Page 6 - Glory & Grace Issue 2 ~ King of Glory Lutheran Church

PAGE 6
Growing up in Donna Sweeney's community, young girls became one of three things she said, "a nurse, a teacher, or married by 18!" Donna's interest wasn't peaked by those options, so she forged a different path. It was an unexpected five week hospital stay in 1947 when she was 13 (rheumatic fever caused by strep), that planted seeds for a different future. As doctors cared for her with tools and tests, Donna became curious: “I want to know what they [the doctors] know." Though it wasn't the commonly expected outcome for a young girl in her town, Donna followed her passion for diagnostics and become a Medical Technologist. In this role she worked in the hospital laboratory, by bedsides, and even assisted in autopsies. She served at the VA Hospital in Miles City for many years. Unable to travel to a University due to work and serving as wife and mother to two children, another surprise came years later when she earned a Masters Degree in Clinical Administration through one of the first Campus Without Walls programs in 1981.
In 1966, at that very same VA Hospital in Miles City, Charlie Pratt experienced a moment that inspired the direction of his life. When Charlie's family moved to Helena during his junior year of High School, Charlie chose to remain alone in Miles City, living in a spare room in the basement of a Funeral Home. In addition to babysitting the mortician's three children, he often did small jobs for the funeral home. One day, while running an errand at the VA hospital, Charlie was able to witness an autopsy. Though he was unprepared, the ease he felt in this unexpected situation surprised him. Following high school graduation and marriage to Marilyn, Charlie attended mortuary school in the San Francisco area, later returning to
The Holy Spirit fell upon all of them, just as Jesus had promised, but the experience was not what they expected. In the same way, when God's Spirit calls, gathers, and enlightens us today, we also can be caught by surprise. We might change our college major, take an unexpected job, volunteer in a place we'd never thought we'd serve, or walk down a path for which we feel unprepared. This is the holy surprise of Christian life! Just as the Holy Spirit astonished the people on the first Pentecost Day, God continues to open new doors, guiding us toward unknown futures, and leading us to serve in unexpected ways.
Montana to serve as a Mortician.