All posts by Fr Tom Tirman

In memory of a giant…….

Who? Mike T (Michael Treinen), that’s who! And today is the day three years ago he entered into eternal life. We of course still celebrate his life as if he were still here with us, and in many ways he still is. He however is most likely tipping one back among the Saints of God watching all of us here.

If you are from Noblesville you know all about orange. My lacrosse team still wears orange practice pinnies. The Michael Treinen Foundation will hold an alumni game on June 18th at Hare Chevrolet Field to raise funds and awareness so that other families will not have to endure that which the Treinens had to.
But even more than that, today my mind turns to a young man who died much too soon, but who in the short time I knew him taught me a lot about living life. He was a lot younger than me, yet his wisdom was beyond his years. And I was blessed to know him.
Words certainly cannot express the pain and sorrow that so many in our community felt during Michael’s illness and his passing. And no one could ever even imagine the pain of the Treinen family. But Michael’s legacy lives on, and lives in us. I think of him every time I see anything orange.
And today, on May 25th, Mr. Ben wears his only orange shirt. I tried to get mine on, but I looked like an obese Fruit of the Loom guy…….Michael would I am sure find that funny……but I decided to not give him that chance. I will wear it next year my brother….when I am buff! God Bless you my friend. We miss you!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+

Zoom zoom right outta here………

Well that did not last long. Tonight we were able to sell and say goodbye to Amanda’s Mazda 6s sports car. It is a great car, and we loved it, but the fact that she told me the hybrid was currently getting 48 mpg made the pain less in us both. She is hard to impress, but she has been impressed with the hybrid. I suggested that we replace all our cars with them, and she seemed open to the idea. It would save a TON of money too. I have already driven 20,000 miles this year alone.

But the great news is that we have yet another free parking space here in our drive that will no doubt be filled up with some teenager’s car in but a moment. Our driveway is massive, but it always seems to be filled with cars. (We had six up till just a few hours ago.) But now there are just cars for each driver…Amanda, Tom, Steph, Scott, and Cassie. Lord knows however who may show up at anytime.
I am just thankful we were able to make this decision. My mother-in-law has driven a hybrid for years and has always been pleased with them. She is on her second. She walks and recycles and does all that stuff that my wife does….imagine that? So when we got the hybrid and my wife gave up her sports car and seemed to like it, she said she guesses she is kind of a “closet tree-hugger.” Nuts do not fall that far from the tree, but I love them both. They have taught me a lot.
So zoom zoom, bye bye Mazda 6s. You are a great car, and you will make that new family very happy I am sure. But as for me I am going to go put on a pair of earth shoes and eat a granola bar.
Oh, I will only do that in front of them. I am still a rebel……my non-hybrid car is a guzzler at 32 mpg……a real chick-magnet.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+

No fly zone……..

Yep, I THOUGHT I was putting my wife on a plane yesterday afternoon for a business trip to Belgium that was supposed to last until Thursday evening, but it was not meant to be. She and parts of her team were flying into Chicago with just a 1 hour layover, but that seemed way too tight considering they had to transfer planes, airlines, and terminals. It however did not matter. Their plane sat on the runway in Indianapolis for that hour before even taking off, and then sat on the tarmac for another hour before arriving at a gate, then another hour at the gate before there were people who could get them off the plane. Needless to say, the weather all but closed down O’Hare, and the trip being cancelled, they had to rent a car to drive back home……I picked her up an hour from home at just before 1 in the morning. Yuck!

But there is a silver lining. Scotty graduates from high school on Friday, and we know she will definitely be here. There is another volcano spewing stuff in Iceland, and the last time that happened people were stuck for weeks. Her birthday is also on Saturday which means that will be a go, so I have to confess I was not too upset about the cancelled flight and trip. It does mean that I will have to be wrong for a lot more days than I have planned, but I have really grown accustomed to the criticism and supervision. I might have gotten into trouble without it.
So all of us are still at home and it is well with my soul. I am tired and a bit frazzled, but am thankful I will not be worried. Tomorrow is another day.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+

Oh the humanity…..

Sometimes I just do not understand things…..things like why do I occasionally see seagulls in this part of Indiana, or things like why, oh why, can my son use the very same mower that I do, and the yard looks much better than my mow? I just do not get it, nor am I sure I want to.

Amanda told me that Scott thought I would not let him mow the lawn. I admit, I do love mowing, but it is not just my house and lawn, it is ALL OF OURS. So of course I said “yes,” although the result makes me wonder if it ought to be the last time. I hate it when they make me look bad, but honestly, I love driving up to the house and seeing the yard as he has mowed it. I am just happy that the camera on my phone is a piece of junk so you cannot easily identify him in the victory picture. (Though his dog is doing the victory roll) If Scott were just heavier and A LOT shorter I could just tell everyone it was me.
But soon he will be off to college and the lawn will just be mine, and apparently deteriorate considerably. We will all just have to live with it though. Mowing is a young man’s game and I am within 30 days of hitting 50!
I will next time just sit in a lawn chair with a beer or an iced tea and enjoy my transition to supervisor.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+

Apocalypse not…….

