As a person who has had a stroke, you sometimes hear me mention struggles, and occasionally those revolve around confusion. By the time I finally went to bed last night I was perhaps more confused as I ever have been, and surprisingly, it had nothing to do with my stroke.

Yep, I stayed up and watched my beloved Chicago Bears play Brett Farve and the Minnesota Vikings last night on Monday night football. After all, I figured I was already in pain, I would just stay up and watch the Bears get clocked, be a fantastic arm-chair quarterback, and go to bed with the hopes my team would at least show up next year.

Why the confusion? Well, they actually showed up last night and beat the Vikings! I had to keep pinching myself to see if I was awake, and then even for awhile thought I was probably unconscious in a hospital somewhere and when I woke up I would see reality. But in fact I was awake, not dreaming, and actually I can confess, quite pleased. We already had a ton of injuries, and two of our starters were hurt and taken off the field in a scary way (on stretchers and carts) during the game. But in the end every remaining Bear stepped up and at times looked like the Bears of old.

Occasionally the Good Lord allows us a vision of the Promised Land even when we are deep into the wilderness. And last night there were times when I saw the milk and honey! After hurting all day yesterday, and even hurting all day today, remembering last night eased my suffering immensely.

We are still going no where this year, but for one night I had a glimpse. Thank you Lord for that….I would ask Him to ease my pain, but I think He would agree that His priority needs to be getting our starters back pronto!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Oh Monday Monday……..I would not despise thee today if I just felt better, but I do not. I have had occasional pain, mainly in my legs, for years. It was mostly resolved a few years ago when I went onto an apnea machine. But it is back today, meaning I suspect it is sleep related.

I have tried to catch up with rest all day, but I can pretty well say it is shot! I am not that tired and I am still in pain. Of course in my house I always think, “better to be in pain than to be A pain.” Being a pain always seems to cause me more stress later…..being in pain often begets a little sympathy. I may be hurting, but I am no dummy!

So, with these amazing words of wisdom it is back to rest for me. Tuesday needs to be a better day….I can only hope and pray that it is.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Today is traditionally a “low Sunday” in the Church, meaning that attendance is low. Of course the snow and the ice did not help things, but I am happy to report we completed the Sunday! It certainly wasn’t crowded anywhere, but it was a very very meaningful day.

My wife is still working on organizing her “craft room” and my office, okay actually “our office” (there are two desks) that we share. Since we do not have a central office for St. Michael the Archangel, my office at home is essential. It is often the nerve center of all that we do here in Indiana.

As I sit here and type listening to the monitor, Ben is waking up…..in just a short minute he will start saying, “mommy, where are you?” Of course I know….she is downstairs creating more work for me in the office. I do hope he yells louder! After all, if he gets her to come upstairs there will be far less work for me!

A guy can dream, can’t he?

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I know they call this day “Boxing Day,” but I have never understood why. Amanda and I have been home all day and she has not hit me once. Strange customs just do not make it into the Tirman home I guess.

Although I love Christmas, it is one of those difficult Holy Days for me, especially in that it messes up my concept of time. I spent all day today not really knowing what day it was, only to remember that I better have bulletins and a sermon ready for tomorrow. Fortunately for me I have been around the block a few times. It is now just about 6:30 and I am actually done.

I have to say Christmas was pretty meaningful to me this year. Next year Stephanie will be home from college and though I am quite proud of her, her leaving and living elsewhere will be hard on us. The three kids went in together this year and bought me a winter coat. It’s black of course, and one I can wear for work and causally. It was a tremendously thoughtful (and useful gift). My wife then gave me a very nice suitcase, which is also tremendously thoughtful. I am traveling a lot more for work, and I certainly need it. And thank God….it is also black! I have a great family.

Ben is now running around in an orange shirt, Spongebob boxers, and Woody/Buzz cowboy boots. If I didn’t know already about his personality, I would swear I was drinking too much! He is a hoot. Watching him will be a wonderful way to finish up boxing day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

I am taking the day off from posting to hang out with my wife and kids here at home. On behalf of all of us, may the joy of the birth of our Lord rest upon you and transform your life!

May God’s abundant blessings be with you this day and always!

Have a blessed Christmas!

Tommy+

Well we are finally done with all the Christmas Eve services….five total tonight with two of the groups gathering for one service. It was a great time and a very meaningful night. And, I had the great pleasure for the last service to have my brother Mike as the musician. It was pretty great to have him, my dad, and my sister (as well as Amanda and the kids) all together for the service.

One of the things I often do on Christmas is to process in the Christ Child for the creche that has been missing Him all Advent. I always give that job to a child and it is always a moving part of the service. I honestly had hopes that little Ben might be able to do it this year, but at home we have a couple of creches and though we have hidden the bab(ies) Jesus, Ben when he has found them has smiled, held them up above his head, shouted “to infinity and beyond,” and chucked them across the room. I am pretty sure that would not be acceptable on Christmas Eve. So we went with the ever-reliable Gabe Lingenfelter…….he did a great job too.

