I’ve been crying tears of joy, sadness and laughter all at the same time as I write this and I’m making this post, because I just got my first acceptance letter from a physical therapy school yesterday. It’s crazy to reflect back on my past and everything I went through up until this point. Starting before high school at one point my mother and I stayed at a homeless shelter at the local YWCA center where it was intimidating and ludicrous to think in an instant a person can lose everything yet this pivotal moment in my life has made me stronger and has built me up to endure the future battles that I’ve experienced. Of course it might take a whole novel to one day tell my complete story, but at that time my mother and I would be upset at times at the shelter but the one thing that has always connected us has been movement. During our hours when we weren’t on curfew at the shelter we would go to the local track and run and afterwards do our 20 minutes yoga video that we found for $1 at Walmart and we would place it in the laptop we had rented from rent a center and a small old tv. We came to the shelter with a few clothes and they were amazing in providing us with a place to stay, food, kitchen stuff that we would need when we moved out, and just the overall support from all the ladies in there who were escaping various and even potentially dangerous situations.
I feel like movement has connected me in many ways from even being able to take walks with people or even working out with them. Even now with my little sister I take her to the gym once a week or will do a zoom meeting and I’m able to connect with her through movement. During my undergrad in college I went to Bethel to initially get into physical therapy and it’s serendipitous that after 10 years and getting my bachelors and mph that I have circled around to get into physical therapy once again. I know God has a way of showing us hard lessons that we had to overcome for his calling and it’s just a beautiful depiction on how He has a very meticulous and spontaneous nature.
If you’re going through a rough patch I urge you to keep trudging through that there will be light at the end of the tunnel and there will be ways in which God lifts you up to your full potential and I promise things will work out they always do no matter how bad it is at that moment, but just keep the faith despite the obstacles you may go through. These “bad moments” will shape the person you will become and will teach you lessons that no else can. The cliche of everything happens for a reason (whether that be losing your “dream” person to not getting that job that you had hoped to get to even everything else in between) and to experience it in the flesh is so overwhelming and brings so much joy to my heart. I’m excited for this new journey in my life and I’m thankful to have met all the people in my life who have been a light for me during my darkest moments, and I’ll end with a quote from this past Sundays service at VFC that ties everything in so beautifully.
“I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” (John 16:33, MSG).
Hope and Love for All 