Monthly Archives: August 2011

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A night of incredible blessings……..

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Tonight we enjoyed a marvelous celebration where three men were ordained Deacon by Bishop Loomis at St. Anne’s in Anderson. We welcome to our staff (not really, they were already on it but their titles have changed) the Reverend Deacon Kim Akers, the Reverend Deacon Skip Beyer, and the Reverend Deacon Robert Jennings. All three are pretty good guys (well, at least two of them are) and it was a real blessing to be a part of this celebration.

And of course it is always a blessing to get to be with my good friend the Bishop. Doc is an amazing man with a real servant’s heart. He always does a great job wherever he goes, yet I always feel badly in that I think we often exhaust him. I am sure the other guys who do my job feel the same way too. I am led to remember that line that about 1000 celebrities think is about them, that they are “the busiest guy in show business.” That appears to be always up for grabs. Doc however is truly the busiest Bishop in the Church, and we love him and appreciate him. And he drives more miles in a month the Mario Andretti did in a lifetime.
But the big news it that we now have three more deacons and are looking ahead to the future. It has been a night of incredible blessing. And although I would love to stay up some more and contemplate all of it, I think instead I will go to sleep and get some blessing from my bed!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Home Sweet Home………

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Oh the beautiful town of Edgewood, Indiana! Of course when I arrived, there was really no welcoming committee. I carried in all my bags alone, and even the dog didn’t seem that interested. But if you do not catch him during the 45 minutes he is up per day he isn’t really responsible. But arriving when late afternoon did avail me the opportunity to unpack and get a few things settled.

There were however problems. One, I have spent the better part of the last week sleeping in hotels with the temperature turned down to at least 60 degrees. I found our house a little bit warmer than that. Two, I had not had access to enough office equipment on my trip to get the things done that I had to do for the ordinations that are scheduled for tomorrow night…….so I also had a TON of work waiting for me here. Fortunately, even after they all returned home, there was no parade or speeches to be made. We just ate dinner and I could get back at it.
But nonetheless, it is good to be home. The next few days will be packed with plenty to do, but the end of the week should free itself up and perhaps give me a couple of days to just relax.
If I can just figure out how to make it 60 degrees here that would be awesome!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+
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Progress…….

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Although our government seems incapable of it, I believe I am making progress as I am now half way home. I will arrive at my house tomorrow and believe it or not, sleep in my own bed. I am looking forward to it. To be honest, I am really tired of carrying everything around.

Another blessing in all of this is that I feel I am making a lot of progress on a lot of the things I have had going through my mind. I just wish I were further along in these thoughts though. My mind goes a mile a minute, and it always has. Post stroke however my fast moving mind was my worst enemy…..now I am pretty confident I can handle it. My mind still whirls, but off the meds I am seeing I have a much clearer understanding of that than I did before.
No, clearly the function is a bit, if not grossly, backward, but I feel I have a line on it. I am excited abut the possibilities. I am sick of medicines and fact that I may be free of them in just a few days is clearly progress to me!!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Lot’s of thinking to do……

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One of the benefits of travel is that I have a bit more time to reflect upon the happenings in my life and the directions and paths upon which I travel. I have to confess that I have been more than dissatisfied by many of the decisions that I have made in my life, and although as a pastor I confess that I tend to feel “God led,” some of this mess I call my life, if not the majority of it, I cannot blame on Him.

But I am just 50, which is really just a kid in my family, and I am considering a few “course corrections” in my life.
One, I will be TOTALLY off the meds that cause the weight gain NEXT WEEK. I am struggling to adjust to the loss of them. What I can say though is that the problems that they treated in the beginning, though clearly still there, seem much more manageable than it was at the beginning. I am going to give it a shot in a week ALMOST med free!
But the other is this general dis-ease of feeling that both my life and ministry are not quite in sync with where God wants them to be. I have tonight and tomorrow night away from home and in the hotels I intend to spend some time alone working through these issues. I feel confident that they are significant for me.
But for now I must head to bed. It is about 11:30 and the day is well past over for me. Pray for me as I leave the beautiful Pittsburgh area and make my way into Ohio. I will make a presentation tomorrow night in Madison. So even tomorrow will be a busy day!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Running on empty……

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I had the opportunity to not only celebrate the opening Eucharist at the Anglican 4th Day Conference, but to speak at it as well. And it was a great honor and privilege…….that’s for sure.