So we are now in bed and Ben is in between us more wound up that ever. We are exhausted, and hope he gives it up real soon.

It has been a blessed day. I hope and pray yours has been blessed as well.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Perhaps thinking I was doing okay was a bit optimistic! But I am clearly a bit behind. We have FIVE services tomorrow (that I know of) and it is going to be a busy day…..perhaps you could come and join us at one.

Anyway, it should be a blessed day….that is if I ever catch up! Pray for me (okay, and for our other clergy too) By the time we really start it actually WILL LOOK a lot like Christmas!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I am not sure what it means, but it seems every time I mention to someone that I, like most clergy, as a busy as all get out this time of year I hear the words “Well, there is no rest for the wicked.” Really? I always thought that this was a reference to hell, and though there are a few weeks during the year we often are all bogged down (like this one), I really have never thought of comparing it to the hot room.

Regardless of course, unless Jesus Himself returns within the next 48 hours, I will still have to work. And, though I would certain rejoice, if He did come back this week, the way my life goes, I would have probably done all the work I needed to do beforehand anyhow! So while everyone else is shopping and wrapping up presents, I am just plugging through my usual get it done before the Christmas services “to do” list. The list is still quite long, and my patience is wearing thin at times, but in the end it is all worth it. Everything seems to get done, and everything seems to go well. And since I tend to forget everything, I will be delivering a sermon in a couple of nights blissfully ignorant of any of the list I had to do at all!

But please pray for me as I finish up! It is a really good work for the Church at anytime of year…..pray for the clergy as they also pray for you! It keeps us all going, but more than that, it connects us in the right way. And I appreciate it more than you could know!

Hang in there…..Christmas is coming! May your “to do” lists be far shorter than mine, and may you at least have the patience of Job….I have given that one back to God personally.

I hope to see you somewhere on Christmas Eve.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Although people SAY this is the shortest day of the year, it certainly does not feel like it. I am exhausted, and it is still before 9. Somehow I still have a whole lot of work here to do on my plate as well. I am plugging away at it, but I feel more like I am treading water than making progress. Some days I don’t need a clone, I need many clones….today is such a day.

I suppose when I look back realistically on the day I will see something far different from how I currently feel. It always seems to work that way, but it is frustrating when in the midst of it. It’s like traveling in fog or a blizzard….it all looks the same until you get to where you are going. I like progress…..but I also like to see how it’s going. Today I apparently cannot have both!

For now however I am going to get Ben to bed, and Scotty and I will take the tables we used for the St. Patrick’s cookie decorating party back to the church. I am excited because it will be a tangible move. Oh for this small bit of clarity! It will be a great way to end the day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless, on this, the shortest, but clearly the longest day of the year!

Tommy+

Ben, Scott, and I began our day this morning at St. Matthew’s Nashville. We occasionally take this trip together, and generally have a great time. Often we head from there to another stop, either another service or visit, and today was no exception. Today we headed home via downtown Indianapolis so that I could visit one of our parishioners from St. Anne’s who is a patient at the Indiana University Medical Center.

The IU Med Center is a huge place, and we started by heading from the parking garage into the lobby. I got the room number and walked Scott and Ben up to the train. There is a train that runs non-stop between the Med Center/Riley Children’s Hospital and Methodist Hospital a few miles north. It gives a great view of the city and they were going to ride it while I was on my call. They actually rode it three full times, and Ben had a blast, but that is not the best part of the trip.

When we got back to the desk in the lobby, the same fella ho gave me the room number was still there at the desk, but it was Ben who was the observant one, not Scott or I. As I was holding Ben as the man validated my parking pass, Ben said to him, “Hi Santa Claus.” And Holy Smokes, he was right! The man was a dead ringer for Santa! It cracked us up. And he said to Ben, “Be sure you leave me some cookies.” Ad as we walked away Ben said, “Bye bye Santa Claus.” it was pretty cute.

Ben had a great adventure today, and I was happy for him. He is a real trooper and he and Scotty made doing my ministry a lot more meaningful today.

My mind was taken back a few years ago when Stephanie and Scott went with me to deliver Last Rites to a wonderful priest friend of mine at Community North Hospital in Indianapolis. I left them in the waiting room as I went back to his room, they stayed with Bill’s two boys and talked…..Bill was well into his 90’s and his boys had at least ten years on me. But they all shared stories with each other of the adventures of being priest’s kids. You see they too had a life of the same type of experiences with their dad. It was a fraternity that they only could understand, yet one that provided a joy and connection that meant a lot to all of them.

Someday I imagine the story will be told of meeting Santa and riding the train on a cold day in December while supporting their dear old dad. The train, Santa, and a great story……..I am blessed to have been a part of their day.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+