There are only two times when the white smoke comes from the chimney of the Vatican…..the first is when the College of Cardinals elect a Pope, and of course the second is when my daughter Stephanie commits and signs with a college. I will not ruin the surprise with the details, since grandparents often read this blog, and those details are her responsibility with everyone….BUT that white smoke is blowing out that chimney! We are very proud of her.

I will say that I knew this day would come, and it is yet another maker for one of THE DAYS I have dreaded her whole life. I have made it through a few…..boyfriends, driving, boyfriends, trips away, and of course boyfriends. The REAL biggies are coming though. She will be moving away in August and if that doesn’t kill me I figure within 10 years I will probably meet the “permanent” boyfriend (I can hear it now….”Daddy, we are in love and engaged”) which will probably take the rest of me! But I am doing the best I can to prepare. It is a strange feeling…….in between proud and horrified. I love who she is, and what she has done, and where she is heading…… I just wish we could keep her! Kids are hard to let grow up.

So for now we will bask in the glory of the white smoke. I will post the details as soon as she is done notifying everyone.

Goodnight from a very proud father and God Bless!

Tommy+

Today, after 9 months of waiting, the Noblesville Lady Millers Lacrosse Team took to our practice field for the first official practice of the season. There was snow on the ground and the grass that we could see was wet and muddy. But we were all happy to be there. We were proud, but all disappointed by our 4th place finish in the Final Four last season (the best finish in our history) but have the desire to do better. The rust is obvious, but the dedication is far greater. Within weeks we will be well on our way! Our opener is away this year on March 26th, with our home opener the day after. In 90 short days it will all be over and our intention is to attempt to be on top!

I have to say, I am blessed to be the Head Coach of some of the finest young women I have ever known. We have a strong and dedicated freshmen class and have added a capable and dedicated assistant coach as well. It is going to be a great year.

As I stood there on our windy practice field in the middle of 35 degree weather, it was exhilarating. For the novice, it would be hard to understand, but in a few weeks as we see it all come together we will know why today was well worth it! It is going to be a great season.

Scotty, Ben and I are now headed to the airport to pick up Amanda at 10pm. She will want a lacrosse report too! It is going to be great to pass on such a wonderful report!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well, things are not looking up for me in terms of having a peaceful night’s sleep. The picture is of Ben, dressed in his Buzz Lightyear pajamas, and the small empty space on the bottom of the picture is the place that he has left me to sleep. There is A LOT of real estate on the other side, but with his mom out of town on a business trip, he apparently intends to treat it as some type of memorial.

He is in here however because he has been a real trooper all day. I did three services today, and we took his mom to the airport between the second and the last. I had the benefit of hearing Tony preach at the first and Dan at the third, and the sermon was mine at the second, but at two, the variety for Ben is not that intriguing. Tony and his sermon (which was quite good) did the Brownsburg service, which would have been my 4th, alone. Ben was close to melting down by 5pm, and we felt it best to call it a day before creating and then declaring an emergency.

The good news is it is just a little over a 24 hour trip for Amanda, and she will be home tomorrow at 8pm. Ben will be well rested by then and will have two opportunities to play in the “tunnel” (the walkways with lights) with his brother PLUS pick up his mom (at this point a secondary bonus to playing on the walkways with Scotty) AND….by 9pm, hopefully I can rest.

Okay, time for bed…..I am looking at my space wishing my diet was going better. Two trips without any exercise has been killing me.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

We have returned from our short family trip, and the sad part about it all is that it is late AND I do not yet have a sermon for tomorrow. I thought this was the ideal picture for this topic too. Because if I had the time I might talk about the creation of the world, using Michelangelo’s creation (and of course the Bible) as a start. It appears that Ben (playing man here) seems a little reluctant to touch the finger of God (played by Scott) in the beginning of the world (here played by the St. Charles Bob Evans). As you can see, it was far too complicated for a sermon, and clearly (more clearly in fact as we go along) for a blog entry too.

So tomorrow I will trust that the Lord will give me something to say, and I hope it is good. If it is I will mention that I played a part, and if not I will just blame it on Him directly…..after all, He should have known what He was getting in calling me into the priesthood. I think we can all say that was mostly His fault. After all, most people felt I would have been suited making plates (for cars) in the big house….I personally was thinking of show business. I guess the Lord knew what He was doing after all….the priesthood is right in between them both!

