In this episode I welcome Taylor Kemp. Taylor played professional soccer with DC United for 6 years. I have the privilege of calling him a friend, and working with him at the Augustine Institute where he is now the Director of Formed. Taylor opens up about his family, faith, experiencing miscarriages, and the dignity in a name. And I share a personal story behind the name of my first daughter.
LINKS:
Athletic Spirituality: Life Lessons from the Field (mp3) - Taylor Kemp
AugustineStudios.org
watch.formed.org
Tyburn Convent - Foundress
"In 1585 Gregory Gunne predicted that one day a religious house would be founded at Tyburn. His prediction was fulfilled when Tyburn Convent was established in 1903."
Thank you to Taylor Kemp for sharing his journey and being part of Girl Dad Nation. You can catch Taylor in video content on Formed.org and we are currently in production together on an exciting new series from the Augustine Institute. Check out the links in the description to learn more.
I am excited to also share that Taylor and his wife, Brittany, are expecting another child.
I am so appreciative of the family I have been blessed with.
And I appreciate you for journeying with me.
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please let me know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and sharing the show with a friend.
Girl Dad Nation is on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
You can also email me at girldadnationpodcast@gmail.com
Life is a beautiful thing! Let's treasure it!
IG: @girldadnation
Twitter: @girldadnation
GirlDadNationPodcast@gmail.com
Girl Dad Nation is made possible by the generous support of our listeners and my wife, Executive Producer of my daughters and this podcast.
In this episode I welcome Taylor Kemp. Taylor played professional soccer with DC United for 6 years. I have the privilege of calling him a friend, and working with him at the Augustine Institute where he is now the Director of Formed. Taylor opens up about his family, faith, experiencing miscarriages, and the dignity in a name. And I share a personal story behind the name of my first daughter.
LINKS:
Athletic Spirituality: Life Lessons from the Field (mp3) - Taylor Kemp
AugustineStudios.org
watch.formed.org
Tyburn Convent - Foundress
"In 1585 Gregory Gunne predicted that one day a religious house would be founded at Tyburn. His prediction was fulfilled when Tyburn Convent was established in 1903."
Thank you to Taylor Kemp for sharing his journey and being part of Girl Dad Nation. You can catch Taylor in video content on Formed.org and we are currently in production together on an exciting new series from the Augustine Institute. Check out the links in the description to learn more.
I am excited to also share that Taylor and his wife, Brittany, are expecting another child.
I am so appreciative of the family I have been blessed with.
And I appreciate you for journeying with me.
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please let me know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and sharing the show with a friend.
Girl Dad Nation is on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
You can also email me at girldadnationpodcast@gmail.com
Life is a beautiful thing! Let's treasure it!
IG: @girldadnation
Twitter: @girldadnation
GirlDadNationPodcast@gmail.com
Girl Dad Nation is made possible by the generous support of our listeners and my wife, Executive Producer of my daughters and this podcast.
**Transcript is Auto-Generated**
00:00:00:15 - 00:00:20:11
Matthew Krekeler
Welcome to Girl Dad Nation. In this episode, I welcome Taylor Kemp. Taylor played professional soccer with DC United for six years. I have the privilege of calling him a friend and working with him at the Augustine Institute where he is now the director of Formed. Taylor opens up about his family, faith, experiencing miscarriages and the dignity in a name.
00:00:20:23 - 00:00:33:16
Matthew Krekeler
And I share a personal story behind the name of my first daughter.
00:00:36:15 - 00:00:37:22
Matthew Krekeler
Taylor, welcome to the show.
00:00:38:10 - 00:00:39:06
Taylor Kemp
Thanks for having me, Matthew.
00:00:39:23 - 00:01:01:14
Matthew Krekeler
Thank you for being here. It's awesome to know you. I knew your wife growing up when we were just kids. And so it's awesome to meet you and to now be working together at the Augusta Institute, which is really great. But yeah, before that, really cool. You. You're a professional soccer player. Mm hmm. Yeah. With D.C. United. So.
