Tonight I visited with some dear friends who are going through the tragedy of a lifetime. Our friends Melanie and Kyle, whom I married (I believe last summer), lost their baby today. Cora Capri was delivered today just a few weeks short of her due date, but sadly she did not survive.

Obviously Mel and Kyle are devastated. They both were so excited to be parents for the first time, and they had done everything right. They have been exemplary parents. But sadly there were complications, and little Cora returned to the Lord before she ever had a chance.

I saw her in the room tonight with her parents…….she was such a beautiful little girl. She was truly blessed to have such loving and caring parents.

It is in times like these that we need our faith more than ever. These times are the hardest part of my job, but yet in my mind some of the most important. We may never know why things like this sometimes happen. They are painful, even for me, yet I cannot even begin to imagine what they are like for parents. But in faith, thanks be to God, they are not the end of the story! We will see Cora again, and I am so very thankful for that. For the Lord Himself holds her now in His arms and weeps with us……He has welcomed her home. And one day He will welcome us there with her.

I am heartbroken for Mel and Kyle, but I am so glad they are believers because that can be of comfort to them. But as people of faith I ask that you please hold them in your prayers. The Lord will bring them through this, and I rejoice in the fact that one day they will hold their dear Cora again.

Heavenly Father, we pray to You this day for Mel and Kyle and we ask you to hold them in your hands. We thank you for their love and care for their daughter Cora, and for their steadfast devotion to each other. Be with them as they walk this hard road. Guide them as seek direction, hold them up when they stumble, give them faith when they doubt, comfort them in their pain, and bring them closer to you. And may Cora’s soul, and the souls of all the departed, through Your mercy, rest in peace. Amen.

I appreciate your prayers for them.

Tom+

Today, although Father’s Day, was a work day as well. I was so tired when I came home, but was delighted to be greeted with a wonderful Chicken Marsala dinner the kids and Amanda prepared!! I was also given a card and some gifts. It was a nice time, that is for sure.

But with all the happenings, I got a bit confused. I tried laying down to get my mind back, but I never did fee right all day. I had a pretty hefty headache, but didn’t tell anyone. I just wanted us all to have a good day.

For almost the entire evening I helped Scott finalize his paper for 11th grade English Composition which is due tomorrow. He has an exam too. But I was so tied up in it all that I forgot the most important part of the day……I wanted to call my dad. It is something that I will have to do tomorrow. But I do not think I have ever missed. Things like this crash me and upset me very much. It is hard keeping my head on straight when I get frustrated by my brain. It is not as if I didn’t know what day it was.

Anyway, I hope you had a great day. Mine was god, but for obvious reasons could have been a lot better! Just pray I recover!!

So goodnight and God Bless. And Happy Father’s Day to all fathers…..sorry dad, I will talk with you tomorrow!

Tom+

Today we had a retreat on prayer for all our churches that was held at our church in Nashville. Father Kelly Irish, a longtime friend and perhaps the best priest I know, led the retreat and it was wonderful. All the people who attended spoke of how valuable it was to them.

We are now back at the house, and Kelly is asleep, and I am heading there. Amanda is still up with two of the three kids (Ben gave it up about 30 minutes ago.) Kelly and I will be at two services tomorrow and he will preach at both of them. It has been good to get to see him. He is always an inspiration to me, and I know the people will appreciate him tomorrow too.

It will still be a busy day! AND, it is Father’s Day tomorrow as well. I hope you all have had a great day, but I am spent!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Thanks for checking in to this BRIEF report!

Tommy+

Well it was an eventful day. I worked much of the day and then went out with family and friends for my birthday. And though Garfield the Cat got a cake made to look like lasagna, I settled for the conventional kind, which I was more than happy to see.

Anyway, with that I will call it a wonderful day. 48 doesn’t seem all that bad, but tomorrow is another busy day. I am heading to bed!

Thanks for checking in, goodnight and God Bless.

Tom+

Today I had my semi-annual checkup with my neurologist. The appointment went well, particularly in that my next checkup with him is in a YEAR! That’s the good news! I am doing well, and though I am still often confused and stutter, I am clearly not getting any worse nor do I have any problems that they are very concerned about.

We did discuss a couple of things that concerned me. One, when I had my stroke they found a hole in my heart, which we were wondering if it needed to be patched….after all, it is a HOLE. So I will be going to a cardiologist here in a few weeks to see if I need to get all bondo-ed up. We will see.

The second thing was my weight, which bothers me to no end. It IS the medicine, which is good to know, but I will not be going off it anytime soon. So I need to regroup. I may have my mouth sewn shut and get Ben a cattle prod. Right now that is option one, but I am praying for more options SOON.

Tomorrow I will turn another year older…..48. It is no big deal to me, particularly since I do not feel 48, I actually feel 12 most of the time! Thank God for confusion! But I will officiate at a funeral tomorrow, welcome Father Kelly Irish to our home lead a retreat for us on Saturday, and then go out to dinner with him and my family to celebrate being just two years from my AARP card and the Senior Coffee discount at McDonald’s!

