Today Deacon Conley and I met with a group of students we will be launching a Fellowship with in January. It was a great time, and a great lunch! Afternoons like that are hard to beat.

But my day finished with the call out meeting for the high school lacrosse team of which I am the Head Coach. We were missing quite a few of our veterans, but all our captains and a great mix of all the classes joined the many new girls who came to sign up for the team. We have a great group of girls and it is truly a blessing to be able to coach them. The President of the Board came and opened the meeting, and it was a very successful night. I am so very thankful for all of it.

I am now home and beat. Amanda is off work tomorrow, and I am not even sure what is on my schedule other than trash day! (I am certain there is more!) But for now I will just thank the good Lord for getting me through the day! It has been a long one and I am beat. It is off to bed I go!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I was reading today about some flashcards that help you learn about doing your part for the environment. One of the questions asked, “which is greener, to be obese and out of shape or slim and healthy?” I’ll admit, I got this one wrong. The answer said it was obese people, because they die younger and therefore use less resources over the course of their lives!

Here’s the cards:

see more Epic Fails

Dear Lord, I am so confused because I realized I may, by my dieting (and especially when surrounded by Christmas cookies), making choices which are unbelievably politically incorrect. Who knew that God giving me this body and taking care of it was such an irresponsible choice?

Of course I do not find this bit of news as disturbing as the part right above it that mentions that flushing unused medications down the toilet is creating addicted fish. I can think of no worse problem than that. Drugs in schools should disturb us all, especially schools of fish. How can we all just say no to that?

Clearly the lunatics are attempting to run the asylum, and I am not willing to let that happen. It is a big reason I have made many of the life-choices I have, and clearly a good reason to continue.

Pray for the insanity to stop. And as for me, I will continue to diet and exercise. My apologies to the lunatics……I intend to be around for a long time!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

As it almost always is, I made it to two of our churches today……Christ the King and Holy Spirit. We do not have one named for just the Father, so I suppose I will always fall a bit short on these Sundays in terms of a full-Trinity tour. It was however a great day, and one that I leave tonight feeling quite satisfied with.

Stephanie got her acceptance letter from Purdue yesterday, so she is “in” at least somewhere. We have some lacrosse coaches looking at her, and she will make some visits I am sure, but it gives me chest pains because it is a lot to do in just a few short months. Stephanie is just like me at this age…..she will let the pressure get real high and come out smelling like a rose. I have confidence in that, though I hate it. I think I am going to make a few calls and visits and apologize to my family for putting them through it 30 years ago.

Scott, on the other hand, is ahead of the game. He, like I did, doesn’t take high school as seriously as he should, but he is really into the college thing. He has already been to a college fair and receives stuff all the time. He already thinks he would like to attend Ball State and that makes my chest feel much better. Ben is quite a few years to go before any decision is made, but at this point he will probably be entering the Star Command to protect the universe from the Evil Emperor Zurg. He is all about Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story. So an engineer, a teacher, and a space ranger. I am doing well as a dad.

But for now I think I will call it a day. They are still all my kids tomorrow, and I am going to need my energy!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I spent much of the morning at Christ the King leading, with Deacon Tony, a workshop for Altar Guild, Chalice Bearing, and Lay Eucharistic Visitors. It went very well, even if Tony and I did lead it, and I was pleased to put it behind us. These are needed ministries and we were able to train some pretty dedicated people.

I now am at the end of the day, and everything is done for tomorrow. I love productive days and this one was a good one. I did miss one thing……the wreaths I put up on the house seem to flicker like the sign a a cheap roadside cafe. I suppose I will be fixing those tomorrow! I just do not have it in me today.

For those of you wondering about my diet, I am down a few pounds and am pretty happy about it. It is hard considering that “Advent,” in the original language was defined incorrectly….it should be defined as “food is everywhere, and most of it treats.” I am trying to keep my mind on the idea that although Jesus loves me, He probably would love me to be quite a few pounds lighter. I am sure there are Christmas cookies in heaven (the kind that my grandma makes) and I am sure they are calorie free there (and for eternity). I just am trying to avoid them here. Keep praying for me.

Anyway, it is off to bed! Time to dream my way into the next day……perhaps I’ll dream of those cookies, after all they are calorie free in my dreams as well!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Tonight the 2 squads of the Noblesville Lady Millers Lacrosse Team took the field for the final games of the indoor Fall season. It was a hoot. One of our two goalies was sick, and a good portion of our team, for some reason, did not show. In addition this, our games over-lapped on two different fields. So our Varsity goalie and I were there for the lion’s share of the first game (the Pink Squad), and then ran to the other field to start (and her play) the other. One of my assistant coaches took the first game along with a parent….but the whole “no goalie” thing was tough. Apparently our lead disintegrated after our departure. We lost by a few points…..not bad though, all things considered.

