Tag Archives: travel

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Of the Lord’s Work in many places…….

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I was wondering tonight, why I was so tired and then I remembered that yesterday I became just a year and a half away from eligibility for my AARP card! We left St. Patrick’s tonight at around 11pm, and it is all set to go but for one bathroom which will be completed about 2 weeks from now.

It felt different working there at St. Patrick’s since it is just a couple of miles from where we currently live. Since I am the priest of currently four churches, I thought WOW, this is so close to my house, but then I thought I am in lots of places and A LOT! As a matter of fact, I am only there at St. Patrick’s tomorrow because Deacons PT and Dan thought I should be at the first service when it was mostly done. Otherwise I would have been in both Nashville and Greenfield. It is funny to me……we are all so committed to all of our Missions, and to us it really doesn’t matter where we are. It is about serving God’s people and being among them. All of us, including Deacon Tony and Father Chuck, are just thankful for the opportunities we have to serve. I am blessed to work with such a wonderful gaggle (the proper term I believe for a group of clergy) of people.

Anyway, I am exhausted and going to bed. I hope and pray you and I all have a blessed and productive day tomorrow!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Fr. Tom+

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Home Sweet Home, with qualifications…..

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I am SO HAPPY to finally be home. The sad part is that Amanda and Ben are not here, but are in Kansas visiting Amanda’s mother. It disappoints me greatly to not be able to lay down on the floor and have him run and jump on me like he loves to. But I am going to wait on that until Monday, because Steph and Scott would not only jump at the chance, but it would probably hurt!

So anyway, it’s going to be the three Musketeers until Monday, but we will do our best to get by. I was originally worried that without Amanda here that Scott and I might not know when we were wrong, but apparently Steph is working for the darkside and will not just remind us of the rules, but certainly will tattle. She is on Amanda’s team and deeply devoted to Ben, but one day she will see that Ben is really on our team, and drawn to the ever rule-avoiding world of guy-dom! Scotty and I can hardly wait.

Anyway, my trip home, though slow, was good. My dad’s family is from Brooklyn, New York, but my mom’s side is from Ohio. So, as I often do when traveling through, I stopped at the cemeteries to visit the graves of my Great-Grandparents. It was a difficult time, because though I had been to both cemeteries often, the need to think in a linear fashion and handle confusion made itself well-known. The cemetery office was open in Urbana, and they were helpful in getting me to my grandfather’s parents. (I had actually buried my great grandma during Holy Week in 1998 at 103!!) But the office in Springfield was closed, and despite my “remembering” I could not find the graves. I intend however, to call before I go back.

I know many people believe visiting the cemetery is unnecessary, but it is important to me. Though I didn’t grow up knowing my grandma’s dad, I did know everyone else. They were all important to me too, and the parents of the most influential people in my life, my grandparents. I owe them all a lot and going to their graves is an important way for me to remember. I am glad I did…I am just sorry I was just 50% successful.

They say that home is where the heart is. I believe that to be true. I also know that cemeteries are just places……but I don’t worry, because I still hold all of them in my heart. Who you are and what you become is often a reflection of the people in your life, particularly those who love you. I am truly blessed, and I am glad I went.

Anyway, it is great to be home. Pray for my wife….I am sure she misses me terribly!!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

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On being a compliant and easy-going guy………not!

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I have a meeting tomorrow that begins at 10 am, and the interesting part is that it is in Akron, Ohio! My original plan was to leave with Father Sean at 3 in the morning and drive carefully through the night. Father Sean however is from Ohio, so he came up Sunday afternoon. And as Amanda and I thought about it, she was pretty uncomfortable with the idea of me driving all that way at that hour…..particularly alone. I did think I would be fine, which only led me deeper into the abyss. I apparently do not have the self-awareness I used to have, and though I protested, it just led to more conflict. I finally put my foot down and said I would be fine.

