I am posting at 11pm from Ohio, and I am happy to be here. In truth, I never thought I would make it. I knew I wasn’t feeling great last night, but I just thought it was the need for sleep. But after two services today, and the long drive looming, I thought it would be best to stop in at the Minute Clinic just in case. I am glad I did. My headache and sore throat turned out to be a sinus infection AND strep throat.

What surprises me is that I have never had strep before, and the test really was just a precaution. But instead of being here in a hotel with a fever and miserable, I am stable (at least physically) and should be fine by the morning. They gave me the nuclear option for an antibiotic (only three days) and I feel tons better.

Of course as a priest of many years, I have often done services under the weather. We are taught from the beginning of our careers how to work without getting sick, or spreading it too. I was ultra cautious today, and am glad I was. I really did believe it was just a headache and allergies. I am not happy to be wrong, but pleased I was cautious in dealing with others this morning.

Anyway, me and my medicine laden body are heading to bed. Tomorrow is not just a new day, but a day I am looking forward to. I am tired, but blessed. AND, I can sleep till noon if I need to….right, that never happens!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

It seems to me that if I pay all that money to get my car repaired that it would drive differently (and yes I mean a more luxurious ride)than it did before I paid…..but alas, it seems to be the same car I had. Not that I am complaining of course. I loved my car then and I love it now. I am glad to have it out of the shop and took it to both St. Patrick’s today and to Christ the King in Kokomo (okay, and also the Sonic in Kokomo because I was with my wife the addict). It ran like a champ, and it makes me pretty darn confident about it running the long distances over the next few days.

I will actually be in Westfield and Anderson tomorrow before heading to Ohio in the late afternoon. It should be a pretty good day for me, especially in that my sermon is done and I hopefully will have a good night’s rest. I have been feeling out of sorts as of late, and I am sure a lot of it has to do with stress. Yep, even I, with my boring, easy-going, nothing ever happens, slothful and mundane life, get stressed! Yes that is meant to be funny….I live a pretty stressful existence much of the time….but by choice. I like it when things are busy and flying around. I love accomplishing things too. But I could do without the feeling off these past few days, and I pray it will leave me by morning.

Anyway, I will stop complaining and get to bed. Tomorrow is a new day and I have my car! For all of it I am thankful. The Lord blesses us even amidst the storms, big OR small. And I still know I am truly blessed!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Well it is only going to be between $800 and $900, that ironically I do not have…..double bad news! Apparently this “bullet car” that I have (that when I was buying it was told will run forever..perfect for my job and kind of driving) has one little occasional major problem….the one that I have. I will now get it back and treat it like a star, because if I do after what they’ve done to it, it will indeed run forever! I get it back tomorrow morning and yes, that is the good news!

So since it is apparently illegal to sell organs, unless they are marked “Hammond,” I will be just toughing it out and getting onto what I normally do…..get into my car and drive too far!

Thanks for your prayers! I will post again tomorrow!

Goodnight and God Bless.

Tommy+

My apologies….I probably should have notified readers I was taking a short, but intentional hiatus from writing BEFORE I took it, but the best laid plans sometimes just do not pan out. The good news is that I am back, rejuvenated and refreshed. I should be back on the wagon from this point on.

Today Ben and I are at home. Yesterday, on the way home from Bloomington where we are in the beginning of the process of planting a Campus Ministry Fellowship at Indiana University, my oil light went on with the big word “STOP” flashing on my dash. We stopped (Fr. Hicks, Deacon Morgan, and I) and checked the oil. Somehow the car had lost its oil, and the check engine light was on as well. To make a long story short, we were able to get it to a VW dealer in Indy who couldn’t fix it till MONDAY (I need to be at a meeting in Ohio Sunday night through Tuesday morning), so I had to have it towed up to the VW dealer by where I live. They will hopefully be able to repair it today. Keep me and my car in your prayers! It is my lifeline to all the places I go!

But there is always a blessing, even in the storm. I cannot drive anywhere without it….and that means to the babysitter too. Yep, Ben and I get to hang out all day. Of course I would have been feeling much more blessed had he not decided to wake up so early, but we will have fun regardless.

Anyway, with all that is going on, I will probably post again later today….perhaps as a part of a transportation fundraiser to raise the approximately 6 million dollars it is going to take to fix my car! But for now I need to start moving the appointments I had already scheduled for today.

Keep praying! I appreciate it more than you know!

Tommy+

My wife called this afternoon (the morning for her) from the conference she is attending in Arizona and said she thought she was getting sick. She didn’t know if it was a migraine or the flu, but in this day and age I do not suppose it matters. All I know was that she was heading back to her hotel room to lay down. Subsequent calls to her revealed no progress at all. Keep her in your prayers. There are not too many things worse than being sick away from home.

As for me, I am still getting a lot done. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork…to it there seems no end. But I do feel I am making progress. I figure by the time I retire (from the ordained ministry) I may be close to done!

But for now I think I will wrestle with Mr. Incredible a bit before we call his mom. He has been a great sport, and jumping on me and playing with our toys will be a great way to end the day!

