It always amazes me at how when things can appear quite dark, if you are faithful, often a blessing comes your way. Such was the case with all the turmoil with the termination of our lease at St. Patrick’s.

Sure, it was a great relief to have that behind us, but of course it opened up a whole other can of worms. We have a garage overflowing with the contents of a church and no place to put them. We have a congregation, now orphaned and looking for space, and our dining and living rooms were far from ideal. Commercial realtors had no options for us where we needed to be, and we certainly are in no position to purchase anything, plus that takes a long time if we were. We have been keeping our eyes open however, never finding a thing.

Oddly enough, mid-last week, Scotty was sick and had a doctor’s appointment. He went alone, as I was in Indianapolis, but by the time he was heading to the pharmacy I was almost there. My instructions were to drop off his prescription and by the time I got there it would be ready. He could take it and I could get him lunch before he headed to BED.

But as it often happens talking to people who are less than themselves, or in his case nowhere near himself, he misunderstood. I arrived at the pharmacy to find him sleeping in his car, RX in his hand. I had compassion on him, although I was running behind, and we went in and dropped off his prescription, went through a drive-thru to get some lunch and then drove around until we could pick up his meds.

It was then that we accidentally (if you really believe it was an accident) stumbled upon it. It had been for rent apparently quite some time, yet I had never seen it or had been told about it. It was a stand alone house, right in the center of downtown Westfield about a mile from the property we were leaving. It was nice, it was vacant, and it was interesting….though it is small.

To make a long story short, we will be signing the lease for this facility tomorrow afternoon and moving our things tomorrow night. It will require us to go to two services there, as the congregation is already larger than the building, but for a year we have all agreed to get by. We may even keep it beyond that year for something else.

But the Lord did more than provide us a building, He helped to provide some healing for us too. Our new landlord had only talked to one of our other landlords before calling me….it was the First United Methodist Church in Anderson. They love us and told her so. And as I was talking to her, our landlord from Kokomo called and shared pretty much the same thing. We really are a good bunch, and we just got caught in a bad place. It was nice to see a little redemption amidst the chaos!

So tomorrow is moving day! It’s not that I didn’t have a lot to do already, but it will be worth it. If this church grows we may have to have 5 services per weekend to accommodate everyone into this smaller sized church. But being a little tight is sure a lot better than being a tomb. Thank God for what He has provided us. We are looking forward to making this move a real success!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, it finally happened. The landlord of St. Patrick’s sent a signed copy of the termination of our lease to us which we signed and promptly sent back. I then went and cleared out what little we had left in the facility, left the keys on the counter and walked out the back door. Eighteen months of life and love there is now in our past, and we turn our sights to the future.

Of course we have been looking all along, and hopefully with this chapter behind us can move ahead swiftly. The alternative is to continue to jam everyone into my house, which is convenient enough, but I am getting the feeling that the congregation is not believing me when I say my pajamas are a new sort of clerical wear. I suppose it doesn’t matter, because we will not be here that long anyway. This congregation has been through enough, and it is time that they had some time and a place to heal.

The good news is that there is nothing in their way now, and for that I am thankful. Life is often full of surprises and one thing I know is that in the ocean of life the waves can often get high. But with some faith and the Good Lord’s help, we get where we need to be regardless of the seas. This afternoon the seas were pretty calm. I thank God for that and am looking forward to sailing ahead in the days to come!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Today is Mother’s Day and we have tried to make it special for Amanda. We all got her cards (even the cat and dog did) and a few gifts as well. They were all very thoughtful gifts too, but nothing could beat the unprompted “Happy Muddrs Day Mommy” from Ben as she was opening up her gifts. It clearly melted her heart and made those new vacuum bags and kitchen apron we got her look a lot less offensive to her! (If you know us, you know that this is a joke….doing that would lead to a homicide.) We hope to get her out to eat later today, but it will have to be with just us boys because Stephanie is working.

We will see my mom a little later today too. My mom is in a nursing home here in Noblesville and is an Alzheimer’s patient. She is also a raging diabetic who will expect her usual ice cream and sugar-free candy. She has good days and bad, and we are hoping for a good one today. She is an avid reader, so we will be bringing her some books as well.

After that, I will call her mom, my grandma, on the way to dinner. My grandma is in her mid-90’s and doing great. She told me if it were not for the arthritis she has in her knees, she would be getting around just fine. I always call her on Mother’s Day because she not only wants to know about mom, but she played a big part in raising me into who I am today. (Do not tell my wife that, I do not want my grandma taking the blame!)

Anyway, I hope and pray that this Mother’s Day is an enjoyable one for you. And on this day I gave thanks to God for all mothers and for who they have been to us in our lives!

Tommy+

Tonight was “Senior Night” at Hare Chevrolet Field where our Noblesville Lady Millers took on the Carmel Greyhounds, the winner capturing the top seed in the Regional Tournament that begins next week. It is always a fun time to play Carmel, and the other teams in our region. Many of the girls play on tourney teams together, and some even practice with each other. The nice thing is that the coaches and the girls are competitive, but are all friends.

