By Kelley Dawson ’16 M.Div.

I remember sitting on the stoop of our first home on a warm August day in Los Angeles. I was waiting for my husband David to return with lunch for us to take on the first leg of a trip from California to Indiana. The U-Haul was parked out front, and we’d gotten little to no sleep the night before, packing last minute things and tying up loose ends. I would start the Master of Divinity program at Notre Dame in just over a week.

I had something in front of me—an opportunity to continue my formation as a minister in the Church—while David stared down more interviews and an uncertain future. Sitting on the stoop, I had this sinking feeling that we were making a mistake. I imagined leading David across the country without a job or community on the other side. I let this feeling of guilt wash over me as I heard footsteps walking up the gravel driveway to our house. It was David, smiling broadly, with an In-n-Out Burger bag in hand, “Let’s do this!”

David found work when we moved to the Midwest, but it required him to be in Chicago during the week. Figuring out where he could stay, the commute, schedules, and everything else sometimes felt like we were playing a game of Tetris. As days of doing this turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months and years, the heroic energy we had at the beginning felt like it was waning. As I waited for him to arrive in South Bend on Friday evenings, I’d sometimes wonder if he’d walk in the door, exhausted, and utter, “I’m so tired. I really hate doing this.” On those nights he’d prove me wrong, and come home with the same smile he had on his face when he walked up the drive a year or two earlier.

Trailblazers are oftentimes mentors, colleagues, or idols. They light the way for us and clear a path so we can confidently and faithfully follow a call. They can also be spouses, friends, and classmates, whose self-sacrifice and support make the trail more meaningful and clear. There were times when David forged ahead of me a bit on our path together in Indiana. When I felt weighed down by the burden of separation, logistics, and a lack of time together, I’d wonder if it was all a mistake. It was then that he’d double back and cheerfully remind me that what awaited ahead was worthwhile and surmountable.

Forging this path during our season in Indiana bore so much fruit in our lives, individually and as a family. We have a greater awareness of the preciousness of time, are more deliberate and discerning in choices, and see the challenges and puzzles that life brings with an abundance of possible solutions.

Most significant, however, is the conviction we have in Jesus’ provision. Time and again, sometimes in ways that seemed miraculous, we were provided for, emotionally and physically. People made space at their dining room tables, offered their sofa, or “knew someone who knew someone” who needed a new roommate in Chicago. The decision to follow the call to pursue my formation at Notre Dame felt like a risk for our family, but time and again, we were reminded that Jesus, the ultimate trailblazer, lights the way on even the most tiring, doubt-provoking of paths.