This was written on Monday night, rather than tonight, because I knew that on Tuesday I would be with our clergy in Akron all day, and then on the way home, I would divert to Mishawaka (my hometown) to meet with a group of high school classmates who are planning our 30th high school reunion this summer. So chances are, if you are reading this on Tuesday night, I am almost home from both.

In Akron we are attending a Chrism Mass, which is where all the clergy gather with the Bishop to receive the Holy Oils that we use all year, celebrate Communion, and renew our vows. Since we will be there in two cars, I will drop my passenger off with the others just north of Fort Wayne on the return trip and then continue on to Mishawaka. As far as the reunion meeting is concerned, I am not sure who will be there, nor am I sure I will remember any names, but they have been doing a lot of work in preparation, and I do want to help when I can. God has blessed me with many wonderful people in my life, and I really should say that there is no finer group of people than those I went to high school with. Hindsight is always the best I suppose, but I do regret not getting to know many people better that I grew up with. Thank God I am still alive to have the opportunity to get to know many of them now better!

Anyway, this will be a long day for me, so I do hope you keep me in your prayers. My bed will be a welcome friend. I just hope I see it before midnight!

I hope you have had a great day! God Bless.

Fr. Tom+

I have spent the majority of the day getting things ready for the services at all our mission. We have Good Friday services, Stations of the Cross, readings, bulletins, the need for Communion supplies such….all of which I would like to distribute to our clergy tomorrow (since we are not all in one place this week other than tomorrow).

The good news is that everything seems to be copied and we now have to go out and get a new stapler, since our good one broke, and the new one was hardly even functional. Amanda is out getting a new one. It is not a standard one, which we have ten of. It is one that staples booklets, since a lot of the things for Holy Week are in fact, booklets.

BUT….if we get these done tonight, all I will have left is my sermons for Thursday and Sunday! I hope to go to sleep tonight with that being the case!!

Anyway, I am trying to write when I remember, and this of course is pretty early. BUT it is a post, and for TODAY!! Yee ha!

My hope and prayer for you is that you have had a blessed day. Mine is far from over, but looking better every minute!

God Bless you my friends and I hope to remember tomorrow as well!

Tom+

I am writing tonight at just shy of 9pm, after just getting home from running a few errands with Amanda, which we went on right when I returned from work. And though I am thankful to be home and thankful for the wonderful day, the week ahead still looms large. Being a priest is such a privilege, but it is no more evident than to me than in Holy Week. It is the most moving time of the Church Year for me.

Of course I also know that there is quite a bit more for me to do during Holy Week, and I am aware that I am probably difficult to live with during this time. I am certain all the other time of the year I am quite fun to be around….a saint in fact, but I would prefer you’d not ask my wife or kids about that, because quite frankly I enjoy living in my delusion.

I would ask that you pray for all our churches and all our clergy as we walk through this sacred week. But even more importantly, that you would allow the Lord to deepen you and stretch you and change you into the person He calls you to be.

Have a blessed night! And thanks for checking in!

Fr. Tom+

If I only was practicing lacrosse, I could blame my forgetfulness on that, but it is Spring Break. I did go a day or two without Internet….thanks Comcast, but it wasn’t their fault either. The fact is, I am trying hard to remember things, even routine things, and at times it becomes difficult. My apologies to you all.

On the up-side, Steph, Amanda, and I were able to get Steph up to Purdue for a college visit. She seemed to like it, and will be attending an Engineering Camp this summer on campus. We went to a math meeting as well, but she seems to be leaning towards the engineering instead. She loves math and science, so it seems she will end up in one of those smart-girl type fields. I am just amazed we are at this point. I still think of her as my little girl.

Today I am in preparation for Holy Week, which begins tomorrow with Palm Sunday. I do have the palms, which is a good start, but we have a lot of services to prepare for and I am working on those. To show you the extent of my progress. I still have bulletins and a sermon for tomorrow to finish and then we will start on the other days! Yikes!

Cookie is home and doing well…….a detour we were not planning on time-wise or financially, but the big blessing is she is going to be fine. Of course she will have no puppies or show any more, but all our dogs are family first and work for us second! (on their list it is often lower!) So the bottom line is that we are so pleased that she dodged a bullet at 4 and will have plenty of more ball chasing years here at home.

Anyway, off to do that work I have been talking about. Remember again, Holy Week begins tomorrow! Get to church!! I will see you there.

God Bless.

Fr. Tom+

Today has been a scary, but good day. One of our dogs, Cookie, had developed an infection over the weekend and had to have an emergency spay this morning at our vet. She is one of Steph’s show dogs, and this not only ended the hopes of puppies with her, but her show career as well.

To be honest though, it was not a hard decision at all. Dr. Vicki Hagerman and I talked about it only briefly. Cookie had been on antibiotics since Saturday, with the hopes that they would work. They did stop her from getting worse, but it was not enough. We talked about an additional treatment that might prevent the spay and give her a shot about the puppies…….but we have a great vet, and I am a good breeder. Pups and the show ring were not worth the risk. We both knew that. Cookie was in surgery a short time after that. I had even not fed her or dosed her in case that was the direction we needed to head. Delaying it would be risky. We love her, and just wanted her to be healthy. The report this afternoon was that she did fine. She will stay an extra day because of the infection and return to us Thursday morning. Thank God she is doing well!

Sometimes blessings come through the darkest of storms or the highest of seas. I am thankful for them all. These past few days have been trying, but we all have done our part to see Cookie through, especially Steph.

The reunion Thursday will be well worth it, as is the peace I feel tonight knowing she is on the right road to recovery.

