swear, sometimes it seems as if we try to not win games. And though I know that was not the case tonight, to the casual observer it probably looked like we were throwing it. But in the end, we prevailed 13-11 and are heading to the Regional Final. Good thing too, since we are the number one seed. My hat (if I ever would wear one) goes off to the Hamilton Southeastern Bulldogs and their Head Coach Ashley Grant. They gave us a ride and it was quite impressive. Ashley is a fine coach of some great kids/players. It was a well fought battle. All and all it was a great night.

And though I never had my doubts (we were tied 6-6 at the half) I am certain our players did. As a former athlete, I know how hard it can be to see through chaotic play, especially when you are in the thick of it. Oh if I knew then what I do now. I would have trusted my coaches more. They have a vision that I didn’t. We will work on that Monday too!

But for now I am out on the porch typing away. I still have no sermon and have a lot still to move to the Church….it will probably take place in the morning. But it is a lot less cloudy in life at 10:17! I just hope and pray my players will put this behind them!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+