Why do bad things always happen to good people? Why did this have to happen to me? What good could ever come out of this?

I'm guessing that we have all asked ourself these questions once or twice (or thousands of times) before. Throughout my life, I have definitely experienced a great amount of ups and also a handful of downs. When I was 3 months old, I was adopted from Seoul, South Korea to amazing parents who not only had a great relationship with each other but with Jesus Christ as well. Sports were a huge part of my life when I was younger; ever since I was little, my parents encouraged me to play a sport in every season so I could stay busy. I can say that football, baseball, swimming, wrestling, and track definitely kept me busy even though I didn't enjoy 80% of those sports. Elementary school to junior high was quite a breeze, high school wasn't terrible either, and my first year of college was incredible. I thought I had it all going so great for me at the time. I had an absolutely amazing girlfriend, was playing college football, met tons of awesome friends and everything in my life was just perfect..... So I thought.

The summer after my first year of college is when my life first started to completely change. Sometimes when you think that you have everything going for you, you actually start to lose everything that truly made your life amazing. Unfortunately, I had to figure that out the hard way. I hit rock bottom that summer; I was no longer with the girl who I loved dearly, my grades the last year were bad, and my parents and I would get into arguments literally every day. I started partying every single weekend, and my relationship with God no longer existed. I was living the 'Social media Christian life' which means that I would say all this great stuff on social media platforms like bible verses, inspirational quotes, and anything else to make it look like I was so happy. As you can tell from the previous sentences, I was the complete opposite of happy. I came to the realization that I was missing the one ingredient to living an amazing life. This summer I went to a retreat with some of my college friends; without knowing what it would be before we arrived, I instantly judged it and thought it would be stupid. The coolest thing about that was that I completely proved myself wrong. During the retreat, I actually decided to recommit myself to Christ.... The most important ingredient to a great life. We were doing a night worship and I just started to bust into tears. It was like the Holy Spirit opened his arms for me again to run to and I did exactly that. I walked over to a leader and told them everything that was happening and we started to pray. After we got done praying, I was still bawling my eyes out, but thankfully I had great friends who came up to me to hug and comfort me. Since that night, I have been trying to live my life for Christ and be an inspiration to others. Although it's not always easy, it is a heck of a lot better living a life with Christ than without Him. In John 13:7 Jesus says, "You do not realize what I am doing, but later you will understand."

I had no idea what the purpose was with why I got bad grades, why my girlfriend broke up with me, or why I am taking a year off of college. It wasn't God telling me that I'm stupid or that I can't have a relationship. It was for me to grow as a follower of Christ and truly do my best to live for Him every day. Even if I'm not attending school this year, I feel like I have learned more this past summer than I ever have before and I am going to continue to learn. I don't dwell on my past relationship and what it could have been, but now trusting God that He has a great girl for me. I don't know who it is yet, but you just gotta trust Him and that everything will fall into place.

So, why do bad things happen to good people or anybody? Why do we get thrown curveballs that can make your life hell? Well, I strongly believe that it is all just a part of our testimony. Every single one of you has a story, where you grew up, the bad things that have occurred, and how those events have changed you for the better. Your story can make an impact on someone else's life. Just recently, I heard a testimony from a guy who I just met and is now a good friend of mine. This dude has a crazy strong heart and I think everyone should take a look at his full story, so thank you Cameron Erman for letting me share just a glimpse of your incredible testimony. He grew up in the church but was just living life through his happiness. Cam struggled with addiction, lust, pride, and anger until a couple months ago where he gave his entire life to Christ and is an amazing example of someone living their life for Him. I loved it because I struggled through some of the same stuff and it let me know again that we can overcome different struggles and addictions.

Don't question why God puts these events in our lives, instead look at them as a learning point and embrace them because one day YOU are going to inspire someone with YOUR story and help them realize that they can change. The power of your testimony is greater than you think, it is what inspires me everyday because I don't want to go back to who I once was. If you are going through tough times at this very moment, I want to tell you that God has bigger plans for you than you could ever think of. So do NOT give up hope. I encourage every single person reading this to think about your testimony and write it down or whatever you decide to do. That way you can always remember where you once were, to where you are now. But your testimony should not be a complete story yet because you're still living!! Now go out and stop talking; listen to others and their incredible testimonies because who knows, it could inspire you to do something that God has planned for you.