This game was a lot of fun too, but probably a little more fun for us, since we were able to win it 14-12. These two teams often go back and forth, and are seeded to meet in a rematch next Saturday for a trip to the Final Four. And though we hope to win, there isn’t a team in our region we wouldn’t cheer for to make it all the way if we don’t. It is a great group of players and coaches. We will do our best to be that top team!

But tonight was “Senior Night,” the night we honor our graduating players after the game. My daughter Stephanie joined Celeste Bremmer, Maddi Corry, Bri Handy, Alyssa Jarvis, Katie Sherrill, and Nikki Tombers in playing in the last regular season game of their high school careers. It was a proud moment for me to walk Stephanie through the gauntlet of younger players and alumni. She is a wonderful daughter, a great player, and along with the others graduating, will leave a vacuum of talent and personalities that will be hard to replace. I asked them to all go an extra year of high school, but they all selfishly said no. It was a fun night that I will always remember……a real blessing.

But for now I need to scramble, I mean get ready for, Mother’s Day. It is a big day for her, and we want to make it special.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight we had a game in Indianapolis against North Central High School. We had this game and then the season finale tomorrow night, the winner of which will be seeded first in the Regional. But we had to get through tonight first. And it was difficult to say the least. We were down almost immediately, and it is the earliest I have ever called for a timeout in our history. But it was clear we were off on the wrong road and needed to regroup.

It was a struggle though. Our team has been riddled with injuries and sickness. We have gone through more athletic tape in one season than I did in a lifetime of ice hockey games. After tomorrow night we will have off till Thursday, but in truth, it would be nice to win the number one seed, especially playing at home. We were last season’s regional champs, and that’s why we are the hosts. We blew a couple of mid season games, so we are not the favorites going into tomorrow, but I am confident that we will make it into the regionals with that first seed.

So tonight’s game was suspended and then cancelled due to lightening, and I was not disappointed at all. We just didn’t have it, and though the game ended after we had regrouped enough to tie the score, and I do think we would have won it handily in the end, sometimes the bigger picture is more important. We needed the extra day to rest up. Tomorrow will be a big one.

So tonight I thank God for the rain, and particularly for the lightening. We want none of it tomorrow, other than that we create out on the field ourselves! So it is off to bed for me and hopefully all our team.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

After re-reading my posts over the past few days I thought what was missing was why sitting out on my porch is so important to me. It then struck me that I might want to sit where I type each evening and take a picture from there. So here it is, my yard, the field, and two corn or soy fields depending upon what they plant.

I suppose you can see why it is so relaxing. My life is often stress-filled, and being able to relax is pretty important to me. The cat, the dog, and I often are out here just vegging out! It does perturb the cat a bit, particularly since this was her spot, but I don’t know why she should worry……Viper may be the only animal in the world who sleeps more than a cat. I often check him just to see if he is breathing. I wish I had that kind of technique. He is the true master!

But tonight I am out here just thinking about the day and winding down. I did talk to our landlord who is in the States now and he has asked me to send him the Termination Agreement that he will get back to me to finish the work of terminating the lease. It was actually a good conversation, and I thanked God for it. I will however, feel better when it is done.

And oddly enough, I was ale to go watch one of Scotty’s games tonight. With him being a goalie and me being the women’s head coach, you can imagine how rare that is. They won 6-5 and he played great….with one exception that really honked him off. Always a Tirman, he will focus on that one thing and work to eliminate it. It is a curse, but it makes for an athlete that will always work to get better. I was thankful for the opportunity!

Okay…..time is a-wasting and I am off to bed…okay, no I am not. I am going to pour myself a drink and sit out here relaxing with my four-legged friends. It is a beautiful night, and it will be a great way to enjoy it!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Things are always better when they are brought into the light, so after mowing this afternoon I thought it might be good to take a picture of the back porch for you during the daytime. I spend a lot of time working out there, although much of the time it is dark.

To update everyone, the landlord is still out of the country until tomorrow. I am hoping to hear from him this morning and meet him this afternoon. In the meantime, most of the contents of St. Patrick’s remain in my garage.

On the upside, the Noblesville Lady Millers won 11-7 this evening against Guerin High School. We play again Friday and Saturday and then the Regionals start. Saturday is actually Senior Night and although I will be quite proud to honor my daughter and the other seniors, many I have known for a long time, it will mark a big transition in life. I have mixed feelings about it, though I am sure it will be fun.

So it is time to leave the back porch and head to bed. It is dark outside now, but tomorrow is another day. It will be an important one, and I want to make certain I am at my best.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

My most public apologies go out to the guys next door to St. Pat’s at the Mexican restaurant. As I was packing stuff for storage, one of them came over to let me know that they had to call a repairman themselves and have the wall ripped out in their kitchen. As it turns out, they had a leak in the pipe in their wall……not their dishwasher as they thought, and as we had been told. It WAS and IS the landlord’s problem all the time. It was fixed, and though we have LESS water in the facility, we still have water. And I still had to vacuum it up. It has stolen quite a few good days from me, but I hope and pray at this point that the end is in site. Tomorrow will tell if we really do get to terminate this lease.

