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Sleepy, my role model dwarf……….

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Today has been one of the longest days in my memory. While workers put the “temporary carpet” and finishing touches on our new facility in Westfield, I spent time with a few others gathering the things we needed, such the tables, chairs, and liturgical items to move in after they were done. We actually were able to move most everything in by 9 pm, but still had a lot to do. Most left by midnight, and I finally left at 1:30 am with a sermon and bulletins awaiting me to prepare here at home. It will not be my best work, but all things considered, it was worth it.

This is to say, my post tonight or this morning, however you wish to define it, must be short and a few hours pre-dated to get it to post on Saturday. I am excited for the people of St. Patrick’s, but particularly for the members of all our missions who continue to contribute in their support of the ministry of St. Michael the Archangel. Tomorrow is just another marker of the Lord’s deep blessings upon us…….and for it, tired or not, I am truly thankful.

Goodnight or good morning I can’t tell which…….and God Bless!

Tom+

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Go Lady Millers Go Go Go!!

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Tonight the Noblesville Lady Millers, of which I am the coach, took the field for the final game of the indoor season. Both our boys teams finished the season last night, and tonight was our turn. The stands were full, and I am happy to say that we did not disappoint….at all.

Before the game I told them that if we played “our game” there would be no beating us, and that’s exactly what they did. The girl’s played better than they ever have, just like they practice, and their flawless performance led to a remarkable victory. You see, this team beat us twice last year, and one of those times in the finals. In the indoor season we split, but the last time they beat us badly. It was very good for the girl’s to play so well.

Anyway, I am off to bed while the day is going so well! Congrats Lady Millers! I am so proud of you. We are on our way to a great season this year!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless. Thanks for checking in!

Tom+

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Go Millers Go!

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Tonight was the playoffs for the men’s indoor lacrosse league. There are two divisions, and Scott plays for the high school in one of them. They played great. They won their first game, knocked off the top seed in the second, but lost in the last two seconds of the championship. That was a heart-breaker, but they played great all night.

Tomorrow night is the finals for the girl’s team. We are in the championship game already, so I hope everyone is rested and ready…..particularly since I am the coach! All our high school teams have fared pretty well regardless.

We will be taking a few weeks off until Winter ball which begins in January, and then it all starts up again. It is a great sport, and I am glad Stephanie and Scott play it. We have lots of fun.

I want to think about just that tonight, in that I was by St. Patrick’s tonight and it is still not even painted. We need to take possession of it in no later than 48 hours because we have no other place to go! Please keep it in your prayers. But for now I am off to bed savoring a great lacrosse evening!

Goodnight and God Bless.

Tom+

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Of deadlines, celebrations and new challenges…….

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It is getting down to the wire for our move of St. Patrick’s Mission to Westfield. I stopped by there today and it had yet to be painted, let alone carpeted or the “Animal Hospital” sign taken down from above the door (it’s big!). But too much has happened to lead us to this point, and I am certain that by Sunday morning at 9 we will be up and ready to go. (Okay, hopefully by Saturday night because we need to move in our furniture!)

My life is often like this though, high stress and deadlines. And though it often makes things a bit intense, it is also exciting in that it always seems to work out. Living in a way that counts on God to do His part takes a lot of faith, but I can tell you it works time and time again!

On Sunday we will rejoice heartily at what He has done, and then we will set our sights on something new. We have lots to do and there is never a dull moment…..but that’s the way we like it.

God’s call to us is new every morning…..we can only imagine what He calls us to in the next new day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tom+

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Of rolling my fat self over the hump………

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Just when I thought the world was getting back to normal, I awoke to all this rain. It is December, and though I am from just a couple of hours north of where I currently live, there is SNOW there and there has been for most of November and December. Sure, rain is easier to shovel and a lot easier to drive in, but I really do think it should snow in December, not rain.

Of course if the Lord really was interested in my opinion my beloved Chicago Bears would be doing a lot better, so I guess I should just accept it and carry an umbrella instead of gloves and a hat. It’s not the first thing in my life I had trouble understanding, and I am certain it will not be the last. I am just glad I am not a kid anymore……this whole thing would make backyard/neighborhood ice rinks a little hard to maintain!

Today, overall, has been a good day. I got a lot accomplished, including a visit to my regular doctor. He is a great guy and a real Godsend to me through all I have gone through. No big changes for me other than an adjustment in some medications. The good news is that I look to have survived and am good for another 100,000 miles. Amanda and the kids will just need to save for a vacation…..there will be no inheritance!!

Oh I kid, I kid…. I am just happy to say I feel like I am on the other side of all of this, and that I only anticipate getting stronger. My weight is back up, but tonight is the end of it…..I am going back down. And we are getting rid of the gym in our garage and have decided to park, get this, cars there. Imagine that! So I will be finding a gym close to the house to visit soon.

Time has been good to me, and the Lord has blessed me deeply. I will not take that for granted. I am committed to living a long and healthy life, and hope to be a burden to all three kids someday. But for now I will just enjoy life and live it day by day.

Off to bed early for me tonight. I hope and pray your day has been every bit as blessed as mine.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

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Blessings of an unexpected kind……

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On my way to the hospital this afternoon to do a call, I happened to be the first person to come upon a head-on collision that must have occurred just minutes before. It was between an SUV and a full-sized pick-up and it was bad. Both were off the road and the pick-up had sheered off part of a telephone pole. It was a surprise someone wasn’t killed. The man in the SUV was out and walking, but the man in the pick-up, an elderly gentleman was still pinned in by his steering wheel. I was able to lean over him and undo his seat belt that he said was hurting him, but other than that, I was able to do very little. Another passer-by, a woman, stayed there with me talking to him until the EMS arrived.

