My most public apologies go out to the guys next door to St. Pat’s at the Mexican restaurant. As I was packing stuff for storage, one of them came over to let me know that they had to call a repairman themselves and have the wall ripped out in their kitchen. As it turns out, they had a leak in the pipe in their wall……not their dishwasher as they thought, and as we had been told. It WAS and IS the landlord’s problem all the time. It was fixed, and though we have LESS water in the facility, we still have water. And I still had to vacuum it up. It has stolen quite a few good days from me, but I hope and pray at this point that the end is in site. Tomorrow will tell if we really do get to terminate this lease.

But for now I am just happy to be home, with most of the property of St. Patrick’s stored safely in my garage where it cannot be damaged. We did leave the skeletal elements of a Church there, because number one, we are still the tenants of the property until the lease is terminated and two, it still is a Church until we move out of it. But the things that were left will probably not be making the trip out of there. Though we have been vacuuming up water and running the air, there is something about it that still makes you uneasy. Apparently the remediation company wants his signature before doing any work, and they cannot get it till he is there. As for me, I just want to protect our interests.

I will be happy when this is over, but the larger question still looms…..where will this congregation go? There is not a lot of property available in our price range and meeting at my house each week with a larger group I am certain violates something that will get us in trouble. So please keep that in your prayers. I appreciate them so very much!

So it is now off to bed for me. The next few days will be busy ones, but for now I will just say farewell to this one! One step at a time!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Our landlord finally called me from wherever he was and got an earful from me. I am not a difficult guy to work with, nor am I unfair, but I had clearly had enough. Water has been seeping into St. Patrick’s since at least April 24th from a leaking dishwasher in the Mexican restaurant next door, and he (the landlord) has been out of the country the entire time.

His cryptic notes and calls to voicemail have been less than helpful He told us to take care of it, and quite honestly I wish we could have. It would have prevented a week plus of water seeping into our facility, a lot of stress, and a lot of unnecessary cancellations. It also would have prevented us from looking like complete fools for being in a relationship that allows this kind of thing to happen.

But Brad and I talked this morning, just before my call to the health department. I stated to him in real time that I cannot, nor will I hire a contractor for someone business other than my own, and this, along with a LONG list of other complaints that he knows about, have damaged us, and that he needed to terminate our lease. So with water still running into our facility, he told me that the interior of the premises was MY responsibility.

Had he known that I have been down there every day but one vacuuming up dirty water out of our church coming from a problem in an adjacent property that I reported to him well over a week ago, he might have not said that. I am a pretty good guy, and I don’t want to see anything ruined or people hurt, but I also know when I am being taken advantage of. I let him know that too. The conversation was heated with most of the heat coming from my phone. But in the end, he agreed to terminate the lease and has agreed to call me to do so on Wednesday when he returns to the States. In turn, I told Brad that one’s word is very important to me. And I agreed to meet him Monday to terminate the lease as well as to cancel my call to the health department (we tried to get them out on Sunday, but they and the sheriff’s department recordings said to call back Monday) And, I even went down to the restoration company on his behalf and told them what he wanted them to do. Get this……they will not do anything till they hear from him authorizing their work. They did come out and estimate it though. There is water (moisture) in the walls almost three feet up…..about the height of a dishwasher. And our water I shut off days ago. But even today, being the bad tenant I am, I vacuumed up 17 buckets of water and will do so tomorrow too.

So our personal property would not be damaged any further, we moved most of it out of the facility tonight and into my garage. We held services at my house yesterday, and will do so until the lease is indeed terminated and we find another location. Please pray that Brad keeps his word from this morning. I have gone above and beyond mine.

But tomorrow morning and probably tomorrow evening, I will return and vacuum up more water. We really did love it there, but when a landlord cannot even keep the basic agreements up, it just is too much. We need to be someplace else and that is abundantly clear. Please keep praying that Brad will keep his promise and that the Lord will provide us with the place we need with a landlord we can trust and count on.

Our Exodus is in progress, but reluctantly. We just pray He will lead us to the places we need to go and be to continue His Work!

Keep praying!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I do not know how we saw him, but I am glad we did. As Ben and I were on our way to the Wal-Mart, in the middle of a torrential downpour, I noticed it out in the street. There were no ponds nearby, and it was right by the fairgrounds and Humane Society. Why a fist-sized turtle was out there, I just could not figure out.

