The Re-Route

Take Today Community,

It’s an honor to “meet” you all! I am overjoyed to be a part of this community, and I have loved reading about my neighbors and what take today means to them!

My name is Kailey and I am a South Dakota native living in Des Moines, Iowa. I am a Jesus follower, nature lover, and aspiring minimalist. I learned about the Take Today Community through Jenner, whom I met last summer at Camp Independence (a camp for adults with disabilities) in Michigan’s beautiful upper peninsula. (http://www.baycliff.org/camp-independence/)

Here is my story, I like to call it, The Re-route.

I had a plan for my life, I dreamed of being a physical therapist working with kids with disabilities.

That was my dream, and I failed…

I worked my entire young adult life (6 years) to fulfill that dream. I thought it was what God wanted for me because everything seemed to keep working out. That was my first misconception, that isn’t how God works.

I was so focused on this dream that when I started to have some doubts, I chalked it up to just being an overwhelmed grad student. I will be honest; I wasn’t performing well in the classroom either, but these deep questions kept me thinking maybe this was MY plan not God’s plan. I recall one of my closest friends asking me, “If you failed, what would most upset you, not being a physical therapist or just the fact that you failed?” And I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew it was the latter.

I ignored the nudging and I kept begging God to help me pass and remove the doubt if it was His will for me to be a physical therapist, or make it unmistakably known that this path wasn’t for me.

I failed 2 classes by less than 1% - meaning I was dismissed from the PT program…Ouch, while it was heartbreaking, I felt peace and freedom when I failed. I think that was an unmistakably clear answer to my prayers.

You would think since I felt peace and freedom that I was responding well to the situation…wrong. That fear of failing turned into shame. I was ashamed of failing and ashamed that I no longer had a life plan or purpose. It made me insecure, I thought I was stupid and had nothing important to offer. For an entire year, I grieved; I hid in my apartment, not wanting to put myself out there in fear of failure or rejection. And when nothing new came along, nothing that ignited passion or direction, I became bitter towards God.

With all that fear driving me, I forgot that I trusted God with my life. I asked him to intervene and He did, I had stopped trusting and let doubt take over.

Failure may be a part of the process, and what’s great is with it, comes wisdom, a new gracefulness, redirection and opportunity to grow.

What these past 2 years have taught me is that life is full of uncertainty, that’s its trademark. But what you have complete control over is how you respond to that truth. I live within the one certainty, God chose us and that is unchangeable.

With this new wisdom and restored trust, I started to Take Today. What is so neat about Take Today is that it can be adapted to anyone in any season of life. At this time, to me Take Today means being present, trusting the process of growth, and choosing things that matter. What that looks like for me practically is…

Maintaining meaningful relationships by calling, texting, and/or visiting

Being available and present in conversations with co workers, friends, and family

Limiting screen time every day

Not trying to figure out my whole life in one day, week, or month

Offering myself grace; Positive self talk

Praying and Reading scripture every day

Intentionally investing my time in people, organizations, and companies

Thank you for allowing me to share my story, and I hope that you are Taking Today!

Kailey