I am making progress. I have had a lot of energy all day, and in meetings I felt pretty sharp! It’s not that my throat and head don’t still hurt a bit, because they do. It’s that there comes a point when you really feel you are heading in the right direction. Today has been such a day.

We had two women’s lacrosse games tonight, and Scotty’s team even played concurrent with one of them. It is a very rare occurrence, but one I am so thankful for. I only got to see a piece of Scotty’s game, but I did get to see some. My kids are fun to watch, and coaching is something I utterly enjoy. My teams are doing great in the indoor and are looking forward to February, where we will combine back into one team and head into the regular season. I am encouraged by what I see.

Anyway, I will call it a day, especially while it is a good one!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Ben and I spent most of the morning traveling around picking up a few papers I needed signed in order to make a mailing deadline that I set for myself. He was a real trooper, talking to me most of the time, and seemingly enjoying all he could see out his window.

It was good to have time with him, though it was not wrestling time. Yes, even in Indiana we have laws about wrestling in the car while it is moving. And on the way from Anderson back to his babysitter we stopped at our veterinarian’s office where we are frequent visitors being dog breeders and all, and Ben was able to lay on the floor and stick his arm into a pile of Cavalier puppies! He thought it was pretty cool, and the puppies did as well.

I was able to get everything mailed off later on, and was pretty pleased with all I accomplished today. I know I am no longer contagious, and I know my throat is almost completely healed, but in truth, I feel like a total dog (no, this is not an intentional attempt of working the dog theme throughout….it is just an Indiana expression, like “God, Country, and Peyton Manning.”) I just cannot find the energy. I feel totally whooped!

With that, I think I will call it a day. I have an early and full day tomorrow, and I hope to make big gains sleeping tonight.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless! I hope you have had a wonderful day.

Tommy+

Well I made it……it was a beautiful drive across the sunny farmland of both Ohio and Indiana…..all until I was 20 miles from home and hit the rain. It has rained all day too, but as Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home.” Dor 3:16 (yes, my wife is from Kansas where they revere her as a saint)

I did manage to meet up with my VW adviser too at about 3pm. We talked at 7:30 and he said to drive it home, and he was right. A six hour drive to spend another hour at the VW dealer to reset the warning light after checking it out and telling me it was okay was WELL worth it! I was pretty worried, and getting home with that off my plate was wonderful!

Of course the fact that I cannot infect anyone will be a lot more cool when my throat heals. And I am not just healing, but the strep took most of my energy! A little rest will do the trick I am sure, and this is the last thing I am doing before bed just before midnight.

But in the end, despite the detours in my life, the road is almost always paved with blessings. Ben is next to me because he just HAD TO sleep in our bed, and my late arrival under the covers means his feet are plowed under him mom’s side and not mine. But I am glad to be here. I have a great life and there really is no place like home for me!

Goodnight (Ben’s feet free – so far but it will not last) and God Bless! (He is moving back now!)

Tommy+

If a sore throat (now not contagious) were not enough, I received a call this morning from the Minute Clinic that diagnosed me with strep throat yesterday to tell me that they had incorrectly prescribed my antibiotic, and that I should NOT TAKE the dose as prescribed….it was too high. Of course I was happy to hear this BEFORE I took the dose, but a little confused as to how this could happen. I called both my pharmacist (who did NOT fill the original) and my doctor. They told me how to take it.

Of course it was a big detour in my day, and if that were not enough, sure enough, after my meeting and dinner with Fr. Kelly Irish, my check engine light came on. This gives me something to do in the morning after I wake up I guess. I am hoping to just drive home, but that decision I believe will be made between myself and my service adviser in Indiana that I will talk to in the morning. Apparently my trip was an opportunity for me to call back to Indiana to ask for advice, and though I have been given it, I’d rather just visit without all the drama!

Anyway, with all of that, I suppose I will head to bed. I hope to see home tomorrow so keep me in your prayers!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

I am posting at 11pm from Ohio, and I am happy to be here. In truth, I never thought I would make it. I knew I wasn’t feeling great last night, but I just thought it was the need for sleep. But after two services today, and the long drive looming, I thought it would be best to stop in at the Minute Clinic just in case. I am glad I did. My headache and sore throat turned out to be a sinus infection AND strep throat.

What surprises me is that I have never had strep before, and the test really was just a precaution. But instead of being here in a hotel with a fever and miserable, I am stable (at least physically) and should be fine by the morning. They gave me the nuclear option for an antibiotic (only three days) and I feel tons better.

Of course as a priest of many years, I have often done services under the weather. We are taught from the beginning of our careers how to work without getting sick, or spreading it too. I was ultra cautious today, and am glad I was. I really did believe it was just a headache and allergies. I am not happy to be wrong, but pleased I was cautious in dealing with others this morning.

