Meet Sam

One of the people in my life I am so thankful for (among many) is my roommate, Sam.


I have known him and lived with him for a few years now. At first he was just a stranger crashing on my couch but has grown to become a very dear friend and is truly like a brother to me. What I love about Sam is that I know I can always be honest with him...no matter what. Some how we manage to end up having the most meaningful conversations during the most mundane or unexpected times. I'll never forget the time we were re-seeding the lawn in our old house. He and I were outside, manually tilling the soil, fiddling away with the dirt and we ended up having probably one of the best conversations I have had with any of my roommates. One of our favorite conversation times is when we play Call of Duty. Yes, I love killing zombies. What can I say? I lived with a bunch of boys for almost six years, I was bound to be converted at some point.

Sam and I have our "catch up" times playing Call of Duty together. Somewhere around level 18 the conversation usually trails off as we are forced to actually pay attention to the hundreds of zombies trying to rip us to shreds. Still, its always really fun and just really great to know I have someone to hang out and just be real with.

Recently, I came across a difficult situation that I was sharing with Sam about. I was telling him how defeated I felt and how I wished I had handled things differently with a certain person in my life. What he said to me was incredibly encouraging and I think humbling in more ways than one.
He said, "One time I took this math class and I failed all the quizzes, every single one. But, I ended up passing all the exams. At the end of the class the teacher stood up and said, 'There is a student who has failed every quiz in my class but has passed every exam. He doesn't have to make himself known but he is a great example of what it means to learn from your mistakes.'

What he said next was what hit me the most. "I will almost always fail the first time around. Give me the quiz and I will fail at first but I learn how to solve the problem, and the next time around I pass the exam. Andi, that's all you have to do is learn from your mistakes. Now you know how to solve the problem."

For someone who tends to lean a little more on perfectionism than grace, it's hard for me to have that mindset. Especially when it comes to relationships with people and my own personal values.
It's so true though, isn't it? How many times can we all say we were completely off the mark the first time around, but give us the test again and by golly we are gonna ace it.
Whether it's in our jobs, our families, our personal relationships or a battle within ourselves. We will always fail at some point. It's inevitable because we are human. The good news is there is grace. There is hope to become better and to pass that test when it comes around. For now, I'm in the process of growing and learning from my mistakes. And thank goodness for people like Sam in the meantime.

Do you have people like this in your life?