There are so many things I wish I did better.  I wish I were a better husband, a better parent, a better priest and friend……but there are always times in my life that I too clearly see the shortcomings I possess in each.  It troubles me deeply, yet not often, but always, you have to pick yourself up and move ahead.

That now seems a lot harder to do.  I remember when I was younger.  As an athlete, shortcoming were always just a challenge.  But looking in the mirror now I just do not see that same young man, nor do I often act like him.  Life I guess has a way of doing that.  Perspectives change as do the ways you react.

But as I approach the new year I want to rededicate myself to recapturing what I once knew and lived.  I am clearly not one to grow old gracefully, and my last few years really have been abysmal in terms of living how I know I am capable.  I have posted about many of these things here before but not made progress enough to be satisfied.  I am tired of losing.  Things need to change.

With that, tomorrow I intend to post a few things I would like you to partner with me in through your prayers.  I would ask that you’d partner by sending me cash too, but I have tried that before and it never has worked.  But I need to get out of the rut and onto the right road.  Check in with me tomorrow, and let me know you will help!  Perhaps we can help each other make a new start!

Thanks everyone!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Concussion Girl is getting better, and things at the house are moving closer to Saturday, when Steph will head back to Missouri.  Thus we are seeing the meaningful events, such as the three kids going to lunch together on their own, and then Steph and Scott going ice skating together with some friends last night.  Tomorrow will be a day for Amanda and I to see her, and then the packing begins.  I really do not enjoy seeing them leave…..it is like they have lives of their own.

But in all honesty, I am way down on the “control of that” scale.  Even Ben is ineffective in getting her to stay.  But like most of life, I just need to deal with the things I can control (a short list) and ride out the others that I cannot.

And in my world, that is a lot of riding.  The past few days I have been living with Batman.  My sanctuary, my office, is constantly invaded with his toys, I mean weapons, excuse me.  Scotty has his drums home as his band is not currently practicing for the holiday, and even if we added two more floors I would probably hear them.  The cat is always wanting something, and the dog follows me like a caboose. Concussion girl is always calling me in the house for something, and it would be great if I was not hard of hearing.  I always hear something and have to get up to clarify……as I do not want to become “Concussion Guy.”  And Steph is pretty much “maintenance-free” and hardly ever needs a thing….that’s why she is leaving.

So just “two more sleeps” (as Ben says) till Saturday.  I have had a good day, and tomorrow will be another.  But please keep me in your prayers.  It is very hard to keep up that illusion (maybe it’s a delusion) that I am in charge.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

First of all, for those of you worried about Amanda, she had a CT scan today.  She has a severe concussion and a lot of fluid on her brain.  She is at home and will make a full recovery.  She also has shared that she will never ice skate again.

Now off to this post…….

Ben gave his sister Steph for Christmas a very special gift, and it was something they could do together.  He got her a ceramic, paintable piggy bank.  The idea was that they would design this together, and then Steph would take it back to Missouri with her at the end of the week when she returns for school.  So on Monday night they broke out the paints and the pig.

And as much of a blast as it was to occasionally watch, the project seemed to be a bigger blast for the both of them.  They each have their own styles of painting and design, and they appear to be nowhere near the same either.  Stephanie clearly has been influenced by the surrealist period, whereas Ben from the Baa-roke. (no, not the Baroque, but the baa-roke or translated into modern English, broke)

But the finished product of all this chaos was one slick pig, and one that will be the talk of the university I am sure.

Scott received a birdhouse from Ben and they will get to that soon too.  And since Scott goes to college here, the birdhouse will grace our property somewhere I am sure.  That I am sure will be another post.

But for tonight I thought I would just share this with you…..my talented kids ad their Christmas pig!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

We went ice skating as a family this afternoon, something we had not done in awhile.  Ben got some new skates for Christmas, and we wanted to try them out.  The whole outing however was very disheartening. The picture was taken right before all the trouble.