00:01:02:02 - 00:01:09:18
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. Just start. Start there, maybe. Tell me about how that kind of career started and then. Yeah, transitioning out of that.
00:01:10:13 - 00:01:36:03
Taylor Kemp
Yeah. So, yeah, as you said, I played professional soccer for many years. Specifically, I played six years with DC United. So my whole MLS career was there. Before that, I went to the University of Maryland and played SEC Soccer there. I left and was drafted in the 2013 Maelstrom, left in the first round with the number 17 pick to D.C. and love going there.
00:01:36:07 - 00:02:09:05
Taylor Kemp
It was just down the road. There's nothing to be said about playing professional sports overall. It was it was really great. I mean, there was a lot that was challenging that that pushed you. But overall, it was a incredible experience that I really cherish. There's really nothing like it, I think, in the adult working world. Like there's not many other places where you get to spend most of your time, like with your friends on the soccer field, in the training room, playing board games in hotels, traveling around the world.
00:02:09:20 - 00:02:35:23
Taylor Kemp
So it was really great. So played for six years. I played in over 100 games. Let's see, I was I had earned call ups with the U18, the U-20 and then the full national team in 2017 in preparation for the 20. And I'm getting my date, the 2017 World Cup qualifying. I didn't end up making that team but was in the camp for MLS guys, so it was really great.
00:02:35:23 - 00:02:54:13
Taylor Kemp
I ended up retire saying in 2018 I had about 15 months of injuries and a couple of surgeries in a row that eventually I was not able to play anymore. So retired and then, you know, through some more winding paths, came to work here at the August interview with you, which has just been a tremendous, tremendous thing and blessing.
00:02:55:03 - 00:03:18:06
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah, well, that's an amazing soccer career. And yeah, but you got injured towards the end of that journey. What was that mindset like? That must have been really hard to go through when you've dedicated so much time to soccer and to not be able to play at that level of your injury. But where have you been called since that?
00:03:19:21 - 00:03:39:14
Taylor Kemp
Well, I guess to kind of comment on the injury stuff, you know, it's the whole thing was a process like so many things. Like I said, I was injured. But, you know, from the like kind of the initial injury that eventually led to my retirement. So when I retired was 15 months, which is a pretty significant span of time.
00:03:39:14 - 00:04:12:08
Taylor Kemp
So there was there was a lot going on in there. Like I had a lot of time to process to kind of prepare to see the writing on the wall in a sense. So yeah, like the emotions and the processing during that time, it ranges a lot. Like there was very difficult moments, there was a lot of fear, and then there was a ton of freedom and a ton of joy and you know, like I'm happy to say that on the day that I announced my retirement, I was happy about that.
00:04:12:08 - 00:04:36:01
Taylor Kemp
Like I felt very ready to leave soccer, which was a very real blessing. Like that is I know a lot of guys in sports and that is not always the case and it can just be a difficult thing for sports, especially, you know, the higher you go and especially when you get to the professional ranks, your identity is often or can very easily get wrapped up in your sport.
00:04:36:08 - 00:05:00:06
Taylor Kemp
Like I was the professional soccer player and that then is very challenging when that is coming to can be coming to an end because if that's who you are and then that's getting taken away, it can just be very unstable, unstable for you. So there was a letting go of that in the middle of my career and then especially in the middle of my retirement, I had a really powerful conversion to Catholicism.
00:05:00:20 - 00:05:27:03
Taylor Kemp
And I came into the church before I before I even got hurt. Well, well, a good year and a half before I actually got hurt. But that in many ways prepared me for what was to come, and it helped me change how I kind of defined myself from just a professional soccer player to someone whose life was about something bigger than that and that I can't say how much of a difference.
00:05:27:07 - 00:05:38:12
Taylor Kemp
There's not enough, I could say about how much of a difference that made for me. Yeah. I'll pause there and see if happy to fill in any extra comments or move on from there.