The second game was our Orange Squad, and they too did quite well. Of course they had the benefit of a goalie the entire game and won quite handily. Hindsight is always much clearer. Had I to do it over again, our goalie would have stayed in the entire first game and then came over to the second. Had I done that, I think we would have won both. It was a coaching mistake, and it was mine and mine alone. Fortunately the indoor season does not count for anything and we use it for development. Clearly it taught me a lot about thinking more comprehensively. Yep, even I make mistakes! Sorry girls!

Anyway, we are off now for just a couple of weeks until the Winter indoor season starts. We will have a single squad in the Winter league. I am glad to have the short break.

But for now I am going to play cars with Ben. There is no need for me to worry…..I can make mistakes with a hotwheel and no one cares! Off to drive a hot rod!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Thank God she is home! It’s not that we cannot handle things here without her, it’s that Ben can’t. Having a 2 year old give you 100% all the time makes it hard to get anything done. But when Amanda is home he concentrates about 85% upon her!

All kidding aside, they miss each other, and once together they just tune out the world! It is really fun to see too. It is a real treat to see that kind of devotion…..even when you are not included!

Tonight (and then tomorrow) the Fall indoor lacrosse leagues finish up. Scotty played tonight in the tournament. They won the first game, but lost the second. And after the girls play tomorrow night we will get to take a break! There will be no more lacrosse for at least a few weeks!!

Anyway, it is good to have things back to at least OUR NORMAL. I am sure Ben will be sleeping with us…..with his head snuggled next to his mom and his feet on me. That’s his normal sleeping position. But I will love it and am just thankful for the opportunity. It’s just good to all be home. I sleep a lot better knowing we are all together!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

WOW…it is cold, icy, and windy here……not the kind of weather you want to fly in, but that’s exactly what Amanda did this morning. She flew to Pennsylvania. The wind storm is following her, along with the cold and the ice. She will fly back in it tomorrow.

In the meantime, the kids and I have full reign here in the house. We are not making a mess or anything like that, but we are having blast. We spent some time tonight trying to get Ben out of “cartoon mode,” particualrly “Toy Story.” He cannot walk two feet without cowboy boots on, and everything he puts in his hand, and I mean everything, he holds over his head and shouts “to infinity and beyond!” It was a real attention getter tonight at the restaurant with his crayons. And, it will make a great story when he is an adult.

Amanda will be home tomorrow and things will return to normal here. We are all looking forward to it too, especially Ben. After all, we are mainly his audience……but his mom is just his!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless! Stay warm!!

Tommy+

Amanda leaves fro Pennsylvania for a couple of days for work in the morning, but in her wake she leaves a path of incredible Christmas decoration evidence. There are now snowmen looking at me from every part of the house, which I find rather creepy, and other strange Kansas-based traditions that have me worried. After all, most deranged criminal-types come from there, and it quite possibly has to do with snowmen and other oddities. One can never be too careful.

If there were just a few things it would be no big deal. I would just start handing them to Ben for him to accidentally break on purpose while she is gone. But there must 100 different things, and they are multiplying. We now even have a “snowman tree” where apparently the worst of our snowmen are hung. I cannot think of any other reason to have such a thing. I am just happy she seems to be pleased with me!

Anyway the decorating, though still in mid-stream, is much farther along than last night and may even be done by the weekend. I hope so too. The sooner it is done the longer I have until we take it down. Frosty needs to get back up in the attic!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Yep, tonight we engaged in an annual family tradition. Scott and I moved furniture and the kids helped get the Christmas stuff out of the attic, and now Steph and Amanda are setting up the Christmas tree and decorate it. Of course Scott, Ben, and I will be allowed to put on some obligatory ornaments, though we are expecting, as always that they will be relocated later then to their proper place on the tree.

The good part of it all is that the boys now can enjoy themselves not doing the “decorating” while the girls get their time doing just that….decorating! To me it is a win win, and for it I am thankful.

Of course after all the decorations are put out our boy time will change again. It will be time to store the boxes and containers until we bring them back out to store this stuff all over again….in just a few short weeks. It is an endless cycle and gives just a little bit of credibility to those guys who leave the Christmas lights on their houses all year long.

Anyway, I am thankful for the system we do have here. I do not mind the “man”ual labor…..it is far better than the decorating. And in all honesty, Steph and Amanda don’t just enjoy it, but they do a great job. It’s really a fun night upon which we all contribute that produces a great result. We all feel very blessed!

Anyway, I am going to go try and put on an ornament incorrectly so I get kicked out of the area. It works every time, and for that I am thankful as well.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight we launched our second Fellowship, Holy Spirit in Brownsburg. Fellowships are smaller gatherings that we work to develop into full missions. But planting a Fellowship allows us to get started earlier rather than waiting for all the things we need to see before planting a mission. Regardless of the details, it was a great day! I am ever so pleased to have been a part!

But it is now a little after 9:00 pm and I am exhausted, so with that great news I will call it a night (and a day)! I know when I have had enough, and that confession I could have made an hour ago!

I hope your day was just as blessed as mine.

So a quick goodnight to you all my friends and God Bless! Thanks for checking in!

Tommy+