Well, well, well…..how time flies.  Yes, 22 years ago today I knelt down in front of the Bishop of Southwest Florida and was ordained a priest.  I was far younger, much lighter, and I had a head full of hair.  My grandfather presented me, which was a high honor, and the equally young, and then ministry-greenhorn, Father Kelly Irish (he and I were in Plano together this week) delivered a now famous sermon.  Kelly is the young buck behind me in both the pictures.

The sermon we now label as “Father Phony,” and it was about how surprised we were that we made it even THAT FAR, and what would happen to us if they ever found out we didn’t know it all.  My my my…….how time doesn’t change.

Here we both are now 22 years later……and we both still don’t know it all.  Actually, we are not even close to know it all.  The difference is that now we know better.

I am often struck by what I see in many people who feel called to ordained ministry.  Many feel that it involves hoop-jumping and check-lists, as if they just do these things they have to do that they will get it.  Others see it as something they attain or reach, like a finish line, when in fact there is no such thing.  In fact it isn’t something you attain or qualify for with good performance….it is just something you are called to and are made into by God’s Grace.  It doesn’t make you any more special than the next person, it is just what you are called to do…..to serve the Lord as a priest in His Church.

So today I give thanks for that day many years ago, and for the opportunity to serve, particularly with someone like Father Irish.  He always said that in combining the two of us the Church probably got one good priest, and perhaps he was right. (I think that was in his sermon 22 years ago)  But the bottom line is that for even more than that time, he and I have kept each other in the right perspective…and by that I mean sane.  I thank God for Him every day, as well as for the opportunities He has given us.

Anyway, it’s been a great ride!  Here’s to AT LEAST 22 more!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yep, I came home to this…..our basement is totally busted up and we have just three more days with the plumbers!  But honestly, I am VERY EXCITED they are here.

By Tuesday afternoon, just hours before my sister-in-law and her two children arrive, the whole project should be done, and I would say Hallelujah to it, if it were not that we are in Lent.  The new pipes will be in and I can start on the construction of a downstairs bathroom, as they will do the plumbing for it!

But in all honesty, it is a TRUE TO LIFE construction zone right now….and yes, I like that because I am a guy.  I will be home Friday, Monday, and Tuesday to watch them…..not to make sure they are doing their jobs, but to learn.  I am highly skilled electrically, but these particular plumbing things are things for which I want a degree.

So home I am, and home I will be.  I have a lot of work to do, but fortunately my office is in the same house!  I am not missing Texas, but I had many blessings on my trip.  We will see where they lead, but I have a sneaky suspicion that the entire week was something God wants me to pay attention to!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today has been my last full day in Texas, and tomorrow in the late morning Father Irish and I will head to the airport where we will both head home.  It has been well worth my time to be here, and I have been able to make a lot of progress in terms of networking, learning, and telling people about the Order.

Another added benefit is that tomorrow in the early morning Delmolino Plumbing will be at my house in Indiana where they will spend the day jackhammering my basement floor to remove and repair the pipes and I will not be.  So YES, I will miss the jackhammering!  AND, there will be pieces of time in this tomorrow where the bathroom will not be available.  So traveling tomorrow is good!

But it will be good to get home.  I am not looking forward to the airports or the flights, but I am looking forward to getting home.

And sometime tomorrow, God Willing, I should arrive there.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Day two in Texas has been a long but productive one.  Anglican 1000 is a great resource and it is also very technology-driven.  But being 50, I am clearly “techno-savvy” and wanted to prove so with my ability to post on Twitter like all those young people.

And so I did.  I tried to take pictures and post and I felt I was doing pretty well.  But being a bit of a joker, I took a picture of the Archdeacon and two other priests that I thought made them look a little sleepy.  It was going to be a TWITPIC, which I want to be clear is actually what they call pictures you put on Twitter and not in any way a criticism or description of the guys.  So I posted it with the caption “The future of the Church????”  And I was quite pleased as I thought it was funny.  I copied it to Facebook too.

But soon I was getting all these messages about my post with pretty serious answers to the question I posed, which of course I meant to be a caption.  They were quite deep and well thought out, and I knew something was wrong……..yep, I sent the caption, but not the picture.

But for a short time I suppose I felt proud that I at least looked thought provoking.  And, in all honesty, the responses gave me something to think about.  It was an additional blessing I did not expect and one that I will gladly take.

But the question now is just what I do with the picture.  We will see, but a good picture is a terrible thing to waste.

Goodnight Y’all and God Bless from Texas.

Tommy+

At 4 this morning it didn’t seem possible, but I am writing this post from Plano, Texas where I am attending a national conference on Church Planting.  (yes…..it NEEDS to be capitalized!!)  But I just happy to arrive.  AND, I am trying to come to grips with the fact that I enjoyed my day on planes and in airports much less than I did my drive to Washington DC a few weeks ago.  The whole experience today seemed claustrophobic.

I was going to post a video tonight of Ben and Steph at the wedding of her friend Jamie last night, but the video was taken on my wife’s phone and although we can watch it on her phone, we cannot figure out how to post it.  So sadly tonight you will not be watching Ben dancing with a bunch of girls, and showing his moves……including “brake” dancing, and yes I use “brake” because it is something I desperately want to stop.  He however, is clearly a hit.