00:05:38:13 - 00:06:08:17
Matthew Krekeler
No, that's great. And then, yeah, you've had kids after you left your soccer career, which is a whole nother life changed and that's great. But yeah, especially with kids too, it really takes a tremendous amount of selflessness to. Right. So, yeah, being being willing to, to move away from your soccer career like, you know, put your mindset on something else and then now you're called to family life, which is great.
00:06:09:04 - 00:06:12:19
Matthew Krekeler
What was that like for you and your wife, Brittany? Yeah.
00:06:13:10 - 00:06:13:15
Taylor Kemp
Yeah.
00:06:13:20 - 00:06:15:05
Matthew Krekeler
You started all that?
00:06:15:19 - 00:06:43:04
Taylor Kemp
Yeah. It's been really beautiful. I mean, it came with all different kinds of challenges. My wife and I, we got married in 2006 when I was still playing. And then in 2018, we conceived our first child, who we named Roxanne, and we ended up losing her to miscarriage, which was a tragedy. And then it took us another two and a half years to have our second child, Agnes, who we have now.
00:06:43:04 - 00:07:09:10
Taylor Kemp
She's two and is amazing. And then we miscarried again after that, which was which was really difficult. And then we were blessed to have a fourth Leoni, who's now just five months old. So she's she was born in March of 2022. So it was a lot of ups and downs. And, you know, in the middle of both the miscarriage, the first miscarriage with Racine and then with Agnes, I was leaving soccer.
00:07:10:05 - 00:07:33:17
Taylor Kemp
I like I said, I had had a powerful conversion to Catholicism, and I really fell in love with teaching the faith. And so I was really wanting to move into a like an entirely new career. You know, like all of my prestige and expertize and practical skills were based in sports. And I felt like God was asking me to leave that world.
00:07:34:13 - 00:08:01:14
Taylor Kemp
And that was really, you know, that was a scary thing to do. Like I was leaving a place where I had some status and skills that would likely get me employed in a good way. And I went into a world where I was I entered into the graduate school at the Augustine Institute to study theology. I started teaching on the side, and I had no experience.
00:08:01:14 - 00:08:19:15
Taylor Kemp
I really didn't have like a good grip on even what I was trying to do. I just knew that's where I wanted to go. And so that was happening. We were having our girls. We were we moved, you know, we were we were in Washington, DC, which is where DC United is based. And we moved back to Denver, where our families are.
00:08:20:08 - 00:08:38:23
Taylor Kemp
So we didn't have a huge group of friends built up. I was looking for work, we were going through it. So it was it was a very when we entered Agnes or when Agnes came into the world in particular, there was just a lot going on. Like there was a lot of change, there was a lot of unknowns.
00:08:38:23 - 00:09:00:18
Taylor Kemp
And so it was a a really it was a huge leap of faith, like seriously like leaving the sports world for me, which because even if, even if I retired, the easiest thing to do would have gone would have been to like either go work in a front office, to go into commentary, to go into coaching, to work, to become like an aide somewhere like to stay in the sports world.
00:09:00:18 - 00:09:29:06
Taylor Kemp
Because like I said, that's kind of all my currency was as a as a future employee. And so when we left, it was just like it was a huge leap of faith. We were like, this could either be the best thing we've ever done or the absolute worst thing we've ever done. And we were taken through the fire in many ways when we came back to Denver, and God was extremely good to us and he has always tested us, but has always delivered us from the things that we were worried about.
00:09:29:06 - 00:09:34:20
Taylor Kemp
And he's always taken care of us. So we're really just grateful to be kind of where we are today.
00:09:35:10 - 00:09:44:12
Matthew Krekeler
Well, that's so great to hear. And I guess the faith aspect of that too is just amazing. And yeah, thank you so much for sharing that.
00:09:44:20 - 00:09:46:00
Taylor Kemp
Yeah, of course.
00:09:47:02 - 00:10:11:09
Matthew Krekeler
And yeah, before Agnes was born, going through a miscarriage with your first pregnancy, it must be so hard. And I know so many other couples have gone through that. And it's it's not something that we like to talk about. But would you mind sharing a little bit just about that journey at that period of time?
