For years, friends and sometimes even acquaintances have nick-named me “Sweet Sam” — sometimes “Sweet Samantha Swanson” because the alliteration is just too good. I…
Reflections from Israel: God Our “Rock”
As someone who values security in a world that often feels anything but secure, I find comfort in reading the psalms. The paslms ground me,…
When God Overrides What I Thought I Needed
I prayed for something specific and God didn’t answer that prayer. At least—not how I wanted him to answer it, and not in the timeframe…
God’s Promises For You (and not for you)
Recently I’ve been making my way through the book of Genesis. It’s not the first time, but it is the first time since taking a…
Understand This & You Will Never Read the Bible the Same Again
“I don’t see how the Bible applies to my life.” “I find the Bible more dry and confusing than anything else.” “I feel like I’m…
Church Just Never Felt Like “Home” & Now It Does
I was that kid who loved going to church. It never bored me and it never felt like something my parents forced onto me. In…
Confession: I strongly dislike confession.
Just under a year ago, I sat in a coffee shop with a close, trusted friend of mine. I admitted to a sin I had…
Lessons from the Kitchen Floor of My Dorm
My roommate for the first two years of college has become one of my closest friends. She and I experienced a lot of college life…
How to Worship When You’d Rather Not
The other day, I read Psalm 42: a psalm full of such brutal honesty that I felt like I was intruding on someone’s private journal.…
Should Christians Expect Non-Believers to Save Sex for Marriage?
In C. S. Lewis’ classic, Mere Christianity, he writes a chapter on Christian marriage. To start, he writes that he wishes he could pass over…