Tom Rawlings

I am married to the most wonderful and beautiful woman named Penny. We have 3 wonderful daughters and 4 grandchildren at this point. Penny and I have been friends since we met at the age of 11 when my Father became the Pastor of Penny's church.

I grew up as the son of a Pastor. As I got older, I knew God was calling me to something, but didn't know what. After I got married and my parents moved to another state to minister, I discovered music ministry at a local church. Finally discovering God's call for my life, I pursued music ministry and finally receiving my ministerial license through a denominational church. I accepted a job in Roanoke, Va where I grew by leaps and bounds, not only in my ministry skills, but musically as well. I am still friends with most of the band from that church to this day.

We moved to Florida to work at a "seeker-sensitive church and while I loved the concept, I found myself wanting more spiritually.

One of the vocalists from the church in Roanoke contacted us and said that her brother had just started a church in Greensboro, NC and was looking for a music minister. We travelled to Greensboro for an interview and were hired. Although moving our family again was difficult, we felt God's urging for us to do so.

I would like to say that we all lived happily ever after, but unfortunately, that really does only happen in fairy tales. After losing my job and a church split, we did our own church-hopping for a couple of years. Through that time, God used our trials to grow us. We found ourselves in debt through an inheritance mix-up that caused both Penny and I to work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day during the week and 8 hours on weekends. God taught us a lot about financial responsibility through this time and although we didn't think so at the time, it was one of the most rewarding times of our lives.

I began working in the corporate arena, and was promoted rather quickly to management. We returned to the church as volunteers, and eventually I was hired full-time again as the Executive Director. I could now put my business knowledge into practice at the church.

Working in ministry has it's challenges, yet it also has it's rewards. I'm blessed to have the life I do and share it with the woman I love. May the bits of wisdom and experience I have gained help to change your life as well.