Have you ever had one of those dreams where you were running either to or away from something, but it just feels like slow motion? That’s my life today, but I just can’t seem to make the finish line I spoke about seeing yesterday. It’s not that I have not tried either, or accomplished a lot, because I have. It is just that everything has taken me much more time than I thought.

This is to say I have given up and am in bed. I have 12 hours until the plane lands, minus the 1.5 hours I will give myself to get there. With sleep, that does not leave much time to finish everything that I want to. Plus a couple of work commitments in the morning will crank up the pressure even more.

I mentioned to both Steph and Scott, who were finishing up their science fair projects that are due tomorrow, how I really do work well under pressure. Tomorrow we will see. But these five days alone have seen a lot get done. I don’t think I bit off more than I can chew……after all, who needs sleep anyway???

Goodnight my friends, and don’t worry….I am in bed till morning! God Bless!

Tom+

Finally! I had a day of unbelievable progress, not just on the house, but with my work as well. Sometimes I think I am at my best when there is a lot to do. Though it may be stressful, the good Lord has just given me the ability to walk in that world.

Thanks to Deacon Dan (who has a truck) and Deacon PT who showed up to help, I now have furniture in our family room. With all things going to plan, the entire thing will be done before I pick Amanda and Ben up from the airport on Monday afternoon…..that’s the plan at least. Things are still in a bit of disarray, but they are getting less so with each passing moment.

Tomorrow I am on the northern tour, with both St. Patrick’s and St. Anne’s. I have a meeting in the afternoon as well. The house will be waiting when I return, and then it will get a final go-through. The lock box for the contractors is to be removed on Monday. Praise God, the end it in sight!

Okay, time to call it a day! I hope your day was blessed, and productive too!

Thanks for checking in…..God Bless!

Tom+

I am so tired tonight I can hardly stand it. Amanda and Ben are still in Kansas, and the older kids have lives, so I am here at the house moving furniture back into place, dusting, cleaning, and getting it ready for the new couch and chair (the last of the furniture) to be put in (by us) tomorrow. I didn’t think it was too much work, but here I am at midnight wondering where the time went. And since I will be meeting Deacon Dan early tomorrow in Indianapolis to pick the stuff up, I am not too hopeful about how I will feel in the morning!! Hopefully sleep will come and be productive.

Steph is at this point on her way home from Kentucky where she was to watch one of our friends, Mitch Corry, who plays college hockey down there. It should be a great time, in that ice hockey is God’s favorite sport, and it will please Him that she is there! But, it makes for a long night, particularly since she, and Mitch’s sister Maddi, had a pretty intense lacrosse game they played in at 5pm. I wish I had that kind of energy.

Scotty spent part of the night, like he has every night this week, playing different genres of music to planted seeds as part of his science fair project. It is odd to hear heavy metal in one room and toddler music in another, but it seems to be a pretty interesting topic. I know I would grow better in one over the other, but I am afraid I cannot confess which.

Anyway, the good news is that my sermon is done, and all I have tomorrow besides the furniture is bulletins and a few easy things. Praise God….I need a day to rest.

So off to bed for me! Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Thanks for checking in!

Tom+

Sometimes the days get so busy that we cannot see their blessings, yet each day is filled with them. Today has been just such a day for me.

But as I sit at the end of it, I am sorry that I was not more appreciative at the time. I spent a lot of the day with Deacons Morgan and Conley. We were down in Nashville at our Church there, and were working on some pretty remarkable things. It was exciting, but looking back now I wonder why I wasn’t even more excited then. We have a great ministry, and I am blessed to work with some very wonderful people. I am thankful for it all, and we’re they awake now, I might just give them a call.

Then the afternoon was spent with Steph and Scott after school and the evening with just Scott who had a game. Steph went to the “Mr. Noblesville” contest at the high school, but we couldn’t understand that since she lived with three of us already. But she tires of our humor, so she went, and Scott and I just hung out. I know I mention a lot about how great my kids are, but I can’t say it enough. I need to be saying it to them more too, and I will. Scott got two things tonight, one, a goal, and two, what he swears is a broken foot. I told him that he can keep his goal, but not the broken foot, so I exchanged that for an icebag instead. It’s a different day and age in sports these days…..we used to re-attach arms, and perform on-field surgeries all with athletic tape. He will learn!

Anyway, I have made it through another day. Amanda and Ben are doing well, and Ben even talked to Scotty and I on the phone tonight. He is having a great time.

But today has been full of God’s Blessings and for it I am oh so thankful. I hope your day has been blessed as well!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Praise God! All our floors were finally completed today! We have the finish carpenter putting the trim around the baseboards tomorrow and then they will paint the trim on Friday. I will hopefully pick up a coach and a chair on Saturday and then walah (is that a word?)….the house will be done.

The floor was not finished when I left to take Amanda and Ben to the airport. With a lacrosse meeting at 7 at the high school, the first time I saw it finished was at about 9pm. I was not disappointed though. It looks great, and we are thankful for our insurance. The damage from the busted pipe would have not been repairable had we had to come up with the money on our own. It is just nice to not have to walk on the sub-floor.