Keep Amanda in your prayers! We appreciate it!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

There is so much happening here on the home front I almost cannot stand it. Yes the kids and I are all alive, but it is rather difficult managing everything by myself, including my job. I am actually quite productive when Amanda is gone, and that probably stems from not being assigned any projects from her. But I do have to say that it sure is different.

We are in the process of moving our church’s affiliation out of CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) and into AMiA (The Anglican Mission in the Americas). Our clergy and board voted unanimously to make the move, and felt it was a good time to do so.

The move has nothing to do with dissatisfaction anywhere. In fact, both CANA and AMiA are part of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). It is just that as the ACNA continues to form, many of the groups who came together to form it (like CANA) will fade away. AMiA on the other hand will remain in existence within it, like a Holy Order (remember the Jesuits in the Roman Church). And since AMiA identifies itself STRONGLY with church planting, and since that is really all we do, we thought it was a good way to profess and preserve our DNA. Pray for us….transitioning between big organizations can be overwhelming, even if both our churches! Our CANA bishop has given us his blessing, so my hope is that all is well on its way!

Anyway, enough for now. Ben and I need to play! I hope your day has been as blessed as mine!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Ben and I have been “bach-ing” it all day. We dropped Amanda off at the airport where she was flying to Arizona for an all week meeting. Ben first cried as she walked away, but when he realized she was not coming back he began to wail. I want to say that it makes it quite a bit more difficult to watch your wife check through security with an inconsolable fire siren in your ear, plus you tend to attract A LOT of attention. I was certain people already thought I was either beating him or abducting him. I therefore chose to leave and take him home.

Fortunately for me, he was still in his Mr. Incredible costume so people probably thought we were shooting a movie scene. We made our escape and are now at home, in a much better mood, and playing with our toys!

Oddly enough, as I have been looking at this blog, I see that I have never been such a poor poster as I have over this past month. It puzzles me, and I suppose I may never know why. The reason that it puzzles me so is that I feel so good and together. Sure there are times that I don’t, but this past month has not been one of them. In all honesty, I have felt very blessed. A parishioner of ours had a similar stroke about a month ago, and I have spent a lot of time in self-reflection about it. It is bizarre. How do you get so forgetful in times that you feel so well? I suppose I should consider that it may not be stroke-related at all, but I seem to be well-ordered everywhere else. It is certainly suspect.

The real blessing of this day is that I remembered tonight, so I am declaring a victory! The Lord has blessed me with three superhero children, a great life, and a wife who cannot tell us to clean up our mess for 6 more days! Praise God, and let the fun here begin!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tom+

I have often heard that our God is a God of second chances, but He would be way beyond that if He was indeed the One making sure I got onto this daily to post. Thankfully my salvation is not tied to this……if it were I would no doubt be looking to an eternity of shoveling coal into some fiery furnace, or worse yet, a Colts fan (yep, that one is for you Danny!)

But lest I turn this blog into a rambling about my stroke-infested memory or my inability to remember anything other than I keep forgetting, let me say that things are going marvelously here in Indiana. My family has all turned the corner and have been restored to health. Our churches are in the process of some major changes that will lead us into a new era of ministry in the future. My lacrosse team is hanging tough in the indoor league, which we use as a developmental league, and the rookies are enjoying learning the game and becoming part of a team. AND, I am clearly I am getting taller and smarter. I thank God for all of it….including the delusions.

I have a busy day for tomorrow planned and I am hoping to see it go smoothly. Keep me in your prayers…….lest I am wrong and stumble. After all, who would ever want to spend eternity in Colt’s blue?

Goodnight and God Bless……and Go Bears!

Tommy+

Though my day was ultra productive yesterday, and quite busy, and though it was great to be out among the living, I do need to confess that it has exhausted me. I got home late last night and could do not much more than check my email before bed. I did get a good night’s sleep, but it seems it is going to take a while to get back.

On a wonderful note, Scotty is also back to the land of the living and for him it was quite a trip! For days he sounded like a zombie, but suddenly his normal voice appeared, he had some energy, and was actually anxious to get back to school. I thank God that he especially has made the turn.

So I am skipping my post for yesterday for obvious reasons and posting this one today early.

We have a lot to be thankful for here. And we have a lot of laundry to do to get feeling normal again. Keep us still in your prayers! We appreciate all your love and support!

God Bless!

Tom+

Although I slept much of the day, tonight I do feel better. Ben will hopefully head back to the sitter tomorrow, allowing me to spend the day in two meetings, one local and another out of town. Everyone seems to be getting better but Scott, who is still struggling to make some progress. Though he is still quarantined until Friday, he will need to make a lot of progress to get to school then. And truthfully, picking up his homework before Friday seems futile. He certainly doesn’t have the energy to do anything yet. Please keep him in your prayers.

It is now just before 10 and I hopefully will be asleep within 30 minutes. I hate to report and run, but I am in need of calling it a day. I hope and pray 24 hours from now will see us all feeling much better and celebrating it as well!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+