My apologies….I probably should have notified readers I was taking a short, but intentional hiatus from writing BEFORE I took it, but the best laid plans sometimes just do not pan out. The good news is that I am back, rejuvenated and refreshed. I should be back on the wagon from this point on.

Today Ben and I are at home. Yesterday, on the way home from Bloomington where we are in the beginning of the process of planting a Campus Ministry Fellowship at Indiana University, my oil light went on with the big word “STOP” flashing on my dash. We stopped (Fr. Hicks, Deacon Morgan, and I) and checked the oil. Somehow the car had lost its oil, and the check engine light was on as well. To make a long story short, we were able to get it to a VW dealer in Indy who couldn’t fix it till MONDAY (I need to be at a meeting in Ohio Sunday night through Tuesday morning), so I had to have it towed up to the VW dealer by where I live. They will hopefully be able to repair it today. Keep me and my car in your prayers! It is my lifeline to all the places I go!

But there is always a blessing, even in the storm. I cannot drive anywhere without it….and that means to the babysitter too. Yep, Ben and I get to hang out all day. Of course I would have been feeling much more blessed had he not decided to wake up so early, but we will have fun regardless.

Anyway, with all that is going on, I will probably post again later today….perhaps as a part of a transportation fundraiser to raise the approximately 6 million dollars it is going to take to fix my car! But for now I need to start moving the appointments I had already scheduled for today.

Keep praying! I appreciate it more than you know!

Tommy+

My wife called this afternoon (the morning for her) from the conference she is attending in Arizona and said she thought she was getting sick. She didn’t know if it was a migraine or the flu, but in this day and age I do not suppose it matters. All I know was that she was heading back to her hotel room to lay down. Subsequent calls to her revealed no progress at all. Keep her in your prayers. There are not too many things worse than being sick away from home.

As for me, I am still getting a lot done. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork…to it there seems no end. But I do feel I am making progress. I figure by the time I retire (from the ordained ministry) I may be close to done!

But for now I think I will wrestle with Mr. Incredible a bit before we call his mom. He has been a great sport, and jumping on me and playing with our toys will be a great way to end the day!

Keep Amanda in your prayers! We appreciate it!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

There is so much happening here on the home front I almost cannot stand it. Yes the kids and I are all alive, but it is rather difficult managing everything by myself, including my job. I am actually quite productive when Amanda is gone, and that probably stems from not being assigned any projects from her. But I do have to say that it sure is different.

We are in the process of moving our church’s affiliation out of CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) and into AMiA (The Anglican Mission in the Americas). Our clergy and board voted unanimously to make the move, and felt it was a good time to do so.

The move has nothing to do with dissatisfaction anywhere. In fact, both CANA and AMiA are part of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). It is just that as the ACNA continues to form, many of the groups who came together to form it (like CANA) will fade away. AMiA on the other hand will remain in existence within it, like a Holy Order (remember the Jesuits in the Roman Church). And since AMiA identifies itself STRONGLY with church planting, and since that is really all we do, we thought it was a good way to profess and preserve our DNA. Pray for us….transitioning between big organizations can be overwhelming, even if both our churches! Our CANA bishop has given us his blessing, so my hope is that all is well on its way!

Anyway, enough for now. Ben and I need to play! I hope your day has been as blessed as mine!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Ben and I have been “bach-ing” it all day. We dropped Amanda off at the airport where she was flying to Arizona for an all week meeting. Ben first cried as she walked away, but when he realized she was not coming back he began to wail. I want to say that it makes it quite a bit more difficult to watch your wife check through security with an inconsolable fire siren in your ear, plus you tend to attract A LOT of attention. I was certain people already thought I was either beating him or abducting him. I therefore chose to leave and take him home.

Fortunately for me, he was still in his Mr. Incredible costume so people probably thought we were shooting a movie scene. We made our escape and are now at home, in a much better mood, and playing with our toys!

Oddly enough, as I have been looking at this blog, I see that I have never been such a poor poster as I have over this past month. It puzzles me, and I suppose I may never know why. The reason that it puzzles me so is that I feel so good and together. Sure there are times that I don’t, but this past month has not been one of them. In all honesty, I have felt very blessed. A parishioner of ours had a similar stroke about a month ago, and I have spent a lot of time in self-reflection about it. It is bizarre. How do you get so forgetful in times that you feel so well? I suppose I should consider that it may not be stroke-related at all, but I seem to be well-ordered everywhere else. It is certainly suspect.

The real blessing of this day is that I remembered tonight, so I am declaring a victory! The Lord has blessed me with three superhero children, a great life, and a wife who cannot tell us to clean up our mess for 6 more days! Praise God, and let the fun here begin!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tom+

I have often heard that our God is a God of second chances, but He would be way beyond that if He was indeed the One making sure I got onto this daily to post. Thankfully my salvation is not tied to this……if it were I would no doubt be looking to an eternity of shoveling coal into some fiery furnace, or worse yet, a Colts fan (yep, that one is for you Danny!)

