Life is hard. We go through phases of our lives where nothing seems to go right. Friends drift away. Loved ones pass on. Relationships falter. We make mistakes. Bad things happen. Superstorms strike.

So when we read a story or watch a movie, it's only natural to want the characters to overcome the obstacles and conflict. We want the characters to move beyond their flaws and succeed. We want the characters to find redemption.

We want the characters to find redemption because it gives us hope. When we see it on the screen or read it in a book, a small part of us remembers we can find redemption in our lives, despite our broken world.

The process of writing my book (When Light Hits the Path) caused me to look for redemption in my story. At times, the writing process was painful, but other times it was joyful. The process of writing the book taught me the importance of looking back over your life and looking for meaning in your story.

One way to find meaning and redemption in your story is to make a timeline of the significant moments in your life- the good and the bad moments. For example, your timeline may include a wedding, graduation, birth of a child, loss of a loved one, or loss of a job.

After you create the timeline, take time to reflect on the timeline.

What patterns do you see? What sticks out to you?

Maybe you realize that the negative moments in your life eventually turn out okay.

Or, you realize that a negative moment produced a blessing down the road.

Or, you begin to understand that your experiences prepared you for something important later in life.

You may not be able to make sense of all the tough moments of life (or the good moments). But, I hope you see a purpose and meaning to your life. I hope you find redemption because it's there, hiding somewhere among your life's stories.