Anyway, it will be good to sleep in my own bed! I did get to Wednesday and Thursday, but that seems so long ago! Tomorrow is already looking to be too busy! I have two services in the morning, take Amanda to the airport for a work trip she is leaving on at 3:30, and then will do a third service at 4pm in Indy. If we finish in time, I may try to make the 6 pm one in Brownsburg too!

So look for us tomorrow….Scotty, Ben and I for sure (Steph will be working). We will be flying from place to place, but I am sure you’ll recognize us. I will be the one tomorrow playing the priest!

Goodnight (from INDIANA – YEA!) and God Bless!

Tommy+

Irony is never wasted on us…..yesterday’s post was about swimming in the genetic pool, who would have thought we would see the boys swimming at a hotel the very next night? Of course, as I understand it, real pool boys WORK…..these two do not. But the do PLAY HARD.

It was pretty funny, Scott was originally not going to get that wet. After all, he figured, what could such a little guy like Ben do? The answer is of course, get them both SOAKED. They played and played and played. And when it was time to go there was a lot of screaming and crying…..but I did tell Scott if he stopped I would let him watch some television in the room. No no no….I’m kidding, Ben was the wailer, and it continued into the elevator and for about 20 additional minutes in the room. I just wish people were as committed to staying at church.

I didn’t get in the pool with them. It is not that I am embarrassed by my physique, I just look a bit stocky. It’s just that I am afraid. Last time I tried to get out of a pool a bunch of those lunatics from Greenpeace tagged me and tried to roll me back into the water. I am Anglican, not aquatic. But I guess a lot of people are confused as to what Anglican means.

So for now I will just be an observer, and tonight I observed a great blessing. My two boys are nuts…..but I love them very much. I am glad they had a time of it tonight too!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

One of the things about being married to a scientist (Amanda is a microbiologist) is that the genetic pool is pretty deep. Thus it was no surprise today when Ben and I went to see his grandpa (Ben makes it clear, he’s no longer my dad, he’s grandpa) at Cathedral High School, where he now teaches complicated math in his retirement, that Ben decided to show what he knew. In fact, and the picture proves it, he thumbed his nose at the Algebra 1 book and picked up the Algebra 2. He finished it in a matter of minutes as well and we were then on our way.

There are two things that struck me in all this, the first of course is why anyone would come out of retirement (my dad is a actually a psychologist who just happened to teach math before completing his PhD.)? My dad came out retirement pretty quick. He is the Brett Farve of math (without all the indecision). The second is this, Ben is smart, too smart in fact……and I wonder if all the bossy academic DNA of my wife pushed aside and/or tricked that athletic DNA of mine. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, the way Ben does Algebra he will probably do something spectacular that will make him famous someday…..we will just pray that it will be legal.

I am sure that my wife would worry that his finishing an Algebra 2 book in less than 5 minutes could be possibly identified as the “Tirman Method”too (the lesser Tirman Method designed by Al (my uncle) and Rich (my dad) Tirman….not the greater Tirman Method that actually works designed by Uncle Wally). I have a Bachelors, Masters, and a Doctoral degree, but I was suspect about even finishing high school. I read A LOT of books just like that, and have a library filled with books that I highlighted the important parts for later study…..and though most of the books are highlighted about 20 pages in, some I did actually make it to page 35! Yep, I use the lesser method.

So all this is to say, Ben will probably end up a neurosurgeon (probably by 14) or he can just work for me as a priest and we can spend most meetings talking about our amazing high school sports careers. For now though I say let’s just wait and see. After all, being an academic is not all it is cracked up to be…….for if the proof is in the pudding my wife should have been the one to “marry up” and not me! You see, athletes can be smart……and we don’t damage our brains with all those stinky markers.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

Although Ben is still not feeling his best, he seems to be showing a lot of concern for me. As I picked him up from the sitter after not seeing him for three full days he excitedly shouted, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” And when I lifted him into my arms and looked at him he just smiled and asked, “Where’s Mommy?” So much for my 5 seconds of endearment!