00:10:11:22 - 00:10:30:21
Taylor Kemp
Yeah, definitely. So, yeah. I mean, we when we got pregnant, I mean, it was interesting when we when we got married, we thought it was an absolute give in that we would have kids like it was a guarantee. And then it took us a year and a half to get pregnant with our first with Racine, who we lost to miscarriage.
00:10:31:03 - 00:10:47:01
Taylor Kemp
So that took a while, like we wanted to get pregnant and we didn't. And that all of a sudden you start to get like, Oh, wait a second, because when you're when you're kind of brought up your thought, you're like, we're kind of taught like the second that you have sex, you're going to have a kid. And that kind, obviously.
00:10:47:01 - 00:11:13:00
Taylor Kemp
But that's not that also is not exactly how it happens. So when we started having difficulty getting pregnant, we started you know, you were like, oh, my gosh, maybe we'll never have kids. And that was, you know, kind of scary. And we also discovered, I would say both my wife, Brittany and I discovered like how deep of a desire within us it was for us to have kids, which we actually weren't aware of until we wanted kids and were not able to conceive.
00:11:13:13 - 00:11:37:17
Taylor Kemp
And so then when we finally did and we were so happy and then we we lost Racine. She very early, it was around nine weeks. It was absolutely devastating. Yeah, it was it was horrible because you just didn't you know, like we knew miscarriage was a thing. Like, we knew it was a possibility. But as you said, it's not talked about all that often.
00:11:37:17 - 00:12:03:07
Taylor Kemp
And I think one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. And we just didn't know that. So we had no idea. And you just never think it's going to happen to you. And then when it did, it was it was just so sad. I mean, it was it was absolutely heartbreaking. You know, it's it's kind of like the Lord gives you this gift of a child and you in your heart begins to open up to the the whole new horizons of possibility of of who your family is going to be.
00:12:03:07 - 00:12:30:10
Taylor Kemp
Who is this little going to be? You know, like she made me a dad and she made Brittany a mom. And then to have that gone, it was just very difficult emotionally. It was really hard on my wife, Brittany, and it was hard on us in different ways, which I also think is important. Like men and women often process differently, and Brittany and I certainly did, and she needed a different kind of support than I needed.
00:12:30:10 - 00:13:00:06
Taylor Kemp
And so it was just difficult. And then especially kind of giving that that pain and that sense of loss, that that sense of lost, that lost back to God. And to say, like, you know, Lord, this doesn't make sense to us. I wish this wouldn't have happened, but I trust that like you're still working for good in our lives, that you created this child, that we were able to create this child with you, that this child has meaning and purpose.
00:13:00:06 - 00:13:33:20
Taylor Kemp
And so I actually has a mission in heaven and kind of giving that over to a deep sense of trust in the midst of unknown was quite a battle of faith, I would say. But then eventually one that was very good. And then especially when we finally did conceive our second child and Agnus was born, the two year old that we have today, it just makes your gratitude just completely explode, you know, I don't think I would look at Agnes the same had we not lost our first.
00:13:33:20 - 00:13:54:00
Taylor Kemp
And that doesn't mean you need to go through a loss, too. I'm not saying that at all. But I look at her different because after we lost Racine, you're like, Oh, it's not for granted that you'll ever have kids and that they'll go from conception to birth. Yeah. And so it's been really help in our it's affected our parenting.
00:13:54:00 - 00:14:20:08
Taylor Kemp
It's affected our life as a family. We talk to our girls about our two miscarry miscarried children. We we we have their names on like picture plaque things and we talk to them about Cushing and Josephine that you can talk to them and they know about them. So it was it's a very painful thing. You know, my heart goes out to any of the listeners who have experienced a miscarriage themselves.
00:14:20:22 - 00:14:37:21
Taylor Kemp
It's it's terribly difficult. And, you know, it affects people in different ways. But in the end, you kind of have to consign it to the mystery of God and trust that he is he is still working for good in the midst of loss.
