I am writing this piece from a subjective point of view. (If you prefer an objective viewpoint, click on Luanne Wright's comments.)

Nothing that happened to me remotely resembled what I had planned.  My plan was to attend the College of William and Mary and graduate in 1962, majoring in Business Adminishtration. Instead, I graduated from Carroll College in 1963, majoring in Philosophy.

My plan was to enter my family's business in Waukesha and become a instant hot-shot in the buisness world.  Having done that, my plan was to study the great books and travel the world.  Instead, I spent the next 33 years in the investment business -- starting in 1968, which was the beginning of the gut-busting 7-year(declining) bear market.  

My plan was to "wear the world like a loose garment" -- avoiding all the standard commitments of marriage and family.  Instead, I fell desperately in love with Luanne Nelson (my first date in 10th grade, whom I didn't have the brains to follow up with in high school).  We were married in 1967.  Talk about a "loose garment," we now have 4 children and 2 grandchildren.

My plan was to be the Captain of Luanne's and my own ship -- charting our own course and living  our own lives.  Instead, in my investment career and in raising our family, I encountered challenges I was not able to handle.  I came to the point where all I wanted was to stop-the-world because I needed to get off.  In 1974, Luanne and I surrendered the whole mess to Jesus.

My plan was to continue to reside in Wisconsin.  Instead, we found ourselves moving to Des Moines, Iowa -- where, to my complete surprise, I became a Guru to midwest farmers.  Based on all the mistakes I made in investing, I was able to develop a program to help the farmer avoid making the same mistakes in their farming operations.  In fact, my biggest investment-blunder became a story that made me famous in agricultural circles because it mirrored the crises the farmers go through each year.

Who would have thunk it?  Not me!  After I surrendered to Jesus, I found myself on the ride of my life!  

Nevertheless, I was still in the investment business when, in 1991, I was hired by a bank in Geneseo, Illinois to sell mutual fund products to their customers.  My plan was to be "the fox in the hen house" -- slamming all the bank deposits into mutual funds and making a ton of money.  Instead, God extinguished the fire-in-my-belly I completely lost interest in making money.  I became deeply interested in my customers as people rather than as sources of revenue.  

Because the bank was swallowed up by two large bank holding companies, I bounced around for a while -- ending up at a small commodity firm in Iowa.  My plan was to use my background with farmers to launch a substantial agricultural business.  Instead, due to a conflict with my manager over discussing church-related issues over the phone, I abruptly quit. 

When I returned homethat evening Luanne inquired about how my day went.  You can imagine her shock when I told her what I had done.  Dinner and the rest of the evening were very quiet.  My plan was to hit the pavement and find a similar position with another firm.  I was such a "stud" (in my own mind) I figured that wouldn't be too difficult. Instead, the following morning at breakfast Luanne said something remarkable.  She said, "Tom, I've been thinking all night about where we should go from here.  I think the next thing we do has to be something spiritual..."

Can you imagine that?  She was walking in my moccasins all night long!

On Oct 7, 2001 Luanne and I began the candidacy-process in the United Methodist Church to become a local pastor.  We listed our house the following Memorial Day and it sold to the first people who looked at it that same day.  In less than one year, on July 1, 2002, we found ourselves in a two-church charge in Preemption and Viola, Illinois.  After 5 years there, we have been re-assigned to a three-church charge in La Harpe, Terre Haute, and Durham, Illinois.

Doing ministry together has brought a depth and rich togetherness to our marriage that I never would have dreamed existed.

I don't know about you, but nothing that happened to me remotely resembled what I had planned.  (Thank heavens for that!)

Luanne and I would love to hear the subjective side of your stories when we meet in September... 



        

  After high school, I graduated from UW-M, with a BS degree (Geography major, Botany minor). I enjoyed dorm life, and was active in my sorority, AOII, and played on the women’s volleyball team.

   I then went to work in the Geography Dept. of Britannica in Chicago, as a Research Geographer. Two years later I married and moved to New York, where I worked at Grolier in Manhattan as a Research Geographer, and three years later was recruited by Reader’s Digest to be Director of Research for the Almanac division.  A favorite activity was attending Met Opera performances at Lincoln Center.  Our travels stretched from Hawaii to Prince Edward Is. and many places in between.

   Like my parents, volunteerism has always been a big part of my life: US Jaycees, church work, NSDAR, YWCA, PTA, AOII Alums, American Legion Auxiliary, and Orchard Park Arts Patron. What I enjoyed most for many years was traveling across the US and Canada, representing AOII, visiting collegiate chapters and participating in conferences and training seminars.

   In the late ‘70’s we adopted two children, Heidi and Andrew, who now live near me in WNY. I have two young granddaughters, Kelly and Katie; a grandson, Ben; and an orange cat named Reggie.


My husband Ted was an urban planner (retired), and he passed away December 2009; I have a great retirement job with a Presbyterian church (in addition to various volunteer jobs), and league bowl September - May.