I am waiting for Amanda and Ben to call before I go to bed, but I did get the report that Ben did great on the plane. He sure had fun at the airport, but he did not seemed pleased at all to say good-bye to his brother or me. It may have been an act to make us feel important, but his mood as we left sure didn’t seem as if he was heading to do so well on the plane. He is a pretty amazing little guy though…..a guy who is living like a king right now in the arms of his grandma.

Who’d blame him? I am a king at my grandma’s still. He is one lucky guy!

So I will call it a day, and a good one at that! Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

God performs many miracles but probably none better than convincing my wife of what furniture to get for the family room. We needed to make a decision, particularly since the room we use most will be empty after the floors are done tomorrow, and the insurance check to pay for it should arrive then as well. I was concerned because we had been spending more in gas to look than it was almost worth. The last thing I need is Al Gore showing up at my door talking about our “carbon-footprint.” (But if he does, Amanda has told me that he now would need to remove his shoes if he is coming in the house.)

Anyway, I should be able to have all of this furniture business resolved before she and Ben return from Kansas on Monday. Ben needs to visit his Nanny, and it is always great for Amanda to get to visit home. She always has a great time.

As for me, besides being a furniture mover, I will be working hard on things for the Church. Lent begins next week, and there is a lot to do. It seems I am never without work to do. I am sure some goofball will jokingly say “well, there is no rest for the wicked,” but I prefer “always skate with your head up.” I’ve never been too good with analogies, and today is no day to start…..after all, I am pretty busy.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless. One more day to finished floors! Praise God!

Tom+

Well we have an entryway and a living room floored, and last night Scotty and I removed the remaining old floor from the family room. We are committed to this now and the rest is up to the contractors. What I can say though is that it is far more progress than we have seen in quite some time, and for it we are all very thankful.

Smaller details we are still working on. We still need furniture (a couch and a chair at least) and I hope my wife can pick that out at least tonight. If that all goes well, we can have it delivered when she and Ben are in Kansas later this week. I just want it all done, and want to be able to walk into any room and be able to sit down…..on furniture that is sitting on a finished floor.

Time will tell, but excuse my suspicion….all this is going too well. I hope I am pleasantly surprised though. Keep us in your prayers. Just a few more days to go and it will go back to being a place that the kids can mess up!

Keep the faith!

Tom+

H-Day is upon us! Tonight we will go to bed knowing that the contractors will be in our home tomorrow with the goal of FINISHING IT BY FRIDAY!!! Praise God! For the next three days the floors will go back in, then our downstairs bathroom, followed by painters on Friday.

In all honesty I cannot wait. We lost the full use of our home just before Christmas, and it has just been too long a process. Amanda and Ben are heading to Kansas on Wednesday afternoon, so it will be even a longer wait for them. They will not see the finished product until late next Monday afternoon.

Patience is a virtue, and I have to confess that all this has tested mine. It will be nice to not have it tested any longer….at least by the house.

It has been a long, but blessed day. Tomorrow looks to be the same. So it is time to call this day to an end. My hope is that yours was blessed as well.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Today was Valentine’s Day, and even though I slept “officially” until 3pm and had a bit of trouble getting myself together today, I still was able to participate. I am not sure what to blame it all on….I just sometimes am in a daze. And today that was for much of the day.

I had a few people ask me today about my side, and I had not a clue as to what they were talking about! Apparently they meant my reference to the pain in my appendix area, but when I get into these daze-zones, my short-term memory is all but gone. I finally figured it out, but to report, I am fine. The pain is still there, but not nearly as bad. If it is still around next week I will ask my doctor about it! If the truth be known, other than for prescriptions, I am trying to avoid him all year!

Amanda did make breakfast for everyone this morning, and yes, I woke up for 20 minutes to join in. Tonight I took them all out to the Chinese Buffet, and we all had a great time. I will not be disappointed to get back to sleep though. It has been a trying day, and tomorrow starts early and will be long, since I am in both Nashville and Greenfield on the schedule.

But clearly God isn’t through with me yet! I have a great family and though I am rarely in need, when I am they step up faithfully. I thank God for them everyday!

So it is off to bed for me! I hope you had a great Valentine’s Day today. Keep the faith, and I will post some more tomorrow!

Goodnight and God Bless!

Tom+

I haven’t felt good all day, and that includes even now, where I am typing in bed and worried that the pain in my lower right abdomen may either be my appendix, or mice. (It probably is not either, but I am a guy who just likes answers.) Either way, I am stuck here in my bed with pain that I would rather not have, which proves it is physical and not mental I suppose.

What I am hoping and praying for however is that all the pain will just depart and that it would be all just a memory by morning. That may be a tall order though, because there is not too much that keeps me down. This is a pretty good bit of pain.

But at almost 48 (I learned that from our Treasurer this past weekend, because I already thought I had hit 48) things just feel different than before. When I was younger I never seemed to experience all that much pain, but now I feel almost every bump in the road. AND, every injury I ever had in a sport as a kid now is a nagging reminder that I am no longer a young man!

I will however, take all of this as just an opportunity that the Lord has offered me to not have to load or unload the dishwasher tonight! That’s right, it is a gift! A little pain, hanging out in bed, and perhaps an early bedtime really are things I can deal with……especially tonight.

So I will sign off and see where it takes me. Hopefully tomorrow will find me up and raring to go!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+