Today has been a busy day, but one that is seeing me crash, or should I say re-crash, at the end of it. Though I endured and enjoyed a bit of traveling through the morning and afternoon, by 6pm not only were my beloved Chicago Bears being destroyed right before my eyes, but my throat became as sore as it was two weeks ago and my head is killing me! I have heard that lots of people who get strep get it again pretty quick, and with all I have going on, I will be sure to stop in at my doc’s for a quick swipe of the throat tomorrow. My voice was leaving me all day, but my throat never hurt. Somehow things have changed.

But the good part is that it slowed me down. I was able to not just watch the game with Ben, but also a Tinkerbell movie on Disney Channel and Balto. He like popcorn and ate a ton of it too. I kept asking him to give me some out of the great big bowl he had in font of him too, but clearly he was not looking to share. Two year olds crack me up.

But as for me, I am ready for a load of Motrin and warm bed. It will be good to get some sleep!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless! Thanks for checking in.

Tommy+

Well I am back at the house working on sermons and bulletins after a day of work up at Christ the King in Kokomo. I need to leave early in the morning because I am scheduled in Nashville at 9am, and then up here in Noblesville again at 1:15pm. Deacon Dan will be doing both services with me, but where I have the long drive there, he will have it going home…..he lives in Nashville!

The hard part is that I am trying to work with the game on. Notre Dame, God Bless them, got behind right at the start. My blood pressure is good, but it cannot take that! I hope and pray they do well too. No one will want to hear a sermon from me after a lousy game! The only hopeful thing I have is that tonight is probably the coach’s last game. He has had a miserable tenure at Notre Dame…..and I deserve to be a winner on every Saturday during the season.

Of course I love Notre Dame because I literally grew up there. My dad went there and taught there. We were on campus and at sporting events a lot. If we were not there it was on the TV. I grew up playing in the Irish Youth Hockey leagues, and even if I didn’t, everyone is an Irish fan up there….I believe it is an on the books law! (if not, it should be)

Of course when it came time for college, I never even considered ND. Leaving home seemed appealing, but I know now it was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. So now I just have to be a fan. It’s not a bad gig, okay, this year it has been. But most of the time it is pretty fun.

Anyway, we are getting close to a score, so I will close in order to cheer at the screen rather than yell at it. Every year it is the same, but it is my life and I love it!

I hope it is a good evening for us all!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy O’Tirman+

Okay, no more excuses…..Thanksgiving is over and I waited for it. My daughter’s 18th birthday is next week, and I just need to say no to the cake. It is best she has me to walk her down the aisle than to just eat cake with her next week.

Yep, my weight is back up higher than it ever has been, and to be honest I cannot stand it. And although I have blogged about it before, I really need to stop talking and start doing. I am so very disciplined in other areas of my life, but clearly my eating is not one of them. So I am committing myself to changing all that tonight. No more excuses. I am heading in a new direction.

As for you, I would ask that you pray for me. I did great a couple of years ago, losing 45 pounds, but of course then I HAD a stroke, and I know that hasn’t been helpful to say the least. Clearly being in great shape and having the biggest medical problem of my life was disheartening. But as they say where I come from, “you cannot cry over spilled milk.” I had a stroke….big whoop tee do. It doesn’t change today or tomorrow, although I do believe another, or a heart attack, or even dying would. I am a doctor, but the wrong kind to know, so I will just trust my gut on this one….things need to change.

I know the road ahead will be a difficult one, but where it heads is far better than my well-worn path. But I am committed. Pray and encourage me. I want to see my life change as I move ahead!

Thanks for checking in, and thanks for your support in advance…..Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

An early in the day post to say Happy Thanksgiving to you all! My hope is that your day is filled with many blessings and that you pause to give thanks to the One who has given you all things!

God Bless you on this day and always!

Tom+

Dear Lord, as I get myself settled to write my entry tonight I realize that I cannot even remember what I did today. It really has been all a blur, and I am mostly thankful that this day has ended and tomorrow we have no plans.

It’s a good thing too. I have a raging headache and I am sure I have been less than a delight to be around this evening. Hopefully a good night’s sleep will help me feel better and give everyone else forgetfulness….at least about my grouchy mood! We will see. That would certainly be far better than bribing everyone.

Anyway, off to bed for me with the hopes of waking up into a joyful Thanksgiving! I hope and pray you have had a wonderful day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Tonight we went to Logan’s Roadhouse to enjoy a dinner together. Scotty and I got there first and reserved a table for us, Amanda, Ben, Steph, and her boyfriend Sam. As we were waiting, Amanda called and said that Sam could not make it. So Scotty, who unbelievably conscientious, went up to the hostess and asked for a smaller table. They were quite crowded, and it seemed the honorable thing to do.

After Amanda, Steph and Ben arrived, we were sitting at our cozy little table when Steph heard from Sam…..he was coming, so we immediately asked for a larger table in a very crowded restaurant. After about 10 minutes they were able to move us to a larger table, which we were so happy to get to……and at the moment my butt hit the chair it happened. That’s right, Sam called and now couldn’t make it, so we immediately asked for our old table again (before it was cleaned).