00:14:37:21 - 00:15:01:14
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. I think going through an experience like that and my wife and I, we struggled with infertility like when we were trying to start a family and and you kind of really have to appreciate just the value of life. My daughter Daly's here now. Hi. Good morning.
00:15:01:23 - 00:15:08:07
And I'm going to talk to you. My so q so.
00:15:08:17 - 00:15:09:17
Matthew Krekeler
Do you want to take a toy?
00:15:10:09 - 00:15:11:00
Yeah.
00:15:11:02 - 00:15:11:12
Matthew Krekeler
Okay.
00:15:11:20 - 00:15:16:08
Well, we came to of major rivalry to the new school.
00:15:16:16 - 00:15:25:18
Matthew Krekeler
Yes. We'll go to the library later that year to just finish this. And then the librarian.
00:15:25:18 - 00:15:29:14
Taylor Kemp
The dog and the little girl. Your nice lives are the same.
00:15:30:17 - 00:15:51:14
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah, I'll just back up just a little bit, but. Yeah, but I think going through an experience like that, you just, you realize the fragility of life and just the gift that life is to. And I think it's a good reminder just to appreciate all those moments we have now and to make the most out of that.
00:15:53:01 - 00:16:01:01
Taylor Kemp
Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, it does. It really helps you have perspective and to receive children as a gift, it really is amazing.
00:16:01:22 - 00:16:43:04
Matthew Krekeler
And I also wanted to comment too. I think it's really beautiful that you've named all of your kids as well. And a lot of people just kind of like they go through a traumatic experience, like losing a child and you know, you try to avoid it, you don't want to talk about it. Or the popular notion that, you know, a child that's miscarried super early on, just weeks in a pregnancy, it's like not fully developed or whatever, like kind of this this sort of popular notion that's like to not recognize the life at that stage.
00:16:44:18 - 00:17:16:11
Matthew Krekeler
But yeah, being able to go through that process, the grieving process, and then also recognize them as part of your family and especially miscarrying your first child. Like even at that moment, you are a father and and recognizing that in yourself and that new role and responsibility you have. But but also for your wife, too, who's going through that traumatic experience as well.
00:17:16:11 - 00:17:41:02
Matthew Krekeler
So yeah, could you just kind of elaborate on any advice you would have for parents going through that same journey and anything that's helped you? And then I also think it's really beautiful that you talk about it with your kids, too, and yeah, just the ways that that you share that part of your family with them as well.
00:17:41:12 - 00:17:41:21
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah.
00:17:42:04 - 00:18:12:18
Taylor Kemp
Yeah. Yes. You know, the goal of all of our lives, it really should be in a sense, to conform ourselves to what is real, to like what is that? That is the path that I believe leads to flourishing, really. And so, as you said, like you you want to look at the reality of conception and even in its zygote, like the the earliest stages of a pregnancy.
00:18:13:06 - 00:18:37:19
Taylor Kemp
Like if you look at the DNA of that of the cells of the zygote, it is a separate human being. There is a separate human genetic code in the mother that is separate from the mother. And so we not only do science affirm that there is a unique human that has been generated conceived in the in the womb of the mother.
00:18:38:20 - 00:19:14:04
Taylor Kemp
But our faith affirms that that life has dignity. So science tells us that is a human. Our faith tells us that that child has dignity and deserves protection and reverence in a sense. So the goal of our life is to and conform ourselves to that. And so you name your child, that's a child, maybe not outside the womb, maybe not in the way that we imagine the physical look of a child, because it is cells that are together that are make up a human person but doesn't look like a child in the way that we imagine a child looks yet.
00:19:15:05 - 00:19:35:00
Taylor Kemp
But so you we should name them because they are unique individual human persons in the womb. And so we want to affirm that and say yes. And one of the greatest things that a parent can do is name a child is just really a beautiful thing. You have them, you hope, give them their identity in a sense. And so we want to do that.