First of all, the Forum at Fishers, no longer sharpens skates while you are there…..and we needed some sharpened.  They now have built a big box that you drop your skates in and you can pick them up some 24 hours later.  It screams the fact that there is more care for how many people they can get in the rink, but not for the quality of their skate.  I actually found it a bit appalling, as I did their price of 6.00 per session for everyone over 3.  Generally there is a kid’s price.  And it is not that I could not afford to pay it, (yes, I know, a double negative, but I am just feeling it) it is just the principle.  It will make a difference to me next time we, or just I, go to skate.

Of course that may never ever happen again anyhow.  Ben was afraid of the ice and was dragged around the rink twice but only while screaming.  (We will need to have his DNA checked….that is just not right in our family.)  And then Amanda fell backwards not too long after that and hit her head.  Amanda is Amanda though (bull-headed and stubborn to the N-th degree).  Her vision is blurred yet she was, and is,  adamant about not going to the hospital to get checked out.  I stopped fighting her about it after trying pretty hard to get her to go.  And of course we stopped skating and headed home to put her to bed.  I have been waking her up a lot and although she has a headache, she  seems to be getting a bit nicer!

So the best laid plans were just plans for disaster, though we did not know it at the time.  I am just glad to have gotten them all home.  I am pretty certain, despite the drama, that they all are going to survive.

Goodnight my friends from my at home health care center, and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, that is Ben tonight at Chick-fil-A eating a pretty thick small chocolate shake with a spoon.  I met up with him as his mom had him out shopping at a clothes store after I had been out all day with some visiting clergy (they were great!).  And from the looks of it you might think that the great reward was that chocolate shake, perhaps given because he had been such a good and well behaved boy, but you would be wrong.  That would assume he didn’t have MY DNA and also a heart for bribery.  The reward was my actually being able to go hang with him.

You see on my way home my wife said I could come and meet them…….after all, what husband wouldn’t want to follow his wife around a clothes store?  So initially it was a search and rescue mission.  I was going to get him out of there, hell or high water.

But actually, it was not as difficult as I imagined it might be…..in fact, it was ridiculously easy.  We didn’t even have to act up, which is our normal modus operandi.  It was just a straight walk out the door, first to Meijer to look for ammo for the gun Cowboy Grandpa got him for Christmas (caps, the old school on a roll kind) and then a trip to the Chick-fil-A.

And it was a great reward, a true blessing, to hang with him.  He and I actually hang a lot, and it is important to me.  Tonight it was for his milkshake.

I thank God for any of these times I can spend with my children.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

The day has been a busy one here, with family and friends and services at two of our Churches today.  Around our ministry, we held 7 services and were able to reach many people as we celebrated the birth of our Savior!  It has been a wonderful day.  If we could just get the dog to settle down.

At home now things have begun to wind down.  All the presents have been opened, and the house has been cleaned up.  A short nap (by me) has been taken and I am now ready to spend the evening watching the Chicago Bears play some unknown team whose name shall not be spoken.

But I wanted to make sure I wished all of you a Merry Christmas.  Sometimes the reason for the season gets lost in all the busy-ness.  But it does not get lost on me.

May the joy of the One born this day in Bethlehem be yours on this day and in the year to come!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

The sermons are done, the Churches are ready to go, my clothes are all laid out, and in just a few hours the celebrations will begin.  Christmas services are really a blessing to me, and I have had the honor of celebrating and delivering a Christmas message for many years.

And unlike other years, after the last service tonight I will be able to come home with my family with hardly anything to do!  That’s right, there will be no assembling of ANYTHING tonight, which means I will just need to do a few logistical things before I head to bed.  And since I have an early service in the morning that means we will all be waking up early to open gifts.

The greatest gift of all however, is the one I will be talking about over these next two days.  The giving of God’s only Son Jesus is that gift!

I am posting early today 1) in light of this early evening, and 2) to encourage you to find somewhere to go and hear the story and celebrate it too!  There are plenty of good churches out there, and there will be plenty of room for you!  I hope you give it a go!  There is no better place for any of us to celebrate this wonderful miracle!

God Bless you!

Tommy+

I spent a lot of the day over at St. Patrick’s in Noblesville where I will celebrate and deliver the sermon tomorrow at 9pm. (I will be at St. Anne’s in Anderson at 5pm).  But I had a very productive day.  I bought poinsettias, cleaned, set up the Nativity, put up signs, and totally, and I mean totally did the worst job of decorating a Christmas tree in all of history.  It is so bad I have asked Amanda to head there tomorrow before the service to “fix” it.  But everything else looks great.

