I think I speak for everyone when I say that you have all had that one moment, time in your life or person, that changed you in a pretty rough way. It probably made you feel sky-high at one point and then suddenly you found yourself knee-deep in a sticky situation. Perhaps it haunted you for a while, creeping into the back of your mind totally consuming your life. Maybe just thinking about it now gives you that roller-coaster thrill, that makes you feel halfway numb and halfway tingly. I don't know what life experience you're picturing. but I'm sure you have a sleeve full of goosebumps right now.

Typically, the things that stop us in our tracks the most are the ones that didn't end the way that we expected. Why is it the moments that are complete crap that change us the most? How come the bad situation and horrible people in our life are the ones we constantly think about and dwell on rather than all of the happy things going on? Looking back on all of the times that either I failed or someone / something failed me, it all ended up OK. Well, eventually. But, they changed me the most and in ways that I'm incredibly thankful for. Sometimes these moments of utter failure take a face-to-face interaction to realize the good that follows.

It's that time of year that final grades come out. Maybe you failed and now have to come up with an excuse to explain yourself to your parents. Perhaps you had some really great plans for yourself and a few awesome goals you hoped you reach by the end of the school year and nothing was accomplished. Possibly even that boyfriend you had ended up dumping you because of distance over the summer. Whatever it is, it's OK that it failed. It's OK because life goes on and failure is crucial in order to succeed.

We can either sit around and allow negative situations consume us or we can take joy in failure and realize it'll just be a blessing in disguise some day. It's your choice to allow the bad to scar you or shape you. I encourage you to find peace in the times-gone-wrong because like Bob Goff, one of my all time favorites, describes it, "He intentionally guides people into failure." I think that's so cool and so true. God has designed this world with purpose and reason. I hate to break it to you, but things don't just happen to happen. There is intention in all things. That life-changing moment that you were thinking of? Well, truth is, it had to happen for something greater to come. That old boyfriend? Maybe he wasn't the one or you both needed to change before being together. Those grades? Perhaps it was a way for you to learn balance and time-management. Other things could maybe just make for a really hype life story that you can share in order to connect with others. Life isn't a baseball game -- you don't have three strikes until you're out, but rather the system was created with continuous attempts until you get it right and things work out for His purpose. I think the reason God chose for the world to work this way is so we become solely dependent on Him and His purpose for each of us. So, you fall down? Well, God helps you back up, wipes away the dirt, and directs you back into the game so you can keep playing. Even more exciting though -- God doesn't keep score of the game. He doesn't care about your failures because in His book, with Trust in Him and perseverance, failure and success all weigh the same. Goff also said, "I use to be afraid of failing at the things that really mattered to me, but now I'm more afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter."

I think it's important to recognize failure as a blessing and understand that there is a greater purpose. The way I think about the negative situations that have occurred in my life is that if I can relate it to one other person in order to help them or just form relationships, then that's alright with me. I also think it's important to recognize other's failures and forgive the ones that affect your life. Yeah, maybe something happened to you by someone else that just really sucked and kinda broke you for a while. Well, guess what? It wasn't an accident and if it hasn't yet, then it someday will shape you. So why hold a grudge? It's hard in the moment to enjoy failure, but I really hope you make the decision to not allow it to bring you down. Things get better, they really, truly do, so trust me when I say everything is all right and OK when you trust God's plans for you and just focus on loving Him.