All posts by Fr Tom Tirman

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Lot’s of thinking to do……

One of the benefits of travel is that I have a bit more time to reflect upon the happenings in my life and the directions and paths upon which I travel. I have to confess that I have been more than dissatisfied by many of the decisions that I have made in my life, and although as a pastor I confess that I tend to feel “God led,” some of this mess I call my life, if not the majority of it, I cannot blame on Him.

But I am just 50, which is really just a kid in my family, and I am considering a few “course corrections” in my life.
One, I will be TOTALLY off the meds that cause the weight gain NEXT WEEK. I am struggling to adjust to the loss of them. What I can say though is that the problems that they treated in the beginning, though clearly still there, seem much more manageable than it was at the beginning. I am going to give it a shot in a week ALMOST med free!
But the other is this general dis-ease of feeling that both my life and ministry are not quite in sync with where God wants them to be. I have tonight and tomorrow night away from home and in the hotels I intend to spend some time alone working through these issues. I feel confident that they are significant for me.
But for now I must head to bed. It is about 11:30 and the day is well past over for me. Pray for me as I leave the beautiful Pittsburgh area and make my way into Ohio. I will make a presentation tomorrow night in Madison. So even tomorrow will be a busy day!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Running on empty……

I had the opportunity to not only celebrate the opening Eucharist at the Anglican 4th Day Conference, but to speak at it as well. And it was a great honor and privilege…….that’s for sure.

But in all honesty, I am really happy my parts for today in all of this is over. It’s not that I haven’t had a great time, its rather that I have been exhausted. Sometimes the best laid plans figure to be a bit too much, and although I would like to confess that this is the end of my time, the truth is today was just the half way point of my trip. I have a few more days before I see the familiar sites of home.
I do however love to ravel on these trips. I LOVE hotels, the peace and quiet, and the ability to fill much of my free time with relaxation. It is good for me, and I am happy to do it.
Sadly, work comes along soon enough…….as it will in the morning. So for now I will hit the hay as they say. But I am sure there is no hay here. They actually have a bellman here. It’s a bit too swanky for my Hicksville tastes!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Pittsburgh is disturbing…….

Gee whiz……I hope my this isn’t an indicator of what I am in for here, but I had a headache today, AND I had forgotten to bring black socks (white socks look stupid with clergy wear), so I made my way to the Wal-Mart to buy some Advil and socks.

What I saw however was disturbing……a bunch of little birds……..carnivorous, deranged, weird little birds, all fighting over a piece of fried CHICKEN that had been dropped in the parking lot! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE GUYS???
It reminded me of a cartoon I used to have on my office wall of a cow cooking hamburgers on a grill and the other cows standing with him saying, “You’re sick Jesse, sick sick sick.” Of course that was a cartoon, and it was funny. But these little killers are actually out there waiting for us! I mean, what happens when that chicken is gone? Will they seek out the weak and helpless? I mean, I have a pretty bad headache!
So I will be on the lookout all day and weekend.
Death by sparrow will not be happening to me.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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The good portion……..

Well I am traveling myself again, and tonight I am in Columbus, Ohio. I have to be at a national conference tomorrow for Anglican 4th Day (see Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, The Great Banquet) for which I am one of the speakers. And I am concerned that this will be probably the longest talk I have done in years, particularly since my stroke. AND…..I am still working on the talk. No worries, eh? And of course no stress either.

That is why this picture I found was such a blessing. I took it a few days ago and had forgotten all about it. The chairs are some from my grandma’s apartment that will be making there way to college with Steph in a few weeks, but for now they are sitting in my office. The boy however is mine, and he will be staying with me for at least a few more years, and if he has his way, forever. But he came into my office, sat there, and just went on about God knows what as if it were the most important thing in the world.
It was a helpful picture to find. I am too stressed, but this reminded me to choose the good portion……
In the end the talk will be fine. Heck, I have been at this for forever and they haven’t thrown me out yet. In all honesty I really doubt that this will change their mind.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Ouch ouch ouch……

Twenty-five years ago in seminary, I began a sermon about Jonah with the words, “I am not a prophet, and I have never been swallowed by a fish.” And these are words that my partner in ministry, Father Kelly Irish laughed at then, and still brings up today.

BUT…..yesterday I predicted disaster, and today it came true!!! Amanda tried to hop a plane standby early from Des Moines, but with weather and Chicago, Ben and I picked her up and arrived home at FOUR in the MORNING! (no worries though, I was able to sleep in because I HAD AN EARLY DOCTOR APPOINTMENT!!!)
But this is to say I am really out of sorts…..so sorry for the short post. It is just the product of a tired mind. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Goodnight (or good morning) and God Bless.
Tommy+
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The road to hell……

I took Amanda to work, and then returned there to take her to the airport today. She is heading to Iowa, which makes me nervous because it is supposed to be a there and back trip…..they never are.

I worry, because I leave on Wednesday for a Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ohio trip….before returning for some ordinations next week. I have to speak at a conference in Pennsylvania, and I am heading to Ohio early to make sure I get the talk done and have enough time as to not be stresses. THAT is the plan.
But of course I took Amanda to the airport. Ben is supervising my talk writing, and it is the primary reason why I need to leave early. Lord knows if she will return on time…..but I can hope.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Dodging the Rainbow Warrior……..

This is another one of those pictures that was taken the day before, although Ben did make another trip to the pool today. Yesterday it was with his mom, and I took the picture when I stopped by. Today he went to the pool with his sister. He is big into the pool.