With that, I am off to bed!! Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

It is truly back to the grind here. Although I was able to spend the day with Amanda and Ben at home, soon the time came for me to head off to lacrosse practice. Then home, then dinner with the family, and now homework and other family stuff. Our days are pretty regimented, but that’s a part of what makes them fun. We can usually count on dinner together, and some time a little later too.

Of course there are days, like tomorrow, where a game will interfere with our routine. Scott plays tomorrow night at Carmel, so we will be hanging out there instead. Hopefully they will have concessions. I love stadium hot dogs! I hope to not be disappointed and to see a big Noblesville win.

Of all of us, Ben seems to be the happiest. I guess we will never know what he wondered had happened to us when he was away in Arizona with Amanda, but clearly he is enjoying seeing us all now. He just smiles and looks at us. It warms your heart.

Anyway, I don’t want to miss a thing, since everyone is still up. I hope you have had a great day! God Bless!

Tom+

I know when the President flies into somewhere an advance team is there ahead of time making preparations for his arrival. Everything is in its place in advance, so that when he arrives everything will go smoothly.

In preparation of Amanda’s arrival tonight from Arizona many similar things are taking place, but of course all without the aid of an advance team. We have been straightening things, cleaning, organizing, and making things “Amanda ready.” Sure, we are certain there will be something that we will miss, but hopefully she will be too tired to care! I am certain she will just be thankful to be home.

And of course then there is Ben! The house has been toy-free for a few days, and whereas we are not allowed to be such tornadoes here at home, with him it is expected. It has been too quiet. We are looking forward to the noise. I am taking tomorrow off just to get to hang out with him! I cannot wait.

The cat is even lonely! She howls when she cannot find Ben, and will be happy to see him. It is no surprise that his first two-word sentence (just last week) was “Hi Kitty.” They will be happy to be reunited.

Anyway, back to the grind I go. Steph is now at her work, and Scott is doing homework, so unless the cat does laundry, I am on my own. BUT, we will get it done, and she will be happy to be home. No one however will be happier than I! Things are always so much better when we are all together!

God Bless you my friends, and thanks for checking in!

Tom+

Well the day has gone very well. Scott’s team played in Bloomington today, and the won! He has scored in every game so far, but today he put four in. My only regret is that I was not there. Being the women’s coach I was up here in Noblesville for a home game.

The good news here is that we extended our record to 4-0, our best start ever, and are now off for a couple of weeks with Spring Breaks. We will practice next week, but our next game is quite a bit down the road.

We also have a little over 24 hours before Amanda and Ben get home. No, we are not worried about that. The house is still very clean, and we all just miss them bot being around. It will be about midnight, but we will welcome them with open arms! It is just too quiet without Amanda (I mean Ben!)

As I sit here tonight I am struck at how very blessed I am. It is raining outside, which makes for good sleep, and having a great family helps that a great deal. Tomorrow will get it all back to normal, and I cannot wait. I hope and pray your day has been as blessed as mine!

Goodnight and God Bless.

Tom+

Yep, three in a row…..how’s that for a recovery??? I am working hard to keep up, and it helps that so many people are reminding me! It is quite possible that I will post four in a row tomorrow!!

I want to talk tonight about how very blessed I am to be able to coach lacrosse. I coach a bunch of teenage girls, and though that is really challenging sometimes, I feel more blessed than ever to be among them. In fact, being around them give me a lot of hope about our young people.

Sure, I overhear talk about boys, what they want, and a variety of female issues, some of which I was even unaware of…..but I am amazed at what solid, wonderful women God has put into my life. These are not just great athletes, they are pretty solid girls who are heading into life much more prepared than I would have ever imagined!

We had a great practice today, and we expect to end the day tomorrow 4-0, and head into Spring Break on top. I am happy to be where we are, and blessed by the team that I have. I will let you know tomorrow how we do!

Steph and Scott and I are doing well while Amanda and Ben are traveling! I hope you have had a great day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tom+

Two in a row may not seem much of a streak to you, but for me it currently feels monumental! I have been pretty upset about my memory as of late, and even began the day by being late to a meeting I almost forgot! BUT, in the end, I did actually get to everything I was supposed to, the day is at its end, and I appear to have finished it by completing everything. Of course Amanda is in Arizona with Ben, so I really do not have her to tell me what I have forgotten. So I suppose I shouldn’t feel so confident. But for now I just will. She can be the party pooper when she returns. I am just going to enjoy it!

I am also enjoying lacrosse season. I have actually been able to see Scotty play, and that is big considering I am the head coach of the women’s program. We have played 3 games and have a full practice schedule as well. We won again tonight and are now 3-0 going into our game on Saturday morning against Concord. It has been an exciting time, and I am enjoying it very much.

Oh but of course I am lonely!! I was actually right all day long! Husbands, do you have any idea how odd that is??? I may even be a rebel and sleep on her side of the bed tonight too!! I know, daring, but I just may! She will be home late on Sunday, so all this wild living will be coming to an end. But it has been just like being a bachelor again, sans the messiness, the pizzas, and the delusions of my value as an attractive man! I am married now, keep things (fairly) clean, eat better, and have no doubt that my clergy credentials, two teenagers and a toddler, probably would earn me a silver medal in any two man race. Thank the Lord I need not worry any more! I was brought down hard tonight when talking to someone tonight about Ben and they asked me if I had any other grandchildren! I am blessed Amanda is in my life (of course she tells me that all the time!) because without her I would be clearly doomed!

So let’s end this ramble with the acknowledgement that I am looking forward to their return. Steph, Scott and I will grill out and hang out tomorrow night for fun, but I know we are all better when we are together. It is coming, it is just going to be a bit longer.

My hope and prayer for you is that you day was filled with God’s abundant blessings!

Goodnight to you my friends, and God Bless.

Tom+