And how it didn’t get hit before we turned around was another miracle. But there I was, with flashers on, in the pouring rain, out capturing it and getting it into the car. He (or she) then walked around on my floorboard until Ben and I finished at the Wal-Mart, where we also bought some turtle food and a small aquarium that we could put him in if his mom would say “yes,” which we both agreed was doubtful. But we made it home and waited for her to return.

My only regret was not taking a picture of him, not just for this blog, but for Ben who affectionately named this turtle in a way only Ben could as……………”Turtle.” (this picture looks just like him, but it is actually from some “people who are abnormally obsessed with turtles” site) And though Ben and Turtle bonded in the short time they had together, Amanda had us all walk down and release him into the pond about a block from our house. Not that I was surprised, (that’s why he never was put into the aquarium.) She is quite predictable. In fact, she has often told people she was going to release me down at that same pond too.

But “Turtle,” as we so fondly knew him, went in without a fuss, and seemed quite happy in the end. There are lots of other turtles who live there and the houses on the end of our street are close enough that he should be able to get up close enough to watch cable through the windows without even paying.

But for now we will just remember our adventurous and victorious day. Things turned out pretty well for all of us, and for that I am very thankful.

Goodnight and God Bless from Rescue Central!

Tommy+

We have been having trouble with our landlord and facility in Westfield (St. Patrick’s) since we rented this facility about a year and a half ago. Like many things in life, we were treated like princes until we signed, and now it is as if we are imposing if we just ask for something that we should expect….like this week, that the back half of the facility would not be flooded with water for the leaking dishwasher at the restaurant next door.

Of course when we talked to the restaurant last week and they told us about the dishwasher, we had already called and notified our landlord via voicemail and email. I was at the church twice on Saturday to vacuum up water (disgusting) and did it every day I was in town too. We emailed and called and finally heard from him….he was out of the country and emailed us to let us know that we should deal with it. Of course we were dealing with it. A dinner and service on Sunday were ruined. And hiring a contractor for someone else to deal with a problem that really was in another tenant’s business seemed seedy. First of all, we do not have the money to hire someone. Second, no one is going to do work with the promise that someone else will pay that they cannot talk to. And three, our history here is that we really cannot count on things to be as promised. Oh sure, our rent is always collected, but the place smelled like sewer gas for about 9 months. It still occasionally does. And the list of unanswered complaints is long. For instance, the handicap ramp has NEVER been fixed. It is a violation of law. Yet, complaints even like this fall on deaf ears.

We rent in a lot of places and have great relationships with all our landlords, but this one is putting our congregation here at risk. We have lost a lot of people because of this place and it is certainly not helping us to attract more. PLEASE KEEP ST. PATRICK’S IN YOUR PRAYERS. What we needed this week was MOSES to turn the wet into dry!!! Unfortunately we didn’t get any help from him, which is not new to us…..we don’t hear anything helpful from our landlord either.

I went next door to the restaurant tonight and talked with them again. They now act like they do not know anything about the leaky dishwasher they told us that was leaking on Sunday. It will be the last time I go in there, which is sad because it is my favorite. I did ask them if they heard from our landlord, and they said no…..so he, even by email or phone did nothing to get this resolved. So Deacon PT and I moved chairs and Altar stuff to my house so we will jam everyone in here in the morning. We will be tight, very tight, but we will be able to have church AND the dinner. It may not be as roomy but it doesn’t smell like wet drywall and old water….and it is dry. The health department and building inspector will be notified and will invited for a visit. It should never EVER have to come to this, because we liked it there…..but worshipping in a swamp is only suitable for frogs!

Please add this to your prayers! Regardless of its outcome, this has damaged our ministry here. Please pray for it to heal and regenerate.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Getting home at midnight on a day you started at 5:30am isn’t all that fun, but everything in between certainly was. I will not bore you with the details of my work but I will say we had a very successful night in Bloomington playing the Bloomington Outlaws. They are a new team in the league, but like all the teams in their first year, they are required to only play JV games. And since JV games have no bearing on the standings, many teams do not play them.

I however am a little different. It really is hard to break into things and be competitive if you cannot get the games. So in a conversation with their coach a few weeks ago, I offered to bring down not just a JV squad but the entire Lady Millers team….every player, V and JV. And in addition to that we played two full games. Sure, we won both, but Bloomington will be a force to reckon with SOON. Their coach was an All American the first year I coached and I remember her. She had these girls hopping (not literally, that would look quite stupid). I also invited her team up just after the season to scrimmage us and maybe a neighboring high school too. Helping them raises the bar for all of us and it is good for the sport and the players!