00:19:35:00 - 00:20:02:16
Taylor Kemp
And so we we named them both. We didn't know this was a possibility when we miscarried, rocking our first. But with our second miscarriage with Josephine Mt. Olivet here in Denver, which is the it's a Catholic cemetery here that they do burial services for miscarried children. And so when Brittany was in the process of miscarrying the there we have a great women's health clinic here that helped us gather the remains of the the body of the child.
00:20:03:10 - 00:20:21:15
Taylor Kemp
And then we were able to do a burial service at Mount all of it, which is also it's not only psychologically helpful for the grieving process, but it also is a an external show of the dignity that is owed to this child, which is that this is a person who has dignity. This is a life. And we will honor that life.
00:20:21:23 - 00:20:43:13
Taylor Kemp
So I can't say enough about how good that is for not only the reality of things, but also just for parents like for Brittany and I, it's so healing. And now we have a little grave marker and we can go and see Josephine and tell our girls about her and it's just it's really great. So advice that I would it's beautiful.
00:20:44:04 - 00:21:03:21
Taylor Kemp
Yeah. The advice that I would have for parents who are who have suffered this loss or are experiencing it now is to not pretend like it's not a big deal. Like you feel the emotions of of the loss that you are experiencing, like don't pretend it doesn't matter, don't hide it. I think it's very good to talk about it when you're ready.
00:21:03:21 - 00:21:37:08
Taylor Kemp
Sometimes it takes time for for someone to be ready, but then also just just treat the the loss as what it is, which is the loss of a child. And so I do recommend naming the child. You recommend doing a burial service if you can. Not everyone can, and that's okay. But name the child and talk about the child and just speak and act about what is true, which is this was a unique human person that was created by you with the help of God and to kind of live from that place.
00:21:37:08 - 00:21:48:12
Taylor Kemp
I just it's very healing. It's just very good. And I think it ultimately is is in conformity with what is true and real.
00:21:48:12 - 00:22:18:01
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah, I think that's really good advice and kind of a really beautiful perspective to look at something that's so like heartbreaking, but but to also, yeah, make something really beautiful with that and that it's like it's, it's something that's going to carry with you through the rest of your life, but a way to look at it and bring dignity and beauty and, and that fatherhood of naming your child.
00:22:18:01 - 00:22:56:22
Matthew Krekeler
I think that that also is really beautiful. Like when we got to name our daughters Kaylee and Nora and then choose their middle names and it's like it has meaning, too. And especially like Kaylee was this miracle child take as we consider her and and Nora as well in her own way an amazing miracle like Kaylee is middle name Adele was named after this founders of this religious content and having this like amazing faith journey when we were trying to conceive for the first time, wanting to start a family.
00:22:56:22 - 00:22:59:00
Matthew Krekeler
And where.
00:22:59:03 - 00:23:00:06
Taylor Kemp
Were you praying to that.
00:23:00:17 - 00:23:33:22
Matthew Krekeler
First? Yeah. So. So at that time, I was on a work trip in London. And there's this convent. Tyburn convent? Yeah. Anyone listening? Look up Tyburn Convent in London. It's. It's really amazing. It's actually the spot of the Tyburn Tree, which in England was the king's gallows. So where they would have these public executions, these hangings, and a spot of so many Catholic martyrs at the time.
00:23:34:06 - 00:24:01:08
Matthew Krekeler
And yeah, to be Catholic was to commit treason against the Church of England. Yep. So all of these Catholics were murdered at the site and I happened to be on a work trip. We went to this place I didn't like realize it at the time, but it was in a way kind of a pilgrimage to this site. We got to meet the nuns at this convent and they shared their story of this site.
00:24:01:19 - 00:24:32:03
Matthew Krekeler
And on the wall it said, like, there will be there's some, quote, a link to it probably in the description. But they said, like at this site, there will be like a religious organization and decades later, there's now this Catholic convent at the site. And the mother founder is she's buried within the garden at the convent. And I went there with this intention, this desire, like wanting to start a family.