So anyway, it is just after 11 on Monday night and I am at the hotel in Akron writing this blog! I know which battles to fight and which ones not to. I will say, and I already told her, that after I unpacked, and checked into the room, I went back out to my car only to find the door wide open. Nothing was in it because I had taken it all out, but so much for having a handle on myself and what I am doing. Don’t get me wrong, I feel much better, but I still have quite a few blindspots. How do you walk away from a car you are looking at and leave a door wide open??? What a goof!

Oddly enough it brought back my conversation with Amanda from earlier this afternoon. It’s when I do too much that I get a bit confused and have trouble. Stress does it too. She wanted me to go so I would be worth something to myself and to others at these meetings. And she was and is right (but please do not tell her). Had I left at 3, I would have been a zombie and had a lot of trouble catching up, if I even could.

In fact, I am pretty sure my wife just loves me and is showing me concern. I can be a little stubborn (ha ha – can’t wait till she reads that!) but I usually end up listening sooner or later. In truth, I will enjoy getting a good night’s sleep and feeling sharp in the morning. It’s how the pre-stroke me would be regardless of the departure time, but the only way the post-stroke me will do well tomorrow.

Anyway, I hope and pray your day went well and that you have a peaceful night’s sleep! I know I will!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

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The ramblings of a mind quite thankful for its own pillow…….

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Well we are finally back from Akron, and I have to tell you, it is great to be home! Sadly however, both Ben and Steph have colds, which is unusual I suppose for August, but they seem to be getting along okay. AND TONIGHT I am not sitting in some hotel room, but am back out on my back porch listening to K-Love and hanging with Puddy the cat!!!! The only not so peaceful part is that my neighbors stereo is up so loud that you can hear it from space, let alone from 100 feet, but after I put on these headphones…..well then, everything was and is quite peaceful!! I really don’t want to give the impression that my neighbors and my neighborhood is a bad one. I know the stereo is loud tonight, but it is never really that loud normally, and all the fireworks I have complained about seem to have stopped. The Bible tells us to “love our neighbor” and I intend to! They are as they say where I grew up, “good people.”

Tomorrow we only have two services….one in Noblesville and the other in Anderson. It will be good to be there. It’s not that I don’t enjoy gathering with other Christians in our denomination, particularly at national events, it’s just that I am always more comfortable at home…..I suppose we all are. Dorothy was right, there’s no place like home, and I am quite thankful to be back at mine!

Amanda and her mom are talking in the living room, and I am certain they will outlast me. Amanda is a great co-pilot for long trips if you like a co-pilot who sleeps all the way. So she is well rested and they are catching up, and particularly talking about the genetic superiority of “Ben the Wonderful” I’d bet. I will join Ben in sleeping through that conversation, because I too am going to bed! I do have a bit I want to share, but am far to cloudy to write about it tonight. Please however keep Deacon Dan, his wife Merry Ann, and Father Sean in your prayers as they will be returning home from Akron tomorrow.

Once again, it is great to be home!! Keep the faith….it’s the most important thing you can do!! And may your day be filled with the most wonderful blessings! Nite!

Fr. Tom+

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Of a trip in two separate wagons……..

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Tonight I am in Akron, Ohio awaiting the arrival of Amanda from Indiana. We are attending the CANA Convocation here in Ohio tomorrow through Saturday. Don’t worry….the kids are in great hands. My Mother-in-law flew in this afternoon, and is enjoying all three of them! They ate pizza tonight and were having a great time. Amanda is driving with Deacon Morgan’s wife Jewel, because Jewel had to work, and Amanda’s mom had to be picked up from the airport. Since I needed to be here earlier and we were driving tow cars anyhow, it just made sense to do it this way. Sadly, our wives never protested or complained! Go figure!

UPDATE: Amanda has arrived, and it is late! We start very early in the morning so it is off to bed! Please keep me in your prayers tomorrow as all the activity with hundreds of people will be hard for me to process….but day by day and with God’s help, I intend to do fine!

Nite my friends, and God bless!

Tom+