Of course all these things are just that, things. I have yet to write my sermon, but obviously I will tomorrow.  For some reason I was just worried about all the set up and needed to get it done…thank God I did.

Most of the time these things get done by other people, but sometimes I just like “doing” things that are tangible.  Sure, a sermon and a service are tangible……but not in the same way.  Sometimes it is just fun for me to set something up and see it, knowing that others will enjoy it tomorrow as much as I did today.  All our facilities are beautiful, and I am thankful for the opportunity I had today.

Now I just need a sermon, but I am not worried about that.  I am actually DONE and ready for the family stuff, so my normal December 24th shopping trip will not need to take up my time!  That will give me plenty of time to write!

So as Advent winds to a close, I hope you are thinking about how you will celebrate Christmas this year.  There will be plenty of room at all our churches, and you are welcome (and INVITED) there.

Just make sure you celebrate somewhere.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Ben has a problem brushing his teeth.  Oh it is not as if he does not want to, or is it that it is not possible to do so as he has about 100 toothbrushes, but the problem is that he walks around with these toothbrushes (Latin = toothbrishae) and then LEAVES them all over the house in places we cannot find them.  So the bottom line is that when we bring him into the bathroom to brush his teeth, there is never a toothbrush IN THE BATHROOM.  BUT if you go into the rec room in the basement, or the kitchen, you might just find one there.

Tonight’s picture was taken in my OFFICE of all places, as Steph found one and took advantage of finding it.  And to get this picture, I saw him walking in the HALL brushing his teeth and called him in.  I know, it is not exactly what 4 out of 5 dentists recommend, but I would like to think that the moron dentist who cannot agree with his friends might just comfort me by saying my youngest is going to be okay because he DOES brush his teeth.  Sure, I know that particular dentist is a liar, but somehow just knowing he is a dentist makes me feel as if I am an advocate for good dental health.

Because all in all, good dental health is important to me, as I am an ice hockey player from the 60’s and 70’s (and 80’s) and my mouth is full of porcelain.  And I DO take care of my teeth, and NO, I do not brush with Tidy-bowl.  My REAL teeth (the ones not bolted into my jaw) are pretty pristine, and I have had I think only three fillings my entire life.  Granted, about 1/6 to 1/5 of my teeth were left on some ice rink somewhere, but the ones I have left I appreciate.

As for my kids, I really make sure they take care of their teeth.  I honestly buy more toothbrushes for Ben than food, because he is far more efficient with food and it costs less to buy the brushes.  But I remember my dentist as a kid, sitting me in a room for about 20 to 30 minutes with nothing but a hand mirror and NO TEETH.  It made an impression.

I really do want Ben….and Steph and Scott…..to take care of their teeth and they ALL will be getting additional toothbrushes for Christmas.

It’s a meaningful and thoughtful gift.  And in the end…….it is so much cheaper than an new Ipod!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

How proud can a father be?  We were in the store getting ready to check out when it happened.  That squirt gun I was buying him (I think it was a dollar), and which was unloaded at the time, suddenly became an issue.  The woman who was just shopping and minding her own business seemed to take it in stride, but in all honesty I have a problem with a pastor’s kid pulling any kind of gun, squirt or not, on anyone……particularly in the Christian bookstore.

Of course I understand that his actions probably had very little to do with his faith and probably had much to do with genetics.  We however have a saying here in our house, although I am the only one to say it, and it is “do the crime, do the time.”  And there is no backtalk about it.

The little felon, I mean Ben, was quite surprised to see the squirt gun leave his hand so quickly as I simultaneously apologized to the lady.  And it was the last he saw of it.  He however is learning.  He knew he had done wrong and he did not put up any type of futile defense.  That pleased me, although not enough to rearm him.

So we are now at home and he has been on “probation” tonight.  And I think he may be up for an early release.

It just gives me yet one more story to add to my collection.  I am just happy the dang thing wasn’t full of water.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+