As I prepared to write this tonight Amanda made the comment, “you have been pretty mushy lately.” It confused me as I was not all that sure that it was about my posts, or that my last two weeks of not being in bootcamp has allowed me to get a little soft. I am better though on the prior not the latter, as I am still losing weight and still making progress. And even more so, I honestly am happy to be a bit mushy about my life sometimes. It reminds me of the many blessings God has bestowed upon me.
So here I am at the computer typing away about life. I read other bloggers occasionally, and was surprised to learn that some people actually make a living doing it. I am obviously not one of those people. My preference is to give and not take. Sure, if one of you wants to send me a big check or make a big contribution to our ministry I would be sure to cash it, but the purpose of my writing has nothing to do with any type of solicitation at all.
I suppose I should rehash why I started……..it was originally to share with people to challenges and battles of a conservative priest in these tumultuous times. Then, a stroke came along and it changed not just my life at the time, but the course of this blog. It became daily therapy for my brain, and in it I began to share stories about my life……as dull as that it,.
Today, I feel a bit different. My stroke is behind me, I still get on here and type, and I still make no living from doing this. I still want to offer, I still want to give, and I still intend to write. The question is, “what is the reason for doing so now?”
And here is my best answer…..for today. I am many things, a priest, the head of an Order, a husband, a father, a friend, and quite a few other things too. I live my life “vocationally” in that despite not being in the roll of priest, or husband or father all the time, I am indeed one at every minute. I do not check in and out of my life. But I hope that my writings become to you a teaching for the fact that God calls us all to many things, and they are quite often not all that stereotypical. I really had some assumptions of what priests were when I was you, and I have to confess I fit very few of them. I am a guy, and I live a life like many of you. My life has joys and pains, wonders and struggles. Some days I do God proud, others I fail Him miserably…..just like anyone else. Some people look at me and think, “gosh he is so wonderful, a wonderful saint of God” yet you can ask my wife and kids, particularly on a bad day, how they feel. You probably wouldn’t get a confession, but I am sure you would get a chuckle……and it’s okay.
So this is to say, I hope this blog can offer you some insights into the life of me, just a guy, called to be many things, including a priest, a husband, and a father. I am pretty normal I swear. And I am glad you follow along with me in life. According to my page this blog has been read about 115,000 times.
And as for my lovely bride, sorry honey, but I still will be mushy. And no, not in a “I really do wish Richard Simmons would come live with us” kind of way. I love my life and I love my wife. And I just thought all of you ought to know.
Goodnight my friends and God Bless!
Tommy+