It was kind of a wasted opportunity. Some lunatic predicted the world would end (a rolling end through various time zones at 6pm) but I wasn’t doing a sermon tomorrow anyway. You can bet your life on the fact that I would have not started writing one till after six though….just in case.

Of course the world is FILLED with lunatics, and not just the ones who make such crazy predictions, but the people who follow them too. Naive people invested their life savings into the belief that this nut was not one, but in the end, they are the ones that pay the price…..and a great one indeed. Predatory pastors (they are a sorry lot) give the good ones of us a bad name. I am sure this will be played as some sort of “miscalculation” as it was the last time (yep, he has done this twice). But please donate even more of your hard earned cash to get him a better calculator…..after all he just loves Jesus and is working for Him……right.
But it is not just this guy, we see it all around us……there are many wolves in sheep’s clothing, and they are all around us. I is one of the reasons the work we do is so very important, vital in fact.
But there was indeed a smidgen of hope that I wouldn’t have to mow my lawn this week, so I guess that I will just have to buck it up and get at it. The Summer will be filled with sermons and grass…..as they all are. But I am not disappointed. If the world would have ended tonight my beloved Chicago Cubs would not be World Series Champions in the Fall.
And who would have wanted to miss that?
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+

A party for Mona…..

Tonight as many girls as were available came together for a surprise party for our teammate Mona, (she is in the white top and in the center of the picture) who will be heading back to her native Germany before our lacrosse awards banquet in June. It was a great time, and it really did surprise her. And considering the end of the world tomorrow is becoming all the rage, I suppose it is good we got this party in on time.

Mona has been here all year, and she is the second exchange student we have had play lacrosse. She is just finishing up her Junior year hear, and thanks to things like the Internet and Facebook, we will be able to stay in touch throughout life…..or at least for as long as I live! I am happy about that too. Miles separate people, but thanks be to God we can now all still stay connected. I am happy, as we all are, to be able to stay in touch with Mona.
She has been a real joy, and we are going to miss her!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+

The end of an era…..

Tonight I watched Scotty’s final game as a high school player, and since he does not intend to play in college, it most probably will be his final game overall. Their team lost to the Heritage Christian Eagles 11-6 in the first round of the playoffs.

But it has been a great run. Scotty has consistently placed in the top goalies in the state, and at last check was ranked #4. It is really not too bad for a kid who does not intend to play in college. He graduates a week from tomorrow, and what I just wonder is how it all has happened so fast.
The great part is that I was able to see quite a few of his games…..including this final one. He is a fine young man who I love very much and of whom I am very proud. I am blessed to have such a fine son.
College awaits…….may he continue to be a blessing (and an affordable one too) over these next four years as well!
Goodnight and God Bless!
Tommy+

Kokomo!!!

Yep, we are in the process of letting another church we have planted become an independent entity…..last night, Christ the King Kokomo. It was a marvelous meeting and one in which we saw a lot of wonderful things happen.

Of course this kind of thing is a process, which is what guys like me often say to make an early excuse for the fact that this still make take a lot of time. But the big thing is that we are on our way.
Please pray for the new Board of Christ the King, for their people, and their priest Fr. Michael Henry. They are a dedicated and good-looking (just see their picture) bunch. And we are proud of them as they move ahead on the road of ministry.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+

Trampoline……

I really do wish the video would have turned out but it did not. The picture however is of Ben on a trampoline. It was pretty cool to watch, but the video would have allowed everyone to see it. Sadly, it did not make it to my phone.

But tonight I was able to see Ben not just on a trampoline, but a slide as well. I would love to buy him a slide for our yard, but we live right next to a park, so he will have to just live with an expensive spiral slide provided by the Town of Edgewood.
But the cool part was that I was able to enjoy the evening with him. The time watching him on the trampoline was hilarious. Clearly at 3 years-old he has not a clue what he is doing.
Of course better him than me…..
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+

Changing times…..

Yep, this is the car Amanda drives, and it is our nicest car. We however are selling it and getting her a used hybrid on Friday. It is not that it is not a great car, nor is it that we cannot afford it, but the new car will get close to 50 miles per gallon, and with TWO kids in college it will allow us to do some different things.

So Amanda’s car is for sale and it is a lot of car. A fully loaded sports car driven only by a little old lady to church on Sundays. It will make someone a great car because it is very well maintained and we also paid Stephanie to detail it yesterday.
But it brings me to my main point today, and that is how very disappointed I have been in the elected officials in charge of our economy. Everything has lost value, and in addition to that everything costs more now. Please do not misunderstand, Amanda and I are not hoarders of wealth or greedy, in fact we are quite generous. But what has happened to our economy has had an impact on not just our churches, but more importantly, the people they serve. Gasoline is now estimated to be 8% of a families budget, and when oil companies make BILLIONS and RECORD profits, something is wrong. And no, I am no socialist, I am a Capitalist. But I do object to massive subsidies and taxes that make this all so bizarre.
Anyway, come buy a car and enjoy. It is VERY FAST, just ask her……she gets pulled over all the time.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+