November 13. Brian Luoma. Brian holds a bachelor’s degree in forestry and has completed the University of Tennessee’s Executive Development Program. Since 2017, he has been the President and CEO of Westervelt Company, which provides high-quality products and services while striving to protect and preserve the natural resources.
On this date in 2010, Brian was baptized.
It’s not what life gives you; it’s what you do with the life you’ve been given that counts.
Like a million other days, Brian strolled into his office, but the more time went by, the more he wondered if he would be strolling in like this for much longer.
His muscles were weakening. He felt it. He had even adapted his house when he had built it as if it would need to be wheelchair accessible one day. He knew it was coming. But when?
For now, he focused on the business he had started in 1989 after quitting his job at Montgomery Wards—the last job he had ever worked for someone else.
After being his own boss for eight years, his business proved him a success. Didn’t matter what kind of physical ailments he had—it didn’t affect his smarts, his entrepreneurial spirit, or his relationship with Christ. Brian could accomplish anything as long as he trusted Christ to lead him. Without that, life had very little meaning.
Brian had been born with Muscular Dystrophy. Diagnosed when he was in the fourth grade, he never noticed any real physical symptoms until he was about eighteen years old. But now, an adult owning his own business, he could feel his muscles getting weaker. Sometimes his footing was unstable, and the reality that he could fall and seriously hurt himself was a great concern.
Finally, in 2001, the thing he had dreaded got real—in a hurry. In his office, he did fall. It didn’t injure him too much, but everything changed after that. He could no longer walk. The strength to do so was gone. And Brian became forever connected to his scooter. But the scooter gave him a sense of relief because he had no more fear of falling.
And it didn’t affect his ability to trust Jesus. Christ managed every aspect of Brian’s life like a shepherd manages his sheep.
Brian could have given up on his business, but he didn’t. He didn’t give in to despair; he kept talking to Christ, listening to him, trusting him. And Brian kept working hard to grow his business.
Even when things didn’t go the way Brian wanted, Jesus was in charge and looked after Brian’s best interests. His disability made him stronger. Not physically, but mentally and spiritually.
He started having pool therapy, and it was a great help to him. And then he thought: maybe I can have my own therapy pool in my house someday. And if I do, I want to be baptized in it.
Being baptized anywhere else would be difficult for him. He would have to be lifted in and out, and the thought of getting hurt was always on his mind. Plus he was self-conscious about it. Who wouldn’t be? But this didn’t stop him from wanting to be baptized. So his own pool in his house became his goal, and he talked with God about it.
He continued working hard and grew his business into even more of a success. It took about six years, and he was able to have an indoor pool built. It’s been used by Brian regularly and has also been used by other family members and friends—some who’ve needed it for recovery, and some who also cannot walk. Eventually, Brian was baptized in it.
“There is always something we can be thankful for,” Brian says. “Even during tough times.”
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NIV).
What has life dealt you? Positive or negative, how can you adjust your attitude to make the most of it? It’s not what life gives you; it’s what you do with the life you’ve been given that counts.
Based on an interview with Brian Luoma, 2019.
Story read by: Nathan Walker