Sometimes, it’s hard to understand others until we realize first hand what it’s like to stand in his/her shoes. In this piece, I've written about a family whose lives have been torn apart by simple mistakes made along the way. By holding to the truth of Romans 8:28, each character is forced to press on in faith by trusting God to mend the things that they themselves can not change. By accepting the past and embracing the present, they finally become free and get the courage to love each other and life even with all of the flaws. Just as roses grow with weeds and thorns, we each will have issues, problems, and mistakes that will choke the joy of life from us if we are not careful.