Our waitress was a saint, and we were so blessed to have her. Ben was just being 2, the people at the neighboring tables I am certain thought we were nuts, and we seemed to be just along for the ride. BUT, we were all together and had fun. It was too bad to miss Sam. He’s a great guy, and it would have been fun to have him there. I suppose we will wait until after the holiday break though. And maybe the next time we will head to the Texas Roadhouse. We like the food there too, and the people there don’t think were nuts!

Off to enjoy the kids! Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today Deacons Morgan and Conley, as well as Father Hicks and myself, went up to Christ the King in Kokomo and finished up most of the painting. It was an all day job, but clearly professional painters we are not! But we do a good job, we have a great time, and in the end the walls look quite a bit better. It is a labor of love, and a tangible thing that we get to do in a vocation that has very few tangible things.

Of course we were all exhausted and covered with paint. Fortunately however, most of the paint got onto the walls. It was a big transformation too. We have some incredible guys on our staff that do some incredible work!

BUT, clearly working all those hours straight is a good path to an early grave! At least it feels that way! I will be fine I am sure…..but it is a young man’s work, at least that long. Thank God that my bed is only a few keystrokes away!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Dear Lord, could I have chosen any teams harder to follow in my life? Tonight my beloved Chicago Bears lost. Yesterday the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame bit the dust (again). And I understand that the Chicago Cubs have already lost next season without even playing a game! It wouldn’t be so bad for me if I were just a fair-weather fan, but I have been a fan of all these teams since before birth. It is no surprise I suppose that I have had a stroke. What really does surprise me is that I haven’t blown up anything!

Of course I am the eternal optimist. I do believe that the future is always brighter, but to get there I know I have to give up the fact that I felt those same feelings last year about my teams. I just wish things could be different.

But for now I will drown my sorrows in anything that does not contain Ginko-Bolova. I just do not need my memory. It has been a bad weekend for my teams! I feel like I live in Cleveland!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

We are getting ready to launch what we call “Fellowships” in both Brownsburg and Bloomington. Neither one has a name yet, but since Deacon Tony lives in Brownsburg I am sure he is pulling for St. Anthony’s. The Brownsburg Fellowship will launch in December, and the Bloomington one, particularly with its focus upon students and Indiana University, will probably launch in January. It is an exciting time, and one which we can see the Lord blessing every day.

I generally am a pretty easy going guy, but knowing that Brownsburg is very close to the Indianapolis Colts Training Camp I am ready to veto anything containing the name “Peyton,” as I am the name “Knight” in Bloomington. My hope is that we will get a few good names out of each of them and then move ahead. After all, these launches are not meant to be temporary endeavors. A name is pretty important…….it should be a permanent thing!

All our other plants have very meaningful names, each with a story. And all their names reflect a little about their particular ministry in the world.

Thomas of course is the Saint known best for his doubt, and though that is not really part of my story, I suppose I could weave in a truth such as, I am pretty tired and doubt if I can stay up much longer. Oh the blessings of middle-age. In my 20’s I would be thinking about going out, and maybe not for yet another hour or so…..now I am thinking about how I will drag my tail upstairs and go to bed.

I am sure St. Peyton could do it, but he is young. And St. Tony, though amazingly old, lives in a ranch. But I am going to give it my best because I am neither young, or blessed with no stairs. I will however make it and dream my way into tomorrow……..I am sure it is going to be a blessed day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless! I hope your day was filled with God’s abundant blessings!

Tommy+

My son Ben, as so many toddlers do, is into a different theme every few months. We have been through Veggietales, Lightening McQueen and Cars, Buzz Lightyear, and now Balto, the sled dog who is immortalized in the animated movie that bears his name.

Though it is “based” on a true story, it is heavily embellished. Balto, though depicted as part wolf, really was just a Siberian Huskey. The real Balto was the lead dog of a team that ran the last leg of a relay that brought diphtheria medicine in the 1920’s across Alaska to save a snowed in Nome. Other teams and dogs ran and led the route (which is now commemorated each year in the running of the Iditarod), but Balto running as the lead of the last team got the glory.

Really, ALL the dogs were heroes. The real workhorse was a dog named Togo who led the team that ran the hardest and one of the longest legs through mountains. It was the most dangerous part of the journey. But the most amazing part was that the medicine got through….many lives were saved.

It got me thinking, wouldn’t it be great if people could be as focused on the prize? We often get so tied up in recieveing credit or praise that we often lose sight of the most imporatnt parts, and that’s a shame. I have no specific examples, because there are just so many.

The real Balto was hailed a hero, but then expolited for money. At one point a businessman from Cleveland, Ohio bought Balto and his team and they spent their last days living the lives they deserved at the Cleveland Zoo. AND if you go there today you can see the real Balto Himself……he was taxidermized after his death and is still on display (you can even see him online). A statue of him is also erected in Central Park in New York.

I suppose this may be an odd post for my blog, but it has been on my mind. Lot’s of good always comes from doing things for others and from the right reasons. Maybe we can learn a bit from a dog! I know I have!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+