I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. Some people may argue that it's "just coincidence", or humans need a logical explanation for the things we find difficult to explain, but here's why I think differently.

My sophomore year of high school, my soccer team advanced to the second round of our district playoffs. Going into the second game, we were the underdogs. We traveled to their home field, prepared to fight for this game. We stepped off of the bus and walked over to our bench, and as I went to grab my shin guards, they weren't in my bag. I frantically searched and realized I had left them at home. I wracked my brain for a solution; there was no way I couldn't play, my team needed me and this was a huge game for us. One of the girls on my team who normally played JV but was allowed to suit up for varsity for this game came over to me, and offered up her own shin guards so I could play. After a moment of hesitancy, I accepted them and joined the rest of my team for warmups. I felt so terrible accepting something that was rightfully hers. By her giving me her shin guards, she was forfeiting any chance to even step on the field. As we began to warm up, the sky turned an odd shade of gray. Within 5 minutes, what seemed like a dam bursting onto the field came pouring out of the sky. We were then ushered into the school, and looked out to one of the biggest thunderstorms I have ever seen. They ultimately decided to postpone the game until the next day and we were sent home, through the flash flooding and everything. The game was rescheduled until the next day, and we ended up winning the game and moving onto the third round.

Forgetting my shin guards was a big part of that story. The game probably would've still been postponed and we still probably would've come back and won anyway. But, that's not the point. A girl I didn't know that well sacrificed her playing time for me. That matters. I forgot something, sure that's human and how life works. But, if you believe in God or not, something happened that day so I could play that game with my team and win.

I do believe everything happens for a reason, and I will back that up until the day I die. Where you are right now is where you're supposed to be, and whatever you're going through is meant to be. The hard/ sad things in life are meant to teach you a lesson, and the goods are meant to boost your spirits. Life is about learning and growing, and everything is supposed to be how it is at that moment for a reason. Having faith and believing in the bigger reason is an important part of life. Believe in the reasons, believe in the process, and believe in yourself. Everything happens for a reason so keep your faith.