Anyway, it is off to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day, but I will be there for all of it.

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

Tom+

Tonight Stephanie and a few of her lacrosse buddies have taken over the basement and are having some sort of movie/sleepover type of thing. I have just stayed out of the way. 17 year old girls, their conversations and pizza are things that when combined together I just don’t understand. The pizza on its own I would have a shot at.

The big thing is that they are having a great time. But as for me, I need to head to bed. The days are long right now, and I have been filling them up indeed. An early bedtime will help to make me more rested…..AND, it will keep me from being sent out of more pizza if they ever do run out.
They are all great kids…..we are happy to have them here!

Goodnight and God Bless.

Tom+

Yep, today Scott turned 16! It was an exciting day for all of us too. He had school in the morning, and work in the afternoon, but tonight he, Ben, Amanda and I went out to dinner to celebrate. (Stephanie had to work)

We went to Red Robin, which was Scott’s choice, and watched Ben who was so pleasant in the car, throw just about everything he could get his hands on onto the floor. Scotty and I entertained him the best we could, but apparently only “Red” himself could get Ben’s attention tonight. After the bird and his friends sang that embarrassing birthday song, Scotty and his brother shared the birthday Sunday. Don’t worry, Scotty wasn’t too worried, after all Ben has a birthday to share with him in two weeks.

At home we sang and had cake and gave Scott his presents. Ben gave him a wiring harness, and good thing too. It was just what he needed to go with the new radio he needed for his car. That old Volvo has been waiting for him for about a year. He now just has to wait 30 more days. He however didn’t wait 5 minutes before heading out with me to install it. He was elated. I am guessing he will be sleeping in the car for the next few years!

Anyway, 16, 17, and almost 2…….thank God I am delusional, otherwise I would be pretty scared! They are all great kids, and today was a great day.

Happy Birthday Scotty. I am so very proud of you!

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

Tom+

I read the comics every morning, and I always enjoy this time of year in particular, in that Garfield the Cat and I share the same birthday (this Friday) and his strip is always about how old he is getting to be, on this, the week before our birthday each year. Of course Garfield is not only imaginary, but also tons younger than I am. He still complains though. He is totally self-absorbed…..a real cat indeed.

But where Garfield hates Mondays, I love them. Where he likes to eat fish, I am allergic. He is a friend of mice in his house, whereas I consider them unwelcome house guests. We both love naps, both are from Indiana, and lasagna is a favorite of us both. That is why I suppose we are both overweight too!

On a side note, I was just interrupted from writing this and lost my train of thought as to where I was going. I heard a screech and load crash while out here on the porch and went immediately to see what it was. A young man lost control of his car about a block away and went up into a lawn and hit a house! Everyone was okay, thank God, but the car and the house are in need of help. He said he lost control of the car, but from the looks of it, it seemed more than that. It is our neighborhood after all, and he went across a good sized lawn and driveway. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out!

But as for me, I am back on the porch now with my real Indiana cat and getting ready to call it a day. It has been a long one too.

So goodnight to you my friends and God Bless. I think in Garfield style Puddy and I will take a nap before we go to bed!

Tom+

I HAVE my planner with me, and though I didn’t write anything in it (I still used the electronic ones on my computer and phone) I had a very productive day. It may have been psychological, I do not know, but in truth nor do I care. The day went well by having it with me. I still need to find a plan that works all the time, and though I am not certain, it may involve a combination of both.

I only had one service today, and it was in Nashville. Deacons PT and Tony covered Westfield and Anderson. Deacon Dan was the busiest. He was with me in Nashville and then went up to Riverwalk in Noblesville for our Sunday service there. From there he went to Greenfield and had a prayer service with a group of people there. I talked with him tonight and he sounded pretty tired. I am just glad we all made it back to our respective homes and can get a good night’s sleep. (I want to point out I made it to mine without having to write it down too!)

I really do love to do what I do, and I feel so extremely blessed to be able to do it among the people I do, and with the staff the Lord has provided me. I just have the feeling that we are being called to something far larger than what we are doing now. I feel we are ready! We all (the staff) seem to have a renewed sense of purpose. Keep praying that God will reveal the next steps very soon!

Anyway, it is time for me to call this a day. Thanks for checking in.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Though things have been exceptionally busy these last few days, I was surprised to see that I had no entries yesterday or the day before. I really have done well, but now have decided to go back to the written lists and calendar, at least for a while. It is a more structured way of going through my day, but one that has proven its worth in the past. It will begin this afternoon.

I also need to catch up on things like my yard and a few things around the house too. I like mowing though, and the projects I have at home are ones that I will enjoy doing too. It looks like rain, so the yard may be out today, but the other projects are inside. The puppy is large enough to take down his whelping box, and then the “dog room” can be remodeled into a usable space. I am aware that Ben is asleep for his nap though, and all that noise might wake him. AND, the idea of a nap is pretty alluring.

With that however, I will move towards something more productive. I apologize for my lull in keeping up, but hopefully the next few days will see me getting back on top of my game.

God Bless, and thanks for checking in.

Tom+