But things went well. We had a marvelous time together and clearly as you can see from the picture by his choice of sleeping attire, that he clearly was worried about my abrupt departure from Texas. The intentional selections of dinosaur pajamas (since most dinosaurs are from Texas because everything is big there), combined with his cowboy boots and Sheriff Woody, clearly show his concern that I might get the bends or Delirium Tremens from not detoxing from the Lone Star state properly.

In truth however, I am immune. I have so much Indiana running through my blood that even when I travel my mind drifts to the many farms that decorate our state as well as the cows that populate a good portion of them. In fact, when I was a kid, we used to use them to tell the weather. Now a days things are more modern…..here by necessity. When people could see how well cows could predict weather, many were elected to our state legislature where they serve until this day. Perhaps we should call us the Mooooser State.

All I can say is that I am happy to be home. God has blessed me with a great life, but I enjoy it most here. Enjoy!

Goodnight and God Bless!

Tommy+

I suppose that’s as Texas as I can get, all things considered, but our time in Texas is running out….and thank God this time it does not involve a warrant or a restraining order. In truth the conference has concluded, dinner is long past, and we are back in the hotel for a short night’s sleep for early morning flights back to the north. I do not know about Father Kelly, but I am exhausted. It has been a long, but energized couple of days here revolving around church planting.

With that, I must apologize, but I need to get to bed. The wake-up call is set for 5 am and it is already stressing me out. It will be good to get back to the familiar surroundings of home. Ben has another ear infection and fever and was at the doctor earlier today. Keep him in your prayers. After all I had a lot of ear infections as a kid, and look what happened to me!

Sorry for the short post…..I am pooped!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+

One of the downsides of traveling with one of your best friends is that it occasionally can lead to trouble. AND, without Amanda and Marie here to keep us level, there are certain liberties that we take. Oh no, it is not anything immoral. Neither one of us has any intention to get into trouble. But with me on a diet, and us around very little healthy, the formula is more problematic than you could ever imagine.

The picture, I must confess, is really unfair. Father Kelly has been more than exemplary in his witness to dietary discipline….okay, up until the nachos tonight in our hotel room. But for the whole time I have been with him he has eaten mostly fish. Of course for me, being allergic to fish, no matter what its calorie count was, even if zero, would not produce the desired outcome. I will confess though, I will not step on a scale till Sunday morning. I have been pretty good, but pretty good when you travel is nothing I want to bet my life on.

I am happy however to report that the conference is going well. We have heard from quite a few people and have been blessed by their sharing. The Archbishop is calling for the planting of 1000 congregations in 5 years, and I hope to enthusiastically do our part.

Ironically, it is supposed to SNOW here in Dallas tomorrow and I may be the only one in Texas who will know how to drive in it. Please pray for us down here, not just for the mission of the Church, but for the people……..I do not think they have even one plow in all of Texas. Everything’s bigger and better???? Right….a couple of inches of snow never paralyzes us in Indiana!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Whenever I travel to the south I think of one of my all-time favorite actors, the Duke, John Wayne. God I miss him! Especially when I look around at Hollywood today. There is so much activism, and sadly that activism is a MESS! But as I think back to my youth I remember John Wayne. He was wholesome, he was patriotic……he was American. His movies expressed to an entire generation to be proud of who we were, to stand up for what was right, honorable, and true. Things have devolved unbelievably far from those days. Yep, I miss John Wayne.

Tonight just before midnight I will land in Dallas and be there for three days. Though I am an Indiana boy through and through, I enjoy Texas very much. It’s different in many ways, such as climate and terrain. But the Texans are much like Indiana folk…..they are hospitable, generous, and proud of their home.

I will be at a conference of Anglican Church planters for my visit there, so we will be around people from all across the country….but the hosts will be the Texans! John Wayne types my guess, in collars, sans hats, but dedicated to spreading the Gospel through the planting of orthodox churches throughout the country. I am looking forward to it.

I may never ride the range with my heroes, John Wayne or Ronald Reagan, but I can walk among some modern day ones. The work done by the people with whom I will meet is vital. There will be no horses, no dogies or gunfights at all. But I suppose all that was pre-crazy Hollywood anyway. What we share is a lot like the Duke of old…..a common, vital and noble vision of of what the world should be.

I intend to saddle up and ride, not into the sunset, but into the very place God is calling me to be!

Goodnight from under the Texas stars……incidentally, they look big and bright.

God Bless!

Tommy+ (a real Duke wannabe!)