But Stephy was here for just a blink of an eye, and it was hard to not have the time to do anything with her.  When they returned from the wedding I was already asleep.  I left early and had just a few minutes with her at St. Patrick’s before I headed to the service at St. Anne’s and she headed back to Missouri.  It was a hard drive away for me, but in all honesty it was better than not being able to see her at all.  I miss her, and any time I have with her is important to me.

But at least she was able to come home and dance the night away with her 4 year old brother.  I know it was good for both of them.  And Steph can learn a lot about dancing from him……because we all know that 4 year olds know everything about everything.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well I am not nearly as far along today as I had hoped, and part of that is that I am pretty distracted.  Sure, I have the usual sermon and stuff to do surrounding that, but I am also hindered by the fact that my daughter is home, and I may not get to see her other than in passing.

You see, today I was scheduled pretty full, but she was as well.  She is in town for a wedding of the first of her friends to get hitched!!!  So I am home finishing up my sermon, not knowing what time she, and Amanda, and Ben will return…..but as I am typing this in bed figuring I can finish up my sermon in the morning, chances of “catching up” with her do not look good.  And of course she is heading back tomorrow and I am booked till about 3 or 4.  DANG DANG DANG

So I shall rejoice in the fact that I had about 20-30 minutes with her total today in person.  It was great too.   As for the sermon, I will figure that out, but not till the morning.

But who knows, I am not yet asleep and maybe, just maybe, they will all have had enough of the dinner, the band, the dancing and all by 7ish……  You never know.  After all, I have been a priest for well over 20 years…..and no one expected that either.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight Amanda and Ben went to meet their friends to see “The Lorax.”  As for me, I stayed home.  In all honesty, I hated the Dr. Suess stories…….okay, that was perhaps a bit watered down.  But The Lorax appears to be the next big thing, yet I am sure it will be yet another movie that will attempt to indoctrinate kids into something I disagree with.  If I am wrong, I will retract it tomorrow….but don’t be holding your breath.

I personally have stopped seeing movies for that very reason, and I do not watch television or support those who feel their position as an actor makes them more suited to teach my children about values than me.  I may be but one man, but from that one man they do not reap many benefits.

So I am here at home alone, but the good news is that when that movie gets political, or worse yet all PC on the screen, I will not be there wondering why I paid $35 dollars a person for admission and why I paid $63.50 for popcorn and a diet coke.  Don’t get me wrong, Netflix shows a lot to trash, but at least I decide what to watch (not the trash).  And no one is talking on their cellphone in the row in front of me either.

Hollywood, here’s a news flash.  I do not agree with your politics.  No that you care.  But if I do head to the movies at all, I’ll go watch those Navy Seals.   Let’s look up to some real heroes, or just head to the airport and shake their hands as they return home.

Reality is important………at least I think so.  But what do I know?  After all, I hate green eggs and ham.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I do not have to admit, but I want to admit that I was both shocked and saddened by the sudden death of conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart today.  In this age of compromised integrity and the lack of truth, he stood out as a refreshing crusader for all that as right.   I appreciated his uncompromising commitment to the truth and his pride in the criticism levied at him by those who disagreed with him.  His work was important, and his dedication to his principles was steadfast.

His death at 43 was far too soon, yet many who despised him disagreed.  I was disappointed at the hatred spewed at a man and his family today via the Internet, but I choose to pray for those with such poison in their souls.  God calls us all to stand for our beliefs, as I believe Andrew Breitbart did, but I do not believe under any circumstances he calls us to be vicious.  I have been there and have had that done to me, but I am able to defend myself.  It is lower than low to say such things about someone who is departed….it only harms his family.

Of course Andrew Breitbart loved the criticism.  Such things to him were a badge of honor, and I could not agree more.  The hatred shows their character, or better their lack thereof.  And it is but a barometer of, not how far we have deteriorated, but of how far we have to go.  You see it is always about restoring, not about destroying.  And clearly society has a long way to go.

Rest in Peace Andrew.  May we continue the good fight without you!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

My new doctor is delightful, and he is an opthalmologic plastic surgeon, which of course means he does “surgery,” which also means today was a “consult” in order for he and I to get together again when I am asleep.  The name of the whole thing sounds a lot worse than it is, but after a year and some months dealing with this, I will be having it fixed on March 29th, if not sooner (I offered myself up for any cancellation spots).

Apparently my right eye does not drain anything, and that not only looks bad, but it feels bad as well.  He will install some sort of stent in the canal that is supposed to be open and if that does not work he will create a new canal by apparently drilling a passage through the bone in my nose over to my eye.  I did ask if they had to take my eye out to do all this, for which the answer was “no, that is only on TV,” but I did share how “uncool”now this surgery would seem to my kids.

I of course also now will be able to say that I have had “plastic surgery.” And, as a side note, I did on more than one occasion during my appointment think about asking if they wanted to do any other work on me while I was there.  I decided against it, as I became convinced that any joke like that might seem pretty funny to me, but to Dr. Welsh one that he has probably heard from every other patient for the last 10 years.

If it all goes well I will look like the picture on the right, sans the red eyes (and the pain).  Keep praying…

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+