Anyway, me and my medicine laden body are heading to bed. Tomorrow is not just a new day, but a day I am looking forward to. I am tired, but blessed. AND, I can sleep till noon if I need to….right, that never happens!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

It seems to me that if I pay all that money to get my car repaired that it would drive differently (and yes I mean a more luxurious ride)than it did before I paid…..but alas, it seems to be the same car I had. Not that I am complaining of course. I loved my car then and I love it now. I am glad to have it out of the shop and took it to both St. Patrick’s today and to Christ the King in Kokomo (okay, and also the Sonic in Kokomo because I was with my wife the addict). It ran like a champ, and it makes me pretty darn confident about it running the long distances over the next few days.

I will actually be in Westfield and Anderson tomorrow before heading to Ohio in the late afternoon. It should be a pretty good day for me, especially in that my sermon is done and I hopefully will have a good night’s rest. I have been feeling out of sorts as of late, and I am sure a lot of it has to do with stress. Yep, even I, with my boring, easy-going, nothing ever happens, slothful and mundane life, get stressed! Yes that is meant to be funny….I live a pretty stressful existence much of the time….but by choice. I like it when things are busy and flying around. I love accomplishing things too. But I could do without the feeling off these past few days, and I pray it will leave me by morning.

Anyway, I will stop complaining and get to bed. Tomorrow is a new day and I have my car! For all of it I am thankful. The Lord blesses us even amidst the storms, big OR small. And I still know I am truly blessed!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Well it is only going to be between $800 and $900, that ironically I do not have…..double bad news! Apparently this “bullet car” that I have (that when I was buying it was told will run forever..perfect for my job and kind of driving) has one little occasional major problem….the one that I have. I will now get it back and treat it like a star, because if I do after what they’ve done to it, it will indeed run forever! I get it back tomorrow morning and yes, that is the good news!

So since it is apparently illegal to sell organs, unless they are marked “Hammond,” I will be just toughing it out and getting onto what I normally do…..get into my car and drive too far!

Thanks for your prayers! I will post again tomorrow!

Goodnight and God Bless.

Tommy+

My apologies….I probably should have notified readers I was taking a short, but intentional hiatus from writing BEFORE I took it, but the best laid plans sometimes just do not pan out. The good news is that I am back, rejuvenated and refreshed. I should be back on the wagon from this point on.

Today Ben and I are at home. Yesterday, on the way home from Bloomington where we are in the beginning of the process of planting a Campus Ministry Fellowship at Indiana University, my oil light went on with the big word “STOP” flashing on my dash. We stopped (Fr. Hicks, Deacon Morgan, and I) and checked the oil. Somehow the car had lost its oil, and the check engine light was on as well. To make a long story short, we were able to get it to a VW dealer in Indy who couldn’t fix it till MONDAY (I need to be at a meeting in Ohio Sunday night through Tuesday morning), so I had to have it towed up to the VW dealer by where I live. They will hopefully be able to repair it today. Keep me and my car in your prayers! It is my lifeline to all the places I go!

But there is always a blessing, even in the storm. I cannot drive anywhere without it….and that means to the babysitter too. Yep, Ben and I get to hang out all day. Of course I would have been feeling much more blessed had he not decided to wake up so early, but we will have fun regardless.

Anyway, with all that is going on, I will probably post again later today….perhaps as a part of a transportation fundraiser to raise the approximately 6 million dollars it is going to take to fix my car! But for now I need to start moving the appointments I had already scheduled for today.

Keep praying! I appreciate it more than you know!

Tommy+

My wife called this afternoon (the morning for her) from the conference she is attending in Arizona and said she thought she was getting sick. She didn’t know if it was a migraine or the flu, but in this day and age I do not suppose it matters. All I know was that she was heading back to her hotel room to lay down. Subsequent calls to her revealed no progress at all. Keep her in your prayers. There are not too many things worse than being sick away from home.

As for me, I am still getting a lot done. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork…to it there seems no end. But I do feel I am making progress. I figure by the time I retire (from the ordained ministry) I may be close to done!

But for now I think I will wrestle with Mr. Incredible a bit before we call his mom. He has been a great sport, and jumping on me and playing with our toys will be a great way to end the day!

Keep Amanda in your prayers! We appreciate it!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

There is so much happening here on the home front I almost cannot stand it. Yes the kids and I are all alive, but it is rather difficult managing everything by myself, including my job. I am actually quite productive when Amanda is gone, and that probably stems from not being assigned any projects from her. But I do have to say that it sure is different.

We are in the process of moving our church’s affiliation out of CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) and into AMiA (The Anglican Mission in the Americas). Our clergy and board voted unanimously to make the move, and felt it was a good time to do so.

The move has nothing to do with dissatisfaction anywhere. In fact, both CANA and AMiA are part of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). It is just that as the ACNA continues to form, many of the groups who came together to form it (like CANA) will fade away. AMiA on the other hand will remain in existence within it, like a Holy Order (remember the Jesuits in the Roman Church). And since AMiA identifies itself STRONGLY with church planting, and since that is really all we do, we thought it was a good way to profess and preserve our DNA. Pray for us….transitioning between big organizations can be overwhelming, even if both our churches! Our CANA bishop has given us his blessing, so my hope is that all is well on its way!

Anyway, enough for now. Ben and I need to play! I hope your day has been as blessed as mine!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+