00:24:32:22 - 00:24:54:19
Matthew Krekeler
And this nun just looks at me and she says, like, whatever you're carrying, just pray. Leave it here and pray to God and know that all of the all of your sisters here at the convent are praying for you as well. And so I'm just like, okay. And she asks like, if I have a family, I'm like, Yeah, it's like my wife and I and we have a dog.
00:24:54:19 - 00:25:24:18
Matthew Krekeler
And then I share that we've been trying to start a family and she looks me dead in the eye and says like, pray. And she says, like foundries bakes, baby. This is like, right. She tells me, like, kind of dead on. And she points and around the crypt where the founder's is buried, there's all of these letters people have emailed in from all around the world and photographs that people have mailed in and stuff of different families, different prayer intentions.
00:25:24:18 - 00:25:51:02
Matthew Krekeler
And there's like pictures of ultrasounds and like on the crypt, there's like little baby shoes, these miraculous stories and so I, like, just break down. I'm sobbing and I'm and she lets me just have several minutes to myself to just pray at the site and and that's just what's on my heart at the time. And and so I'm just praying.
00:25:51:16 - 00:26:28:18
Matthew Krekeler
And that was my intention. And the mother founders is mother Maria del Granier. And I just pray to Mother Maria Del and asking for her in the Catholic faith, we believe prayer of intercession, saints that are in heaven close to God. You can pray and and ask them to pray for you on your behalf. Yeah. Similarly, like, like we could ask each other, you know, here on Earth to pray for each other and offer those intentions.
00:26:28:18 - 00:26:52:03
Matthew Krekeler
So. So I'm there and I'm praying to God. And I'm, I'm asking for this through her intercession. And it was like two a month to the day after I return that we found out we were pregnant with Caylee and we named her Caylee Adele after mother Maria del.
00:26:52:03 - 00:26:52:19
Taylor Kemp
That's a great.
00:26:52:19 - 00:27:17:21
Matthew Krekeler
Story in her honor. So, yeah, I think it's names are so important. It's a reminder that like, you know, this child belongs to us. You know, they're given like our same surname. But we also get the opportunity to name them uniquely and individually and recognize that that beautiful individual life. So yeah.
00:27:18:07 - 00:27:42:13
Taylor Kemp
Yeah. And, and the names carry with them a story and tells you something about the person and like how you gave Adele as a middle name like that. Now, Caylee, Carrie, is this that story that you just told, that story that you just told in her name itself? And yeah, we are each of our girls here on earth, their middle names are related to the miscarried child before them.
00:27:42:18 - 00:28:04:11
Taylor Kemp
So in the same way, like we believe that each of our children that we have here carries with them the story of our lost children and it yeah, I also, I guess in thinking about what we just talked about, like other advice is like take the naming of your children very seriously and give them a name that is representative of the story to them as best you can.
00:28:04:11 - 00:28:29:09
Taylor Kemp
That can be a tall speak. But yeah, it's really powerful to have that a child carries in themselves, like the memory of the time in which they were conceived in particular, like the story of, of, of your time in England in the intersession. And so, yeah, it's just it's really it's really beautiful and just good.
00:28:29:09 - 00:28:51:15
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah, I wasn't necessarily going to tell that story, but I think it's a great story. Yeah, we're almost out of time. But I do want to ask you and I asked all my guests this, if you could say something to your daughters directly, what would you tell them, either individually or as a whole?
00:28:52:00 - 00:28:57:08
Taylor Kemp
Are you saying what would I say to them? Like if this was like the last thing I could say to them or something?
00:28:57:08 - 00:29:16:00
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. Yeah. I like to think of this podcast in a way. I've built all these episodes. It's kind of like a digital time capsule in a way, but eventually, who knows? Maybe they'll be listening to this episode several years down the line. Well, if you could tell them something directly.