But for now I am just happy to be home, with most of the property of St. Patrick’s stored safely in my garage where it cannot be damaged. We did leave the skeletal elements of a Church there, because number one, we are still the tenants of the property until the lease is terminated and two, it still is a Church until we move out of it. But the things that were left will probably not be making the trip out of there. Though we have been vacuuming up water and running the air, there is something about it that still makes you uneasy. Apparently the remediation company wants his signature before doing any work, and they cannot get it till he is there. As for me, I just want to protect our interests.

I will be happy when this is over, but the larger question still looms…..where will this congregation go? There is not a lot of property available in our price range and meeting at my house each week with a larger group I am certain violates something that will get us in trouble. So please keep that in your prayers. I appreciate them so very much!

So it is now off to bed for me. The next few days will be busy ones, but for now I will just say farewell to this one! One step at a time!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Our landlord finally called me from wherever he was and got an earful from me. I am not a difficult guy to work with, nor am I unfair, but I had clearly had enough. Water has been seeping into St. Patrick’s since at least April 24th from a leaking dishwasher in the Mexican restaurant next door, and he (the landlord) has been out of the country the entire time.

His cryptic notes and calls to voicemail have been less than helpful He told us to take care of it, and quite honestly I wish we could have. It would have prevented a week plus of water seeping into our facility, a lot of stress, and a lot of unnecessary cancellations. It also would have prevented us from looking like complete fools for being in a relationship that allows this kind of thing to happen.

But Brad and I talked this morning, just before my call to the health department. I stated to him in real time that I cannot, nor will I hire a contractor for someone business other than my own, and this, along with a LONG list of other complaints that he knows about, have damaged us, and that he needed to terminate our lease. So with water still running into our facility, he told me that the interior of the premises was MY responsibility.

Had he known that I have been down there every day but one vacuuming up dirty water out of our church coming from a problem in an adjacent property that I reported to him well over a week ago, he might have not said that. I am a pretty good guy, and I don’t want to see anything ruined or people hurt, but I also know when I am being taken advantage of. I let him know that too. The conversation was heated with most of the heat coming from my phone. But in the end, he agreed to terminate the lease and has agreed to call me to do so on Wednesday when he returns to the States. In turn, I told Brad that one’s word is very important to me. And I agreed to meet him Monday to terminate the lease as well as to cancel my call to the health department (we tried to get them out on Sunday, but they and the sheriff’s department recordings said to call back Monday) And, I even went down to the restoration company on his behalf and told them what he wanted them to do. Get this……they will not do anything till they hear from him authorizing their work. They did come out and estimate it though. There is water (moisture) in the walls almost three feet up…..about the height of a dishwasher. And our water I shut off days ago. But even today, being the bad tenant I am, I vacuumed up 17 buckets of water and will do so tomorrow too.

So our personal property would not be damaged any further, we moved most of it out of the facility tonight and into my garage. We held services at my house yesterday, and will do so until the lease is indeed terminated and we find another location. Please pray that Brad keeps his word from this morning. I have gone above and beyond mine.

But tomorrow morning and probably tomorrow evening, I will return and vacuum up more water. We really did love it there, but when a landlord cannot even keep the basic agreements up, it just is too much. We need to be someplace else and that is abundantly clear. Please keep praying that Brad will keep his promise and that the Lord will provide us with the place we need with a landlord we can trust and count on.

Our Exodus is in progress, but reluctantly. We just pray He will lead us to the places we need to go and be to continue His Work!

Keep praying!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I do not know how we saw him, but I am glad we did. As Ben and I were on our way to the Wal-Mart, in the middle of a torrential downpour, I noticed it out in the street. There were no ponds nearby, and it was right by the fairgrounds and Humane Society. Why a fist-sized turtle was out there, I just could not figure out.

And how it didn’t get hit before we turned around was another miracle. But there I was, with flashers on, in the pouring rain, out capturing it and getting it into the car. He (or she) then walked around on my floorboard until Ben and I finished at the Wal-Mart, where we also bought some turtle food and a small aquarium that we could put him in if his mom would say “yes,” which we both agreed was doubtful. But we made it home and waited for her to return.

My only regret was not taking a picture of him, not just for this blog, but for Ben who affectionately named this turtle in a way only Ben could as……………”Turtle.” (this picture looks just like him, but it is actually from some “people who are abnormally obsessed with turtles” site) And though Ben and Turtle bonded in the short time they had together, Amanda had us all walk down and release him into the pond about a block from our house. Not that I was surprised, (that’s why he never was put into the aquarium.) She is quite predictable. In fact, she has often told people she was going to release me down at that same pond too.

But “Turtle,” as we so fondly knew him, went in without a fuss, and seemed quite happy in the end. There are lots of other turtles who live there and the houses on the end of our street are close enough that he should be able to get up close enough to watch cable through the windows without even paying.

But for now we will just remember our adventurous and victorious day. Things turned out pretty well for all of us, and for that I am very thankful.

Goodnight and God Bless from Rescue Central!

Tommy+