I would bet that neither of these men imagined this would be their afternoon. The young man was on his way to pick up his daughter, and I know was thankful that she was not with him at the time.

But in looking at it, there was a lot to be thankful for. Both men were alive. Though both vehicles were totaled, hitting the telephone pole the way it happened AND just missing the cables, he actually went between them with just inches to spare, made it an accident and not a fatality. As I left and went to the hospital, I said a prayer and remembered how blessed we all are. After all, things can change in an instant. Everyone I saw today, I am happy to report, will return to their homes again. Praise God!

I am off to hang out with Scotty and Ben! Have a great night and God Bless!

Tom+

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I’m Just Two Tents…………

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Tonight I built a tent in our living room for Ben while Amanda and Scott went to Steph’s work to get a few things and take her something to eat. Ben and I had a great time in the tent too. It was made with 4 TV trays and some blankets. We spent much of our time watching the Doodlebops in it and throwing balls at each other. But all good things come to an end. Amanda and Scott got home and soon I was booted from the tent and they replaced me.

Ben soon had to go to bed, and the tent is still up. Ironically, I still see feet sticking out of the bottom…..Scott’s. As everyone else left, Scott stayed. It is not a new thing though. When he was Ben’s age we used to make tents together and he used to fall asleep in them too. He and I will no longer fit in one together….but it sure was moving to see he and Ben in there together.

Anyway, Ben is in bed, Amanda is watching House MD, and Scott is just about 20 minutes from having to abandon his tent and drive me to pick up Steph. Life sure is exciting at the Tirman home, but I would not want it any other way.

Good night my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

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A day of transition………

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Tomorrow is a monumental day. Tomorrow the people of one of our Missions, St. Patrick’s, will gather for the last time at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds. And at the moment we leave the building tomorrow we will no longer be St. Patrick’s Noblesville, but rather St. Patrick’s Westfield! Yes, after well over a year in the Fairgrounds, St. Patrick’s will move to a new permanent facility!

I wish to publicly thank the staff of the Hamilton County Fairgrounds for all their hard work and support of us as we launched there. We were not the first Church they provided a home for and we certainly will not be the last. They are great people and a friendly lot, and though we are excited about moving, we will miss them.

So it is off to bed for me at just shy of 11pm tonight. I will be excited to see morning come. Tomorrow is going to be a great day!

Good night and God Bless.

Fr. Tom+

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Of birthdays, fatherhood, and ultimate doom……

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Today is my daughter Stephanie’s 17th birthday! It is an exciting day…..especially for her.

But for me, though I am happy for her, personally this birthday seems to terrify me. All her other birthdays seemed tolerable, but this one only marks how little time I have left with her here. Sure, she is only half way through her Junior year, but college is coming in no time, and with it her empty room. Times have already changed. Tonight she is out with her boyfriend and friends, and our birthday celebration for her accommodated that….as it should.

I have thought about all this since the day she was born, and am willing to just enjoy all the time I have with her here. I am proud of her, she is an incredible young woman and just a year from adulthood (though she would tell me she is already there). I could not ask for a better daughter. God has blessed me more than I ever expected.

But it is killing me! Steph and I watched a movie a year or two ago together that came out when she was born…..Father of the Bride. I have always considered it a horror movie, while most prefer to think it is a comedy, but they are clearly not a father to my daughter. At the end of it, while I was in tears, Steph just shook her head in disbelief and told me “Dad, that is EXACTLY you and it is EXACTLY me,” and sadly she was right.

I am sure I will get by. Fortunately for me Amanda is EXACTLY Diane Keaton. Yep, I will need help (as I always have) to get me through the future. But I know Steph will be alright. She is a pretty great kid (okay, young woman) and will do great. I am so very proud of her!

Happy Birthday Stephy, I love you………and I will be waiting up until you get home!

Good night my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

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The Birth/Restoration of a Church…………..

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Well I am back! And I have God to thank for the day I have had! I not only was able to be a part of a historic celebration as Orthodox Anglicanism gathered together to form a new Church, but I was able to do so and travel safely both ways all in one day, despite a snow storm during the day. It was remarkable in many ways!

What basically has happened in all of this is that a groups of Orthodox Anglican Churches, all part of what we have known as Common Cause, have come together to form ONE CHURCH. It was done at the request of the GAFCON Primates, who have worked hard to rescue biblical Anglicanism in North America, and who wanted to see all these pieces unify to form a new Province. It was a miracle, in that many different jurisdictions set aside differences in order to move toward the COMMON CAUSE……serving Christ through the formation on ONE Orthodox Church in North America. We now are a part of something even bigger, and have gathered as one under Christ and the direction of our now Primate/Archbishop-elect, Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh!

As a priest of many years, what makes this so amazing is that this reformation is something that will be written about in Church History textbooks in years to come. It is a joyous thing, and an important things, but more of just a starting line rather than a destination. The Lord has restored the Church through this rebirth, and now sets before us the task of ministry!

That’s right, a Church has been born and now it is time for action. Jesus calls us to fulfill our ministry, and in many ways it has just begun! But praise God! We are much more than we were the day before. Keep praying! The Lord is doing miraculous things! Look around! Can you see them?

God bless you my friends.

Fr. Tom+