00:29:16:10 - 00:29:44:01
Taylor Kemp
That that's a total ask to to try to leave them with some some sage words of wisdom, I guess. So I'll just go with some stuff that's on the top of my head. I guess that was a disclaimer that maybe isn't exactly what I, I would want to tell them that they're beautiful and good and that nothing that they can do, can, can take that away from them.
00:29:44:01 - 00:30:01:10
Taylor Kemp
I would tell them, especially in relation to how much of the world functions today, that your value is not in what you do or what you earn or what you make just, but in who you are. I would I would hope that they would try to see the good in all of the people that they meet rich, poor, even good or bad.
00:30:02:08 - 00:30:23:06
Taylor Kemp
But to see the good and to make their lives about it, because that's the only thing that can't be taken in this life, that if you make your life about riches or power or honor or pleasure, like, all of those things will eventually be taken. And if you were to make your life based on that, like you are destined to doomed to misery.
00:30:23:06 - 00:30:59:16
Taylor Kemp
And so I would really encourage them to seek the only thing that last, which is God himself, and to seek support to make their life a gift to God and a gift to other people. And that is something that is always a challenge, but it's always worth it. And to to do everything that they can to to take what has been given to them in their life itself, in their gifts, and to give those back to as many people as they possibly can, because I firmly believe that that is the only path to flourishing and to fulfillment and to satisfaction and to joy.
00:31:00:17 - 00:31:15:11
Taylor Kemp
So I would want to tell them your beautiful, you are good. No one can ever take that from you, make your life about things that that can't change. And to do everything you can to make your life a gift for others, those pretty good, you know, like I was, I was.
00:31:15:16 - 00:31:17:04
Matthew Krekeler
Very good as I was God.
00:31:17:04 - 00:31:24:23
Taylor Kemp
I was like, beautiful. That's actually better than I was expecting. I'll stick to that. We can time capsule that. Maybe my daughters will see it one day. See.
00:31:26:02 - 00:31:31:18
Matthew Krekeler
That's awesome. But thank you so much. Hey, it was a pleasure. Yeah. Just getting to chat with you this morning.
00:31:31:18 - 00:31:38:18
Taylor Kemp
So it was great. I love the I love the logo and the podcast, so thanks for having me. It was a joy.
00:31:39:12 - 00:32:05:12
Matthew Krekeler
I think stories like this and in particular to like sometimes the really tough stories to share really make a big difference and can help other people since yeah, we're all kind of on this journey together. It seems like sometimes we're isolated, we're gone through these tough things alone by it, but really like there's so many people that are going through similar things just like we are.
00:32:05:12 - 00:32:16:02
Matthew Krekeler
And I hope that listening to these stories, sharing these things and that openness can really help people really find healing, comfort and peace and yeah. Wherever they are.
00:32:16:19 - 00:32:44:14
Taylor Kemp
Yep. No, I totally agree. You're not alone out there. You're never alone. I mean, and I do think that much of the things today are order to putting people into isolation. And so I guess that would be my my kind of parting piece of advice is don't let yourself get completely alienated from others, like go for walks with people, go get coffee with them in person, have conversations, seek to know other people.
00:32:44:14 - 00:33:01:08
Taylor Kemp
It's just very it's very good and it's very healing. But you're right. Like you're not alone out there in anything that you're going through.
00:33:02:19 - 00:33:23:00
Matthew Krekeler
Thank you to Taylor Kemp for sharing his journey and being part of Girl Dad Nation. You can catch Taylor and video content on form dawg and we are currently in production together on an exciting new series from the Augustine Institute. Check out the links in the description to learn more. I'm excited to also share that Taylor and his wife Brittney are expecting another child.
00:33:23:14 - 00:33:42:17
Matthew Krekeler
I am so appreciative of the family I have been blessed with and I appreciate you for journeying with me. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please let me know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and sharing the show with a friend. Girl Dad Nation is on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. You can also email me at girldadnationpodcast@gmail.com.
00:33:43:10 - 00:33:46:00
Matthew Krekeler
Life is a beautiful thing. Let's treasure it.