But in all honesty, I am really happy my parts for today in all of this is over. It’s not that I haven’t had a great time, its rather that I have been exhausted. Sometimes the best laid plans figure to be a bit too much, and although I would like to confess that this is the end of my time, the truth is today was just the half way point of my trip. I have a few more days before I see the familiar sites of home.
I do however love to ravel on these trips. I LOVE hotels, the peace and quiet, and the ability to fill much of my free time with relaxation. It is good for me, and I am happy to do it.
Sadly, work comes along soon enough…….as it will in the morning. So for now I will hit the hay as they say. But I am sure there is no hay here. They actually have a bellman here. It’s a bit too swanky for my Hicksville tastes!
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Pittsburgh is disturbing…….

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Gee whiz……I hope my this isn’t an indicator of what I am in for here, but I had a headache today, AND I had forgotten to bring black socks (white socks look stupid with clergy wear), so I made my way to the Wal-Mart to buy some Advil and socks.

What I saw however was disturbing……a bunch of little birds……..carnivorous, deranged, weird little birds, all fighting over a piece of fried CHICKEN that had been dropped in the parking lot! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE GUYS???
It reminded me of a cartoon I used to have on my office wall of a cow cooking hamburgers on a grill and the other cows standing with him saying, “You’re sick Jesse, sick sick sick.” Of course that was a cartoon, and it was funny. But these little killers are actually out there waiting for us! I mean, what happens when that chicken is gone? Will they seek out the weak and helpless? I mean, I have a pretty bad headache!
So I will be on the lookout all day and weekend.
Death by sparrow will not be happening to me.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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The good portion……..

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Well I am traveling myself again, and tonight I am in Columbus, Ohio. I have to be at a national conference tomorrow for Anglican 4th Day (see Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, The Great Banquet) for which I am one of the speakers. And I am concerned that this will be probably the longest talk I have done in years, particularly since my stroke. AND…..I am still working on the talk. No worries, eh? And of course no stress either.

That is why this picture I found was such a blessing. I took it a few days ago and had forgotten all about it. The chairs are some from my grandma’s apartment that will be making there way to college with Steph in a few weeks, but for now they are sitting in my office. The boy however is mine, and he will be staying with me for at least a few more years, and if he has his way, forever. But he came into my office, sat there, and just went on about God knows what as if it were the most important thing in the world.
It was a helpful picture to find. I am too stressed, but this reminded me to choose the good portion……
In the end the talk will be fine. Heck, I have been at this for forever and they haven’t thrown me out yet. In all honesty I really doubt that this will change their mind.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Ouch ouch ouch……

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Twenty-five years ago in seminary, I began a sermon about Jonah with the words, “I am not a prophet, and I have never been swallowed by a fish.” And these are words that my partner in ministry, Father Kelly Irish laughed at then, and still brings up today.

BUT…..yesterday I predicted disaster, and today it came true!!! Amanda tried to hop a plane standby early from Des Moines, but with weather and Chicago, Ben and I picked her up and arrived home at FOUR in the MORNING! (no worries though, I was able to sleep in because I HAD AN EARLY DOCTOR APPOINTMENT!!!)
But this is to say I am really out of sorts…..so sorry for the short post. It is just the product of a tired mind. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Goodnight (or good morning) and God Bless.
Tommy+
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The road to hell……

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I took Amanda to work, and then returned there to take her to the airport today. She is heading to Iowa, which makes me nervous because it is supposed to be a there and back trip…..they never are.

I worry, because I leave on Wednesday for a Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ohio trip….before returning for some ordinations next week. I have to speak at a conference in Pennsylvania, and I am heading to Ohio early to make sure I get the talk done and have enough time as to not be stresses. THAT is the plan.
But of course I took Amanda to the airport. Ben is supervising my talk writing, and it is the primary reason why I need to leave early. Lord knows if she will return on time…..but I can hope.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+
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Dodging the Rainbow Warrior……..

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This is another one of those pictures that was taken the day before, although Ben did make another trip to the pool today. Yesterday it was with his mom, and I took the picture when I stopped by. Today he went to the pool with his sister. He is big into the pool.

Of course I am not allowed at the pool. I went there earlier in the season and when I was getting out of the water about 20 of those Greenpeace loonies hit me with a tranquilizer dart, weighed me, tagged me, and rolled me back into the water. It would have been okay had ANY of them had pool passes, but apparently they just snuck in, so no more pool for me.
Of course I would not be dealing with such things if I would take this Biggest Loser thing more seriously. Yep, with just a little over three weeks to go I am considering hitting this with at least a bit of intention. I made the decision to go off my meds that are causing the weight gain, but I am only half way through coming off them. And the problem is my competitive nature really conflicts me as to what to do. Do I push and struggle, or do I just wait to see how life goes off the meds.
In the meantime I will just stay away from water (not showers, but pools). I am confident that it will all be fine, but the bigger issue is not the weight as much as it is going off the meds. (It is not for sissies!) But hopefully by the fall I will be able to join Ben in the water without fear of being rescued. Oh it will happen………I am just impatient in meeting that goal.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+