But now, at the end of the day I am bushed….frankly we all are. It has been a good day for lacrosse! We have a few days off now to nurse some injuries and and get some rest. But as for me, I am off to join those already asleep! And to be honest, I cannot wait!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes….it was the 1970’s and I was thin! Imagine my surprise to find this picture on Facebook posted by an old teammate Joe Ruppe. It is my senior year, and even my posture is good. I will not share with you which one I am till a later post, but I do welcome your guesses. I will however give one hint of my own choice……I am not the one in the skirt, though I, and probably every other guy on the team but her brother thought she was wonderful……but again, it is not me!

Oddly enough, I did not go to Penn High School. The team a few years before was actually called Penn-Mishawaka, but all the MHS guys must have disappeared for a few years so it just became Penn. It didn’t matter though, because we were all just guys with a passion…..we loved ice hockey. And it brings back many good memories to see a picture like this and reminisce.

I do not remember all the details of back then, but what I do remember is what a great group of guys this was. Hockey is probably less a sport and more like a fraternity in terms of the relationships you have with other players. Many of us came to high school hockey after years of play in the IYHL (Irish Youth Hockey League – at Notre Dame), but all of us spent every winter out on our streets and in flooded backyards with our sticks. The street hockey scene from the movie “Wayne’s World” is dead-on realistic. You play until a car comes, vacate the rink, and then get on after it passed. We never had nets in the neighborhood because we couldn’t afford them, but we always played. What great times!

Anyway, I am so thankful for this gift. It was great to remember and it made me smile. The perfect type of blessing with which to end a great day (because we won two tonight!)

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I was on my way to Peoria, Illinois where we will be planting a church over the summer when I wrote my blog last night from a hotel in Bloomington, Illinois (where I also intend to plant a church). I had forgotten my sleep apnea machine, which I need not because I have had a stroke, but because I do not want another, after all, I have sleep apnea….and mine is pretty severe, particularly post-stroke.

As a matter of fact, I do not have a C-PAP machine, I have what is called a Bi-PAP. A Bi-PAP machine looks almost identical to a C-PAP, but a Bi-PAP machine cuts down the pressure when you exhale, and is made for people like me who need the pressure of an F-16 to keep their airways open. But I have a real and evident handicap in all of this, in that I AM A GUY, and I was too stubborn to turn around and drive back and get it. In retrospect that was a mistake.

I was actually up most of the night, not because I couldn’t sleep, but because I was waking myself up constantly. I have a high prescription for air pressure, and without it I am apparently toast. I was not only miserable all night long, which was not the purpose of going out the night before today’s meetings (rest and being sharp was) I also woke up with a terrible sore throat from apparently gasping for air! My good friend Pastor Connie Thomson wrote me this morning on Facebook wanting to know, as Paul Harvey used to say, “The Rest of the Story,” which I replied that I had indeed survived the night……but there were times I wondered if that were indeed the best thing.

I am back home now, with Ben in my bed talking his brains out to me, and Amanda passed out from exhaustion on the other side. The big news is that my machine is next to me and ready to go. When I had my sleep studies they told me I had probably not entered real sleep in years. I can tell it has been a couple of days…..I will resolve that problem in just a second.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

One of the things I have come to grips with is my ability to do things I used to do when I was younger, and how I do them as a bit older, and especially post stroke.

As an example, when my Monday meeting was scheduled for a hotel conference room by O’Hare in Chicago, I made the decision to fly. Driving back and forth in the same day would make the day close to 20+ hours of concentration, which I can certainly do if I am not doing anything like DRIVING in heavy traffic during the latter part. But the reality is that I would have not been my best after the long drive, nor would I have done well on the way home. Trips like that usually end up seeing me sleep for about 24 hours straight after I get home. So all this is to say that flying was the best choice.

But even with that I was home just before midnight and exhausted. I made myself get up and get things done all day. I then packed, and drove to a JV game in Indianapolis that we won handily (24-7) and then headed to first Champaign, and then Bloomington, Illinois to scout locations to plant churches. I meet the Bishop in the morning at 11 in Peoria to meet with some people helping to plant there. He and I will then drive back to Indiana where he will stay the night at our house before leaving Thursday.

