2020 Birthday Advice: Sister Beverly Heitke
As Salvatorian Sisters continue to age in wisdom and grace in the year 2020, each shares advice to her 20-year-old self to celebrate her birthday.
In my early 20s, I volunteered for our mission in Tanganyika, East Africa. To prepare, I was assigned to nursing studies at Salvator Mundi International Hospital’s School of Nursing in Rome, Italy (in Italian!). During that time, the plan changed to dentistry, still for Tanganyika. While studying dentistry, the plan changed due to the nationalization of Tanganyika, which closed the British hospital in which I was to work. More changed plans followed: the Philippines, Taiwan, and Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Rome. My life is rich in plans that changed. In retrospect, what I’ve learned is that there was an overall plan behind all the changing plans! God’s providence is much wiser than human planning and “going with the flow” leads to surprising and amazing life experiences. So, my advice would be to be open to the unexpected and embrace the unknown. The future keeps calling us. Only God knows where it will lead—and God is Emmanuel—God-with-us.