Of course I am not allowed at the pool. I went there earlier in the season and when I was getting out of the water about 20 of those Greenpeace loonies hit me with a tranquilizer dart, weighed me, tagged me, and rolled me back into the water. It would have been okay had ANY of them had pool passes, but apparently they just snuck in, so no more pool for me.
Of course I would not be dealing with such things if I would take this Biggest Loser thing more seriously. Yep, with just a little over three weeks to go I am considering hitting this with at least a bit of intention. I made the decision to go off my meds that are causing the weight gain, but I am only half way through coming off them. And the problem is my competitive nature really conflicts me as to what to do. Do I push and struggle, or do I just wait to see how life goes off the meds.
In the meantime I will just stay away from water (not showers, but pools). I am confident that it will all be fine, but the bigger issue is not the weight as much as it is going off the meds. (It is not for sissies!) But hopefully by the fall I will be able to join Ben in the water without fear of being rescued. Oh it will happen………I am just impatient in meeting that goal.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Hanging with bikers….

Okay, it is not what you probably thought from the title, but in all honesty it is quite true. Ben got a big-boy bike (with training wheels) tonight and it was a pretty big thing.

Part of the reason it was so big was that Ben was no just “kind of” but truly the poster child of a kid who could not master (or even apprentice) riding a tricycle. He was a total goober on the three wheeler, and it was not just embarrassing, but problematic in visits to the doctor where he was identified (because of his kiddie-cycle incompetence) underdeveloped.
Now of course as a Tirman, I am used to, and expect such a diagnosis of my offspring. But Amanda is a scientist, and actually pretty bright (other than the marrying me thing) and her expectations are far higher than mine. Being a Tirman means people underestimate you and you just prove them wrong. Being a Mongold apparently means you are perfect right from the start. And that is why the whole tricycle thing was killing her.
But Ben is apparently a cycling savant. We should have just put him on the regular bike at birth, because he acted like it was something he was born to do. No, I am not saying he is ready for the Tour de Franz, one, because biking in my family is not a sport; and two, because his brother and sister have already claimed him as a lacrosse player. (I am thankful for that but would have preferred ice hockey because it is God’s favorite sport.)
But regardless, it was fun seeing him on the bike….AND doing well on it too. Soon the training wheels will be off and he will be all over the neighborhood. I know how this works……..God gives us children to make us proud and to send us to an early grave.
My kids are succeeding!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Knick Knack Paddy Whack…….

It appears as if I am a day behind, but that is really not so. I just have had more to write about on each of the past couple of days and I didn’t want it to be all disconnected.

But yesterday Scotty and I headed up to Goshen, Indiana in the truck (that just the day before was in Nashville, Indiana) to help my family with some of the moving of my grandma. My grandma is 95 and had finally decided (reluctantly) to enter into assisted living. And although she lived in a pretty small one room apartment, the move to assisted living was a significant downsize. And being the only one with a truck, I offered my services (driving) and Scott’s services (lifting and everything else) to clear out the big things of what was left.
First of all, it was great to see my grandma. I know she was not too keen on moving into this new place, but all of us feel a great deal of relief that she has. People will now cook, clean and monitor her medicine for her. And it will be nice to not worry about that anymore.
But honestly it was weird taking stuff out to the truck, most of which I had grown up with my entire life. Some of it had already made its way to my mom’s brother’s home in Fort Wayne. Other things Soctt and I dropped off at my mom’s sister’s in Muncie. And of course the rest that was in the truck came home here to stay.
Really, none of it has any big cash value, and even if it did, no one in our family would really care. It ALL however has sentimental meaning, and that is why when I will walk by the few things I brought here (over the course of the rest of my life) they will remind me of my grandparents and all they have meant to me. And of course sitting down with my grandma does that too! But I am not able to get up there to Goshen as much as I want to, nor as much as I should.
There were quite a few things that made the trip here. And the one in the picture is of a step stool that many grandkids stood on to do various things. Ben was pretty pumped about using it, here to brush his teeth. The other things are more knick-knack-ish. But a big one is an end table that used to sit next to my grandpa’s chair (yes it as his chair) for as long as I can remember. All of it is pretty cool to me.
And in all truth, I am honored to be the steward now of these important treasures……even that little stool!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Visiting family…….

One of the bonuses of being at Danny’s yesterday was being able to see Bernard. Bernard is Danny’s Golden Retriever, and a pup from one of our last litters.

Bernard used to be one of Scotty’s show dogs, and like Viper his dad, spent a lot of time sleeping in Scotty’s bed. Bernard was (and is) a lot more active than Viper, but you can expect that from a younger dog. His handsome appearance however can be seen even from a distance…..and all of that is genetics.
But when Danny let him out to see us it was clear he did not recognize us at all. He was all about Dan instead. It is actually just what you hope for when you are a breeder, that the dog will leave that bond with you and become bonded to its new family. That happened……but even Scotty said it hurt just a bit. Bernard was not a pup who left us at 8 weeks. He lived with us, slept with us, played with us, and was our family for quite some time.
Scott and I talked about it on the way home. Bernard is pretty darn happy, and he loves Dan and there was no doubt he was home. It made us both feel pretty good.
I think Scotty wants me to take Steph down there next week. Not to see Bernard, but to see if Danny will keep her too. I think he is interested in taking her room!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+