But in all the confusion and busy-ness, I left without my apnea machine. It is the first night I have ever been without it post-stroke, and I have it quite simply so I will not have another. AND it unnerves me to be thinking about sleeping without it. My prescription is quite high, and though it seems odd to say that I sleep with a pretty strong stream of air being pumped into me, in reality it is true….and I worry about not having it. I cause myself to wake up about every minute (I am considered severe) so the morning will be the judge. If I have a rough night, I will not dream and will be exhausted. But if I am not dead, I suppose I will consider it a victory!

So off to bed I go! Actually I am already there. I need the air, but will not miss the mask. I usually wear it every night and tell Amanda that I look like an astronaut, though she is not buying it. I just hope and pray I do okay. Keep me in your prayers…..it really does make me nervous.

Goodnight from the Comfort Suites in Bloomington, Illinois and God Bless!

Tommy+

Okay, in retrospect it probably wasn’t a good idea, but as my wife would tell you, many of mine aren’t anyway. You see, I have been in Chicago all day where I flew to attend a meeting with our bishop and other leaders from our region who are all pretty great guys……two of whom I probably should apologize to in this blog for potentially getting us arrested in an international gate.

You see, three of us, Fr. Boysel, Fr. Kannapell and myself, rode the shuttle back to the airport after our meeting, went through security, and with about an hour till the first one’s flight decided to get a beer (of course I don’t drink beer, so I had a wine) and because there were no seats in the restaurant, they gave us “to go” cups (after all it is Chicago) and we walked just a few feet to the adjacent international gate to sit and talk.

But that’s when I saw her, and my oh my was she beautiful. It wasn’t that I had been away from home since 5 in the morning, or because I was lonely or tired, it was that she was cute, playful, and a girl in uniform. Who could resist? And that’s why I snapped a picture of her with my cell phone.

Of course that was what attracted the attention of the DEA officers. Did you know that it is illegal to snap a picture of them? But that cutie was THEIR DOG, who apparently just got done sweeping the plane heading to Germany, (so she was not only cute, but a specialist) but the picture also captured her handler and the officers around them, so I was told to produce my phone, display the pictures, and then erase it in front of the officer, which I promptly did. Three priests, a drink for each, and an illegal picture of a dog would have certainly made a great jail house story, and a pretty good joke, but because Fr. Joe’s flight was drawing near I made sure I did what I was asked.

The good news is that DEA agents, like most of the fine men and women who stand in harm’s way on our behalf, are pretty great folks, and this group was no exception. I was allowed to take a picture of the dog, which was all I wanted in the first place, but the other agents kept blocking the shots. So she posed, and I made sure she was the only one in the shot. And then I cropped it again at home, twice, to make sure I didn’t violate federal law. These folks are not just law enforcement, but they are heroes too, and they will always get my respect.

Goodnight from home my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

My kids are weirdos, all of them, and sadly for them I have the pictures to prove it. (see photo evidence) Every time I see them acting all mature (Stephanie and Scott) I think, “wow, this is the very same kid I have the incriminating weirdo pictures of.” Of course Stephanie and Scott have had it easier. Ben, like tonight in the picture, is often blog-fodder. The older kids were not as truthfully exposed due to the lack of an appropriate medium.

What I want to assure you of however is that deep down they are all the same. Even Stephanie, in all her seriousness and academic prowess, has the deep dark blessing of the Tirman sense of humor and weirdness. You see to us Tirmans it is really a badge of honor, a genetic marker of our DNA, and it is what makes being a Tirman such a blast. There is no time I laugh harder than around my family.

With that, I should say that many people have asked me about my diet, and though I thought about it, at the last minute decided to post this picture rather than the one of me shirtless in a cowboy hat. They really look kind of the same, but my hat is nicer and diaper is not as small, but so you know I am still at the diet and about half way to my goal.

Anyway, the youngest Tirman cowboy is ready for his bath. He has been walking around with his feet in two plastic fish bowls telling us they are really ice skates, but we know better because Steph already tried to fool us with that trick just last week. But I will finish up so I can send him off skating towards the tub. I have a flight for Chicago that I need to leave the house at 5am to make, and I would like to send him to bed smelling great rather than stinky. Cowboys can be fun, and Amanda loves hers, but she will love him more smelling like baby shampoo. Let’s just hope we can get that fish smell off his feet.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+