But lest I turn this blog into a rambling about my stroke-infested memory or my inability to remember anything other than I keep forgetting, let me say that things are going marvelously here in Indiana. My family has all turned the corner and have been restored to health. Our churches are in the process of some major changes that will lead us into a new era of ministry in the future. My lacrosse team is hanging tough in the indoor league, which we use as a developmental league, and the rookies are enjoying learning the game and becoming part of a team. AND, I am clearly I am getting taller and smarter. I thank God for all of it….including the delusions.

I have a busy day for tomorrow planned and I am hoping to see it go smoothly. Keep me in your prayers…….lest I am wrong and stumble. After all, who would ever want to spend eternity in Colt’s blue?

Goodnight and God Bless……and Go Bears!

Tommy+

Though my day was ultra productive yesterday, and quite busy, and though it was great to be out among the living, I do need to confess that it has exhausted me. I got home late last night and could do not much more than check my email before bed. I did get a good night’s sleep, but it seems it is going to take a while to get back.

On a wonderful note, Scotty is also back to the land of the living and for him it was quite a trip! For days he sounded like a zombie, but suddenly his normal voice appeared, he had some energy, and was actually anxious to get back to school. I thank God that he especially has made the turn.

So I am skipping my post for yesterday for obvious reasons and posting this one today early.

We have a lot to be thankful for here. And we have a lot of laundry to do to get feeling normal again. Keep us still in your prayers! We appreciate all your love and support!

God Bless!

Tom+

Although I slept much of the day, tonight I do feel better. Ben will hopefully head back to the sitter tomorrow, allowing me to spend the day in two meetings, one local and another out of town. Everyone seems to be getting better but Scott, who is still struggling to make some progress. Though he is still quarantined until Friday, he will need to make a lot of progress to get to school then. And truthfully, picking up his homework before Friday seems futile. He certainly doesn’t have the energy to do anything yet. Please keep him in your prayers.

It is now just before 10 and I hopefully will be asleep within 30 minutes. I hate to report and run, but I am in need of calling it a day. I hope and pray 24 hours from now will see us all feeling much better and celebrating it as well!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

Scott was diagnosed today with the full-blown flu. And though there is no real way to tell at this point whether it is the swine flu, the doctors were sure to tell us that we treat it as such. He is quarantined and off school until Friday.

Steph was able to head back to school today. She was diagnosed with bronchitis, and is on antibiotics, but as they mentioned, she and everyone else still run a significant risk from Scotty. I remain feverish and feeling like a dog. Ben is still warm and was a saint all day here at home with me. This all will pass I am certain, but I just wish it would pass more quickly than it is. Keep up in your prayers.

Off to take some Advil! Goodnight, a toasty goodnight my friends , and God Bless.

Tom+

As much as I hate to admit it, our home has been hot with illness. Everyone but Amanda is sick, and with the way she dotes on Ben, she is probably not far behind. Steph was able to see the doctor today, but that was because they had only one available appointment and she was the worst! My hope and prayer is that tomorrow we see some real progress in terms of getting better.

So now I can say, there was actually a reason I didn’t post yesterday…a first! A valid excuse!

But there now is also a reason I am calling it a day. I am exhausted. Keep us in your prayers.

Goodnight (I hope) my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Okay, it took a call from Deacon Dan Conley tonight as I was on my way home from Chicago to inform me that I had not posted since last SUNDAY. If I could have pulled over and posted right then I would have, because forgetting bothers me more than you could ever know. I like to think of myself as “sharp” or “hip” or “with it” as you young people say these days……..but clearly I am about as sharp as a big red rubber ball!

But this week has been a busy week. In addition to many regular duties I have done, I also said good-bye to a friend. On Wednesday, Deacon PT called me to the home of his aunt and uncle, where his Uncle Earl, had accidentally shot and killed himself wile cleaning a gun in his garage. Earl and his wife Barbara are both parishioners at St. Anne’s, and it was a real tragedy. PT and I both said prayers in the garage, though separately because PT got there first, before the funeral home came to get Earl. But what strikes me so deeply is the character of the people I work with. I know it must have been incredibly hard for PT there with his Uncle, but he stepped up to care for his Aunt and family. We are all blessed to have that kind of man as clergy.

Our good buddy Mike Sams (from St. Patrick’s) also had a pretty extensive knee surgery this week as well. I saw him before surgery and PT saw him after. When I spoke to him tonight on the phone, he was talking about being in church tomorrow! That kind of lunacy is what makes what we do so great! And as a member of the extensive knee surgery club myself, I will be happy to welcome him as a member in the morning!

On a last but not least note, I spoke to my dear friend and parishioner Jo Piece tonight. Jo and her mother Flo were in California at the beginning of the week to intern her father, Harold, in a military cemetery in Riverside. I tried and tried to find a priest out there that I knew to do it, and ALMOST had a Bishop there, but he was traveling that day. So the burial went exclusively to the military, and looked back to the service we had here. Military services however, are oh so important, and I have the deepest respect for them. I was within INCHES of enlisting at 17 in the Marines, and often regret that I didn’t (shame on that recruited for lying to me and doubting that call). But those who serve our country, Harry included, deserve our utmost respect. It is an honor to know them, and for me, an honor to be the priest to send him to his resting place among so many other heroes of our nation. May God grant them all eternal rest!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tommy+