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I professed First Vows in August of 1976. After a year of living and learning the Dehonian charism, I thought I understood what God was asking of me. Of course, I had my own ideas regarding where I would be engaged in ministry and community life.

The intervening years since first profession have surprised me. I found myself being led to a different type of ministry than I envisioned. I also found myself living in rural America - quite a dramatic difference for someone who had been born and grew up in large urban metropolises.

My theological studies were geared towards being an ordained minister. Yet, as I neared graduation, I realized that this was not where my life was supposed to go. I made the surprising choice to stay with the SCJ community as a Brother. It has been a choice I have not regretted. That choice opened a vast array of possibilities for my future. That choice provided a more complete sense of identity as I found myself walking between two distinct worlds without our church.

 My initial thoughts on where I would spend most of my religious life never included South Dakota. Yet, an invitation to 'come and see' with the promise that 'all this and more could be yours' was a challenge I could not resist. After an initial period of adjustment, I settled down for sixteen years on the grasslands in Eagle Butte, SD, in the middle of the Cheyenne River Sioux Nation. Once again, I made another surprise choice that brought many days of satisfaction, success, growth and development.

 Currently I am living in Franklin. My life and ministry efforts are changing as I pursue graduate studies at Marquette University. The eventual outcome of those efforts will be obtaining a MBA degree. It is a degree which compliments the years of administration and management which I have experienced as well as a degree which will assist the SCJ Community as we face many challenges in the days to come.

I also find myself dealing with another surprise in my life, one that I never anticipated. During my years of parish ministry, I often found myself being with people who were dealing with health concerns, death and other major traumas. I often wondered if my thoughts, prayers and presence made a difference.

I learned the hard way that they do/did. Being diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer, I discovered the vast treasure that friends, community, family, prayers and thoughts are. Although I had an excellent team of medial professionals assisting me, I am convinced that it was the shared faith and prayers of many that helped bring healing of body and spirit. The thoughts, prayers and presence of many made a difference.

It's my fortune that the medical team believes the cancer has been removed and my future that remains, a bit much different than what I imagined. I look forward to the challenges that life, faith and my God will provide. They are worth exploring and making choices that might surprise.

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